By Elizabeth Collins
Larry Davis III, a McKendree alumnus and former Bearcat football player, has taken over as Director of Inclusive Education and Global Experience at McKendree University. Davis was promoted to the new position this summer after being hired as a Student Success Mentor.
His new responsibilities include overseeing the international students to make sure they stay in compliance with school guidelines so they can continue studying at McKendree. He also advocates for marginalized populations of students including African Americans and LGBTQ+. Davis will also be responsible for hosting diversity and inclusion events and training on campus.
But most importantly, Davis hopes students will go to him for help, advice or to plan an event on campus. Davis said, “At the end of the day I want to make McKendree a good environment for anybody and everybody, a home away from home.”
Davis grew up in Riverdale, Illinois (in the suburbs of Chicago), where he played football and earned All-Conference honors as a center during his senior season at Rich Central High School.
Growing up, Davis looked up to his older sister Destiny: “She is the oldest of four, and in my opinion, she always sets the tone. Since I was younger, I always wanted to be like her, so when she went off to college, I wanted to do the same thing.”
Davis attended Mckendree from 2018 to 2022, during which he majored in organizational communication and continued his football career. After graduating, he worked for Amazon for a year before accepting a position as a Student Success Mentor at McKendree. He said, “I definitely had to humble myself for a while, taking jobs I really did not have a passion or interest in. I had to constantly tell myself, ‘I’m still young, it’ll take a second to really get my life started.’”
Davis’ mentality to get himself through this time was, “Nothing that’s worth having comes easy.” Another inspiration for him came from poetry: “I am not a big poem guy, but one poem that actually stuck with me is titled ‘Believe in Yourself’ by Cornelius V. Troup.”
Davis is in his fourth month as the Director of Inclusive Education and Global Experience, and he hopes to affect the lives of those he helps. He said, “I just want to make an impact on someone’s life for the better. I always vision that 20 years down the road somewhere I get that one person to tell me, ‘Thank you for helping me during that specific period. It really helped me.’”
When discussing his promotion, Davis said, “One of the biggest things that changed in the promotion is my schedule. I am now busier than I have ever been and taking on more responsibilities. Now I am working on managing my time a lot more efficiently. At first, I would know exactly what my week would be like seeing the same students throughout the semester, but now I see different students daily, all with different needs.”
Davis does much more than his assigned job. He is also an advisor for multiple organizations on campus including Phi Beta Sigma, Black Student Organization, International Student Organization and Black Men of McKendree. Phi Beta Sigma is described as “a historically African American fraternity. It was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C., on January 9, 1914, by three young African American male students with nine other Howard students as charter members. (https://phibetasigma1914.org/).”
One of Davis’ former professors, Dr. Sara Frank, said, “Larry is one of a kind because he is caring, humble, smart, he is dependable, he is a problem solver. Everything you want in a good person, Larry is. I have never been more proud to see someone move up in a McKendree position. There is no doubt in my mind that Larry will work hard for the McKendree community.”
On Davis’ LinkedIn, he has a quote that says, “Never give up. Never settle for less. Never get comfortable. Keep striving for greatness. Never stop.” This is a quote he strives to live by.
Davis’ new office is in Clark Hall 114. His email is lddavis@mckendree.edu.
Larry Davis III in a Phi Beta Sigma Polo
