PhD Candidate in Urban Education Policy at the University of Southern California
Isaiah Simmons (he/him) is a native of Virginia Beach, VA who received his undergraduate degree in Psychology from the College of William and Mary. Isaiah also graduated with his MPP from the University of Southern California where he is currently a PhD candidate in Urban Education Policy. Isaiah’s previous educational experience involves 5 years of work with the Virginia Beach City Public Schools working with middle and high school students teaching leadership skills. Isaiah’s research interests focus on how narratives influence policy development and implementation, how those narratives can be used to oppress minoritized populations as well as the lived experiences of policy. Isaiah’s interests also consist of the influence of the culture of sports in the academic environment. In his spare time, Isaiah enjoys watching and playing basketball, as well as attending concerts and trying new restaurants.
When I began my internship with the University of Southern California’s (USC) Race and Equity Center, I was initially skeptical about pursuing a career in research. I thought of research as a cold, non-engaging process that had little practical impact on the campuses producing the research or the world at large. In 2019 though, I experienced a foreshadowing of the kind of career I wanted to have as a researcher with a report I co-authored entitled: Black Students at Public Colleges and Universities: A 50-state Report Card. The report was generally well received and after its publication, I participated in several media opportunities in order to discuss the report including radio interviews, op-eds, and perhaps most importantly, engaging with practitioners personally. In November 2019 I was invited to St. Louis, Missouri to present at a racial equity workshop conducted by the St. Louis Graduates organization. At this town hall, I spent two days presenting on the report and answering questions from administrators, faculty members at various institutions. I found joy in this experience in St. Louis and with the report in general that was formative to my development as a scholar and researcher; I was able to discuss the work with others instead of writing at them, I was able to have local contexts inform how I would write in the future to focus on implementation, and lastly I was able to write in ways that empowered faculty, students, and community members. These are all traits I want to carry with me as I progress as a researcher and eventually as a faculty member. The lessons learned from my work on the 50 state-report card have informed the rest of my graduate career profoundly, as well as my research agenda. My current dissertation examines the evolution of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) policies in college sports and how the narratives around these policies will impact collegiate athletes, as well as higher education institutions. This topic allowed me to merge my interests in higher education, college athletics, as well as policy implementation, while also discussing a topic that can be easily communicated to the public with implications for a variety of stakeholders. My aim is for my dissertation to set the foundation for my future research agenda by focusing on policy narratives and equitable policy implementation in various areas of sports management. Throughout my research, I am committed to pursuing equity and social justice, I feel by examining the stories around policies I can expose how various biases have informed the policies that have concretized oppression for various groups of people both from a legislative standpoint, as well as with institutional practices within sports management My enthusiasm for research began after realizing that research can be public-facing, not just confined to the academy and the world of peer-reviewed journals, I aspire to do that as a faculty member; being able to navigate the world of journals, while also doing work that speaks to the current practitioner and the aspiring learner.