The field of journalism has lost an icon. The Boston Globe has lost a valued employee of 41 years, the McDonough family has lost a father and a loving husband, Northeastern has lost a valued alumni and the world lost a wonderful human being on Jan. 9 when Will McDonough died in his Hingham home.
McDonough reaped success in the field of journalism. The first sports writer to be nominated for a Pulitzer Prize comes to mind as one of the more prestigious achievements. The television stations that covered McDonough’s death highlighted his ability to gather “scoops,” the ability to cultivate relationships and sources and the ability to treat everyone with respect. What the television stations glossed over was the fact that McDonough was a Northeastern graduate.
In Saturday’s Globe, his colleagues remember him as a brash and brazen “newsie” with the ability to gain a source’s respect and trust, but also be able to knockout an NFL player if so provoked – and did. McDonough hadn’t buried his nose in books, working on a thesis dissertation; he learned these qualities and earned the career at NU.
In Jackie MacMullan’s tribute to Will, she said that he still referred to her as “kid.” MacMullan, 42, married and with children, is no child. But it is the colloquialism of McDonough that made him unique, despite his larger than life persona.
It is the stereotype of the working class student, the bottom of the barrel scraper from Southie that Will McDonough exemplified. This man of immense success began his career at The Globe, as a co-op. McDonough wasn’t an Ivy League, and he didn’t attend the esteemed Columbia Journalism School. He overcame the obstacle of being a stereotype in the 1950s by landing his co-op job at the Globe, where he remained until his death.
What McDonough accomplished and stood for should symbolize the Northeastern experience. McDonough didn’t need World News and Reports to tell him that NU’s co-op is the best in the nation, and he didn’t need semesters to excel towards his diploma. McDonough embodied the Northeastern spirit anyway.
According to Bob Duffy’s tribute in The Globe on Saturday, McDonough never pretended to be someone he wasn’t, he never lived by anyone else’s standards, but his own, he strove to achieve his dreams on his own terms.
When Northeastern students walk out of the FleetCenter on their graduation day, they should hold more that a diploma in their hand; they should be able to hold their heads high with pride and know with confidence that they hold the rest of their life in their hands.
Your Northeastern diploma holds more weight because of what Will McDonough accomplished. He was a man who came from little and made something of himself, and that is what Northeastern symbolizes – personal transformation and growth. The university was the vehicle that set McDonough into motion. Co-op was the catalyst that brought him over 40 years of success in the field of journalism.
And it all started here with a diploma and a dream.
