Lightfoot goes from Chicago mayor to teaching health at Harvard

Ousted Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot will be teaching a health course at Harvard University this fall, The Harvard Gazette announced this week.

Ms. Lightfoot lost her reelection bid in February after leading the nation’s third-largest city during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although she closed hair salons and barbershops to purportedly thwart the coronavirus, she came under scrutiny for getting her hair done while her constituents could not.

“I’m the public face of this city. I’m on national media and I’m out in the public eye,” Ms. Lightfoot said, defending her trim during lockdown.

Among her accomplishments, The Harvard Gazette points to “public safety.”

Chicago, though, saw high crime under her leadership. According to WBEZ radio, the Windy City led the nation in mass shootings in 2021.

The Harvard paper also touted Ms. Lightfoot’s work for pay.

“In August of 2021, Lightfoot secured a $15 minimum wage for most workers in Chicago, including domestic workers, years ahead of the state’s planned phase-in of a living wage,” The Gazette wrote.

She was the first openly lesbian Black woman to serve as mayor of the city.