Authored by Zach Musgrove, SBS Marcom Intern.
Kelsey Shoub, associate professor of public policy, and Libby Sharrow, professor of public policy and history and director of faculty research at the Institute for Social Science Research, have spent the last several months working diligently researching the effects of campus authority on students and higher ed institutions nationwide. The two have worked hand in hand with seven undergraduate research assistants who not only gained pertinent career experience through this project but also had the opportunity to research a subject that greatly impacts college students and staff across the country.
The two professors received a generous research grant from the Center for Institutional Courage, a nonprofit that seeks to prioritize research projects that benefit social change and hopes to dismantle systemic issues in both academic and corporate settings. The group describes their purpose as “seeing a future where our institutions act courageously: with accountability, with transparency, actively seeking justice, and making changes where needed, despite unpleasantness, risk, and short-term costs.”
Shoub and Sharrow’s project has provided the opportunity for SBS undergraduates to participate in real-world research. Student researchers include Morgan Yap, public policy '27, Jakwan Hossain, public policy '26, Jocelyn Canton, public policy '25, Bella Ishanyan, political science and economics with a minor in IT '28, Caroline Breen, public policy and economics '26, Aifa Baidoo, legal studies '27, and Flynn Fatur, public policy and economics '26. All the students worked on the project over the spring semester last year and, barring Jocelyn, who recently started graduate school, continued their undergraduate research during this fall semester. Shoub and Sharrow worked with these students through the School of Public Policy Undergraduate Research Engagement Program, which hopes to engage students with the prospect of implementing social changes within their research.
“It’s been extremely rewarding to work with this team of brilliant, dedicated students and to receive support from the Center for Institutional Courage to fund their work. They have all shown outstanding commitment to applying their research skills to a question that confronts campus communities around the U.S. right now: how do shifting political cultures of authority impact college campuses? We are hopeful that the findings of our study can inspire campus leadership to lead courageously in the face of threats to free speech and assembly, and to inhabit the positions of authority that they hold with a commitment to democratic values and the well-being of all members of our campus communities”, says Sharrow.
Each student had the benefit of learning about important and timely topics, like the rise of authoritarianism in the U.S. The students were also able to see how political changes are affecting many aspects of our lives, including college campus environments. Not only can their research bring about real change during their time on campus, but it also provides more options for the people on college campuses to fight back against tyrannical violence and brutality during times of protest.
According to Shoub and Sharrow’s research, during the 2023-2024 academic year, almost 3,800 people were arrested on college campuses during times of protest, and many protesters were brutalized by militarized college police forces. Their research hopes to investigate the impacts of this nationwide issue on how students relate to authority on campus, including campus police forces and Title IX offices. The research team also aims to contribute to conversations about the way that college communities go about maintaining order on their campuses without violence.