{"id":5088,"date":"2021-12-22T08:55:06","date_gmt":"2021-12-22T13:55:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/?p=5088"},"modified":"2022-06-10T14:09:31","modified_gmt":"2022-06-10T18:09:31","slug":"hackney-traces-career-to-lessons-learned-on-the-hill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/hackney-traces-career-to-lessons-learned-on-the-hill\/","title":{"rendered":"David Hackney \u201987 Traces His Career in Public Service Back to Lessons Learned on the Hill"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Alum\u2019s introduction to Cornell was via a distinguished seatmate on a journey to Ithaca<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By Joe Wilensky<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was 1983, and David Hackney \u201987 had just boarded a plane in Houston\u2014the first leg of his trip to campus for a six-week pre-freshman summer program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI sit next to this gentleman, and as I look over, I see that he\u2019s writing on Cornell letterhead,\u201d Hackney recalls. \u201cI said, \u2018Excuse me, sir, do you work for the University?\u2019 And he gave me a big smile, and said: \u2018Some say I do; some say I don\u2019t. Actually, I\u2019m the president.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That gentleman, of course, was Frank H.T. Rhodes\u2014then in his sixth year of an august tenure as leader of the University that would last until 1995.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once Hackney realized that Rhodes\u2019s wife, Rosa, was sitting directly behind them, he offered to switch seats. \u201cAbsolutely not,\u201d the president replied. \u201cThis is an incredible opportunity to be with you on your first journey to Cornell.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They went on to talk for the entire flight. Says Hackney: \u201cHe was the most pleasant conversationalist, and he wanted to learn about me\u2014what I was nervous about, what I was excited about, what I thought I was going to do on campus\u2014and he was giving me suggestions. It was amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Newark, the two parted ways. \u201cHe, of course, was flying directly to Ithaca,\u201d says Hackney. \u201cI couldn\u2019t afford that. I was flying to Syracuse and then catching a bus to Cornell.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A financial aid promise<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Hackney played football for the Big Red his freshman year. (Photo: Provided)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>
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Hackney arrived on the Hill as an ILR School student and football recruit (though he only played one season). He\u2019d go on to earn a JD from Harvard Law School and an MPA from Harvard\u2019s Kennedy School of Government before launching a distinguished career in public service that includes his current job as an elected state representative in Washington State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But for Hackney, completing his Cornell degree was never a sure thing. He was the youngest of three children; his paternal grandfather was a Pullman porter and a member of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first African-American union in the nation.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
His maternal grandfather was a sharecropper who fled the Jim Crow south and worked in the automotive industry for decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hackney\u2019s parents\u2014who had both started college but didn\u2019t graduate\u2014made sure that he took college prep classes and helped him get a combination of scholarships and financial aid to attend Cornell, though affording tuition and expenses each semester remained a struggle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the Hill, Hackney became a student activist; he remembers one protest in particular during his freshman year by the Black Students Association, in which they called for divestment from South Africa, more investment in the Africana studies program, and increased financial aid for minority students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Rhodes came out of Day Hall, and after receiving a list of student demands, he spoke to them and seemed sympathetic, encouraging them to prioritize their requests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rhodes then addressed the financial aid concerns. \u201cAnd I\u2019ll never forget it,\u201d Hackney recalls. \u201cHe said, \u2018If any student has to leave Cornell because of finances, they should come see me first.\u2019 It just stuck in my head.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I\u2019ll never forget it\u2014[President Rhodes] said, \u2018If any student has to leave Cornell because of finances, they should come see me first.\u2019<\/p>David Hackney \u201987<\/strong><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Hackney buckled down academically, going from a 2.1 GPA to making the dean\u2019s list every semester by his junior year. He learned public speaking skills, and credits his collective bargaining professor, Harry Katz\u2014later the school\u2019s dean\u2014for teaching him how to write well and persuasively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Toward the end of his junior year, Hackney\u2019s mother experienced a recurrence of throat cancer, which had been in remission. His father had been laid off, and when he resumed work, her disease was considered a pre-existing condition and their health insurance denied coverage for its treatment. As Hackney took his finals, his mom went into a coma and later died; the family was left not only with the tragic loss but with daunting medical bills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Hackney returned to Cornell that fall, he was unable to register for classes since his tuition was overdue. After financial aid staff tried to work out a payment plan, they put him on the phone with his father\u2014who told him, regretfully, that he\u2019d have to come home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then Hackney remembered Rhodes\u2019s financial aid promise to the student protesters. Thinking he had nothing to lose, he headed to Day Hall and was eventually given a meeting with staff in the president\u2019s office. Shortly thereafter, Rhodes authorized a direct loan for Hackney that covered both his remaining semesters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAt Commencement, as I\u2019m walking to the Arts Quad, President Rhodes was there,\u201d Hackney recalls. \u201cAnd he shakes my hand and says, \u2018David, I was here on your first day, and I\u2019m proud to be here on your graduation day. Congratulations.\u2019 So he never forgot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Attorney and activist<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
After working for the Ford Motor Company as a labor relations representative\u2014and successfully repaying the loan Rhodes had facilitated\u2014Hackney headed to Harvard for grad school. He went on to build a varied r\u00e9sum\u00e9 in public service that includes working as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Department of Justice; a teacher of trial advocacy at the National Advocacy Center; a war crimes prosecutor for the United Nations in the Hague; and senior counsel for global human resources at the Nature Conservancy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hackney moved to the Seattle area in 2016 to work in HR for Amazon. He became heavily involved in the community, volunteering for an organization empowering minority-owned businesses and for a nonprofit that works to prevent gun violence. He was appointed to the Washington State Human Rights Commission in 2019, and joined the adjunct law faculty at the University of Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHackney speaks at a Habitat for Humanity Seattle event earlier this year. (Photo: Provided)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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