Dr. Patricia Young, who taught in the department of English for thirty-six years, passed away on March 27th, 2025. She was the longest serving faculty member in the department.

Dr. Young, known to her colleagues in Simpkins Hall as “Pat,” will be missed. She had a deep calling to teach and a huge commitment to Western and the department of English. She touched the lives of thousands of students, teaching courses from the required general-education writing classes to advanced courses in American literature, drama, the short story, and African-American literature. She was an affiliate faculty member for Western’s African-American Studies program, and she led the African-American Literary Society student organization.

Dr. Young was an accomplished and well-published scholar. Her book, African American Women Playwrights Confront Violence: A Critical Study of Nine Dramatists followed her work on African-American playwrights, including Angelina Weld Grimké, one of Dr. Young’s major research subjects. Her articles appeared in many edited collections and journals, including Women and Language, Western Journal of Black Studies, The Literary Griot: International Journal of Black Expressive Cultural Studies, and the Journal of Black Studies. Dr Young earned her B.A. degree majoring in English in 1974 from Southern Illinois University, and she stayed at Southern to complete her M.A. in English. Dr. Young pledged the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority in 1973, and she remained an active member until her death. She went on to doctoral work at Bowling Green State University, and she earned her Ph.D. in 1986. Her doctoral dissertation, Female Pioneers in Afro-American Drama: Angelina Weld Grimké, Georgia Douglas Johnson, Alice Dunbar-Nelson, and Mary Powell Burrill, established her lifelong scholarly project on African-American drama. She joined the faculty of English at Western in 1989.

Dr. Young was a constant presence in Simpkins, chatting up colleagues and students, and welcoming everyone into her cheerful office. In the days when faculty were often doubled-up in offices, her officemate for a time was Roberta di Carmine, who recalls that Pat “was the one to initiate very long conversations on so many subjects: from travels and gardening to faith and spirituality. Pat also enjoyed knowing about my life, as someone who left Italy to move to the States to get a Ph.D. I still remember when she decided to travel to Italy and how excited she was to go to Rome, to the Vatican, to visit the Sistine Chapel. She was so happy! There is something else that I will always cherish about those conversations: Pat never shied away from talking about her romantic life but always with a smile, and so we often found ourselves laughing at our past relationships, and at the challenges of dating! Pat’s laughter is still with me, and she will be always remembered for her kindness, her enthusiasm for others, and her love for life.” Amy Mossman recalls that “Most of my conversations with Pat were outside of work at the YMCA where we would run into each other, usually on Saturday mornings. She always asked about my children and had kept them in her prayers when they were born eleven weeks early. The last time I spoke to Pat, she expressed that she was hoping to get back to work soon because she missed her students. As I reflect on our conversations, the common thread weaving them together was her concern for our younger generations.”

Department Chair Dr. Marjorie Allison recalls that “There was no place Pat would rather be than in the classroom. That is where she found purpose and meaning, and even in her last few months while on leave, her drive was to get back to her students and her teaching. Pat also began and supported the African American Literary Society for Western Illinois University, and worked on expanding the horizons of literary possibilities for students.” Everyone who knew Dr. Young recognized that she was totally committed to and found much joy in her scholarship and teaching. Beyond her work at Western, Dr. Young was also deeply involved in her local church, the Macomb Assembly of God, and she had many friends on the Western Campus and in the Macomb community.

Dr. Young will be missed by everyone in the English Department.