OAN’s Brooke Mallory
1:45 PM – Thursday, June 1, 2023
Lori Lightfoot, Chicago’s former mayor, said on Thursday that she will be heading to Boston in the fall to start teaching classes at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Advertisement
“I’ve always loved teaching, and the opportunity to get back to it is something I am excited about,” Lightfoot said on Twitter. “Looking forward to sharing the experiences and perceptions I learned governing through one of the most challenging times in American history.”
According to Harvard T.H. Chan School spokeswoman Maya Brownstein, Lightfoot will be a Richard L. and Ronay A. Menschel Senior Leadership Fellow and will be teaching a course in the Health, Policy, and Management department tentatively titled “Health Policy and Leadership.”
During her time on campus, Lightfoot will have regular office hours where she can speak with faculty, staff, and students, according to Brownstein.
Michelle Williams, dean of the school of public health, said in a statement that she was “delighted” to welcome the former mayor of Chicago.
“As mayor, she showed strong leadership in advocating for health, equity, and dignity for every resident of Chicago, from her successful drive to raise the minimum wage to her declaration of structural racism as a public health crisis to her innovative initiative to bring mental health services to libraries and shelters,” Williams said.
In 2019, Lightfoot had easily won the mayor’s race in Chicago, making history as the city’s first Black woman and openly homosexual mayor. In the midst of many national racial justice demonstrations and the COVID-19 pandemic, she was in charge of the third-largest city in the country.
However, Lightfoot’s handling of the pandemic and her concerns related to public safety drew criticism from many opponents. She ended up placing third in a vote in February, losing her bid for reelection, and becoming the city’s first one-term mayor in forty years.
In a subsequent run-off election, Liberal candidate Brandon Johnson, 47, a Cook County Commissioner and union organizer, had defeated Conservative Paul Vallas, 69, a former city budget director.
Johnson took the mayor’s oath of office last month in Chicago.
Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts