A Saint Anselm graduate will be behind the White House podium come January, bringing the Hilltop to the nation’s capital.
Since the November 5 presidential election, President-elect Donald Trump has been assembling his cabinet, proposing names like Elon Musk, Marco Rubio, and other high level officials as nominees to his staff as he prepares to take office for his second term on January 20.
One appointment in particular has Saint Anselm a buzz. For the role of White House press secretary, President-elect Trump selected Hilltop alumna Karoline Leavitt ’19.
Leavitt had been working for the Trump campaign as its national press secretary and currently acts as the transition team’s spokesperson. After announcing her as his pick, President-elect Trump said in a statement that “Karoline is smart, tough, and has proven to be a highly effective communicator, I have the utmost confidence she will excel at the podium, and help deliver our message to the American People as we Make America Great Again.” This appointment now leaves Leavitt with what many consider the most prestigious job taken by an alumna of Saint Anselm.
For Leavitt, the college has played an instrumental role in where she is today. Throughout her time on the Hilltop, she played for the women’s softball team, wrote for the Saint Anselm Crier, and founded the Saint Anselm Broadcasting Club, the first of its kind on campus.
An active ambassador, Leavitt credited New Hampshire Institute of Politics (NHIOP) for propelling her toward success. “The Institute of Politics ambassador program is phenomenal, and it gives students like myself an opportunity to witness the political process and the national news media firsthand on our very own campus, and I was very proud to be an ambassador,” Leavitt noted. “It is an exceptional place where there’s a wealth of opportunities for students who want to take advantage of the political moment.”
It was her job as a NHIOP ambassador that enabled Leavitt to work with Fox News during the 2016 election, an experience that solidified her love for media. “That’s where I realized I wanted to do this for the rest of my life,” Leavitt remembered.
The opportunity with Fox News served as the impetus for her to push herself into the field of media, the industry for which she has an immense passion. After her opportunity with Fox News, she continued to find opportunities to expand her craft, going on to work for WMUR TV part time in the newsroom, then at NBC Sports Boston, and ultimately in the White House as an intern. She was fervent in her belief that being a student of Saint Anselm played a vital role in her obtaining the once in a lifetime opportunity to work in the nation’s capital.
Leavitt, 27, will be entering her role in the White House as the youngest press secretary in U.S. history. While she has been in the spotlight for quite some time, her upcoming position places her on one of the country’s most visible stages. Despite the pressure, Leavitt was unwavering in her stance that she is confident and ready. “I understand this job comes with great responsibility and I take that responsibility very seriously,” Leavitt said. “I have worked very hard to earn this position and I feel every opportunity that has come before this has prepared me well to stand behind that podium and speak on behalf of the president of the United States.”
Her mentor, and current Executive Director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, Neil Levesque, where Leavitt’s love for communication and politics was emboldened, could not agree more and expressed his faith in her abilities. “Although there is a lot of focus on her age, her performance in taking press questions and communicating to the public has been the best I’ve ever seen,” Levesque stated. “She is also perpetually optimistic in her responses. Watching her succeed through sheer ability has been a wonderful experience for me personally. It is a proud day for the NH Institute of Politics.”
To prepare for her placement as press secretary, Leavitt explained that she will be deriving inspiration from those who came before her, both Democratic and Republican. “There’s only a handful of people alive on earth who have had this position, and I look forward to speaking with all of them, both [those] that have both served in Republican and Democrat administrations… the first that comes to mind [is] Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who did a phenomenal job,” she said. Leavitt was adamant that she wants to soak in everything she can when it comes to understanding her new role.
She won’t be stepping onto the stage without insight however, as she served as assistant press secretary during the first Trump administration under Kayleigh McEnany, an opportunity which prepared her for the turbulent landscape of politics, one Leavitt herself called a “blood-sport” with lots of people who will “stab you in the back.”
She plans to carry what she learned both in the White House and at Saint Anselm College with her to her new position. “Certainly the hostile news media was something that I had to learn quickly, firsthand,” Leavitt recalled. “You know, talking off the record and on the record, on background, on deep background, all of those things I learned in my journalism class at Saint A’s from college, became very real skills that I had to use in that role.”
Being a young woman, many people have cast doubt upon her skills, but Leavitt has one message to her critics: “Keep watching.”
To her fellow Anselmians, Leavitt offers this piece of advice: “Put yourself out there. You have to be your own best advocate in a world where everyone wants to succeed. Remember everyone you meet can have a role and a hand in getting you to the next step.”
The Crier would like to extend its sincere congratulations to Leavitt for her continued success. Her trajectory is another reason to believe that Hawks Soar Higher.