Alumni interview with Christine Ferree, Executive Director of Prairie Center for Sexual Assault in Springfield, IL.

Ferree is a resident of Springfield, Illinois. She began to call Springfield home after living in several states due to having a parent enlisted in the military. She transferred to UIS from Lincoln Land Community College in 2015 and graduated with her BA in English in 2017. She then returned to UIS for her MA in Political Science in 2019, and she now has only the thesis to complete.

Why did you choose UIS?

I was a nontraditional student. I had worked most of my young adult life and decided to come back to school. So I went to Lincoln Land, and then when I finished my requirements at Lincoln Land, I moved to Chicago. I wanted to live in the big city and finish school in the city, but then I realized that the cost of living in the city plus trying to go to school plus being somewhere new was not going to work for me. I had to decide on what is a priority for my life, and that priority was finishing school. So, I moved back to Springfield. It was 2015 when I came to UIS and enrolled in the English Department full time.

What are the benefits of UIS?

There are so many benefits to being at UIS. One was that it was really small. I felt supported and heard by my professors because the classrooms were small. You can really get the individual attention you need, but you can also get to know your classmates. I thought that was such a great bonus.

One of the other reasons I came to UIS was because there was something inviting about the campus. It was a great move for me, so much so that when I graduated I worked here for six years.

One of my favorite things is that every single professor I had at UIS I learned something from. Each had such a unique perspective and personality. This campus attracts a wide variety of points of view, and I felt like my education was very well-rounded.

You said you worked here. What was your role?

Before I graduated with my undergraduate degree, I was interning at the Illinois Innocence Project. I thought, what kind of experience can I get while being on campus and expanding upon my passion for social justice? So I applied for the Illinois Innocence Project while I was finishing my English degree. The project on campus works on true cases; they are not doing busy work. They are working on a real case and helping a real person. This doesn't exist anywhere else outside of UIS.

As soon as I graduated, I was offered a position at the Project. So I became their case coordinator and student supervisor. Over the years that evolved into becoming the program director. I was at the Project for over six years. When I graduated, I was thinking, “What do I want to do? I have an English degree, but I’m really interested in social justice.” I always thought I wanted to be a professor, but how do I utilize this social justice passion that I have? I started working at the Illinois Innocence Project, and I was able to be the student supervisor. I really thought I had the best of both worlds. I got to stay on campus, work and mentor students, and give them the same attention that I got from UIS while being able to push that social justice mission.

What was your major and minor?

My undergraduate degree is in English with a minor in Philosophy. I came back and started my Master’s Program in Political Science here at UIS in 2019. It's not completed yet but all I have to do is write my thesis!

Why do you think a liberal arts education is important?

I will say that the skills I learned in the English department– deductive reasoning, critical thinking–helped propel my education. All these skills that you learn in the English department really give you a leg up. Writing essays, researching projects–it’s all such a good base for any master’s program or any job you could have. A liberal arts education is important because it gives you that base level of creativity; you are able to express yourself. In my liberal arts courses, I felt like I was able to be creative and be myself and that really helps you understand who you are as a learner and who you are in your work.

What was your most memorable class?

I had a lot of really good classes. My most memorable class was with Dr. Lewis and was called “Myth and Mythology: A Comparison of James Joyce’s Ulysses and Homer’s The Odyssey” and we compared the two great works as the semester went on. It was such an interesting course. On top of that just focusing on one work for an entire semester gave you the deep dive, and I do think this helped develop critical thinking and learn how to apply theories.

How did UIS pave the way for you to be in your current position?

The job I have now is kind of based on my ability to write grants, and that is something I learned from working here at UIS and going to UIS. I think that you have to be creative when you write those kinds of things because you have to stand out and be appealing to funders. That is a great way that I utilize my liberal arts background.

What is one piece of advice you would give to a current UIS student?

Take courses that are outside of your comfort zone! You never know what you could be interested in unless you try. There are so many English courses that I thought, “I’ll take this one” and then you realize, "I never knew I would love this author, or like short stories, or enjoy poetry so much.” The flip side of that is I took philosophy courses when I was in undergrad, and that really sparked that flame inside of me to pursue social justice. So when I came back for my Master’s, I really focused on Political Theory and Political Philosophy, which both have a lot of crossover between people who write essays rather than traditional political statistical data.

What is one piece of advice you would give to a prospective UIS student?

I would say explore everything that is on campus. When I came here I had no idea that the Illinois Innocence Project was here, and that was a gem to uncover. I think speaking with students who go here is a helpful perspective too. This campus is small enough that you get the support you need and individual mentorship that you may not get at a bigger university. This campus is really good about making sure students know where to go and who to talk to.

What role do you fulfill in society with your current job?

I am the executive director of Prairie Center for Sexual Assault. We are a sexual assault/rape crisis service for central Illinois. We serve eleven counties. My role there is to ensure that we are supplying the community with services that are needed with funds from the federal government. We try to put ourselves out there and try to have a presence on campus. I got this job because of my time on campus at the Innocence Project. If I were never a student here, I wouldn't have known this Project was even in Springfield. The way that my English degree gave me the tools to write grants was what put me over the top to get the position in the first place. UIS being in Springfield gives us access to the youth of Springfield, which helps us push a more progressive social agenda from my perspective. This really helps our community.

What does an average day look like?

I just wrote a United Way grant. Also, this week we had an audit so we make sure all of our documents were in order, and that we were following all the rules. We try to be in the community and let everyone see that we exist and that we are meeting the people who need our services where they are and not saying, “you have to come find us.” So, when I’m not writing or supervising staff, I spend a lot of my time working with agency-required audits and being in the community to bring awareness of our services to the community.

—McKenna Vereeke