This piece builds upon the Advancing Research talk I delivered in March 2025, combining reflection, warning, and calls to action. It’s about: (1) administrative burden and design as exclusion; (2) research as a site of power (not just empathy or neutrality); (3) trauma by design, and the systems built around cruelty; and (4) what we can still do, even if this bill passes.

I had the great honor of being able to deliver the commencement speech at the 2025 graduation ceremony for the Boston College School of Social Work on May 19, 2025. This post includes my full speech.

Image description: colorful pink, red, orange, and purple illustration of flames against an orange and purple background.

Image description: a photo by Nathan Cima of Saltworks of Aigues-Mortes in France. The left half of the image is of the dull pink saltworks, with a discernable pathway separating it from a dull brown body of water.