Northwestern Associate Dean Joins Board Overseeing White Sox Ballpark

EVANSTON, IL — Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced the appointment of a Northwestern University staffer to serve on the board overseeing the Chicago White Sox ballpark.

Roderick Hawkins, the associate dean of external affairs and chief of staff at Northwestern's School of Communication, will serve on the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority's seven-member board, pending confirmation by the state Senate.

In his role at Northwestern, Hawkins leads staff who manage communications, events, high school programs and performing arts venues in Evanston and Chicago, according to Pritzker's announcement.

Prior to starting his job with the private university three years ago, Hawkins was the communications director for the public education advocacy nonprofit Advance Illinois. Before that, Hawkins spent nearly three years working in the office of then-Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, where he was a senior advisor and later deputy chief of staff.

Hawkins also has experience leading marketing for the Chicago Urban League and as the deputy press secretary for former Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco during hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

According to the governor's announcement, Hawkins was a 2023 Center on Halsted Human First Award recipient, and currently serves on the board of directors of the Auditorium Theatre, the alumni board Louisiana State University's communications school and the iHeartMedia Chicago Local Advisory Board.

State lawmakers created the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority in 1987 to use taxpayer money to pay for professional sports teams. It is the owner and developer of Guaranteed Rate Field, previously known as U.S. Cellular Field and Comiskey Park.

The authority also chipped in to help with renovations of Soldier Field in 2000, bonding out nearly $400 million to fund the project. (The Bears and the NFL each contributed $100 million to the project.)

Last year, a WMAQ investigation found the authority still owes more than $640 million — including more than 97 percent of the principal — more than two decades after borrowing the money.