In episode 30, my guest Tori Svoboda shares raw stories and thoughts on life as a professional in higher education as well as equity in the academy. She discusses her lifelong journey, her experiences as a student, and how that all shapes her work today. Tori encourages us to take action and be relevant, while trying to balance not being too disruptive. Make sure to check out some great resources in the show notes!
About Tori:
A formerly low-income and still first-generation student, staff, and faculty person, Tori worked in student affairs for 20 years before changing lanes to full-time faculty life 5 years ago. Tori now directs the master’s program and teaches in the doctoral program in Student Affairs Administration in Higher Education at the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse. Tori has a chapter coming out in the book, Social Class in the Academy, edited by Becky Martinez and Sonja Ardoin, entitled, “I could always go back to being a bartender: Musings of an ambivalent academic.” If you meet Tori, ask about her family, including Stella, Hannah, and Millie – the three dogs who rule the roost.
Show Highlights:
- Tori shares more about her story growing up as a foster child 04:43
- Hear about the hard work Tori is focusing on right now surrounding higher ed inequities 08:55
- Listen to how Tori came to focus on this work 35:50
- Engage with the guidance Tori offers for other professionals engaged in social justice work 47:19
- Tori provides resources that inform the way she approaches her work 54:55
- Tori shares the best ways for listeners to connect with her 58:07
Notable Quotes:
- “When you’re privileged, discomfort feels like oppression.” 13:37
- “I never planned on going to college as a young person. I did it so I had a place to live since I was emancipated at 16 [years old].” 23:45
- “If we can get scholarship into the hands of practitioners and reshape the way they’re doing things, that matters far more than how many articles you published or where they were published.”34:44
- “I want my past to inform me, not control me.” 38:37
- Inspirational quote from Paulo Freire:
“The ideal is to promote the transformation of rebelliousness consciousness into revolutionary consciousness. To be radical without becoming sectarian. To be strategic without becoming cynical. To be skillful without becoming opportunistic. To be ethical without becoming puritanical.”
-1996, p. 118
Links Mentioned:
- Resilient Campus Patreon Community
- Difficult Subjects: Insights and Strategies for Teaching about Race, Sexuality, and Gender
- New Directions for Student Services: Social Class Identity in Student Affairs
- Calypso
- Mother of Black Hollywood
- Educated: A Memoir
- On Being Podcast
- Scholar Tea
- Code Switch
Connect with Tori:
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