Senior Paul Douillon will cross the stage this week, receive his diploma folder, and turn the tassel from one side of his graduation cap to the other. Earning Bachelor of Arts degrees in Sociology and Criminology, with a minor in music, Douillon had an interesting start in arriving to the University of Miami, and has maximized his potential since stepping on campus.
The son of Haitian immigrants, Douillon is a local, commuter student from Homestead, Florida. He finished his primary education through home school and when time for choosing a college or university came around, he had some options on hand.
“I actually transferred from Miami Dade College,” Douillon said. “I was home schooled before going to college and instead of jumping right into a university setting, starting there helped me figure things out. When I got here, I was ready, and I excelled.”
Douillon majored in criminal justice at MDC, where he received his associate degree and spent time being involved in campus organizations, including student government. Transferring to a major university came with some growing pains as well.
“Almost any transfer you meet will tell you they struggle with finding the community and who they connect with, because people make a lot of their closest friends freshman year,” he said. “Finding what friend group you can ‘infiltrate’ can be hard, I also started here during the Covid time, wearing masks and sitting far apart in class, it wasn’t easy.”
Looking at the opportunities in front of him, Douillon saw that he could either get involved, make connections, and make a lasting impact, or he was going to have a run-of-the-mill college experience and get a degree.
Three weeks into his first semester at UM he ran for a Transfer Senator position in the University’s Student Government and won, a seat he has since been re-elected to and held throughout his college career. He used his position to work with campus leadership and administration in streamlining the credit transfer process for other students who want to transfer to UM from other institutions.
“I ended up choosing UM for a couple of reasons,” Douillon said. “One it’s in Miami, I love Miami and love being here. Two, it’s close to my family as well. Now I’m interested in going to Miami Law because I’ve had such a great experience here.”
Douillon started out as a political science major upon his transfer from MDC and adjusted his curriculum to a criminology major after realizing it aligned more with his future goals. Once in the course work of criminology, he added the second major sociology, noting that the subjects are closely intertwined.
His time taking classes in the College of Arts & Sciences would lead to important moments of exploration and discovery along the journey of higher education. He noted some favorite classes and faculty members that made an impact on him, including lecturer Jan Sokol-Katz.
“I reached out to professors to see about a letter of recommendation for a fellowship, this was after my first semester they were the five teachers I had only had here,” Douillon said. “I reached out to Dr. Sokol-Katz, and she wrote me a letter, I ended up getting that fellowship.”
In Douillon’s words “she believed in me from the second I got here.” Her belief, along with his drive to keep learning and doing better for his community, ended him up in Ireland, meeting the prime minister and so much more.
He joined the Frederick Douglass Global Fellowship in the 2014 cohort, representing the University of Miami among 14 students of color from colleges and universities across the country. His summer trip to Ireland was transformative; the students walked in the footsteps of Frederick Douglass, met Prime Minister Micheàl Martin, and spoke on a Zoom call that included Vice President Kamala Harris.
His 2021 summer was the beginning of more incredible work to come. In 2022, Douillon was preparing for an internship at a private law firm in downtown Miami. One of the many resources here on campus, the Topple Career Center, helped him in that journey as well. Douillon was sharing a car with his father and sister to get to campus each day, but that would not be feasible for a regular 9-5 internship schedule all summer.
“Topple actually gave me some funding for the internship,” Douillon said. “They have the Topple Internship Fund, where they give students a stipend to help them do their summer internship; I applied and got funding from there, which helped me get a car so I could do my internship.”
While planning to intern downtown, Douillon received an email about applications to intern for the Department of Homeland Security and he took the chance. After making it through rigorous application, screening, background and fingerprint processes, the intern position was offered to him either to start last summer or in the fall of 2022.
Douillon began with the DHS in the fall semester, working for the El Dorado South Task Force. For this past spring semester, he moved to the human trafficking department.
This year Douillon brought his own student organization to the forefront, the Student Ambassadors for Vaccine Equity on campus. SAVE is a student-led coalition centered on tackling global health inequity through advocacy. Through the Butler Center for Service and Leadership, Douillon applied to the Clinton Global Initiative University, an event for action-oriented students to connect with other leaders and participate in training and workshops. He and eight other students from UM attended the CGI U event in March of 2023 and will have continued connections for their work going forward.
This lengthy, expanding, trail of work and service he says would not have happened anywhere else.
“All of these things came from opportunities here at UM,” Douillon said. “One of the reasons I’ve gotten so involved is because this school has given me so many opportunities, and it is my duty and responsibility to give back. That’s one of the reasons why I love UM so much is the number of opportunities here. I’ve taken the access to them very seriously.”
Douillon is ready for his walk across the stage, to celebrate with his family and friends, and is looking ahead to the future with a fond remembrance of his experiences at the University of Miami.
He spent his days on the Coral Gables campus in the classroom, and in several different meeting rooms, with his campus involvement. Douillon spent three years in student government and in the Sociology/Criminology Club, is a member of United Black Students, and the president of SAVE. He also is involved in Tau Sigma, the transfer student national honor society, and founded TSO on campus: the Transfer Student Organization where transfers can socialize together and learn more about their new campus.
You can find Douillon playing music in his downtime; an avid musician, he uses music as his creative outlet for managing all the projects he has going on at any given time. He also likes to hang out with his friends on and off campus, and it comes as no surprise that he regularly attends city and county meetings in his hometown.
“I’ve really enjoyed my collegiate career. I’m graduating, and I am kind of sad about it, but now I really think I’m ready for it to come to an end,” he said. “This past year with how rigorously busy I was I haven’t taken the LSAT or even studied for it yet. I will be studying all summer and would like to take it around September. Applications open in the fall, and I would be applying then, Lord willing I would be a 2024 admit.”
Lightning round:
Why should someone come to UM? First of all it’s in the most beautiful city you will ever go to, so consider that. And coming from someone who really values opportunities and connections, which inevitably shapes your experience, highly consider that.
Two of your favorite classes? I took a class with Dr. Sokol-Katz regarding drug intervention and drug policy (Sociology of Drug Abuse) and honestly, I got into that class with a very narrow perspective of drugs, people who use, my mind was very limited. Learning about theories and drug policy, taking that class blew my mind, it is now something that I’m passionate about. The other class would be a special topics class with Judge Ellen Venzer, it’s both a political science and sociology class, very small and discussion based. We explore injustice in the court system, police and corrections, we discuss hard topics. One of the most significant experiences I’ve had through that class was she took her students to Georgia and Alabama for us to look at the work of Bryan Stevenson and the Equal Justice Initiative.
Why should students get interested in student orgs? Being in student orgs shaped my experience, significantly, that helped me make the closest friends that I have here. Don’t rush into it, I was so eager and got involved so rigorously and when burnout hits, it hits. One: be very selective about what you choose to be a part of and dedicate your time to, and two: get involved though. Don’t NOT get involved, there are so many amazing opportunities when you do get involved.
Favorite place to hang out at on campus? The Rat, it’s such a signature place on campus! I feel like it is the epicenter of the University. It brings so many people together and even outside people, I have a friend from FIU and another from University of Florida coming here to see me and guess where we’re meeting? The Rat. Get something good to eat, it’s a good place to hang out.
Favorite place to eat on campus? Vicky Bakery! What can I grab and munch on while I’m walking to my next meeting? Grabbing a pastelito or grabbing a couple croquettes, just grab that and go, I really like their food!
Favorite study spot? My favorite place to study is actually the third floor of Shalala on the terrace, lakeview terrace, the view up there is so beautiful and there’s usually a nice breeze. The library, I go there a lot; when I need to block out the world I’ll go to the stacks, if while working I need to make calls, I’ll go the first floor. If I’m doing an all-nighter though, and working through the night, Kornspan. I’ve done it.
What do you do off campus? I like going to this place called Xtreme Action Park in Fort Lauderdale, they have laser tag, rope climbing, skating, go karting, it’s like paradise for young people. I’ll hit up GameTime here in Coral Gables, other arcades. Brickell is a place I like going to a lot, trying different food options and even though I’m not a big shopping fan it’s fun to just walk around and window shop. It makes you feel like you’re living your best life.
What resources on campus should students utilize? Topple, in addition to their funds and stipends that they give to people, they do resume building, one of the coolest things they have now is a professional headshot booth. Also, student government as a resource, we can advocate for a lot of things, students might not know that we are here to advocate for them and connect with the administration and faculty about issues.
