By Brenda Ortega
MEA Voice Editor

Two childhood traits have served Marcia Mackey through a wide-ranging career in higher education and union leadership spanning almost 50 years: Mackey loves to fight for the underdog, and she commits 100% to what she believes in.

“By nature, I’m very passionate and I think it shows in my union work,” the longtime MEA leader and Central Michigan University (CMU) professor said. “When I pick something, whatever it is, I’m all-in.”

For her determined advocacy in numerous roles at every level — from individual to local, regional, state and national — Mackey is the 2026 winner of MEA’s James A. Davenport Award of Merit for significant service to higher education.

Honored at the MEA Higher Education Conference earlier this month, Mackey said she was “floored” when audience members were asked to raise their hands if she had mentored them in the union and hands shot up from every corner of the room.

“I’m really humbled, and it’s an honor, but this is for all of us,” she said in accepting the award. “We don’t do anything alone. All of you deserve the credit… When you step up and take on those challenges, it makes it happen for all of us. So thank you to everybody. Clap for yourself.”

Mackey is a professor of sport management and aquatics who always wanted to be a teacher and has taught at Temple University in addition to holding numerous aquatic posts in various parts of the world. Her union journey began at CMU as a department representative in 1992.

She considers the students she has taught her kids and the union her family. She loves to help young people find their purpose and reach their potential. “They’re my underdogs, and I will fight tooth and nail for them,” she said in an interview.

Mackey recently stepped down as president of MEA’s Michigan Association for Higher Education (MAHE) to transition new leadership as she nears the end of her career. She remains a member of the MEA Board of Directors and secretary of Region 12, among other roles.

Over decades, Mackey has held numerous leadership positions, in addition to serving on a broad array of committees, commissions and task forces, along with participating in state and national organizing work and legislative lobbying efforts.

“Dr. Mackey has brought higher-education perspectives into broader organizational conversations about governance, human and civil rights, leadership development, international understanding, social justice, and policy,” wrote nominator Roop Jayaraman, associate professor and program director in Exercise Science at CMU.

“Few individuals can match the scope of her contributions across local, state, national, and international settings,” Jayaraman continued. “Even fewer have sustained that service while remaining so deeply engaged in the daily work of representation, governance, education, and organizing.”

Her legacy at the state level reflects her long push for inclusion of college and university education support professionals (ESP) alongside faculty groups in MAHE because, “We can’t succeed without them, and they can’t succeed without us.”

Her strength as a leader shows in a welcoming smile and outstretched hand. “I’m not necessarily the one that’s going to stand up with the bullhorn and yell stuff,” she said. “It’s more the grassroots work that I enjoy.

“If somebody comes into a meeting or a room, and they’re sitting alone or I don’t see them talking to anyone, I’m immediately going to go sit with them. They’re the underdog in that situation, so you try to help them feel valued because you want them to come back the next time.”

At the national level, Mackey has served on the NEA Board of Directors and Representative Assembly. She has been a frequent attendee and presenter at the NEA Higher Education Conference since 2002.

Currently she is seeking re-election as vice president of NEA’s National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) after one three-year term in the role. Before that she served as at-large member and secretary on the NCHE Executive Committee.

As part of her work as NCHE vice president, Mackey has galvanized MEA and NEA participation in a new initiative to organize various labor unions representing workers at colleges and universities — known as Higher Education Labor United (HELU).

“HELU is connecting the dots so that everybody’s communicating and working together, rather than having all these individual efforts happening in different places. It doesn’t matter if you’re UAW or AFT or NEA — we’re all unions, and we’re all working for the same stuff.”

The new coalition has helped to coordinate national opposition against federal threats to academic freedom and research funding at public institutions of higher learning, Mackey added.

“It’s already bringing collective action. It’s already bringing recognition of here’s what’s happening in one state and how it moves to another state — here’s the pattern.”

Within NEA, Mackey is proudest of her work to expand involvement of ESP groups and boost engagement with NEA by affiliated higher education unions across the country. “It’s gratifying to see smaller groups come and get involved and realize they’re part of a national movement.”

Looking back, the memories that stand out are the ones where she stood up, Mackey said, recalling a dramatic job action at CMU in 2011 — amid damaging cuts to state funding by Gov. Rick Snyder — when faculty fought off planned salary cuts.

She has lobbied in Lansing and Washington, D.C., stood on picket lines to fight for human and civil rights, and knocked doors to defeat union-busting and organize new units in Michigan, Florida and New Mexico.

She reminds others that action is the antidote to despair: “In the union, there are always ways to jump on board.”

Early on at CMU, Mackey barely knew what a union was or did, but she needed help with an issue and the association backed her rights. “The union became my brothers and sisters, and I was all-in, and I’ve been all-in ever since.”

She traces all of it back to tough times in childhood — standing with the underdog, giving her all, leading with empathy. A middle school physical education teacher offered encouragement and acceptance, helping her see that individuals can make a difference when they feel they belong.

“I decided in seventh grade I was going to be a teacher, and I never wavered.”

Today Mackey embodies the dedication, courageous leadership and advocacy that the James A. Davenport Award was created to honor, said Alexa Rihana-Abdallah, an engineering professor at University of Detroit-Mercy and member of the MAHE Executive Committee who presented the honor.

“Throughout her many roles, she has consistently paired visionary leadership with meaningful action, demonstrating an unwavering commitment to empowering others and helping them succeed,” Rihana-Abdallah said.

“Please join us in congratulating Dr. Marcia Mackey and celebrating her exceptional contributions to MAHE, MEA, NEA, and the broader higher education community.”