UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — She’s not even 30, but Cassidy Hutchinson has already played a pivotal role in American democracy. She rose to national prominence after testifying about her role in the Trump administration during the congressional hearings on the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, detailing what happened inside the White House that day.
Hutchinson will visit Penn State's University Park campus to discuss her new memoir, "Enough," at 4 p.m. March 14 in the HUB Auditorium. The lecture is sponsored by the McCourtney Institute for Democracy in the College of the Liberal Arts.
Hutchinson served as an aide to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, which gave her a front-row seat to the Trump administration’s inner workings and its alleged strategy for overturning the results of the 2020 election.
Originally from central New Jersey, Hutchinson writes in “Enough” about attending her first Trump rally in 2017 while a student at Christopher Newport University. After growing up in a politically disengaged family, she felt a sense of connection at the event.
“I was maybe six rows from the stage,” Hutchinson told The New York Times in 2023. “I was surrounded by all these people I felt I could relate to.”
Hutchinson completed three internships in Washington, D.C., during college and, upon graduation, accepted a position as a White House legislative staff assistant. She met Meadows through that role and he invited her to join his team when he became White House chief of staff in 2020.
Hutchinson grew increasingly disillusioned with the administration and said she felt it was her duty to make what she witnessed known during the congressional investigation in summer 2022. Hutchinson told the committee everything she remembered seeing and hearing on Jan. 6 and immediately found herself thrust into the media spotlight and a political firestorm.
She recounts that testimony and the rest of her story in “Enough,” which Slate described as a “compelling and well-shaped narrative” and former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney described as “an inspiration” to young women across the country.
Hutchinson’s event will not be livestreamed or recorded. Registration is not required; attendance is on a first-come, first-served basis. Doors will open at 3:30 p.m. on March 14. For more information, visit democracy.psu.edu/events.