When Mary McCullough was recruited in 1995 to lead the LMU School of Education’s credential and master’s degree programs in leadership and administration, she immediately began inquiring with her colleagues about a degree program she found to be conspicuously absent. How could a well-regarded school of education—particularly one that was part of a university committed to Jesuit principles of leadership and social justice—not offer a doctoral degree?
“My Ph.D. had helped me obtain various leadership positions in public and private education,” McCullough recalls. “The charisms of this institution were perfect for preparing leaders, but without a doctoral program, we were never going to cultivate a future superintendent, assistant superintendent, or principal of a large comprehensive school. We would never be able to walk that last mile with the leader of Catholic education in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.”
After receiving the support of SOE’s then-director, Fr. Al Koppes, O.Carm., to advocate to the university leadership for a doctoral program at SOE, McCullough embarked on a journey that imparted its own leadership lessons—including the importance of persistence. It would take nine years and the induction of a new LMU president, Fr. Robert B. Lawton, S.J., but ultimately the dream came to fruition. This year, SOE celebrated the 20th anniversary of its Ed.D. in Educational Leadership for Social Justice program. In just two decades, the program has produced a community of hundreds of educators, administrators, and scholars who are making their mark through their inspirational work in California, across the country, and internationally.
Today, many Ed.D. programs have made social justice a focal point of their curriculum. But such a focus was not common 20-plus years ago, when McCullough first began working with her research team and SOE faculty colleagues to gather data and envision the curriculum for LMU’s program. “We knew it was a risk, but it was very obvious that this is who we are at LMU and how we are different,” McCullough says of the decision to place social justice at the forefront of the Ed.D. program. “We wanted to prepare leaders who would say that no one would be marginalized under their watch—leaders who understood how to ask the right questions, gather the right resources, get the right people at the table, and look critically at how to ensure that everyone is well served.”
Over the last 20 years, that vision has been realized — initially through the leadership of McCullough and colleague Magaly Lavadenz, who served as associate director; and in the ensuing years under directors who have included faculty members Jill Bickett, William Parham, Karie Huchting, and Rebecca Stephenson. In June 2024, the mantle was passed to current co-directors Cynthia Alcantar and Dolores Delgado Bernal, both of whom expressed admiration for the leadership that has brought the program to this point.
“Having ‘social justice’ in the name of the degree communicates very publicly who we are,” Alcantar says. “It’s helped us to draw a highly diverse group of candidates who come from underserved communities and are seeking a program that will help them name what they are seeing, while also giving them tools to change it.”
Delgado Bernal notes that the program’s strong faculty commitment and one-on-one support have contributed to a high rate of conferral; approximately 98 percent of students who enroll go on to complete the program. “Our candidates obtain the knowledge and language to identify injustices and inequities, and the program’s practice orientation and cohort model provide them with colleagues they can brainstorm with to find solutions that will meet the needs of young people,” Delgado Bernal explains.
Alcantar and Delgado Bernal are continuing to revamp the program as it enters its next chapter, building on the work of past chairs. Such a program, they say, must remain attuned to the evolving sociopolitical climate and needs of students, including the increasing number of young people living in poverty as well as mental health concerns for students and their families. The program has re-articulated its social justice focus as a commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, anti-racism, and justice (DEIAJ), coinciding with the addition of faculty whose interest and expertise is in racial justice, and coursework and student learning outcomes have been reconceptualized to better reflect this intersectional work.
McCullough, who has remained active through her participation on the doctoral committee, has been gratified by the continuing evolution of the program she originally championed. “It’s changed for the good,” she says. “But what hasn’t changed is the rigor of the program, with students doing their own research and turning theory into practice. Our Ed.D. graduates are highly sought after and have become leaders in public, charter, and Catholic education settings. And wherever they work, they bring a distinct vision—knowing how to be leaders for all, so that everyone in their purview is respected, included, resourced, heard, and invited to be their best selves.”