Speaking of Simpson

The associate director of Drake's Constitutional Law Center, Miguel Schor, is our podcast guest this week. Professor Schor delivered the 2023 Constitution Day lecture at the college, speaking on the many challenges confronting constitutional government in the United States and his proposals for fixing them.

It's hard to miss Jay Byers these days — the new Simpson College president has put an emphasis on telling the college's story — in person, in the media, and on social channels. Byers stops by the podcast this week to tell his story: How he came to Simpson as an undergraduate 35 years ago, his work as an alumnus and board member, and now as president of the college. He also details the new All-In On Iowa financial aid program that will provide full-tuition scholarships for students of families earning less than $100,000 per year and students from each of Iowa's 99 counties.

The new academic year is in full swing at Simpson College, and chemistry professor Adam Brustkern welcomed more than 380 new students at the college with his All-College Convocation talk on Aug. 30. Brustkern's message to the students: Embrace change, and let Simpson's faculty serve as the catalyst to that change. Brustkern gave the talk by virtue of winning the 2023 Distinguished Teaching Award at last spring's commencement.

Football and fall sports are in the air as a new year launches at Simpson, and Athletic Director Marty Bell stops by the first episode of Speaking of Simpson's new season to talk new momentum across the board. There's a new football staff on board, multiple new assistant coaches in many sports, and plans ahead for new programs and facilities. 

With the state legislature passing a raft of laws to discriminate against transgender Iowans, Simpson students Cassidy Daub and Kenneth Norris come on the final podcast of the 2022-23 academic year to talk about their experiences in their hometowns, their families, on the Simpson campus and beyond. 

With up to 75% voting turnout among Simpson students, the college has been named one of America's Voter-Friendly Campuses by the Fair Elections Project and Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. Seth Andersen, director of the John C. Culver Public Policy Center at Simpson, is our guest this week to talk about the college's non-partisan efforts to turn out student voters regardless of party affiliation or ideology.

With transgender rights front and center in Iowa political debates, We Are Iowa local journalist Nora J.S. Reichardt grabbed national headlines when she recently came out as transgender on the air. Nora visited with Multimedia Journalism and Foundations students about her transition and how Iowans have responded.

Death row survivor Anthony Ray Hinton, author of The Sun Does Shine, will speak at Simpson on Tuesday, March 29. That's because student Lexi Johnson took the lead in booking him after she read his book. Johnston joins the podcast this week to talk about how Hinton's story inspired her as a criminal justice major, and why she went to work bringing him to speak at the college.

Simpson's history faculty don't simply lecture about history — they help students live it through the innovative Reacting to the Past method of teaching. Simpson history professor Rebecca Livingstone is out with a new co-authored book on learning history through role-playing, Monuments and Memory-Making: The Debate over the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, 1981-1982. She stops by the podcast this week to talk about the RTTP method of teaching and how she is using it in classwork at Simpson.