Nicholas Lacy

Biography

Nicholas B. Lacy (he/him) is an organizational communication/communication education/Black Studies PhD candidate in the Lamb School where he researches Black student’s experiences in higher education, Black men’s experiences with U.S. law enforcement, Black Hip-Hop studies, and environmental racism. He has also served as a college administrator (Director of Diversity, Equity, and Belonging) from 2023 to 2024. Nicholas received his B.A. in communication (with honors) from California State University San Marcos (2015) and after a brief stint in law school, he received his M.A. in communication from San Diego State University (2021).

Research and Teaching

As a qualitative researcher, Nicholas focuses on Black people’s experiences navigating organizations/institutions like education, and law enforcement. At present, Nicholas has published 17 total publications with 10 peer reviewed academic journal articles (5 solo authored) in journals like Communication Education, Communication Pedagogy, Communication Instruction, Howard Journal of Communications, and Departures in Critical Qualitative Research. Additionally, Nicholas has 6 top paper awards coming in part from National Communication Association (NCA), Western States Communication Association (WSCA), and Purdue’s Graduate Symposium.

As an instructor, Nicholas has been the instructor of record for EPICS Special Cohorts in COM 114 (Introduction to Presentational Speaking), COM 303 (Intercultural Communication), COM 320 (Small Group Communication), and COM 328 (Communication Diversity in the Workplace, A Rhetorical Approach [*conceived all course materials]). In 2022, Nicholas was nominated Purdue Favorite Faculty by EPICS students, and in 2023, Nicholas received NCA’s Organizational Communication Division’s “Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award.” Nicholas also has experience teaching courses like Workplace Communication and Interpersonal Communication at other higher education institutions.

Nicholas is currently working on his dissertation which investigates Black students experiences traversing minority serving institutions (MSIs) that are not historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) on the West Coast. As his primary research inquiry, Nicholas aspires to contribute heavily to scholarship investigating Black student’s experiences in the US education system.

Awards

Nicholas was nominated by Purdue University as a 2022 Humanities Without Walls Scholar. Also in 2022, Nicholas served as Purdue’s first-ever University Innovation Alliance Doctoral Fellow. In January of 2023, Nicholas was one of nine doctoral students across the world to receive a “K. Patricia Cross Future Leader’s Award” presented by The American Association of Colleges and Universities. In April 2023, Purdue’s African American Studies and Research Center presented Nicholas with the “H.H. Remmers Memorial Award” for outstanding scholarship and leadership. And in 2024, Nicholas received the top Lamb School graduate research award with the “Alan H. Monroe Scholar Award” which acknowledges graduate student’s contributions to research.