Patricia Fahy was selected as the 2015 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient.
Patricia Fahy鈥檚 career plans didn鈥檛 take off as she once planned, but her career has soared nonetheless; and her accomplished tenure as an advocate for higher education is one of the reasons she was selected the 2015 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient.
Fahy, a 1979 Moraine Valley graduate, serves as a member of the New York State Assembly with a long list of committees and service that focus on education. As a first-generation American and the first in her family to graduate college, she is an outspoken advocate of increased college access and affordability, which led to her receiving the 2014 New York State School Board Association鈥檚 Freshman Legislator of the Year award.
Her early career plans were to become a flight attendant, but a professor in one of her political science classes soon persuaded her that her talents could be better utilized elsewhere.
鈥淚 mentioned becoming a flight attendant to see the world for a few years and he lectured me all over again about shooting higher. It worked. I majored in political science and went on to receive my master鈥檚 degree in Public Administration,鈥 Fahy said. 鈥淚 remember one of those very first days where the professor started the class by really just insulting everybody. He would say, 鈥楢h, you鈥檙e middle class. You鈥檙e never really going to have a say.鈥 He said the middle class doesn鈥檛 help fund elections. I took away from that how important it is not only be an advocate at the grassroots level, but how important it is for the middle class to have a voice.鈥
Getting involved became a focus for Fahy, who advocates for children as a member of the board of directors for the , is a founding member of Albany PASS (People Advocating Small Schools), and a long-term mentor to at-risk and refugee children. In addition, Fahy has served as a consultant on education and workforce training issues for Big Brothers Big Sisters, the AFL-CIO Workforce Development Institute, and the National Commission for Education and the Economy.
Fahy enjoys coming back to Illinois to visit family and friends and recalls with great pride her days as a student at Moraine Valley.
鈥淚 remember a sociology teacher told me how we had to read past the first page of a newspaper,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 was always into current events and a big newspaper reader. But I remember thinking, 鈥榊eah, in order to really understand an issue, you have to get past the first page.鈥 I鈥檓 still a big newspaper reader and try to get my kids to do the same. Nowadays a lot of people don鈥檛 read hard news anymore. You鈥檙e reading everything in sound bites because of Twitter and Facebook, and I think we鈥檙e missing a lot.鈥
One of Fahy鈥檚 passions is supporting community colleges, which she says are very popular especially because of their affordability. 鈥淐ommunity colleges really have become a big avenue for training. It鈥檚 important that we keep community colleges affordable and keep them competitive, too,鈥 she said.
鈥淚 was really flattered to win this award from Moraine Valley,鈥 she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 so grateful that I had the opportunities I had鈥攁nd to be recognized鈥擨鈥檓 truly touched by it.鈥
