Born in Mount Pleasant, New York, Dr. Leroy Mitchell found his calling at an early age.

Always taking pride in working with the less fortunate, his own upbringing and struggles as a child inspired him to get involved with the student population.

As the retiring director of the Counseling, Help and Assistance Necessary for a College Education (CHANCE) Program, Mitchell was responsible for recruiting and admitting students he thinks show the drive to succeed but do not have the funds for a college education.

“We take young people that normally would not be able to enter the university and do some developmental work with them and send them forth to do great things. We break cycles of poverty that, in some families, have been there for many, many years,” Mitchell said.

“If we really believe in the power of education, one of these [programs] should be in every institution of higher learning. We believe that education is that powerful,” he said.

In his 28 years, Mitchell helped admit over 12,000 students, including upward of 1,800 for the 2008/2009 term.

NIU alum Keyalo Gray, who has been a CHANCE counselor for three years, said he owes much of his success to Mitchell. After he graduated from the program in 2001, he looked all over the state for a job, but had no luck. So Gray looked closer to home, and applied for a position with the program that got him where he is today. When he was hired, he knew he had finally found his calling.

“I know that I was supposed to be here. [Mitchell] gave me a chance, and he gave so many other people a chance,” Gray said. “I would just call Dr. Mitchell the truth. He’s a genuine person; he is who he presents himself to be. He just has a calming spirit about himself and that resonates with students.”

Shevawn Eaton, director of NIU’s ACCESS program, has worked with Mitchell for 15 years and considers him one of her closest friends. She said Mitchell has always bent over backward for the benefit of his students, and would be more than willing to give them the shirt off his back or the hat on his head.

“He goes through six or eight hats a winter because he’ll be walking across campus and see one of our students with no hat, and he’s like, ‘You’re looking cold, take mine,'” Eaton said with tears in her eyes. “One year, his kids and his wife bought him a brand new winter coat. He came home without it and had his old ratty coat on to work the next day because there was a student who couldn’t afford a coat.”

Mitchell plans on easing into retirement by catching up on reading and keeping in contact with the many kids he helped through the years. He has also agreed to assist the university in their search for the next program director.

“It’s going to be real hard to replace him. I hope that the university is able to find somebody who comes close, and I hope they find somebody that has the same caring for students,” said Dr. John Beachy, a math professor who has known Mitchell for over 20 years.

“It has been a tremendous ride. Northern has been great. It has given me the freedom to do what I thought we needed to do [with the program]. The university has been supportive 100 percent,” Mitchell said. “No regrets what-so-ever.”

Mitchell officially retired on Friday, Aug. 29.