Illinois Central College Names Christopher S. McCall as 2020 Distinguished Alumnus

                Illinois Central College presented Peorian Christopher S. McCall with the Distinguished Alumnus Award on Thursday, October 22. The presentation was part of the college’s virtual Community Celebration event, held annually to recognize and celebrate ICC scholarship recipients, their donors and community partners.    

“The Distinguished Alumnus Award annually recognizes an ICC alum who has achieved outstanding success in their chosen field. It also recognizes their humanitarian service and demonstrated support for higher education and Illinois Central College,” said ICC President Dr. Sheila Quirk-Bailey. “Mr. McCall’s inspirational story is another great example of the role ICC can play in changing lives. His numerous accomplishments, impressive community involvement and desire to make a difference make him very deserving of this award. Chris makes our community a better place, and we could not be prouder to call him an ICC alum.” 

McCall is well known for his involvement with local youth and the community. He created a free mentoring program for 5th through 8th grade children in central Illinois to learn and practice the basics of trial law. The program is known as “Order in the Court!” and provides the opportunity to present trial cases to volunteer paralegals, attorneys and actors who create mock legal conflict scenes. He has also served on numerous nonprofit boards, such as Central Illinois FRIENDS, Center for Prevention of Abuse and Peoria County Bar Association. He served as the past Peoria County Bar Association Diversity Chair where he helped raise funds for the diversity scholarship awarded to minority law students. 

 “I would like to thank the ICC board, faculty and staff and Educational Foundation for this recognition, along with my family and colleagues who assisted with furthering my career and community involvement,” said McCall. “ICC faculty and staff instilled in me the confidence and belief that I could succeed socially and academically. ICC truly is the Smart Choice.” 

 McCall, who was born and raised in Peoria, attended Richwoods High School and Illinois Central College before attending the University of Illinois. He received his Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Illinois College of Law and returned to Peoria to establish the McCall Law Offices in 2005.  

 In 2012, McCall was a recipient of the prestigious 40 Leaders Under Forty award recognizing Greater Peoria’s outstanding young professionals. He also received recognition as an Illinois Super Lawyer’s Rising Star, an honor given to only 2.5 percent of Illinois lawyers.  

 McCall is currently the Chair of the Central District of Illinois Court Rules committee and a board member of Peoria Police Activity League (PAL). He also remains active in his fraternity, Kappa Alpha Psi. 

For more information on the Distinguished Alumnus Award, visit icc.edu/alumni/distinguished-alumnus-award. Additional information on the Community Celebration may be found at  icc.edu/communitycelebration. 

 

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