carah ong whaley & ending systemic racism
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
Episode 32 congratulates new first-time dad Tom Southard, Director of the Wolfington Center at Cabrini College. We talk about birthdays and zodiac signs, but on a more interesting note, about civic engagement and social justice on campus. Cabrini College has a unique program for all students, encouraging them to become involved throughout their time in undergrad. Although a lot of in includes lobbying (oh, yeah, Tom was a lawyer at one point), we talk about the potential that students have when it comes to the surrounding community, and the world. Naturally, our conversation devolves from a large higher education topic to a random discussion of Serial, from the eyes of a Baltimore native and lawyer.