Single alum takes
family life seriously
“Building
stable family values is the key to curing society’s ills,” says Darren
Washington, a 1992 graduate who is director of external affairs for SBC in
northwest Indiana.
Washington “talks the
talk” as a sought-after public speaker on topics such as character
building, self-improvement, substance abuse and abstinence. He “walks
the walk” by putting his life on display as a single, black male who
chooses abstinence, has a prominent job and is president of the school
board in his hometown of Gary, Ind.
Although Washington
earned a political science degree from Millikin and holds a master’s
degree in public affairs from Indiana University Northwest, he believes
family values should not be a political issue. “I have to practice what
I preach in order to be believed by the people I’m trying to reach,”
says Washington, who founded Abstinence for Singles and speaks to youth
and adults about healthy, safe life choices and respecting themselves and
others. “I have to use my life to show young people, especially young
men, that they need to focus on education and not sex.”
Washington says his ideas
and goals for his life were formed in college, and he credits his Millikin
years for giving him a career focus. “I didn’t take education
seriously at first,” he says, explaining that his priorities were
playing basketball and having fun. “I ended up on academic probation, so
I changed my focus to getting an education and being involved on
campus.”
Campus activities gave
Washington his first taste of organized democracy, and he knew it was a
good fit. After graduating,
Washington interned at the United Way of Central Indiana, where he
developed the first youth leadership program and served as an Indiana
State Senate intern. Next, he served as the executive director of the
Indiana Commission on the Social Status of Black Males, working with state
and local elected officials to create city and county commissions before
moving to corporate America as an area mall manager in Lafayette, Ind.,
and Toledo, Ohio, with the Simon Property Group.
In 2001, he joined SBC
and returned to his hometown, hoping to make a difference in this
economically depressed area. As part of his commitment to the Gary
school system, Washington spends Friday mornings reading to kindergarten
and first grade students at a nearby elementary school. “It is a great
joy for me,” he says. “I was used to working with junior high and high
school students, but now I realize even more how important it is to start
teaching children good morals and the value of an education at a young
age.” As board president, he also holds office hours, speaking with
parents, teachers and others to share ideas for improving the school
district, where more than 60 percent of the students come from low-income
families.
Washington, who is also a
certified HIV/AIDS counselor, hopes to someday get married and have a
family, but realizes his focus will need to change when that happens.
“I’ll still promote my lifestyle messages, but I hope to train other
young people to give the presentations,” he says. For now, Washington is
busy writing his first book on abstinence and looking at options for
becoming more politically active.
“God has blessed me and
I believe we are all on this Earth to help future generations avoid the
same potholes.”
Read the complete
profile in the Spring 2005 issue of Millikin Quarterly magazine.
