Alumni Profile: Tracey S. McCooey

Institutional Writing · Auburn University at Montgomery · 2010

Project Overview

40 @ Forty was a commemorative publication produced by Auburn University at Montgomery's Office of University Relations to celebrate the university's fortieth anniversary. It highlighted forty distinguished alumni selected for their professional, personal, and civic achievements, showcasing AUM graduates' contributions to their communities and professions.

I wrote five alumni profiles for the publication, transforming information gathered through written interview responses into engaging biographical narratives. This sample features Tracey S. McCooey, whose work in the judicial system illustrates the professional accomplishments and community contributions celebrated by the project.

Skills Demonstrated

Biographical writing, synthesizing interview material, audience awareness, and institutional communications.

Writing Sample

Originally published in 40 @ Forty (Auburn University at Montgomery, 2010). Reproduced here as published.

Born in San Antonio, Texas, Judge Tracey S. McCooey was elected circuit judge in Montgomery County in 1998 after five years as chief legal counsel for the Alabama State Employees’ Association.

Previously, she served for two years as deputy district attorney in Montgomery County, where she was an investigator with the Montgomery Operation on Drugs Task Force.  In addition, McCooey is a member of the Alabama Mental Illness Planning Council, the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center Commission and the Animal Alliance Board for Montgomery County.  She is also an advisory board member for Aid to Inmate Mothers.

Among her many awards are the Women of Excellence Award presented by Baptist Hospital and the Montgomery Advertiser in 2007, the Alabama Association of Community Corrections Judges Award in 2005 and the Junior League of Montgomery Unsung Hero Award in 2004.

As a circuit judge, McCooey tries both adult felony criminal cases and civil cases at $10,000 and above.

She views her greatest professional accomplishment to be starting a number of programs since her election in 1998: trash pick-up on Saturday mornings, the Drug Court quilting program, Mental Health Court, and several Restorative Justice programs such as victim-offender conferencing, circle sentencing, and criminal mediations.

McCooey is married to Michael H. McCooey, with whom she carries out a Meals on Wheels route to deliver food to senior citizens.  She also greatly values her work with the Drug Court quilting program, which is held every Saturday morning; the program has been in place for six years.  “I, as well as volunteers from the community, including my mother, help teach the participants how to make quilts by hand,” she said.  “These quilts are given to babies that have been born from (parents) who have used drugs or are HIV positive.”

McCooey feels that the program has helped its participants by building community among them and by giving them the opportunity to share with others in Montgomery.

McCooey graduated magna cum laude from AUM in 1987 with a bachelor’s degree in political science.  She is still actively involved in AUM, serving as a member of the Political Science and Public Administration Advisory Board, as well as an advisory board member for the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity.

In 2000, McCooey received AUM’s Outstanding Graduate Award for the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, and she now teaches as an adjunct instructor.

Of her time at AUM, Judge McCooey says, “My professors in the Political Science Department at AUM were wonderful examples of professional, caring and unselfish people who always gave of themselves in the classroom as well as the community.  They nourished us and encouraged us to get involved in politics and the community where we learned that one person truly can make a difference.”