Tori Callais

Fellow

Tori Callais is a fourth-year doctoral candidate in the higher education program at Loyola University Chicago. She assists with all the after-school workshops and the research side of the Summer Ethos program. Prior to enrolling at Loyola, Callais worked as a practitioner in the areas of orientation, first year experience, college access and state government. Her research interests include critical whiteness studies, organizational change, and the intersection of racial equity and STEM education. Callais received her bachelor’s degree from Louisiana State University. She majored in liberal arts with a concentration on women and gender studies and minors in sociology and social work. She holds a master’s in higher education administration from Louisiana State University. 

What drew you to this program?

I was working on another grant that is focused on increasing the number of racially minoritized students in STEM at the college level. Then I met Bill and learned he was doing the same thing with high school students. 

Did you ever see a high school student have an “aha” moment during the workshops?

Yes. Bill introduced them to the concept of neurocriminology. After we discussed it for a bit, a student said, “Oh yeah, I saw that on a tv show one time.” And then the student explained the plot of the show to the other students, and I watched as the light bulbs went off. I felt like they were thinking, “Oh, I can think like a STEM person.” Students have so much knowledge, from their own personal experiences than they realize they have.