Caroline Heldman
Caroline Heldman
Caroline Elisabeth Heldman (b. 1971/1972) is a professo r and political pundit. She currently teaches courses related politics and public policy at Occidental College in Los Angeles, California. She was a contributor at Fox News from 2008-2011.
Education
In 1993, Professor Heldman graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor's degree in Business Management from Washington State University. She then earned her Master's from Rutgers University in 1998 and subsequently graduated from the same institute with a Ph.D. in Political Science.
For her Doctorate's, Heldman's dissertation was on political consumerism in American politics.
Career
Professor
Dr. Caroline Heldman's research has been featured in the top journals in her field, including the American Political Science Review, the Journal of Politics, Political Psychology, and Political Communications.
Dr. Heldman’s work has also been featured in popular publications, including the New York Times , U.S. News & World Report , Ms. Magazine , The Huffington Post , andThe Daily Beast.
Rutgers University
Dr. Caroline Heldman has been teaching courses on politics and public policy since 1995.
She began as a doctoral student in Rutgers University teaching introductory courses on the U.S. government and New Jersey politics.
During her tenure there, she was also a visiting professor at Fairfield University; she taught there from 2000 until 2001.
Whittier College
In the fall of 2002, when Dr. Helman earned her Doctorate's, she left Rutgers and joined Whittier College's Political Science department as an Associate Professor. From 2002 to 2006, she taught the following courses:
American Government and Politics
Political Methodology
Women in American Politics
California Politics
Race and Ethnicity in American Politics, Parties, Interest Groups, and the Media
Advanced Research Methods
Washington Winterim
Nixon’s Complex Legacy
Politics Beyond the Classroom
Occidental College
In 2006, Caroline Heldman became an Associated Professor at Occidental College. She taught courses in various subjects including a course on the politics regarding Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans:
American Politics and Policy
The American Presidency
Gender and Politics
Mass Media and American Politics
Research Methods in Political Science
Advanced Research Methods
Disaster Politics: New Orleans in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina
Campaign Semester
Campaigns and Elections
Other Professions
Professor Heldman has worked extensively in the private sector, including as the General Manager of Bio-Energy Systems, Inc., a contract manufacturer and packager of natural supplements, and Research Manager for Consumer Health Sciences.
Dr. Heldman has been active in “real world” politics as a congressional staffer, campaign manager, and campaign consultant.
She drove to New Orleans the week after Hurricane Katrina to assist with rescue and relief efforts. While there, co-founded the New Orleans Women’s Shelter and the Lower Ninth Ward Living Museum.
Anti-Rape Advocacy
While teaching at Occidental College, Dr. Heldman has been active in the new campus anti-rape movement.
She was the lead Title IX complainant against Occidental College, co-founded the Oxy Sexual Assault Coalition with student Audrey Logan, co-founded End Rape on Campus (EROC), and co-founded Faculty Against Rape (FAR). She works with survivor activists across the nation to hold their schools accountable.
Media Appearances
Dr. Heldman has made over 500 media appearances as a political and social commentator, including over one hundred appearances on Fox News. She has been interviewed on Katie Couric and the Rosie O'Donnell Show
She has also appeared on the documentary film projects, including The Mask You Live In (produced by Jennifer Siebel Newsom), Miss Representation, Aftermath: New Orleans in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina, andInformant.
Sexual Harassment on Fox News
Caroline Heldman has testified that she experienced sexual harassment and gender discrimination from three Fox News employees: Bill O'Reilly, Woody Fraser, and Eric Bolling.
Bill O'Reilly
Caroline Heldman, Perquita Burgess, Wendy Walsh speak out on MSNBC about their accusations towards Bill O'Reilly sexually harassing them (April 20, 2017)
In April 2017, Heldman filed a sexual harassment complaint with Fox against Bill O’Reilly.
Hours later, O’Reilly was fired by the network; it’s unclear if Heldman’s complaint directly made an impact with him being fired, since other woman made allegations towards him, as well.
On a Facebook post, she said:
O’Reilly was creepy in person; told me “when I was in college, professors didn’t look like you”; then called me “hysterical” during a show, edited the interview, and retaliated by never having me on his show again.
Woody Fraser
In May 2017, Heldman wrote a declaration stating that Woody Fraser made sexual advances towards her on three different occasions.
In the same document, she provides evidence that she did not become an employee of Fox News because she chose not to have a sexual relationship with him:
In 2010, Woody Fraser was my mentor at Fox television network. He used coded language (an "arrangement") on three different occasions, once in New York and twice in Los Angeles, that he wanted to have a sexual relationship with me. I repeatedly rejected his advances. ** [...]On January 15, 2011, in response to an email I sent Mr. Fraser asking for advice on how to become a contributor on Fox, he wrote "Regarding 'Contributors'-we just lopped off over 30. My push is younger-attractive-specifically smart with life expectancy of 5 years on Fox. Gee? I wonder who we know who would fit that description?????? [sic]" [...]Mr. Fraser insinuated on several occasions that contributorship at Fox was contingent upon me having a sexual relationship with him. Even though I was a popular guest with numerous appearances and high ratings (according to Mr. Fraser), I was not offered a contributorship because I rebuffed Mr. Fraser's sexual advances. On June 21, 2010, I pitched a show to Mr. Fraser called "The Green Room." He then pitched my show idea to Roger Ailes and it became Fox's show "The Five." We discussed the specifics of the show for nearly a year. In July of 2011, I met with Mr. Fraser shortly after the show was approved to see if I would be hosting the show, which I assumed I would since I came up with the idea. During the meeting, he asked my age, and when I told him I was 38, he made a rude face and told me I was too old to be the host. I pointed out that Kimberly Guilfoyle was 43 and that she was a host. [...] Mr. Fraser then told me that he could work something out if we could make an "arrangement," Mr. Fraser meant a sexual relationship as he had made it clear on a number of prior occasions that he would help further my career if we were to engage in a sexual relationship.
Eric Bolling
Video clip of Eric Bolling referring to Carolina Heldman as "Dr. McHottie" on the air
On August 5, Heldman took to Facebook to come forward about her experiences with Bolling, both on the air and off the air. In her testimonial, she wrote how he made unwanted advances towards her on several occasions:
I did hundreds of appearances on Fox and Fox Business from 2008 - 2011, and had multiple experiences with Bolling that caused grave concern to my friends and family. Bolling referred to me as "Dr. McHottie" on air on four different occasions, and called me “smart, beautiful, and wrong” on air twice. I pushed back with “Mr. McSexist,” but I shouldn't have had to. This on-air behavior was perfectly acceptable to Fox executives at the time. Bolling would also contact me via phone and text after shows, sometimes to apologize for his behavior (and then do it again), and sometimes just to talk. He said he wanted to fly me out to New York for in-studio hits and to have “fun.” He asked me to have meals with him on several occasions, but I found excuses not to go. Once, he took me up to his office in New York, showed me his baseball jerseys, and in the brief time I was there, let me know that his office was his favorite place to have sex. I know other women have had similar experiences with Bolling, which means that lots of folks at Fox knew about his behavior well before 2017.
Heldman received a lot of backlash following the aforementioned post.
Books
In 2007, Dr. Heldman published her first book -Rethinking Madame President: Are We Ready for a Woman in the White House?- with Lori Cox Han. The book assesses the obstacles women still face to be elected as President of the United States. In addition, they provide theoretical analysis on the harsh political realities still facing women on the road to the White House.
In 2017, she published another book with Cox Han entitled, Women, Power, and Politics: The Fight for Gender Equality in the United States. It offers an analysis of classic and contemporary gender-related issues, focusing on the role of women as active participants in government and the public policies that affect women in their daily lives.
In 2017, she also published another book entitled Protest Politics in the Marketplace: Consumer Activism in the Corporate Age. In this book Caroline emphasizes that consumer activism is a democratizing force that improves political participation, self-governance, and the accountability of corporations and the government. She also investigates the use of these tactics by conservatives.[71]
Next year, Caroline published Sex and Gender in the 2016 Presidential Election, where she analyzes original data such as Twitter hashtags, exit polls, and other public opinion data; goes beyond women-in-politics research to consider gender as a barrier to political equality and describes the media's involvement in perpetuating gender stereotypes.[71]
In addition, with Alissa R. Ackerman and Ian Breckenridge-Jackson she published The New Campus Anti-Rape Movement: Internet Activism and Social Justice about the new Campus Anti-Rape Movement (CARM), the major events of this movement and the role of new laws and social media in facilitating movement successes.[71]
Awards & Accomplishments
Achievement Award from the Millennium Tae Kwon Do Championships (2000)
Key to the College; from Whittier College (2004)
Fourth Degree Black Belt (Master Rank), World Tae Kwon Do Federation (2005)
Marilyn Veich Award for Outstanding Student Service, Whittier College; for her fundraising efforts for domestic violence prevention (2005)
Gracie Award for excellence in broadcasting for the documentary Women in Government (2008) **
V-to-the-10th Award for her work in New Orleans (2008)
Regional finalist for the White House Fellowship (2008)
Personal Life
She lives in Los Angeles, California and New Orleans with her partner, E. They raise 9 cats: Shredder, Puffin, Zora, Bashful, Pretty Boy, Hillary, TimmyC, Phancy Pants, and Phantom.
Master Heldman holds a 4th degree black-belt in Tae kwon do. She is also a martial arts instructor and has been recognized for her promotion and the popularization of the art.