“There’s so much going on in the community that needs people’s attention.” By: Sydney Sinks
Millikin students and alumni are getting involved and creating a community they’re proud to call home. After four years at Millikin, a lot of students find that Decatur becomes home. And what better way to honor your home than to improve it? In recent years, students and alumni have banded together with the Decatur community to organize protests, Facebook groups and nonprofits. As more issues come to light, these young people are doubling down in their devotion to Decatur. They’re creating a better community and uplifting voices that need to be heard. Dominique Bates-Smith, an alum who was heavily involved with social justice initiatives while at Millikin, is the person behind a lot of this work. In the summer of 2020, amidst the 22
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COVID-19 pandemic and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, Bates-Smith realized what she wanted to devote her life to helping others and giving back to her community. Since then, she’s been doing everything she can to follow through. “There’s so much going on in the community that needs people’s attention, and seeing the way people are affected during the pandemic and then with the social justice movement, and then realizing — I have all this time on my hands. There should be no excuse not to
~Dominique Bates-Smith
