League of Women Voters of Naperville

How Are Federal Funding Cuts and Policies Affecting Research In Higher Education?
2025-12-10 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Zoom Meeting
Join us for our December Ideas Forum on Wednesday, December 10th, at 7:00 pm via Zoom.
In February, the government announced cuts to funding and grants to research institutions across the U.S. Around the same time, immigration raids in the Chicago metro area began in earnest. What happens to research and lab experiments when funding is revoked? How are student relations affected by the active presence of federal immigration agents in the community?
Dr. Timothy Koh, professor of kinesiology and nutrition at the University of Illinois at Chicago’s College of Applied Health Sciences, and Dr. Jeni Hebert-Beirne, professor of community health sciences at UIC’s School of Public Health, have both been dealing with the impacts of these and other federal actions, including DEI mandates. They will discuss how they’re navigating the changes to their research, classes, and institution.
This event is free and open to the public.
Dr. Koh has been focused on the mechanisms that regulate tissue inflammation and healing, in the context of diabetes, where impaired healing can lead to amputation or death. Dr. Koh is also passionate about training students for their own research careers.

Dr. Hebert-Beirne is a community-based participatory researcher, doing qualitative research to promote health equity and justice, particularly in Chicago. Her scholarship focuses on people most impacted by health inequities.

How Secure ARE Your Voting Rights?
2026-01-14 19:00 - 20:00
Join us on January 14th at 7:00 pm via Zoom for our Monthly Ideas Forum.
Current pending legislation, such as the SAVE Act (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act), executive orders, and court cases, could negatively impact your ability to vote and for your vote to be counted. During this discussion, you’ll learn about what changes are being proposed, the burdens they would place on voters, and how to advocate for free and fair elections.
This event is free, but please register: https://rebrand.ly/Jan14-IdeasForum.
Our speakers:
Dr. David Goldberg is a Professor of Political Science at the College of DuPage, teaching international relations, comparative politics, and American politics. He earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from Northern Illinois University in 2003. Dr. Goldberg has an interest in democracy and democratic norms in Latin America and the Caribbean Community, U.S. foreign policies, and international relations.

Brandy Johnson is a decorated and widely published Assistant Professor with Southern Illinois University Simmons Law School. While in private practice, Professor Johnson specialized in Illinois and Missouri workers’ compensation law and appellate advocacy, and gained experience in premises liability, personal injury, products liability, and other areas of insurance defense. She serves on the board for the Illinois Chapter of the United Spinal Association.

This event is co-hosted with AAUW – Naperville.
