At Dole Institute, scholar outlines how first ladies use "soft power" to shape higher education

Dr. Diana Carlin, professor emerita of communication at Saint Louis University and retired professor of communication studies at the University of Kansas, told an audience at the Dole Institute of Politics in Lawrence that U.S. first ladies have long used "soft power" to shape higher education.

Carlin said the influence often works behind the scenes: "But this notion of soft power, that is what the first ladies have had since Martha Washington," she said, arguing that social hosting, conditions attached to fundraising and post-White House foundations have produced measurable change on campuses and in research priorities.

Carlin illustrated the point with historical and contemporary examples. She described Caroline Harrison's condition on raising money for Johns Hopkins medical school: Harrison agreed to fundraise only if the school…