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"SIUE is a part of me. If not for me arriving at SIUE in 2007, I would not have the life I have today—my family, my friends, my career," said Sade Shepherd, a Southern Illinois University Edwardsville alumna who earned her bachelor’s degree in biological sciences in 2011 and later her master’s degree in business administration in 2013.

Sade works in SIUE's SOAR program under Earleen Patterson, PhD, supporting first-generation campus students.

For the past decade, her husband Alphonso Shepherd has served as a patrol officer for the SIUE PD. Officer Shepherd’s beat spans campus communities across Edwardsville, East St. Louis and Alton locations.

Alphonso Shepherd is an SIUE alumnus and former track and field student-athlete who earned his bachelor's degree in sociology in 2010 and master’s degree in kinesiology in 2013.

"It seemed as if the track team was like a family. That really resonated with me as a student. You weren't seen as a number," said Alphonso.

The couple met during their freshman year, got married in 2018 and now have two sons. "A fond memory I have is walking up that hill from Woodland Hall, and he would just speed walk past me, not knowing that he was passing his future wife and mother to his children," said Sade.

Originally from Galesburg, Ill., Sade and her twin sister, Kiara, were recruited by former Head Coach Lynda Bowers to SIUE in 2007 to play soccer.

"Being a student-athlete is a full-time job plus overtime. I had to learn how to manage multiple responsibilities. It also allowed me to expand my network. Every job that I obtained after I graduated was through my network that I built while at SIUE," Sade said.

As for her work with students in SOAR, she said, "It's exciting knowing that they will be gaining so much more than they could ever imagine, not just in the classroom but also in their experiences and connections made outside of class." She added spending her lunch breaks for more than ten years walking SIUE's nature trails is time with a lot of peace and mental clarity for her.

Originally from Ohio, Alphonso transferred to SIUE from Rend Lake College, where he started his track career and won a national championship. It was the culture he saw in the track program, which carried itself with what he called a "Division I attitude" despite competing at the Division II level at the time, that made him choose SIUE.

Alphonso gave credit to Professor Emerita Venessa A. Brown, PhD, in the Department of Social Work and Florence Maätita, PhD, as his key mentors who pushed him academically.

“Without Dr. Maätita, I wouldn't know how to operate at SIUE. She taught me how to literally write and study as a collegiate student, not just an athlete but a student. When I obtained my degree, Dr. Maätita cried. We cried at my capstone presentation,” Alphonso recalled.

Shepherd’s law enforcement career included working for the St. Louis County Police Department. He was encouraged to apply as an SIUE PD officer by Anthony Jones, also a former SIUE student athlete and fellow PD sergeant. Shepherd further went on to highlight how actively SIUE PD has been involved in community-policing initiatives—Rape Aggression Defense System (RAD) self-defense courses, ensuring new students are aware of what's going on as far as safety on the campus and the department's growing campus safety-dog unit. He also credited Chief Goodwin and officers across all three campuses, including Officer John Cavanaugh in Alton, Sergeant Kasey Hoyd, and Officer David Nellis in East St. Louis with making sure the SIUE community feels supported wherever they are.

"If you call us, no matter what—good, bad or ugly, we're going to be there," Alphonso added.

Alphonso described how his own background as a first-generation, out-of-state student and his marriage into a multicutural Nigerian American family and exposure to diverse cultures represented on SIUE's campus has shaped how he approaches his community-policing work.

"Nigerian culture, it is very much a part of my life. And for us, we met in 2007 and didn't get married until 2018," said Sade upon reflection. "Of course, my Dad was very protective, but Alphonso has been around for a long time—he would be at my soccer games, and he just was introduced to my family as a brain, which was amazing."

"He was embraced with the food, the attire. His best friend is married to my sister. And even with the closeness of my family, I just think he really appreciated and valued getting exposed to the West African culture," Sade shared.

"Once they realize that you are respecting their culture, their identity and where they're from, they open up to you ten times more," said Alphonso.

Beyond his patrol duties, Alphonso serves as president of SIUE's Black Alumni Alliance, coordinates with the SIUE Foundation to reconnect alumni with the University and advises members of the National Pan-Hellenic Council as they pursue their degrees.

"I love going down to the East St. Louis campus and seeing the Charter High School students, showing them that a Black man from a similar background, you can make it," said Alphonso. "What Dr. Maätita and Dr. Bro Dr. Maätita and Dr. Brown did for me, I want to do for the next generation. That's the rewarding part of this all. Just passing it forward."  

PHOTO: Alphonso and Sade Shepherd