Faculty and Alumni in the News – May 2025

May’s news topics included coverage of global politics, international student issues, and faculty evaluations, among others. Links are provided, but some may require subscriptions to access content. Please contact Vige Barrie if you cannot open a link or do not have a subscription.

Sacerdote Great Names Conversation with President Barack Obama

Coverage of former President Obama’s Great Names visit to campus on April 3 continued in May.  Articles and broadcasts were produced by WGBH (Boston public radio), McClatchy newspapers, The Hechinger Report, and Black News, among others.

Additional Media Coverage in May

• “Trump's First 100 Days; Unitary Executive; Gen Z Losing Trust; Cuomo's Comeback” – “Ivory Tower,” WCNY (public radio), May 1
  Visiting Professor of History Ty Seidule was a panelist.
• “What to See in Upstate New York This May” –  Hyperallergic, May 1
  The Wellin Museum's "Menagerie: Animals in Art" was featured. 
• “A prayer, the pope and a mother-in-law hack” – Iowa Capital Dispatch, May 6
  In an essay for Mother’s Day, Christy Vilsack ’72 referenced her husband, Tom Vilsack ’72, and their time at Hamilton.
• “A tactical move or strategic exit? What the U.S. withdrawal from mediation really means” – News Azerbaijan, June 7
  Professor of Government Alan Cafruny addressed this question.
• “Plans? What plans?” – Chronicle of Higher Education, May 7
  Director of International Student Services Bonike Odegbami commented on international students and travel this summer.
• “Inside Lauren Thomsen’s Client-First Approach to Residential Architecture” – Iconic Life Magazine, May 9
  Lauren Thomsen ’05 discussed her approach to working with clients.
• “William H. Luers, Diplomat Who Backed Czech Dissident Leader, Dies at 95” – New York Times, May 11
  Luers ’51 was featured in expansive obituaries in the Times as well as the Washington Post and the Boston Globe.
• “College Matters” – Chronicle of Higher Education, May 13
  This podcast referenced a study by Professors of Economics Ann Owen and Stephen Wu and Associate Professor of Government Erica De Bruin on teaching evaluation.
• “Trump is making it easier to fire federal workers, but they have some legal protections - 3 essential reads” – The Conversation, May 14
  A portion of this article reviewed a study of federal workers during the first Trump administration co-authored by Associate Professor of Sociology Jaime Kucinskas.
• “NYS Budget; Trump's Foreign Policy; Pope Leo XIV” – “Ivory Tower,” WCNY, May 14
  Associate Professor of Environmental Studies Aaron Strong and Visiting Professor of History Ty Seidule were panelists.
• “Algebra is more than alphabet soup – it’s the language of algorithms and relationships” – The Conversation, May 15
  Associate Professor of Mathematics Courtney Gibbons explained.
• “The Private Universities Affected by Proposed Tiered Endowment Tax” – Chief Investment Officer, May 15
  Hamilton was included in this article as possibly being vulnerable to a tax increase on the endowment.
• “The right and wrong ways to address campus antisemitism” – The Hill, May 19
  President Emeritus David Wippman co-authored this essay.
• “Healthy on the Outside, DEI on the Inside” – Minding the Campus–Reforming our Universities, May 19
  Hamilton was included as a member of the U.S. Health Promoting Campuses Network, a group that this publication suggests is concealing its practice of DEI.
• “The Post Announces Campaigns and Democracy Team” – Washington Post, May 19
  Sean Sullivan ’07 will lead this new team.
• “Tales of Rejection and Acceptance” – New York Times, May 20
  Professor of Sociology Emeritus Daniel Chambliss wrote this letter to the editor.
• “Finding the Story” – New York Review of Books, May 21
  One of Professor of Creative Writing and Literature Doran Larson’s star pupils in his Attica writing class, John Lennon, referenced that class in this article.
• “History of Civil Rights – Progress and Pushback” – The Conversation via Instagram, May 29
  Professor of Government Philip Klinkner explained the highs and lows of civil rights in the U.S. in this video.
• “The Chamberlain Project: How Veterans Can Win a University Professorship” – Military.com, May 30
  Hamilton was included as one of the “prestigious institutions” partnering with this project.
• “Wall Street Business” – Bloomberg Radio (beginning at 19:36:00), May 30
  Gillian Zucker ’90 discussed the power of the Hamilton College network.