MILWAUKEE — Nearly two decades after dropping out, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, 38, celebrated earning his degree.
Crowley was a commencement speaker at the ceremony and now has a degree in Community Engagement and Education.
"It's just a great honor but I'm glad it's over,” Crowley said. “I would tell anyone it was definitely a challenge.”
The father of three told TMJ4’s Tahleel Mohieldin that it took a lot of sacrifices to accomplish the long-overdue goal, juggling his many hats: father, husband, politician, and student.
“One of the first articles that came out when I became the County Executive was the fact that I was the third County Executive not to have a college degree,” he recalled. “While it wasn’t necessarily a scathing thing, it put it in perspective that I need to be thinking about my own future.”
Watch: Nearly two decades after dropping out, County Executive among new UWM graduates
Crowley said though he’s got a great job, he doesn’t want to be limited.
“Whenever I decide to move away from politics or who’s to say I won’t lose an election, I don’t want this to be the only thing that I know,” he explained. “I don’t want me not having a college degree to be the glass ceiling over my head moving forward.”
More than advancing his own career aspirations, Crowley hopes to inspire others.
He wants people of all ages to see his experience as an encouragement to bet on themselves and move forward through education.
Crowley said the degree is also an opportunity to honor his late mother who always pushed him to go back to school and emphasized the importance of education.
For fellow graduates like Courtney Gardner, who earned a master’s in social work, Crowley has already made an impact.
“I think it was very inspiring,” Gardner said. “It feels good having someone who works with Milwaukee County speak at our commencement but also having a person of color who's had such a significant role."
Graduate Kaye Van Sustern-Wedesky just graduated with a bachelor’s in communication and said she, too, was thrilled to see Crowley on stage.
"I was stoked when they announced David Crowley would be speaking and graduating,” Van Sustern-Wedesky said. “He did an amazing job speaking, no surprise.”
Crowley was first elected in 2020 as the youngest and first black county executive in Milwaukee County history after serving in the Wisconsin State Assembly between 2017 and 2020.
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