Dr. Waleek Boone
When the Transition Academy was established in 2017 at Medgar Evers College (MEC), its goal was, and continues to be, a support system for students experiencing homelessness or housing and food insecurity issues. With anywhere from 90 to 120 students taking advantage of its services from one semester to the next, Dr. Waleek Boone is the head honcho riding herd on this vital service. A member of the Medgar Evers College family since 2007, first as a student and then as an employee, Boone is a local guy who says he grew up in poverty, only to drop out of Prospect Heights High School and later earn his G.E.D. Fast forward to 2023, and as the MEC Student Life Manager, he not only earned three degrees; a MEC bachelor’s in social work, a master’s in science in higher education and administration from Hunter College, and a USC doctorate in social work; but continues to be a tireless advocate for those students looking for opportunity via higher education while navigating adversity. It’s a struggle Boone knows well.
“The goal is though we see many students, there are a lot more students out there hiding in the shadows avoiding the embarrassment,” he explained. “We do strategic campaigns whereas we do the best to bring these students from the shadows so they can get these resources, stay on track, graduate on time, and improve their living conditions.”
Having grown up in a dysfunctional household (“Growing up in the environments that I grew up, you see things that a young child shouldn’t be seeing at an early age”), the path of knowledge became Boone’s way to break the cycle, particularly after crossing paths with someone who was attending MEC.
“I met someone going to Medgar, and they told me about a program and Medgar,” he recalled. “They encouraged me, and I applied. It was rough—just learning computers and typing with one finger. But when you start thinking about it and start thinking about your options, you know the outcomes. By falling, I came up from the bottom, so I know how to pick myself up. Versus someone all the way up here, if they fall, they have to figure out how to get all the way back up there. You just have to bet on and believe in yourself.”
Boone is adamant about the role MEC played in helping him succeed and said he wants to give that same support to students whose shoes he was walking in earlier in his life.
“We know Medgar Evers speaks about courage, fortitude, and strength, and I think this needs to be highlighted—what Medgar has done to me,” he said. “I often tell people that before I came to Medgar, I was stuck in a boy stage. No matter how old you are—you can be 20 or 30, but you still have the boy mentality. I think coming to Medgar gave me the opportunity to develop into becoming a man because I began to learn things. Medgar Evers College gave me the courage to overcome the fears of applying to college. It gave me the strength to get up every day to attend classes on an empty stomach with no money in my pockets. And it gave me the fortitude to continue my education after graduating from this institution. With the courage, strength, and fortitude Medgar Evers College embedded in me, that’s the reason why I received the degrees that I received. It’s surreal because no one thought that I would have any type of higher education degree.”
Being able to lend that helping hand means Boone gladly works a six-day-week coming in on his own time on Saturdays to ensure that deliveries to the Cougar Country Food Pantry arrive without a hitch. The lived life scars he bears enable him to relate to his charges and is the fuel that drives his desire to continue giving back.
“The most rewarding part [of all this] is knowing the students know that someone is here for them,” he said. “And when I see them graduate because I know their stories. They can have on the latest Jordans but people don’t know their stories or what’s behind all those designs. But I know. I see them. And they know I know because they shared it with me and self-disclosed. When I see them walk up those aisles [for graduation], it’s just as rewarding for me because my team and I helped them to get there. This is why I’m in the position I’m in now and why I’m continuing to do all I can to provide resources for these students. It’s more about re-educating myself and understanding my purpose in life and getting in tune with myself.”
