Are pop culture and fashion recession indicators? What is the real impact of “inflation refund” checks on local economies? Could China’s growing presence in the Caribbean influence U.S. elections? How might federal budget cuts reshape the promise of higher education?
Whittier College experts are regularly invited to weigh in on national news conversations, sharing expertise and perspective on topics ranging from Gen Z social media trends to New Yorkers’ wallets to Florida geopolitics to the future of colleges and universities.
Here are some recent highlights.
Associate Professor of Business Administration Kristen Smirnov, who studies marketing campaigns and consumer behavior, spoke with Newsweek about Gen Z’s obsession with so-called recession indicators. From “recession blonde” hair to the return of indie-sleaze, young people are pointing to pop-culture cues as signals of economic downturn. Smirnov reminded readers that “pop culture and fashion trends are naturally cyclical. Part of how we signal social capital is by showing we are in tune with what is current, and ‘what is current’ often swings away from whatever came just before.”
Meanwhile, Professor of Economics Roger White chimed in for a U.S. News & World Report story about inflation rebate checks being mailed to millions of New Yorkers. His assessment? The checks will do little to lift New York state’s economy. Even if all 8.2 million recipients received the maximum of $400 each, that is only $3.28 billion dispersed, “about one-seventh of 1%” of the state’s economy in 2024. White predicted that much of the money taxpayers received would go toward paying off debt, savings, or purchasing items in other states rather than actively bolstering the New York economy.
Newsweek also turned to Professor of Political Science Deborah Norden, who specializes in Latin America, for analysis of China’s expanding role in the Western Hemisphere. Norden warned that declining U.S. foreign aid and rising tariffs could push former partners closer to Beijing, potentially weakening America’s sway in the hemisphere and creating new vulnerabilities for U.S. elections. “Under the Trump administration, the United States is rapidly yielding its already declining hegemony in Latin America to China.”
Earlier this fall, The Hechinger Report, a major national education news platform, published an op-ed authored by President Kristine E. Dillon ’73. In it, she sounds the alarm over threats to Pell Grants, Federal Work-Study, federal research funding, and more, arguing that gutting these support systems endangers student success and social mobility. “The preservation and strengthening of Pell, Work-Study, Supplemental Educational Opportunity grants, and federal loan programs is not a partisan issue. It is a moral and economic imperative for a nation that has long been proud to be a land of opportunity.”
For more examples of Whittier staff and faculty being featured in the media, check the Whittier College website and follow Whittier College on social media.