Jesse Senderson: We should all work to make the world a better place

Jesse Senderson didn't get into the criminal justice field just to fight crime. He wanted to be involved with his community and help change it for the better.

Senderson has been a lecturer in the criminal justice department at UNT for the past nine years. He was the first faculty member in the department to begin teaching at the UNT System Center at Dallas and has taught there the last two years, dividing his time between the System Center and the Denton campus.

"I live in Lancaster, so the days I have to drive to Denton make for a really long commute," Senderson says. "On the way to school, I think about my lectures and notes for class. On the way home, I try to think about how the day went and plan for the next day. I try to always have a plan."

Senderson's true ambition in life was to be a football coach, but he ended up in the U.S. Army by way of the draft in 1970. He says he was fortunate because he did not actually go to Vietnam, but spent his service time in Germany and Austria. Later, he worked as a parole officer and court services officer before becoming a police officer in Alabama. He and his family relocated to Dallas in 1985, where he took a position with Dallas County Adult Probation Services.

Senderson says his real passion is volunteer work, which he does through various community programs. He is involved with the Buffalo Soldiers of Lancaster, Skyline Ranch, several neighborhood associations providing mentoring and youth services to high-risk youth in the Dallas area, and numerous other community revitalization programs.

"There's a whole world out there to experience," he says. "There is no reason to live in ignorance. Look beyond what you're accustomed to."

Senderson tries to provide underprivileged children with the opportunity to be involved in activities that they would not normally have the chance to experience.

"I try to be a surrogate father to kids who live with their mothers and don't necessarily even know their fathers," Senderson says. "I like to see children grow when they are exposed to experiences that they've never even dreamed of participating in — not just art and plays, but also golf and tennis and even something as simple as fishing. I took a little boy fishing who had never been before and it was so special to see his reaction when he caught his first fish."

Senderson likes watching things grow, and he and his wife have what he calls a "grocery garden," a garden that is specifically meant to grow fruits and vegetables normally bought at the grocery store.

"I was raised in the city, so I didn't know that much about gardening," he says. "When we planted our first garden, we weren't sure if what was coming up was a vegetable or weeds, so we pulled it. It turned out to be one of the vegetables we had planted. Nevertheless, both my wife and I enjoy our garden. There's nothing better than your own homegrown vegetables."

BY ALLISON YEAMAN kreese@unt.edu

Other featured articles in this issue:

• Summer I numbers up 14.6 percent
• Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science selects new assistant dean
• Library welcomes Cyber Café with Starbucks products
• NT Daily Sounds begins web broadcasting
• Summer camp for gifted math students at UNT next month
• Farewell events planned to honor Hurleys
• Eighteen earn 2002-03 Mayborn Scholarships
• UNT professor builds library for Jamaican town in need
• Time to sign up to welcome freshmen on Sunday Fun Day

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