I grew up in Lafayette, Louisiana and graduated from St. Thomas More Catholic High School. I received my undergraduate degree in English from Tulane University and a PhD in English from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where I worked with the late American literary historian and women’s studies scholar, Nina Baym. I served on the faculty of Louisiana State University, before accepting a joint appointment in English and Africana Studies at Tulane University.
I earned a Juris Doctor degree from Loyola University in New Orleans in 2007 and a Master of Judicial Studies from Duke University in 2025.
Throughout my career, I have been the recipient of numerous awards and honors for my research, teaching, and community service, including a Woodrow Wilson Early Career Foundation Fellowship, a Suzanne and Stephen Weiss Presidential Fellowship, the Louise and Leonard Riggio Endowed Social Entrepreneurship Professorship, the Roddy Richard Lifetime Achievement Award, and an NAACP Award for Education & Representation. In addition to my work in the classroom, in the courtroom, and in my community, I count among my greatest accomplishments watching my daughters, Ciel and Cydney, become compassionate, fearless change agents, and marrying my best friend and lifetime backgammon challenger, Corey.
