| Mission
For Dr. Alice Patterson, director of Trevecca’s on-site Doctor of Education in Leadership (Ed.D.), connecting graduate students with opportunities to make Christmas possible for local kids is deeply meaningful.
“Prior to coming to Trevecca, I taught in Metro Nashville Public Schools. I taught in schools that were extremely impoverished,” Patterson said. “The only Christmas my students had was the Christmas the school provided. Can you imagine being a child and waking up on Christmas morning to have no gifts at all?”
For 10 years, Patterson and her adult students have teamed with a program called Forgotten Angels sponsored by the Salvation Army. The organization started Angel Tree to connect specific kids and their gift requests to people willing to donate them. Forgotten Angels is for children whose requests may not have been fulfilled in time, and it helps ensure that every child in the program will have presents to open Christmas morning.
Trevecca’s doctoral students purchased toys for the children, and brought them to their monthly in-person class on campus. There, the Salvation Army had provided boxes and photos of some of the children who will benefit.
“That whole day is just a celebration with a class squeezed in there as well,” Patterson said. “Part of that celebration is focusing on what this season is about.”
It is also an opportunity for students to embody the servant leadership at the heart of the Ed.D. program, which centers on equipping learners with the skills to become agents of change. On-site Ed.D. students choose a track in pre-K-12 district leadership, leadership in the age of artificial intelligence or professional practice to tailor their degree to their calling and career path. Patterson believes authentic leadership cannot stop at theory.
“I truly believe that to be a leader, you’ve got to do more than just read the books. You’ve got to be able to give, provide and to model good leadership,” Patterson said. “We absolutely need to give back to our community.”
Trevecca has no plans to stop participating any time soon. In addition to being a celebratory part of the Ed.D. Christmas experience, it becomes a full-circle moment for some in the program.
“So many of our students can relate to this mission either personally or professionally. We’ve even had a student say they had been a recipient of the Angel Tree as a child,” Patterson said. “They really want to give back to their community. We are all part of this world and need to make our contribution to it.”