Anita Bevacqua McBride, a prominent White House staffer under three Republican presidents (Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush) and one of the architects of the prestigious White House internship program, spoke to an assembly of interns on Tuesday evening, April 6, in what was the first event of spring quarter for the John Glenn/WISH Policy Salon.
Mrs. McBride, who grew up as the daughter of Italian immigrants in Bridgeport, Connecticut, discussed her own interest in public affairs, which was nurtured by a University of Connecticut study-abroad program and then by a Washington internship secured through American University's Washington Semester program. She rose quickly in the Reagan administration, where she served as Director of White House Personnel. During George W. Bush's second term, she was an Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to First Lady Laura Bush. In addition to her several White House assignments, Mrs. McBride worked for the former U.S. Information Agency and was Special Advisor in the State Department's Bureau of International Organizations. Although she no longer is a public official, she continues to devote significant time to public service as a member of the U.S.-Afghan Women's Council, as Chair of the J. William Fulbright U.S. Foreign Scholarship Board, and as Executive in Residence in the School of Public Affairs at American University.
Mrs. McBride spoke to an assembly that included a delegation from the University of Connecticut and interns from other universities who live in WISH housing, as well as the eleven members of the spring 2010 class of Glenn Fellows. Members of the audience (pictured with Mrs. McBride, above) seemed particularly interested in her experience with presidential transitions and receptive to her message about the virtues of service through the Peace Corps or such international NGOs as CARE, Inc.
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