Explainer in Chief
So, it should come as no surprise that after graduating with a political science degree from Wellesley College in 1995, Wofford enrolled in Duke University School of Law.
Everything was going according to plan. Until it didn’t.
“It’s a weird situation, but I figured out over halfway through law school that I didn’t want to be a lawyer anymore,” she confesses. “There was just a gut feeling that this was the wrong path for me.”
She decided to pause law school for a year to figure out what she wanted to do. The pause did not work, so she returned to her original plan. A year later, she started taking classes again and in 2001 graduated magna cum laude with a law degree but no job or plan.
No problem.
She was offered the opportunity to teach an American government class as an adjunct instructor at the University of South Carolina Upstate. She knew she had found her true calling on the first day of class.
“I fell in love with teaching right then and there,” she says. “That is how I got on the path of becoming a college professor who taught and studied law instead of a practicing lawyer.”
Soon after earning a doctorate in political science from Emory University in 2011, Wofford accepted a teaching position at the College.
It has been a great fit.
Not only is Wofford a professor in the political science department, but she is also the director of the prelaw advising program at the College. Her unique educational training helps her maneuver both fields easily. Her research interests in American politics and the U.S. legal system have come in handy when examining the many complex issues that have recently been dominating the news cycle.
Wofford believes this is a historic time in America because of how political power is now exercised in this country. We’re in a critical period where many institutions are being tested, she notes, and American politics is extremely polarized, but one of the areas of hope she sees is with the courts.
“The judicial branch is doing exactly what it’s supposed to be doing, which is calmly, slowly and rationally think about how political power should be exercised in this country,” she says. “The system continues to operate, and the people are bringing cases to the courts. Courts are hearing the cases and making very legally sound decisions.”
And rising above politics, as they are supposed to do. “They are expected to use rationale, logic and legal thinking to come to the best decision, regardless of what chaos is happening in the political world. I think they’re doing that.”
Wofford’s expertise on the Constitution has not gone unnoticed. News organizations such as The Washington Post, The New York Times and National Public Radio have reached out to her for analysis of current events. Her legal and political writings have also been published both nationally and internationally.
“So many people thought I was crazy to walk away from the legal path, but I would never trade that for what I get to do now,” she says. “It’s a bit of a cliché, but teaching young people to better understand politics and the law is my small way of making the world better.”