{"id":3921,"date":"2024-10-10T15:17:37","date_gmt":"2024-10-10T15:17:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/case\/?p=3921"},"modified":"2025-06-04T15:55:11","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T19:55:11","slug":"meet-kimberly-saks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/case\/2024\/10\/10\/meet-kimberly-saks\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Kimberly Saks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Assistant Professor of Political Science & Pre-Law Advisor<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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The first thing you notice in Kimberly Saks\u2019 office is all the brightly colored toys peppered throughout the texts on political and legal theory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt started quite randomly; I had been given a toy, and later that day, a student commented on it while we were meeting,\u201d she remembers. \u201cIt seemed to put them at ease, and I realized that this was a way of connecting with them, that Professor Saks isn\u2019t too serious; she\u2019s approachable. So I started bringing in more and more toys, and these touchstones have helped build community with students and faculty. Creating and maintaining a community takes time and is challenging, and I\u2019ve learned that these small acts help build the foundation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before joining UM-Flint in 2013, Kimberly\u2019s community focused primarily on her labor and employment law practice. She was working in the Equal Opportunity Office at Wayne State University when she had an aha moment that inspired a new path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019d always been into politics in some way, largely because of my father and his father. I originally went into law because I wanted to help people navigate through systems that sometimes feel like they\u2019re designed to be obstructive,\u201d she shares. \u201cWhen I found campaign materials in my grandfather\u2019s attic \u2013 he\u2019d run for city council in Southfield \u2013 it got me thinking: Why do people run for office? That was the central question that led me to grad school and to explore the narratives around public policy \u2013 what moves people to have the policy positions they have, how policy is framed in the community, how we talk about policy, and, ultimately, how it\u2019s enacted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kimberly also cites her aunt, a former career and college counselor at Southfield High School, as instrumental in her academic career. \u201cI am a first-generation college graduate, so my parents couldn\u2019t really help me with how to apply for college or scholarships or what academic opportunities were available after high school,\u201d she explains. \u201cMy aunt would bring me to work with her, and I could see students interacting with college reps and learning about the whole process. She also encouraged me and my writing \u2013 she thought I was a great writer! \u2013 and both experiences helped build my confidence and set me on the path to academia.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After graduating from Eastern Michigan University with bachelor\u2019s degrees in political science and French, Kimberly continued law school at the University of Detroit Mercy. She began private practice in 2007 and eventually worked at Wayne State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI enjoyed the work that I did there, but I think the biggest takeaway from that experience was that my skills and interests aligned better with the academic environment,\u201d Kimberly says. \u201cI love reading case law and was excited by the prospect of sharing with my students how to use it to interpret public policy and to see the law dynamically. I also get to work with some really cool people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kimberly started at UM-Flint as a lecturer in political science<\/a>, and when an assistant professor position opened in 2022, she successfully applied for it. In addition to her teaching duties, she manages the college\u2019s graduate program in public administration and advises both the pre-law professional program and UM-Flint\u2019s Moot Court team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne of my favorite experiences at Flint so far has been related to the Moot Court team, specifically when we traveled to Wooster College in Ohio for the regional competition in the Fall of 2023,\u201d she remembers. \u201cWe spent a lot of time together, preparing and practicing, and then the team made it into the playoffs, which was so much fun. It was great to connect with students off campus and in a new environment and to show off how hard they worked.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a>
Kimberly Saks with her Moot Court students, taking off for their trip to Ohio for the regional competition in Fall 2023<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Another of Kimberly\u2019s favorite accomplishments blends her passion for building community with her previous experience in labor and employment law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt took two years of hard work, but our union was finally recognized in April 2024, and we\u2019ll begin bargaining this fall,\u201d she notes. \u201cAlmost every public 4-year institution in the state has a union protecting tenure-track faculty, and I\u2019m incredibly proud that the Flint campus is the first in the University of Michigan system to establish it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before working at UM-Flint, Kimberly hadn\u2019t spent much time in Flint, but she has since fallen in love with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHonestly, I didn\u2019t expect Flint to crawl into my heart the way it has, and I\u2019m so grateful that I get to be part of this city, its history, and its future,\u201d she shares. \u201cEven when things are chaotic, there are always sparks of hope and ways of organizing that Flint does differently. It\u2019s one of those places that people think of showing the cracks in our democracy and society, how it\u2019s broken. But, as Cohen sang, those cracks are how the light gets in<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regarding her future projects, Kimberly is working on a book that explores how the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization<\/em><\/a> <\/em>decision impacts IVF access and availability, especially for specific communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m looking at the current laws in all 50 states through a reproductive justice lens that has been pioneered by black feminists, with a focus on how fat, LGBTQIA+, or disabled folks might be adversely impacted by legal limitations,\u201d she explains. \u201cIVF clinics already overlook these groups, and this decision marginalizes them further. Using the lens of justice rather than choice, I hope to start the discussion around who gets to be a parent in our society, who is supported in that, and why.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Kimberly\u2019s scholarly endeavors won\u2019t detract from her primary focus: Her students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know it sounds cliche, but my absolute favorite part of this job is the students,\u201d she exclaims. \u201cThey remind me of myself as a first-generation college student, and I love supporting them through this experience. I also want them to leave here with the understanding that our laws aren\u2019t just old rulings shut away in dust-covered books somewhere; they are dynamic, and the policies they inform can impact our day-to-day lives. Knowing how to interpret, use, and even change them can, in turn, change lives.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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It\u2019s okay not to have it all figured out<\/strong> \u2013 in fact, it\u2019s better not to!

Make plans, but be flexible.<\/strong>

Know that you\u2019re going to change<\/strong>, that your plans will change<\/strong>, and be open to exploring<\/strong> new options.

That is your only task right now!

Be open.<\/strong><\/p>Kimberly’s insights<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Kimberly Loves…<\/h3>\n\n\n\n