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Tennessee Tech alumna, staff member recall memories of service to U.S. Presidents
From left: Tennessee Tech alumna and former George W. Bush administration aide Penny
Grace Judd and Tennessee Tech staff member and former Bill Clinton administration
aide Cheryl Montgomery.
As Tennesseans mark the annual Presidents’ Day holiday on Feb. 19, a bipartisan pair
of Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles are recalling their own fond memories of service to
our nation’s past commanders in chief.
Cheryl Montgomery, director of program development and engagement for Tech’s College
of Business, spent more than a half decade as director of scheduling for U.S. Attorney
General Janet Reno under President Bill Clinton following earlier roles on the Clinton-Gore
1992 presidential campaign and transition team.
Penny Grace Judd, a Tech journalism graduate from the class of 2000 and current Alumni
Association Board of Directors member, served in various roles during the administration
of President George W. Bush, including at the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of
Management & Budget and in the White House Office of Legislative Affairs.
Montgomery and Judd appeared on a special Presidents’ Day episode of Tech’s “College Town Talk” podcast to revisit their years in the nation’s capital
and pay tribute to the university’s role in shaping their respective journeys.
Judd, who was also a former Student Government Association (SGA) president at Tech,
says her climb up the career ladder can all be traced back to an internship she landed
at the Tennessee Department of Transportation while studying at Tech. She leveraged
that internship to secure a spot working at the Tennessee Republican Party in 2000
– an opportunity that positioned her at just the right place for a role in the incoming
administration.
“This was deemed a battleground state, so a lot of resources flowed through Tennessee,”
said Judd. “The staff here were able to have more relationships with the Bush-Cheney
team at the national level. So then, thankfully, after the campaign they were gracious
enough to reach out to see if we would be interested in roles in the administration.”
Left: Judd is photographed in the Oval Office with President George W. Bush. Right:
Judd and her brother, Jed Douglas, are pictured with President and First Lady Bush
at the annual Congressional Ball.
Looking back, Judd says her years on campus – including her time as a writer for The
Oracle, the university’s student newspaper – prepared her well for the demands of
politics.
“I really enjoyed being part of the journalism department and trying to meet those
late-night Thursday deadlines for the newspaper,” said Judd. “Also being a part of
Alpha Delta Pi, the UCSC [the off-campus University Christian Student Center] and
being in the Student Government Association.”
Judd credits university administrators at the time, including the late President Emeritus
Angelo Volpe and former Vice President for Student Affairs Marc Burnett, for being
particularly supportive during her term as SGA president.
“I have so much gratitude for all the things they taught me along the way, which were
really impactful in gaining skillsets to be able to work in the Bush administration,”
said Judd.
While Montgomery’s experience at Tech started in earnest after her successful career
in Washington, D.C., the Jackson County native says that the university was always
a part of her story.
“I owe my very existence to Tennessee Tech,” said Montgomery. “My parents met at Memorial
Gym and married two years later.”
Following her years growing up in the Upper Cumberland, Montgomery found herself working
as an aide in then-U.S. Senator Al Gore’s office. Intent on moving back to Tennessee
after a year in Washington, D.C., Montgomery tried to submit her resignation – almost
missing out on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work on a presidential campaign.
“I had written my resignation letter, walked over to my supervisor’s office to hand
her the letter, and she looked at the letter, read it and handed it back to me,” recalled
Montgomery. “She said ‘I’m not going to take action on this letter today. Bring it
back to me tomorrow if you still want to leave this office.’”
Later that same day, Gore was selected by then-Governor Bill Clinton to be his vice
presidential running mate in the 1992 election. Less than 48 hours later, Montgomery
was en route to Little Rock, Ark. to be part of the campaign’s scheduling team.
Left: Montgomery is photographed in the Oval Office with President Bill Clinton, sister-in-law
Kelly Montgomery and brother James Montgomery. Right: U.S. Attorney General Janet
Reno poses for a humorous group photo on her birthday with members of her staff. Montgomery
is pictured on the front row, third from right.
In the years to follow, Montgomery would ascend to a key spot on the staff for the
nation’s first female U.S. Attorney General, Janet Reno, who Montgomery says had a
little-known “wicked sense of humor.”
Among Montgomery’s best memories was the appearance by Attorney General Reno on Saturday
Night Live in the Clinton administration’s final days.
“She decided she wanted to appear on Saturday Night Live dancing on stage with Will
Ferrell,” said Montgomery. “She just had this great sense of humor and was a lot of
fun to be with and work with under extremely stressful times.”
Montgomery, who recently marked 15 years of service to Tech, says that coming to the
university after her years in D.C. afforded her an opportunity to raise her children
close to relatives and loved ones.
“Cookeville is a great place to raise a family,” said Montgomery. “My parents are
here and at the time my grandparents were still living, and they were here. I wanted
my boys to grow up feeling the love and the support that an extended family provides.”
While Montgomery and Judd both found joy and purpose in their years atop the federal
government, each say their service to their communities today brings its own rewards.
Apart from her service on Tech’s Alumni Board and her work running her own consultancy,
PennAvenue Strategies, Judd also chairs the board of directors for Habitat for Humanity
of Tennessee and even helped coordinate plans for President Jimmy Carter’s 2019 work
project with the nonprofit in Nashville.
“Our mission at Habitat is seeking to put God’s love in action by bringing people
together for homes, community and hope,” said Judd. “So many kids across our state
are positively impacted by that for generations to come.”
Likewise, Montgomery describes the fulfillment she finds by serving the hometown university
where her parents first met and helping students in the College of Business reach
their fullest potential. She says the college’s focus on experiential learning gives
students at the university a competitive edge.
“Over 50 percent of our students in the College of Business will engage in a résumé-building,
for-credit experiential learning activity or project during their time in the college,”
Montgomery explained, citing recent hands-on learning experiences that students in
the college undertook with local businesses such as Jamie’s Eats & Sweets and The
Exceptional Bean.
But would Judd or Montgomery have considered other careers besides the ones they pursued
in politics? For Judd, the answer is a flat no.
“I started watching President Reagan on television in my beanbag when I was a young
child,” said Judd. “So, I can’t imagine anything else.”
College Town Talk is the university’s weekly podcast produced in partnership with
the Cookeville-Putnam County Visitors Bureau. Episodes are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Pandora, and other platforms. Learn more at tntech.edu/collegetowntalk.
