County Executive David Crowley Is a College Graduate
He's the first Milwaukee County Executive in two decades to hold a bachelor's degree.
On Sunday, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley will deliver the commencement address at UW-Milwaukee’s winter graduation ceremony. He will also receive his diploma. And in doing so, he’ll be the first elected Milwaukee County Executive since 2002 to hold a college degree.
Crowley, 38, dropped out of college at 19. He began his career in politics shortly after as an aide to then-county board supervisor Nikiya Dodd. He eventually won election to the state legislature in the 17th Assembly District, and in 2020 won an open election for county executive, becoming the youngest candidate and first Black man to win election to the office.
His political career was going well, despite lacking a college degree. Still, he had reasons to go back.
First, he has his children; three daughters and one of them 17 and about to begin her own “higher education journey,” Crowley said. He wanted them to see the value of perseverance, no matter what may have happened in the past. “I wanted to be an example for them, showing them that ‘If daddy can do it, I can do it.'”
Then, there’s his mother, who passed away in 2023. Valerie Crowley, who he fondly calls a “Jane of all trades,” always encouraged her son to pursue a college education, he said. When he returned to school in 2021, he told Urban Milwaukee she was just as excited as she was after his election the year prior.
Finally, there is baggage that comes with being the third county executive elected without a college degree. Crowley’s predecessors Scott Walker and Chris Abele were both college dropouts, too. When this was reported it gave Crowley something to think about, he said.
Did his future political goals, like, say, running for governor influence his decision to go back to college? No, he said. “I mean, we’ve already had a county executive without a college degree do that,” he said, referencing Walker.
Going back to school while holding down a day job as the chief executive of Milwaukee County government, overseeing an organization with a more than $1 billion budget, is a feat all on its own. However, during that time, Crowley was also working out a deal with Republican leaders of the state legislature to prevent budgetary insolvency for the county.
How’d he do it? Time management and sacrifices.
“Every night when I got a chance to put my girls to bed, once they’re in bed, that’s homework time,” Crowley said. “But the other thing is that, I haven’t had a football Sunday either, because that’s homework time for me.”
This time around Crowley went to school with a plan. When first attended college as a younger man, “It was about checking the box,” he said.
He had a different mindset this time, and focused more on his schoolwork and the “work at hand,” he said. In high school and during his first trip to college, Crowley admits, he was not the best student. However, once again, if there’s a message Crowley hopes he can impart with his return, it’s the value of perseverance and not being controlled by the past.
Crowley’s public platform means he is in a position to act as a role model for others who may be non-traditional students, or anyone interested in pursuing higher education later in life. But it didn’t necessarily prevent him from blending in on campus. Many of his professors and classmates had no idea he was the county executive, he said.
Crowley majored in community engagement and education, described by the university as, “a program for people interested in community change, urban schooling, and social justice.” The degree required a course in public speaking. Crowley apparently shocked his classmates when he took the floor for their first assignment.
“Everybody looked at our teaching assistant and was like — and literally asked her — is that how we’re supposed to do it?'” he said.
He will put his public speaking chops to use once more on Sunday’s commencement ceremony. He plans to talk about the graduating class’s resilience, “Because I think many of us has may have forgotten that this class, many of them, started before and during the global pandemic,” he said.
Crowley was elected at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, sworn in outside, with social distancing restrictions, in front of his home in Nash Park. Between then and now he has governed through a pandemic, handily won re-election and now, finally, earned his college degree.
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Political Contributions Tracker
Displaying political contributions between people mentioned in this story. Learn more.
- June 30, 2016 - David Crowley received $1,000 from Chris Abele
- December 31, 2015 - David Crowley received $60 from Valerie Crowley
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