SIUE’s Darryl Cherry is a Hero in his Native Town of East St. Louis
Darryl Cherry puts a lot of love, dedication and time into working to better the lives of young people through education, networking and his expertise in counseling. The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Student Opportunities for Academic Results (SOAR) Retention Coordinator is being honored as an Unsung Hero of East St. Louis for enhancing the quality of life in his hometown and beyond.
Cherry will be one of 10 people celebrated at the third annual Unsung Heroes of East St. Louis Ceremony at 5 p.m. Sunday, March 11 in the East St. Louis City Hall Rotunda, 301 Riverpark Dr. A reception will be held prior to the ceremony at 3:30 p.m. The Office of Mayor Emeka Jackson-Hicks is hosting the awards ceremony.
“I do not see myself as a hero,” Cherry said, “Rather, I am thankful for the investments made in me by my mother, family, community and educators like Peggy LeCompte, Ledora Williams, Samuel Morgan and countless others.”
The Office of the Mayor of East Saint Louis applauds these individuals for their contributions and efforts to improve the quality of life in our community,” said Darius Chapman, mayor executive assistant. “Mayor Emeka Jackson–Hicks and the committee agree that these honorees possess the capability to serve as beacons of leadership, by utilizing their diverse talents to create a healthy and productive environment for the citizens of this great city.”
“I am grateful for the sacrifices made by people like Dr. Martin Luther King, the Little Rock Nine, James Meredith and Thurgood Marshall, so that we have the right to go to college and earn a degree,” said Cherry. “I have a deep sense of responsibility to develop and leverage my gifts, experiences and opportunities to encourage, empower and support others towards academic achievement, social development, spiritual freedom and degree attainment.”
Cherry, a minister and growth group leader at New Life Community Church in East St. Louis, began his career in 1992. He served as a youth worker, and later director of the Youth-In-Action after-school and summer youth program at the East St. Louis Lessie Bates Davis Neighborhood House. He later worked as a Foster Care and Adoption coordinator for the Children’s Home and Aide Society of Illinois (CHASI).
Cherry has spent the last 17 years working in education. From 2000-2015, he worked as a TRIO Upward Bound counselor at St. Louis Community College and then as the TRIO Upward Bound director at the SIUE East St. Louis Center, where he helped to prepare, send and support hundreds of students into post-secondary institutions. TRIO Upward Bound is a federally funded, year-round college preparation and access program supporting first generation low-income participants.
In 2015, Cherry transitioned into his role as coordinator of retention and academic advisor for SOAR, where he develops and facilitates programming and necessary support to help students overcome the social, academic and cultural barriers/challenges to higher education. He works especially hard to assist African American males in the assimilation, development and matriculation through postsecondary education.
In other community work, Cherry is the principal consultant with Insight Consulting where he presents and provides support towards grant-writing, grant peer review, program assessment and development, student college preparation and student development.
He is a founding member of the Regional Consortium of Higher Education Initiatives Supporting Black Male Success (the Consortium). The Consortium is bi-state network of St. Louis area colleges and universities that works to build its members’ capacity to educate and graduate African-American male students through radical and strategic collaboration, resource and data sharing, and program alignment.
He was formerly a founding member and advisor for Curriculum Development at St. Louis Graduates, a collaborative network of organizations whose mission is to advocate for state, federal and institutional policies that support degree attainment, and promote and encourage the use of best practices to support access and success for low-income students, first-generation students and students of color.
“My life’s mission is to have made a difference,” said Cherry, “and to have helped as many as I could to grow academically, personally, socially, professionally, spiritually and to earn college degrees.”
Photo: SIUE’s Darryl Cherry, coordinator of retention and academic advisor for Student Opportunities for Academic Results (SOAR).
