The Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics is pleased to recognize the accomplishments and activities of its faculty, staff, students, alumni and supporters:
Cameron Beatty, who taught in the ISU Leadership Studies Program from 2013-2016, co-authored a chapter on “Interrogating Whiteness in Sorority and Fraternity Life” for the book “Critical Whiteness Praxis in Higher Education: Considerations for the Pursuit of Racial Justice on Campus.” The book was published in July 2022 by Stylus Publishing.
Dianne Bystrom, director emerita, is co-editor of a book on the 2020 presidential election available in September from Praeger. “Democracy Disrupted: Communication in the Volatile 2020 Presidential Election” considers three coinciding historical events in 2020 – a 100-year pandemic co-occurring with the presidential campaign, the reinvigorated call for social and racial justice in response to the killing of George Floyd and other Black men and women, and the authoritarian lurch that emerged in reaction to Donald Trump’s norm-challenging rhetoric. Bystrom also will present “A Century of Women’s Suffrage” at Wayne State College on Sept. 19 in conjunction with the college’s observance of Constitution Day.
Demarquis Heard, a junior in political science, and Faith Toweh, a graduate student in political science, were contributing authors in the new Science and Civics Guide from the Students Learn Students Vote Coalition. The guide addresses the importance of increasing the number students in STEM fields who vote in strengthening our democracy. Heard and Toweh have been working with the Catt Center on student voter engagement.
Iowa State University was recognized on Aug. 9 with the Highly Established Action Plan Seal from the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge. This seal is awarded to campuses whose action plans scored at least 32 of 36 possible points based on a rubric published in Strengthening American Democracy.
Carrie Ann Johnson, interim coordinator of research and outreach, received the Iowa State Research Excellence Award for her dissertation, “Whisper Networks: Sexual Harassment Protection Through Informal Networks.”
Karen Kedrowski, center director, wrote the script for a video about the history and current status of the Equal Rights Amendment in the United States produced by Iowa’s 19th Amendment Centennial Commemoration Committee. On July 14, Kedrowski was interviewed by Skylar Tallal, statehouse reporter for KGAN, about the legality of states enforcing a travel ban to another state to access an abortion. On Friday, July 22 and Saturday, July 23, Kedrowski spoke at the Palo Alto County Fair on suffrage history and Equal Rights Amendment history, respectively. On Aug. 11, Kedrowski received the 2022 Andrew Goodman Campus Champion of the Year award from the Andrew Goodman Foundation in recognition of her work to create and support sustainable pathways of engagement between university administration and the student body at large.
Anna Olson, a senior in journalism & mass communication and political science and a Kedrowski and Fitzgerald Family Legacy of Heroines scholar, is serving as a press intern for U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar in Washington, D.C., this fall. Her responsibilities include compiling daily press clips, writing social media copy, drafting press releases, maintaining and creating press lists, media monitoring, and speech writing.
Mallory Tope, a senior in journalism & mass communication and political science and a student voting engagement intern with the Catt Center, is serving as a press intern for U.S. Senator Tina Smith in Washington, D.C., this fall. Her responsibilities with Smith’s communications team include creating new releases and social media posts, updating website content, compiling press clips, and answering calls from constituents and reporters.
Kelly Winfrey, associate professor and director of graduate education in the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication, has been appointed interim director of the Women’s and Gender Studies Program. Winfrey is on leave from serving as coordinator of research and outreach for the Catt Center, a position she has held since 2014.