[4] After she divorced in 1975, Swain earned a GED and worked as a cashier at McDonald's, a door-to-door salesperson, and an assistant in a retirement facility.
[3] She went on to earn a B.A., magna cum laude, in criminal justice from Roanoke College and a master's degree in political science from Virginia Tech.
[22] Swain has participated in conferences and radio programs organized by the Family Research Council (FRC),[23][24] the Tea Party movement,[25] and The Heritage Foundation.
"[27][28] The petition garnered over 1,000 signatures within days,[27] before changing to asking administrators to only suspend Swain and require all professors to attend diversity training.
[8] After a series of racial protests erupted in the summer of 2017,[32] an article in The Weekly Standard dubbed Swain "the Cassandra of Vanderbilt".
[33] Swain served on the Tennessee Advisory Committee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission,[34] and was appointed by President George W. Bush to a National Council on the Humanities term ending January 26, 2014.
[35] She also served on the Board of Trustees of her alma mater, Roanoke College,[36] and is a foundation member of the Nu of Virginia Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa.
[6][clarification needed] Swain was co-chairwoman for President Donald Trump's 1776 Commission, which released its report in January 2021 as a response to The New York Times Magazine's 1619 Project.
[39] Swain declared her candidacy for Mayor of Nashville on April 2, citing a need for low taxes and common-sense regulations.
"[47] In October 2009, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) mentioned Swain in a critique of A Conversation About Race, a documentary directed by Craig Bodeker that contends that racism is not an issue in America.
[52] She also criticized Martin's mother for failing to address the issues of black-on-black crime rates, unemployment, and abortion in black communities.
[53] In July 2016, Swain criticized Black Lives Matter, stating it was "a Marxist organization" and "a very destructive force in America.
[54][55] In October 2020, a video recording was released which showed her comparing Black Lives Matter to the Ku Klux Klan.
[56] In August 2016, Swain appeared in Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party, directed by Dinesh D'Souza.
"[61][64][65] On January 19, Judson Phillips, a conservative activist, wrote an op-ed in The Washington Times in defense of Swain's remarks.
[66] The same day, Vanderbilt professor David J. Wasserstein published his piece, "Thoughtful views on Islam needed, not simplicity", in the Tennessean, criticising her remarks.
[67] On January 23, 2015, The Tennessean published another opinion piece, titled "Anti-Islam op-ed distorts reality, could harm people," by Randy Horick.
[68] In February 2015, Swain filed a police complaint after she received a package with lewd sexual contents and messages from an address in Portland, Oregon in retaliation for her op-ed.