Jake’s project, “Redistributive Politics: A Look at Working Class Political Attitudes,” challenges traditional views of class and political behavior, utilizing survey data and focus groups. Working with Assistant Professor Klara Fredriksson, Jake gained valuable insights into the research process, from gaining approval from the Institutional Research Board to crafting useful survey questions and conducting focus groups.

Jake says that they learned a lot about themselves and the research process. “I tried to tackle a big topic, and was only able to scratch the surface…Looking at class/income in relation to political attitudes is difficult, and not only are there very few researchers who engage with the topic in the intersectional way I attempted, but there is also little accessible data on political attitudes in relation to class/income.”

A political science and critical identity studies double major, Jake plans to continue this research, and hopes to pursue a PhD in social policy.

Jake’s interests in the politics of the working class are not just academic. They have been a Democracy Fellow for the Campus Vote Project since their first year, promoting political participation and voter turn-out among college students. Jake was one of the leaders of the Beloit Student Workers United group, which successfully established an undergraduate student union in 2025 and recently won its first contract. Before leaving for study broad in Sweden in Fall 2025, Jake worked as a resident assistant and for the college’s Outdoor Recreation Department. They also run cross-country and track.