Rowan College at Burlington County student Jared Alexander is used to being relied on. After his father, Dr. Jonathan Alexander, the late professor of English literature and Holocaust studies at RCBC, became paralyzed, he took on the job of caretaker for his grandmother. As he juggled cooking her meals and cleaning her apartment, he took her to doctor’s appointments and made runs to the grocery store to stock up her fridge.
When Alexander landed a job at Shake Shack three years ago, it didn’t take him long to master most of his responsibilities, both behind the counter on the grill and assisting customers. When given more, he became proficient in those, too. Soon, management caught wind of his dedication to the company and customer base and, last year, offered him the manager position at his store. Overseeing his employees amid 40-hour work weeks became the norm.
While some would see these things as a burden, Alexander perceived the situation differently. His arms were wide open, encouraging and embracing.
“You have to be there for other people,” Alexander said. “What’s been shown to me is that you’ll surround yourself with people who have your back. On the days that I felt like I needed someone to fall onto, there they were, and it’s helped me. I thought there’s no way that I can’t do this.”
In fact, he expected to help people ever since he was a child. If asked in typical fashion, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Alexander’s answer would be “police officer” or “firefighter.”
Criminal justice has always been his passion - influenced heavily by his mother, a lawyer. Late in his high school career, it was time for Alexander to pursue that passion for real. However, he wasn’t sure if university was what he wanted to do. Following his father, he took online classes at RCBC. One stood out for him in particular.
“It sparked with Dr. C [Dr. Amber Ciccanti, assistant professor of criminal justice] when I took Criminal Justice 101,” Alexander said. “I then started with the criminal justice 3+1 program. The two professors, Dr. Ciccanti and Professor (Joe) Rizzo, are incredibly inspiring. For me, they’ve made class extremely motivating and made me want to come back and pursue others.”
Another class he took was with his father, Dr. Alexander. During this class, Alexander saw how much his father’s lessons affected his students, and how passionate he was about his studies, even if they were online due to his health.
Tragically, Dr. Alexander passed away this year in early April, the same semester his son was taking his class. In the aftermath, stories were passed on to Alexander in condolences, again shining a light on his impact on their lives.
“I think that changed my idea of the community here at RCBC,” Alexander said. “The professors knew him, the students knew him. I feel like that culture and that teaching environment carried through so many other people more than him.”
For his resilience, dependability, and commitment to traversing adversity, Alexander was selected as the President’s Award winner for the college’s Humanities, Business, and Social Sciences division and will speak at the respective ceremony at winter commencement on December 18.
Once again, at the podium, he hopes to help his fellow graduates, this time through his words.
For more commencement information, visit rcbc.edu/commencement.
