Public Voices Thought Leadership

The Public Voices Thought Leadership program serves as a national initiative that partners leading universities and foundations with the OpEd Project. The program strives to increase the impact of women and minorities in the broader public conversation that currently constitutes 80 percent of key commentary forums written and contributed to by men. These forums, hosted through publications like the Dallas Morning News, The Hill and the Huffington Post, cover topics ranging from minority and social justice issues to education and religion.

• View the OpEd 2014 Thought Leadership
• View the OpEd 2013 Thought Leadership

TWU proudly joined prominent universities like Yale, Princeton, Stanford and Northwestern on this year-long opportunity to increase the public visibility and opinion impact of 20 fellows. Fellows represent our faculty and staff, as well as nonprofit leaders from the greater Denton and Dallas-Fort Worth community. The 2015 edition is the third year TWU has offered this opportunity.

We are grateful for the support of our donors including the Kaleta Doolin Fund, the Boone Family Foundation, the Embrey Family Foundation, the TWU Department of History and Political Science, the TWU Office of Student Life and the Texas Woman’s University Foundation – Nelda C. Stark Endowed Fund in Honor of Shirley Sears Chater, and Dr. and Mrs. Raj Seekri.

2015 Public Voices Thought Leadership Fellows and Their Publications

Sara Melnick Albert, J.D.

• Keep school nutrition programs intact

Agatha Beins, Ph.D.

• Traffic Patterns in This Community Showcase the Urgency of Making a Safe Way for Cyclists to Share the Road — Before Anyone Else Gets Hurt
• Police body cameras will not change the culture of racism in America

Michelle Buggs, Ph.D.

• We Need More President Borens
• A Single Woman Reflects on Marriage and Masculinity
• Some Students Fail Even Before Classes Start

Gretchen Busl, Ph.D.

• We Need Female Visions of World: Try These 5
• Is fluency the goal of language learning?
• Humanities research is groundbreaking, life-changing… and ignored

Melinda Cowart, Ph.D.

• Schools must think beyond Spanish for ESL education
• ESL isn’t just for Spanish speakers
• A legacy to guide (What my father taught me about tolerance)

Katie Crosslin, Ph.D.

• Are cyberbullies victims as well?
• Will God be OK with a female president? I’m a Christian, and I say yes

Dolores Sosa Green

• It’s possible to unlearn racism
• Texas economy could freeze up if school opportunities for undocumented are limited
• Don’t discourage Hispanics from applying to college

Jessica Smartt Gullion, Ph.D.

• Will guns on campus lead to grade inflation?

Anne Floyd Koci, Ph.D.

• Nurse practitioners support law for independent practice

Linda Louden, Ph.D.

• White Privilege and the Deadly Effect of Silence
• Why Do We See Things in Black and White

Jyutika Mehta, Ph.D.

• Becoming More Interdisciplinary
• Total recall sounds great, but some things should be forgotten

Kimberly S. Miloch, Ph.D.

• What March Madness Teaches Us About Engaging our Students

Regina Nippert

• Funding all-day pre-K will help alleviate poverty (pdf)
• Mixing Christianity and politics is killing the church
• To face our history, let Confederate monuments stand
• Getting Back to Nature With My Fitbit

Renè M. Paulson, Ph.D.

• Women with "resting bitch face" are actually better communicators
• Donating With Impact

Jeannie Rickey

• My Mom Taught Me Why Minimum Wage is Women's Issue

Kelly S. Ruemmele

• Hispanic children face obstacles fighting obesity
• Let Teenagers Sleep In
• Why We Should Say Goodbye to the Lazy Summer Fantasy

Joann Schulte, Ph.D.

• Let's Care for Ebola Orphans as Much as Bentley, the Ebola Dog
• Snakes' fangs hurt, but what really bites is the cost of treatment
• Babies Without Real First Names At Risk

Toni Johnson Simpson

• Forget the flowers, give black mothers the option to breathe easy

Brigitte Vittrup, Ph.D.

• Is it time to give up spanking?
• How silence can breed prejudice: A child development professor explains how and why to talk to kids about race
• Handcuffs Are Not the Solution to Children's Challenging Behaviors
• I'm white. My husband is Black. Why can't our child be both?
• Class DoJo App Is Already Past Its Expiration Date
• Why it's wrong for pediatricians to eliminate daily screen time recommendations
• Why Do We Need Gender Parity? 'Because It's 2015’

Kimberly S. Miloch, Ph.D., and Michelle Buggs, Ph.D.

• Phony classes hamstring college athletes' careers off the field

Brigitte Vittrup, Ph.D., and Tahani Alsabah

• Teaching children about other religions can calm fears, bias

Melinda and Ron Cowart

• Pope Francis reminds us to shelter the homeless

Past Public Voices Thought Leadership Fellows and Their Publications

OpEd 2014 Thought Leadership

OpEd 2013 Thought Leadership