J. Phenise Poole 2024 Recipient of the Donald G. Hileman Distinguished Alumni Award
When J. Phenise Poole (’95) joined College of Communication and Information students during their global programs trip to Dublin, Ireland, this past summer, she was very excited when CCI Dean Joe Mazer said that the next Donald G. Hileman Distinguished Alumni Award winner was in the room. Phone in hand with the camera ready to capture the lucky alumni winner’s face, Poole awaited the reveal.
Luckily, School of Communication Studies Professor and Director Jon Hess had the same idea as Poole and quickly snapped a series of photos recording her reaction when Mazer said her name.
“He says my name and there’s three shots of me: shock, recognition, and then I’m trying not to cry because I was so moved. I was completely surprised, humbled, and honored,” she recalled. “It takes up time for me to come back to Tennessee and do things for the university, so I’m really honored to be recognized.”
Poole was in Ireland as she and other alumni who have funded scholarships for students were invited by the college administration to observe first-hand the kind of impact such giving makes. While being honored with the Hileman was a highlight, she said the entire trip was a fantastic experience.
“It was just a really neat opportunity to meet the students. We were all in awe and wowed by them, they were so focused on what they wanted to do, they were very driven and really excited for the opportunity,” she recounted.
Becoming a Volunteer
Poole, who currently works as senior vice president and deputy general counsel for Fifth Third Bank, has given back to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and the College of Communication and Information in many ways over the years. She is a member of the UT Foundation Board of Directors and served as the first black female president of the UT Alumni Board of Directors.
A true Vol for life with Tennessee orange incorporated in her office, home, and even vehicle décor, everyone who knows Poole knows she’s an alumnus of the university—but UT wasn’t the employment lawyer’s first choice of schools. She originally wanted to attend a historically Black college or university (HBCU), just like both her Tennessee State University alumni parents did.
Poole was already set on majoring in journalism, though, which was not offered by Tennessee State University at that time, so she turned her sights to Hampton University. UT only entered the picture when her guidance counselor at Oak Ridge High School pushed her to apply for the Whittle Scholarship—a scholarship that required recipients to major in journalism and complete a summer internship with Whittle Communications and linked them to a mentor at the company. She thought it was a long shot but applied for it, anyway.
“It was a full ride, and I wound up getting the scholarship and that brought me to the University of Tennessee, and it turns out that was exactly where I needed to be,” she said. “I just really wound up enjoying it and having a great time.”
The scholarship included a stipend as students were expected to focus on schoolwork and not hold jobs during the school year. It alleviated a hefty financial burden for Poole and her parents and later influenced her own decision to establish the Cleveland and Nadine Young Scholarship for Professional Excellence (named after her grandparents) at CCI to benefit students who need financial assistance.
“One of the things that has caused me to be so mindful and intentional about donating to the university is I want to hopefully allow students who maybe need a little extra money or extra change to be able to be exposed to something they might not have otherwise been able to do,” she said.
While the financial benefit was a large part of why Poole appreciated the scholarship, the mentorship and networking that came with it had just as much of an impact. That’s why she has also volunteered her time over the years to meet with and mentor students, whether to help them prepare for job interviews, improve their resumes, or answer their questions with her best tips.
Becoming a lawyer
The college was also where she was inspired to go to law school. Though the idea had always been floating around in the back of her mind, a communications and law course taught by the dean of the law school at that time cemented it. It clicked for her how she could combine her interests in journalism and the law, to “marry the best of both worlds” and become a lawyer and still make the most of her journalism degree.
She earned her Juris Doctorate from the University of Dayton School of Law and landed her first legal position with the city of Cincinnati as an assistant city prosecutor. Her career eventually segued into the private sector when she went to work at a firm, then for her current company, Fifth Third Bank. Though she left the bank for a few years to work for both Omnicare, Inc. (a division of CVS Health Corporation) and CVS Health, Poole returned to Fifth Third a few years later.
Today, she manages the employment law group, providing counsel on employment matters. Her oversight includes managing legal matters impacting over 18,000 employees in the United States, Canada, and the UK. She also has a variety of other duties including managing enterprise workplace services and legal operations.
UT isn’t the only place where she volunteers her time, as she’s involved with a variety of organizations in her community and field, including serving on the Urban League of Greater Southwestern Ohio’s board of directors, serving as a member of the steering committee for the Cincinnati Bar Association Academy of Leadership for Lawyers, and her sorority, to name a few.
She’s also been recognized over the years for both her career and community activities and was recognized in Who’s Who in Black Cincinnati 2023 and named as an Unsung Hometown Hero in 2022 as part of the city of Cincinnati’s “Black is Excellence” initiative.
Poole said her journalism and communication courses at UT well-prepared her for both law school and being a lawyer. Reading and writing were already skills she enjoyed and excelled at, even as an undergraduate, but the pivotal skill she gained at college was speed. For example, the class where they were given assignments that had to be completed and sent to the printer by a specific deadline.
“We learned to quickly absorb information, understand it, and communicate it in a way that the average reader would understand it. In law school, you’re reading tons and tons, so the ability to read that information and identify the salient points and critical information and translate that to an outline or notes was crucial,” she said. “Those are skills that I practice every day.”
Becoming a supporter
Poole said her academic experience at UT was exceptional because of her Whittle Scholarship and her courses at the College of Communication (the college became CCI in the early 2000s). She also joined Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, which made up a big part of her social life and is what she called her “saving grace” as it gave her a place where she belonged; because, at that time, the UT campus still had spaces where she felt she did not belong.
“When I was at UT, it could sometimes be a challenging place for students of color,” she said. “When I was first asked to start participating and contributing to the college, I remember being hesitant to get involved and one of the things that they said was, ‘Why don’t you help us make it better?’.”
In that moment, when Poole looked at the UT campus, she saw a different place than it had been when she was a student in the early ‘90s. She saw administrators, faculty, and staff who were prepared to do the work it takes to enact change and improve the campus to be inclusive for all students.
“I’m very proud of how the university has changed over the years and has progressed. Like at homecoming, it’s just night and day. It’s a much more inclusive campus. That might seem like a really little thing, but it’s about belonging and feeling welcome and invited,” she said.
As she continues to make an impact on the education and lives of UT students in a variety of ways, Poole is also encouraged by the vision for the university and CCI’s future. Events such as the Ireland trip have only cemented her affection for the college and her dedication to helping its students thrive.
“I think the growth in the college is exciting. I think the College of Communication and Information is this hidden gem that gets a little bit of light—I think it’s a strong college and a lot of strong people and alumni have come out of that college,” she said. “What’s most exciting is the growth and the current vision that the dean has. I think there’s a lot of things that are exciting to come and I think we’re finally getting the notoriety on campus.”
J. Phenise Poole 2024 Recipient of the Donald G. Hileman Distinguished Alumni Award written by Hillary Tune and originally published on the College of Communication & Information site.