Dr. Kevin V. Mulcahy

Dr. Kevin Mulcahy, March 26, 1945–July 1, 2023.

Dr. Kevin Mulcahy retired as the Sheldon Beychok Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Public Administration in 2020 after 40 years of service at LSU. Dr. Mulcahy earned his PhD in Public Policy from Brown University in 1977 and held teaching posts at Claremont McKenna College and the University of Colorado before coming to LSU in 1980. He was a nationally recognized scholar of cultural policy and public administration. His research focused on cultural policy in the United States and abroad and he authored or co-authored seven books and over 80 research articles and chapters in prominent volumes and journals.

Over the years Dr. Mulcahy was the recipient of a variety of awards and honors. He was selected as the Fulbright Distinguished Chair of American Studies at the Budapest University of Economic Sciences and Public Administration as well as the Fulbright Senior Specialist in Romania. He won numerous teaching awards across the university.

In addition to his research and teaching, Dr. Mulcahy contributed much in terms of service. He had an active role in cultural politics at the Louisiana State Legislature as a National Endowment for the Humanities Scholar-in-Residence. Early in his career, Kevin served as the Cultural Adviser to the Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives and as Chairman of the Louisiana House of Representatives Arts Advisory Committee. He has also served on the Board of Directors of the Baton Rouge Arts Council.

In addition to these formal roles, over the years Kevin served as a mentor to many students. In 2020, 225 Magazine ran a feature story about LSU Athletic Director Scott Woodward who singled out Kevin as having a tremendous influence on his life. In the article Mr. Woodward noted:

“I was dating my high school sweetheart at the time, and she and I did things that most undergraduates don’t do at a big public university—and that’s be treated like you’re at a small liberal arts college, which Dr. Mulcahy did,” Woodward says. “Within the LSU world, I had a guy in Dr. Mulcahy who took interest in my education to broaden me not only as a student but as a thoughtful citizen. … We went to ethnic restaurants, we went to foreign films, we did different things, went to different lectures, and he was always encouraging us to do outside reading.”

This is just an example of one life among countless others he touched over his four decades at LSU. His presence in our scholarly community will be missed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_V._Mulcahy

Kevin V. Mulcahy - Wikipedia Kevin Vincent Mulcahy is the Sheldon Beychok Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Public Administration at Louisiana State University, where he has taught since 1980.

https://www.instagram.com/kevinmulcahylsu/

Kevin Mulcahy (@kevinmulcahylsu) • Instagram photos and videos 25 Followers, 56 Following, 21 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Kevin Mulcahy ()

Cynthia, CC, DuBois was first a student and my research assistant in the Department of Political Science At Louisiana State University starting in 2007.

She was one of those extraordinary young people who make an indelible mark on one’s intellectual and moral consciousness.
That she was a stellar academic success is evidence by her summa cm laude baccalaureate and her prized Honors College thesis in her second major, Agricultural Economics. This subject was obviously an homage to her beloved mother who until recently taught for decades at Ponchatoula High School and directed FAA activities there and at the national level. CC was also very active nationally.

She was a prize-winning equestrian and raised her own horse. I still have a picture of her among the USA Today All-American College students with her horse. It should be noted that not only was she the recipient of a highly prestigious Truman Fellowship, But she was the first woman at LSU to be so honored.

Coming to LSU almost 38 years ago from costal Connecticut and a Ph.D from Brown University, CC introduced me to a world about which I knew nothing and came to appreciate and somewhat understand.
Rather extraordinarily, she became the chief editorial assistant of an academic journal in cultural policy research that I co-edited. She was also my principal research assistant and steady hand guiding my publications and papers for numerous international cultural conferences.

We were something of an intellectual odd-couple in our exchange of ideas on agricultural and cultural issues. As is often the case, it is by your students that you are taught, but I would never have imagined learning about genetically modified food. Nor would I have seen myself at the Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival under CC’s tutelage.

To be preceded in death by a former student can not But be painful. And as one surviving cancer for almost four years, I can comprehend the formidable challenges that she faced in her gallant battle. It is an element of the unfathomable design of Providence that she did not prevail.
But she was certainly no victim.
Her courageous spirit remained unbroken.

Before her death, CC sent me her 2007 Outstanding Sophomore Plaque of 2007; as noted, the year that our collaboration began. When I see it on my desk, I do not see it as a memento mori, but as a memento vitae: a remembrance not of death, but of the enduring life of the human spirit. Professor Kevin V Mulcahy

This year marks my thirty-fifth anniversary at LSU. It is also a year in which I have passed a significant chronological marker and am a one-year cancer survivor (may the people at Mary Bird Perkins be blessed). As is demanded at a Research One university, LSU faculty members are typically engaged in scholarly and scientific projects that are not always highly visible.

Yet, it is often unheralded labor that supports LSU in maintaining its place among the top-tier of American universities. There is also an incredible amount of service provided by the faculty in advising students, managing the business of their departments, and promoting LSU’s visibility through participation in professional conferences. I did have cause to reflect on these thirty-five years at LSU. There is no question that the university has provided me, and so many other faculty, with the opportunity to live the life of the mind.

As we would all acknowledge the support provided by parents and mentors, there is something incredibly blessed in what has been afforded to us as professors. We have been supported and encouraged in pursuing the hallowed trinity of this examined life. How does one express proper gratitude to the people of Louisiana for allowing some like myself to have such a privileged life? A life that can be realized through reading books, teaching about books, and writing books. The response, if put too simply, is thank you.

Men: Shut the [expletive deleted] Up about Women

Academic protocol typically dictates not speaking ill of a graduate of one’s university; Rod Dreher is a graduate of LSU in Journalism. History teaches us that no ruling class has ever left the stage of history quietly; Mr. Dreher and Rep. Havard seem to be proof of this. Mr. Dreher exhibits a degree of intellectual Know-Nothingism and Lookist philosophy that borders on the perversely obscurantist.

Since establishing bona fide’s seems to be necessary, I came to LSU thirty-six years ago after receiving my PhD from Brown University. I have been honored with three Fulbright distinctions. I have just completed my seventh and first post-cancer book with the indefatigable help of a dedicated team of undergraduate research assistants.

There was nothing funny about Rep. Havard’s “joke.” To defend it as such is the usual excuse of the male hegemon who has objectified and commodified women as a seeming obligation. Mr. Dreher tells us that Louisiana is “different.” The things that are never different are the abysmal state of public education (44th nationally); draconian levels of incarceration (1st nationally); the appalling number of children living in poverty (49th nationally).

Rather than vulgar jokes about women, the efforts of our elected representatives might address equal pay for equal work, paid maternity leave, and sensible accommodation for transgender individuals. Most important, there is a critical need for healthcare access for women and their children. The fact that women’s reproductive decision-making is almost exclusively determined by men reflects the national underrepresentation of women in legislative bodies: 12% in Louisiana; 20% in Congress.

I am proud to consider myself a feminist. Coming from the Greatest Generation, all of my family served our country, some with great distinction. My Mother was in the first group of women in the Navy. She was also a twenty-five year Federal civil servant. She joined a New Deal agency as a young woman and attended George Washington University at night. She raised my sister and me while caring for my father during his gallant, but losing, battle to alcoholism. She also endured a lifelong problem with her weight. My Mother’s gift of a Will of Titanium enabled me to endure a highly aggressive radiation/chemotherapy treatment. Because of her Grace, I am surviving cancer for two and a half years.

Louisiana is “backwards” and “eccentric” as Mr. Dreher observes. Certain eccentricities provide a wonderful sense of charm and ambiance. Backwardness, as exemplified by Louisiana’s educational, criminal justice, and childhood poverty policies, is not so charming. Finally, facilitating the exploitation of women (as well as some men) is another one of those eccentricities that one does not wish to cultivate.