HARRISBURG (SIC NEWS) – Southeastern Illinois College boasts a long list of distinguished alumni, dating as far back as the class of 1965. These alumni are of course successful in their careers, place high value on higher education, participate in humanitarian or other efforts to improve their communities, and generally credit SIC for setting them up with a strong foundation for future success. Their fields vary and include medicine, law, education, business, military, politics, engineering, science, and more.

Similarly, a local retiree pays tribute to graduates of southeastern Illinois high schools who have moved onward and upward in their various career paths via a popular Facebook series entitled, “Where have you gone…?” He has written close to 200 stories to date, many of which are also SIC graduates, but he says he hasn’t “scratched the surface, yet, on success stories coming out of our small tip of Illinois.” His name is Jerry King of Harrisburg.

King attended SIC from 1968-1970 when the campus was at Harrisburg High School. He was editor of the then student newspaper Egyptoglyph and president of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s degree in higher education from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. His professional career spanned more than 40 years writing grants for colleges and non-profit organizations. In fact, King has worked on state and federal grants for every president of Southeastern.

SIC retired president Dr. Jonah Rice said, “Jerry’s mission with ‘Where have you gone…?’ aligns with SIC’s desire to recognize our many esteemed graduates who have done wondrous things with humble beginnings right here in Southern Illinois. We found it appropriate to name our wall of distinguished alumni at SIC the Jerry L. King Hall of Fame.”

The recently upgraded Jerry L. King Hall of Fame can be found on the second floor of the Harry W. Abell Administrative Building (E-Building) on SIC’s Harrisburg campus.