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Volunteer Leadership
Volunteers are one of the University’s most valuable resources. Staff members are readily available to provide volunteers with the tools and advice they need to achieve their goal, whether it be planning a class reunion, recruiting students, working on the Chicago Initiative, organizing club activities, or mentoring alumni on their careers. For more information on volunteer opportunities, please click here.
Trustee Valerie Jarrett gives keynote address in honor of Dr. King
University Trustee Valerie Jarrett delivered the keynote address at the University’s annual memorial service honoring the life and work of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, January 16 in Rockefeller Chapel.
Speaking to a packed audience, Ms. Jarrett called Dr. King “an extraordinary leader who proved that in a short, 39-year life, an intelligent, well educated person, with a compassionate spirit and persistent determination could be the catalyst for historical change.” She continued with a discussion of important issues facing the University community, and credited community, political and academic leadership for achieving “clear signs of progress.” Citing the University’s key initiatives to improve urban education, provide quality medical care, and promote economic development, Ms. Jarrett stated that “today the University plays a much more active role in addressing the needs of the broader community.”
Jarrett joined the Habitat Company, a real estate development and management company where she serves as managing director and executive vice president, in 1995. She currently also acts as Vice Chairman of the Executive Council of Metropolis 2020. A lifelong South Sider, she is president of the board of the Southeast Chicago Commission, and a member of the board of trustees of the Museum of Science and Industry and Window to the World Communications. She served as finance chair for the 2004 campaign for now U.S. Sen. Barack Obama and currently works as treasurer for Obama’s PAC, the Hopefund.
Ms. Jarrett’s involvement with the University has spanned a decade and has included a variety of roles, most notably Vice Chairman of the University of Chicago Hospitals Board of Trustees. She has also served as Chairman of the School of Social Service Administration’s Visiting Committee, a member of the University of Chicago’s Laboratory School Board, and a member of the Social Sciences Division Visiting Committee.
In closing, Ms. Jarrett encouraged the University community to honor Dr. King’s legacy “by confronting our differences, fairly, directly and honestly, with the humble realization that we all have much to learn from the free and open exchange of knowledge and diverse ideas in a truly great community; this community.”
