Just two days before Christmas, a devastating fire gutted an Evanston family’s apartment and destroyed most of their possessions. Jeron Dorsey, a graduate student in the sports administration program, heard about the Jackson family’s plight and decided to lend a hand. Initially he donated cash and helped collect gift cards in collaboration with the Black Male Alliance, an Evanston anti-violence organization. But that outreach wasn’t enough. So Dorsey, a program director at Evanston’s Fleetwood-Jourdain Community Center, donated an entire two-week paycheck to the family and helped the Jacksons move donated furniture into their new home. He has continued to connect with the family. “I’ve committed to them that I’ll always be a part of their lives,” says Dorsey, who has two young children. Giving back to his hometown community is important to the Evanston native. Growing up, he remembers thinking that Northwestern was unattainable. His goal today is to change that mindset. “Northwestern was like a foreign country,” he recalls. “Part of going to Northwestern for my master’s was to show the kids growing up here that we have a tremendous university — and opportunity — in our backyard.”
Q&A with Kristin Asleson McDonnell ’85
Recently elected president of the NAA Board of Directors, Kristin McDonnell is excited to lead an organization dedicated to the personal and intellectual growth of a diverse, international community of more than 260,000 alumni. A graduate of the McCormick School of Engineering, McDonnell mentors student entrepreneurs and serves on the Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation Advisory Board and Kellogg Tech Council.
Reader Responses
No one has commented on this page yet.
Submit a Response