Student Affairs NOW

Student Affairs NOW


Shaking the Table: Survival and Healing Amongst Identity Center Practitioners 

November 26, 2025

In this episode of Student Affairs NOW, host Heather Shea talks with Dr. Jonathan A. McElderry and Dra. Stephanie Hernandez Rivera about their forthcoming book Shaking the Table: Survival and Healing Amongst Identity Center Practitioners. They discuss what it means to “shake the table” in higher education and why centering the voices of identity center practitioners is especially urgent amid increasing resistance to DEI work. The conversation explores themes of survival, healing, and the power of storytelling to sustain those doing this labor of care and resistance. The episode also offers a glimpse into their upcoming second volume, Still Shaking the Table.