Kaley M Aldrich
UW Honors Graduates
Kaley M Aldrich

Political Science & English
Human Rights
Designation: College Honors
Honors Grads 2020/2021
Proudest Moment: Getting to share the email naming me a Rhodes Finalist with my Papa!
Thesis: We Have No Choice: Roe v. Wade, Black Women, & The Afterlife of Slavery (Political Science); Atwood’s Gilead: Exaggerating Patriarchal Governance in Speculative Fiction as a Form of Political Protest (English)
kkaldrich@nyu.eduHi, my name is Kaley Aldrich, or KK, as my nanny kids call me, and I am graduating with a BA in Political Science and English. My time at UW was well spent learning from brilliant instructors and peers, and caring for others. I have been spending the last four years dedicating my education to critically researching American institutions and their failure to promote reproductive justice. As a research fellow at the Center for American Politics and Public Policy, my work on how ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment impacts sexual subordination outcomes in the United States, introduces The Sexual Subordination Index (SSI). The SSI quantitatively measures women's sexual subordination by state. Applying my quantitative skillset from my fellowship, I've gone on to create The Abortion Access Index and The Reproductive Justice Index, measuring how access to reproductive healthcare differs on the basis of race, class, and geography. My fellowship also inspired me to take on departmental honors in both majors, where I focus on the concept of choice in Roe v. Wade, and Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale" as an important piece of rhetoric for examining reproductive politics in the United States.
In my personal life, I am most proud of my dog Alta Ruth "Muffin," whom I adopted before the start of my Senior year. She is a Rottweiler/Shih Tzu mix, who absolutely loves her mama. After graduating Alta and I are moving to New York City, where I will attend New York University to begin my pre-doctoral Masters in Politics!