Kailyn A. Smith

is a writer, researcher, journalist, and advocate. 

Kailyn is a PhD student in Boston University’s Department of Philosophy. Her primary areas of interest are informal logic (fallacies), African-American intellectual history, and the history of science. Previously, she attended Howard University before transferring to Morgan State University, where she received a BA degree in Philosophy, Pre-Law with a minor in Political Science, magna cum laude. Her studies in social and political philosophy go beyond the classroom as she has worked for the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives (2x), and the Women's Congressional Policy Institute. She has also served as a member and section leader in the National Council of Negro Women since 2021.

Outside of her scholarship, Kailyn is a budding basketball writer and is particularly interested in evaluating on-and-off court violence, fan behavior, athlete development and front office operations in professional sports. Currently, she is the NBA Columnist for the Daily Free Press, Boston University's independent student newspaper, and she is also on the beat for the Men's and Women's basketball teams at BU. In 2021, Kailyn created an independent blog titled The Multifaceted Show, in which she promotes inclusion in sports by encouraging lovers of the game to become better lovers of all fans. She is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists and the Associated Press Sports Editors.

Kailyn was raised in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. She is especially proud to be a CODA (child of a Deaf adult) and is bilingual in English and American Sign Language, having grown up navigating between the Deaf and hearing worlds while absorbing the full African-American cultural experience.