Loyola’s Weekend JD graduates forge change while leading successful careers

Throughout her career, Jacqueline Collins (JD ’20) has championed policies that are shown to reduce inequality and strengthen underserved and disinvested communities. She spent 20 years representing Illinois’ 16th Legislative District as a State Senator in the Illinois General Assembly — ultimately serving as Assistant Majority Leader — and worked on more than 200 pieces of groundbreaking legislation, including the Predatory Loan Prevention Act, the Illinois Community Reinvestment Act, the Mortgage Rescue Fraud Act, and a 2022 law that made Illinois the first state in the Midwest to ban “ghost guns.”

One reason behind Collins’ success: Loyola’s Weekend JD program. “This is an innovative program for full-time professionals who otherwise might not have the opportunity to earn their JD. It is opening the door to the study of law for the good of society.”

Launched in 2016, the Weekend JD was one of the first part-time programs in the country to move away from the typical “night school” schedule to make law school accessible to full-time professionals. The program offers a broad-based curriculum taught by nationally renowned professors, blending in-person classes held every other weekend on Loyola’s Water Tower Campus with courses conducted remotely.

Maya Crim, assistant dean for JD admission and scholarships at the School of Law, says there is no such thing as a “typical” Weekend JD student. Some are parents of young children, while others seize the opportunity for a new challenge later in their careers. One third of the class hails from outside Illinois, and students come from a wide range of industries including government, business, medicine, and nonprofit organizations.

Noor Davis (JD ’25) puts his Weekend JD education to work in the realm of professional athletics, serving as strategic executive partner in the office of Chicago Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren.

A former pro football player himself, Davis likens his professional relationship with his boss to that of a center and a quarterback. “The quarterback is the one who’s going to get the praise and the blame, who’s going to have to call the shots, but somebody has to snap the ball to the quarterback and get the other members of the team in formation. I love my role because I help in every aspect of the business, from working with every executive leader all the way to the custodians and kitchen staff.”

Lately, much of Davis’ work is devoted to the Bears’ closely watched efforts to select the location for the team’s new domed stadium. From reviewing contracts and state legislation to negotiating financing partnerships with community stakeholders, Davis says the Weekend JD prepared him to be a key legal strategist and valued partner in the rooms where decisions are made. “Obviously, the credentials allow you to open doors and get access to opportunity, but the way that you think, the way that you lead, the way that you communicate — all the things that you learn through getting your JD — allow you to earn the trust of the people in your organization who rely on you.”

When Collins learned about Loyola’s Weekend JD program, she liked the idea that she could continue her work while earning a law degree from a school rooted in values aligned with her own. “One of the reasons I was so pleased to become part of the student body was Loyola’s strong and unwavering commitment to scholarship and social justice,” she said.

For Collins, who was selected as a 2018-20 Curt and Linda Rodin Fellow in Social Justice, the program’s flexible structure was a demonstration of Loyola’s commitment to equity and inclusion.

Now retired from the Illinois General Assembly, Collins serves as an Illinois Human Rights Commissioner, one of seven commissioners appointed by Governor J.B. Pritzker to the independent state agency that resolves complaints of discrimination filed under the Illinois Human Rights Act. She is also a member of the Illinois Accountability Commission, an independent board the governor established in October 2025 to create a public record of the conduct of federal agents during “Operation Midway Blitz,” the federal immigration enforcement campaign in Chicago that began last fall.

Collins says she is proud of her role as an organizer of efforts to document the incidents that occurred during the federal operations and how these events have impacted individuals in the community. Across all her roles, Collins says, her law degree has enriched her ability to analyze and investigate facts that advance the interest of her constituencies. “The law enhances the passion I already had, and gives me a new avenue for putting that passion into practice,” she says.

There is little doubt that managing a high-pressure full-time job while attending law school requires serious grit. “There were a lot of long nights and early mornings,” Davis says. “But Loyola provided a great supportive environment, and I formed relationships with administrators throughout the program who helped me work through challenges.”

Both Davis and Collins also credit the tight-knit community among their fellow students as a source of support that has helped them persist toward graduation — and unlock exciting opportunities after graduation.

“The program brought people from various backgrounds and places together, and we became lifelong friends,” Collins said. “The wonderful thing is that you then run into them later on and find out what they are doing. We all take a certain pride in seeing where they have been placed. Loyola is building highly skilled and compassionate lawyers committed to scholarship, service, and social justice, and they are making an impact on the city, the country and the world.”

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