While a lot of colleges and universities talk about ending racism and inequality on their campuses, Carah Ong Whaley and her team at JMU dove headfirst into taking action. Carah is Associate Director of the Center for Civic Engagement, which has put together weekly virtual discussions on topics related to racism, policing, and more. She is also part of an effort to rename JMU buildings currently named for well-known racists in history. As you’ll hear, she’s active in both the #JMUchangethenames social media campaign and working behind the scenes with university leaders.

We recorded this episode on June 18. Stay tuned to the end of the show on what’s happened at JMU since then.

Links to cool stuff

• Carah on Twitter

• Carah on LinkedIn

• JMU Center for Civic Engagement

• Democracy Matters podcast

This week we were excited to talk with Jake McLean, the assistant director of leadership development and service at Monmouth College. We start the show with a discussion of the classic 90’s Disney Movie “Smart House” from episode 138. Jake tells us about his work on the co-curricular side of things working with students through Monmouth’s various leadership programs. We then talk about Jake and Jackie’s upcoming TV show watchlists, debate what baking shows are the best and discuss the evolution of Gordon Ramsey.

Links to cool stuff: 

• Jake on Facebook
• Jake on Twitter
• Jake on LinkedIn
• That picture of Sophie the cockapoo
• Jake’s side hustle “Jake Speaks”