EP132: Resistance From the Right: Conservatives and The Campus Wars in Modern America with Dr. Lauren Lassabe Shepherd
Release Date: 03/21/2024
In The Margins
In this episode, Dr. Stephanie Rodriguez, Director of the STEMM Opportunity Alliance (SOA) at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), sits down in the pod to talk about STEMM education, workforce development, equity, and policy advancement. From growing up in Indiana to earning her PhD in immunology, Rodriguez shares how a teacher’s spark changed the trajectory of her life — and informs her work to empower future scientists. In this conversation, with Diverse host Ralph Newell, she dives deep into the challenges and opportunities facing STEMM...
info_outlineIn The Margins
Today, Diverse sits down with Dr. Carrie Kisker, president of and director of the , delving into the critical role of community colleges in providing social mobility for marginalized groups. Kisker shares her journey from soccer goalkeeper to education researcher, inspired by her mentor Arthur Cohen. In conversation with Diverse host Ralph Newell, she also explores the current challenges facing higher education, including attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. Kisker offers insights into how educators, administrators, and students can resist these...
info_outlineIn The Margins
In this honest and intimate episode, we celebrate 2025 Arthur Ashe Jr. Male Sports Scholar of the Year Jayo Adegboyo from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). His story highlights the power of networking, persistence, and interdisciplinary learning. As a first-generation pre-med student, Jayo shares enthusiastically about the Meyerhoff Scholars program and its support for students like himself pursuing STEM careers. Jayo is a biochemistry major with a physics minor and a member of the track and field team specializing in 200m and 400m events. Tune in as he shares...
info_outlineIn The Margins
In this inspiring episode, we celebrate 2025 Arthur Ashe Jr. Female Sports Scholar of the Year Jaida Ross from the University of Oregon. This conversation explores her journey from a small Oregon town to the Olympic stage, highlighting her excellence in academics, athletics, and community service. Jaida shares her path from discovering shot put in middle school to competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she finished fourth place, missing a medal by just inches. She reveals how she found her athletic calling in a sport that celebrated her body type and natural strength, contrasting...
info_outlineIn The Margins
In today’s episode, we sit down with Ruthe Farmer, founder and CEO of the Last Mile Education Fund, for a powerful conversation about unlocking opportunity in STEM education. This discussion focuses on the Last Mile’s mission to support students in the final stretch of their degrees—especially those in high-demand fields like cybersecurity. Farmer also describes how the fund provides crucial support for tuition, certification exams, and even basic needs, helping students stay on track when it matters most. The conversation looks at the fund’s innovative partnership...
info_outlineIn The Margins
In this inspiring episode we engage with Dr. Walter G. Bumphus, the outgoing president and CEO of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), as he prepares to conclude his transformative 15-year tenure at the end of 2025. This candid conversation highlights his remarkable journey in higher education, from his early days at Murray State University alongside future community college leaders Dr. Ken Atwater and Dr. Jerry Sue Thornton, to becoming one of the most influential voices in community college leadership. Bumphus shares pivotal moments from his career, including his first...
info_outlineIn The Margins
In today’s episode, we sit down with Dr. Marilyn Sanders Mobley, a distinguished scholar, author, and academic leader. As founder of the African American Studies program at George Mason University and former Vice President for Inclusion, Diversity, and Equal Opportunity at Case Western Reserve University, Mobley has spent decades shaping conversations on race, gender, and social justice — now serving as a diversity consultant. Mobley shares her journey as a literary scholar and how she helped establish the Toni Morrison Society, dedicated to preserving Morrison’s legacy. Her...
info_outlineIn The Margins
In this episode we feature author and creator of the un/HUSH Framework, Dr. Marlee Bunch, to discuss the development of her framework for dealing with the challenges of implementing diverse narratives in today’s educational settings. Bunch shares how her experiences as an educator in diverse, low-income schools led her to pursue a doctorate focused on the oral histories of Black female educators in Mississippi during the civil rights era. She also explains how their stories informed the un/HUSH Framework, which emphasizes the following principles: uniting, naming, history, unlearning,...
info_outlineIn The Margins
In this episode, we welcome Dr. George A. Pruitt, Thomas Edison State University president emeritus, for a thought-provoking discussion highlighting the past, present, and future of the civil rights movement, the importance of celebrating diverse histories, and the ongoing struggle for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in higher education and beyond. Pruitt also offers a glimpse into his new book: From Protest to President: A Social Justice Journey through the Emergence of Adult Education and the Birth of Distance Learning. Throughout the conversation with Diverse host Ralph...
info_outlineIn The Margins
Meet , president of the University of Mount Saint Vincent in the Bronx, New York City. A first-generation college graduate herself, Burns is leading the university into the future of what higher ed should look like — an authentic, high-quality education for students of all backgrounds. Under Burns' leadership since 2021, the Mount is a Hispanic-and-minority-serving institution. Don’t miss the conversation as Burns and host Diverse host David Pluviose explore innovative strategies and the holistic approach that the University of Mount Saint Vincent uses to meet the needs of...
info_outlineMeet Dr. Lauren Lassabe Shepherd, an instructor in the College of Liberal Arts, Education, and Human Development at the University of New Orleans and an IUPUI-Society for U.S. Intellectual History Community Scholar, who was recognized as a leading woman by Diverse: Issues In Higher Education for her outstanding contributions in 2024.
In this episode, Diverse host Dr. Jamal Watson engages in a thought-provoking conversation with Shepherd, author of Resistance from the Right: Conservatives and the Campus Wars. The discussion highlights the dominance of progressivism on American college campuses during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Tune in as Watson and Shepherd discuss the deeper themes behind campus politics, the leadership challenges in academic settings, and the misconceptions surrounding university culture. Shepherd offers valuable insights into the ongoing debates and dynamics shaping higher education.
KEY POINTS:
- The history of conservative activism on college campuses
- Lack of representation of progressive activism on campuses during 1950s and 1960s
- Dealing with campus protests and the history of far-right activism
- Conservative critiques of higher education in history
- Impact of political pressures on academic freedom
- The pivotal role of campus activism and free speech in higher education
QUOTABLES:
“Cancel culture is just rampant. If we compare the current state of our campuses to the state of our campuses during the Vietnam War and the three years that I write about in the book, we're in a much calmer climate than we were back then.” — Dr. Lauren Lassabe Shepherd
GUEST RESOURCES:
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
X (formerly Twitter): http://twitter.com/diverseissues
Instagram: http://instagram.com/diverseissuesinhighereducation
Facebook: http://facebook.com/DiverseIssuesInHigherEducation/
LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/company/diverse-issues-in-higher-education
WATCH THIS VIDEO AND OTHERS ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL:
https://www.youtube.com/@DiverseIssuesInHigherEducation
Closed captioning and a live show transcription are available in the video for this episode.
In The Margins is produced by Diverse: Issues In Higher Education and edited by EPYC Media Network (visit at https://www.epyc.co/).