Derrick Little
Georgetown University
Derrick Little is deeply engaged with social justice work here at Georgetown. He is a First-Year Orientation to Community Involvement Captain, and we depend on him not only to introduce first-year students to the practical aspects of membership in our community-but also to impart the characteristic spirit that informs the work of our community. Derrick animates our call to the magis-to do more, to serve more, and to be more-in his efforts to always be his very best self and to bring out the best in others. As a student leader for our Alternative Break Program, he developed a new service trip, "Cease Violence Chicago," and-as a participant in student organizations that support marginalized groups-he advances an inclusive campus culture. He is known for his capacity to deepen and strengthen community by building bridges of understanding through individual engagement and shared reflection. In his various leadership roles, he has exhibited a remarkable capacity to create an inclusive environment that invites others to participate more fully in the work of social justice. Derrick has made a significant impact on our Georgetown community and he will continue to enrich the lives of others long after graduation.
Personal Statement
I am a rising senior at Georgetown University double majoring in English and Justice and Peace Studies. I attribute my dedication to social justice to my mother, my muse. During our family's economic uncertainty, she inspired me to make fortune out of love, happiness, and care for others. As a queer black man from a working-class family, I advocate for my own communities and act in solidarity with those experiencing similar injustice. Through Georgetown's Center for Social Justice (CSJ) Alternative Breaks Program, I created an immersion trip focused on violence in my home of Chicago, in order to support students' in their understanding the root causes of violence and how each one of us can can be a part of nonviolent transformation. I serve as Co-Captain for FOCI (First-Year Orientation to Community Involvement) pre-orientation program and manage the planning of the week's activities - service sites and speakers - while ensuring that I educate participants about issues of oppression, justice, and inequity through an intersectional lens. I am committed to working for racial and economic justice through these programs and other clubs that I am a member of - Queer People of Color, CSJ's Advisory Board for Student Organizations, and Minority Pre-Law Association.
