Be The People host Carol Swain is speaker in AU's Faith and Society series

04/08/2021 ASHLAND, Ohio – Be The People podcast host and award-winning political scientist Carol Swain will speak Wednesday, May 5, at 7 p.m. at the Hugo Young Theatre on the Ashland University campus.

The presentation, which is free and open to the public, is part of  the University’s Faith and Society Lecture Series, sponsored by the Hilda E. Bretzlaff Foundation. COVID-19 protocols, including wearing face coverings inside of buildings and social distancing, will be observed.

Her presentation, "Is Critical Race Theory Compatible with Christianity?", also will be streamed online at https://ashlanduniversity.zoom.us/j/91362903560

Swain is the author Black Faces, Black Interests, which has won three national awards and The New White Nationalism in America, which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Her book Be the People: A Call to Reclaim America’s Faith and Promise was been re-released this year with a new introduction and audio version.

Swain is a former professor of political science at Princeton and Vanderbilt universities and a professor of law at Vanderbilt Law School. She was a Nashville mayoral candidate in 2018. Her opinion pieces have been featured in publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal.

“I am a follower of Jesus Christ who believes that faith in Him should be evidenced by a lifestyle that reveals his influence on our lives.  I honor and respect the wisdom of God’s Word as revealed through the Scriptures found in the Old and New Testaments of the Judeo-Christian Bible,” Swain said of her Christian beliefs. “I believe our nation has been exceptional throughout the centuries, because of the wisdom and faith of the Founding Fathers who sought to establish an everlasting covenant with the God of Israel.  Their wisdom is found in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.  If America is to survive as a nation, we must rediscover our roots and unite as one people.  We must recognize that multiculturalism and identity politics fuels division and divisiveness.  As Matthew 12: 25-27 suggests, a house divided against itself cannot stand.

Swain received a bachelor’s degree from Roanoke College, a master’s degree from Virginia Polytechnic & State University, a doctorate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Master of Studies in Law from Yale University. She also has served on the Tennessee Advisory Committee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission and the National Endowment for the Humanities and is a foundation member of the Virginia Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa.

Ashland University is a mid-sized, private university conveniently located a short distance from Akron, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio. Ashland University (www.ashland.edu) offers each of its student constituencies The Ashland Promise, including “teaching students how to think, not what to think”. Committed to affordability, the University now offers incoming residential freshman the Tuition Relief Scholarship, as well as a variety of new forms of financial assistance for both new and continuing students. ###