Washington Post Cites 2002 DePauw Commencement Address by Elaine Chao

November 29, 2016

The Washington Post is reporting this afternoon that President-elect Donald Trump will appoint Elaine L. Chao, who was U.S. Labor Secretary under George W. Bush, to serve as his secretary of transportation.

Ashley Halsey III writes, "Chao, 63, was born and received her early education in Taiwan. Chao, her mother and two sisters immigrated to the United States in 1961. She was eight years old when the family arrived. 'We didn’t speak any English and we were not familiar with any of the American customs. We left behind everything that was near and dear to us -- our families, our friends, my schooling, and our tradition and our culture and our food,' Chao told graduates at Indiana’s DePauw University in a 2002 address. During the early, difficult days, Chao said, 'it was the kindness and the helping hands of strangers, who soon became neighbors and our friends, that helped us smooth our transition.'"

You'll find the complete article at the newspaper's website. (at left: Chao with DePauw's eighteenth president, Robert G. Bottoms)