Dr. Cody Melcher and Dr. Annie McGlynn-Wright have joined the Sociology Department. Dr. Melcher joined the faculty of Loyola University New Orleans in 2022 after receiving his Ph.D. in sociology from the City University of New York. His research broadly examines the intersection of class and race, specifically the effect of economic well-being on public opinion and political behavior. His work has been published in Political Behavior, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Critical Sociology, Labor: Studies in Working Class History, the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History, Dialectical Anthropology, and elsewhere. Dr. McGlynn-Wright received her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Washington. From 2019-2021, she held an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Law & Society at the Newcomb Institute of Tulane University. Her research focuses on factors that influence policy development and the implications for race, gender, and class equity. She examines these issues across three sites: health and social welfare programs, criminal justice, and education systems. Her research has been published in Social Problems, Race & Social Problems, Race & Justice, and other outlets.