James McKinney CLASS OF '09

Senior

Hometown: Tupelo, Mississippi

Major: Sociology

Minor: Criminal Justice

The Air Force brought James McKinney to South Dakota, but it was South Dakota State University that’s kept him here. Moving from Tupelo, Mississippi, a city of about 100,000 people to Brookings, a town one-fifth that size, was quite a change for James, but he soon adjusted and dove right into both his academics and SDSU’s campus life.

In addition to the Black Student Alliance, James is a member of the Criminal Justice Club, the Human Services Club, and TRiO. And he still has time to play intramural flag football, intramural basketball, and even soccer with the International Relations Club. But outside of the classroom, James says he spends most of his time in the Office of Multicultural Affairs in the Union—where he’s been since day one.

“At the beginning of school at the activities fair, C.D. Douglas (director of Multicultural Affairs) grabbed me and asked me to work for him. It’s been a great opportunity for me because I am able to study, make a little money, meet people, and make friends,” he says.

But James definitely isn’t all play and no work. He has aspirations to go to law school after graduation. “Law school is a goal—not necessarily to be an attorney, but to meet the challenge of going to law school,” says James.

After that, who knows what’s in store for James? One thing’s for sure: James wants to work in human services whether it be “advocacy for people who need a voice, volunteering, or helping people who are less fortunate,” he says.