Lord Lauds MS Degree Focus on Research
A strategic campaign planner and organizer with Strippers United, Meagan Stoney Lord M.S. ’25 has found that the ILR School’s MS degree program has given her the tools to conduct the community-focused research that will assist her in the union’s fight for a more just and equitable workspace.
What educational and career experiences led to your time at ILR and motivated you to join the MS program?
My time in the UCLA Labor Studies undergraduate program and working as a strategic campaigner with Strippers United on the Star Garden campaign helped guide me to the ILR master's program. I wanted the resources and space to deepen my research knowledge so I could better map and investigate the legal, yet highly stigmatized and marginalized stripping industry.
When I was a young worker, my time as a stripper shaped what I thought was acceptable and normal in a workplace. Discrimination, harassment and wage theft were just "part of the job." As a worker, I could either accept these conditions or leave the industry. That was then, but now strippers across the country are choosing a third option: they are fighting for greater collective autonomy and voice in their workplace, and we are throwing everything we have at our opponents to help strippers achieve this vision. It is a hard fight, and stripper activists need greater access to resources, mentors and community-focused research. I came to ILR determined to find them.
What courses have been especially impactful so far?
Intro to Labor Research with Kate Bronfenbrenner, Labor and Employment Law with Professor Risa Lieberwitz, Advocacy and Debate with Sam Nelson, and Leadership Assessment for Managers with visiting lecturer Jess. D Cisco.
Intro to Labor Research helped me learn how to conduct and write corporate research reports. This helped me better understand how to research business ownership and its stakeholders. Labor and Employment Law taught me how to conduct legal research and write a brief. Advocacy and Debate helped me strengthen my voice and better defend and advocate for my positions. And Leadership Assessment for Managers helped me learn how to better recognize and communicate with teammates through workplace disagreements and navigate the different communication styles of my peers.
What about the MS experience has been surprising?
The greatest reward of this program has been the absolutely priceless value of academic mentorship during my thesis research process. The conversations I had with my academic advisors helped guide and inspire me to achieve more than I ever thought myself capable of. I am leaving my time at ILR with a thesis I can feel proud of and treasure for the rest of my life. My advisors, Professor Lieberwitz and Professor Gali Racabi, trusted my vision, allowed me space to dig deeply, and posed questions to my research that led me to new and exciting avenues I had never considered before. I came in as a worker and an activist, but my advisors helped give me the push to call myself a researcher confidently.
Where do you hope the M.S. program takes you in your career?
Career-wise, I hope my time at ILR will help continue to build the runway for me and other strippers to continue engaging in community-focused research that will continue to raise strippers' voices of resistance and resilience and build our power and influence in the greater labor movement. We will continue to show up, speak up, and fight for our inclusion in policy spaces that shape our work and how it is done.
What are your thoughts for those considering the MS program?
I think those with a strong sense of self-direction and a vision for what they want to research will treasure the access they will have to the incredible Catherwood Library and its team of outstanding librarians. They are responsive, kind, and helped guide me with the same amount of grace and dignity, asking entry-level questions as they were meeting me one-on-one for more challenging searches. I never left the library without an answer or clear guidance on where to look to find more information.
In your free time, what do you do for fun?
In my free time, I continue to volunteer virtually with Strippers United. When I'm relaxing, I do needlework while my husband creates music. We hosted a number of parties and, in the early fall, invited the MS and MILRs to our home for our music set at PorchFest, an annual Ithaca music festival in the Fall Creek neighborhood. We also enjoyed playing music and having picnics with our bubble machine in a secret spot at the Cornell Arboretum in the spring and summer. It is easy to find spots for rest and tranquility in the natural spaces around campus.