Sitting at a small, round table, with a smile on her face, Professor Danna Prather Davis listened attentively to the student visiting her sunlit office during office hours. It was a very telling scene in that Prather Davis, the assistant academic chairperson of the Communication, RTV, and Cinema department, was not sitting behind her desk and establishing an unequal teacher to student power dynamic. Instead, she was sitting directly opposite the student as if to establish an unspoken sense of parity between them both. It was as if she was saying to him, without actually having to say it, “Above all else, we are each human beings and as such, I will respect you and help you in any way I can.”
This was the heartwarming scene I was greeted with when I went to visit Prather Davis the Wednesday before Halloween. Being the day before Halloween and because she is the enthusiastic, invested person that she is, Prather Davis was dressed accordingly in black spiderweb hosiery accompanied by spider earrings. Prather Davis’s office is just as colorful and engaging as her personality and wardrobe. The walls are covered with pictures of her family as well as intellectually stimulating signs such as a magnet on a refrigerator which reads, “You know these fuckers banning books don’t read shit.” Prather Davis is the type of individual who students enjoy having as a professor not only because she imparts a lot of valuable knowledge to them, but also because she makes them all better people in the long run.
For Prather Davis, who has been at Suffolk County Community College since 2009, being an understanding, people-oriented individual who is passionate about improving the lives of others has always been part of who she is. Prather Davis had previously taught at the University of Iowa, Dallas Community College as well as the University of IU Texas, but eventually made the
decision to move to New York and teach at Suffolk. Her rationale behind making such a major life decision epitomizes her compassionate and understanding nature.
“Suffolk County is very economically diverse, and I am engaged in social justice,” said Prather Davis when discussing why she specifically chose to teach at Suffolk County Community College. “It is important that everyone has access to a quality education no matter their economic background,”
This Fall 2024 semester, Prather Davis is teaching four sections of COM 105 – Public Speaking, and one section of Com 101 – Introduction to Human Communication. With her also occasionally teaching such Communications courses as COM 131 – Theories of Persuasion, COM 202 – Intercultural Communication, COM 111 – Cinema History Part I, COM 112 – Cinema History Part II, COM 113 – American Cinema, COM 114 – Introduction To Fiction Analysis and COM 297 – Genres of Cinema, there is a very good chance you personally may luck out and have her as your professor while at Suffolk.
“Skateboarding is not a crime,” Prather Davis explained when further discussing her philosophy as an educator. For her this phrase best sums up how professors such as herself should try and empathize with their students and understand that they too are human beings with other things going on in their lives other than college.
“People are here for numerous reasons, and it is not the faculty’s business,” she continued. “Faculty should meet students where they are…people have different priorities which may not be your priorities.”
Prather Davis’s innate ability to understand as well as encourage the people around her to become the very best that they can be, was conveyed by her fellow faculty members. “Professor Prather Davis brings her ‘A game’ to everything and makes me want to bring my ‘A game’ to everything as well,” said English professor Dr. William Burns. “Her commitment to her students, department and the college is unbelievable,” he added. “She is determined, compassionate, intelligent, and definitely has high standards but is understanding of them as well.”
Journalism professor Carl Corry continued with this sentiment when he said, “Professor Prather Davis wants what is best in people…she is an extremely valuable person for the college and
campus and a lot of her students recognize her value. She has high standards, is passionate about her craft and her students and the people she works with.”
Not only do Prather Davis’s peers recognize her compassionate nature and ability to enhance the lives of others but ask any of her past and present students and they will say the same. “Professor Prather Davis was a great teacher in that she made us all come together as a class and we all became friends with one another,” said Jack Tors, a sophomore who had her as his Public Speaking professor in the fall of 2023. “Not only did Danna teach me how to become a better public speaker, but without getting into it, in her own way, she made me a better person,” he added with a gracious smile on his face.
When she is not inspiring her fellow faculty members along with her students, Prather Davis loves scuba diving – she is a certified dive master – as well as attending concerts such as Imagine Dragons with her son. She is extremely devoted to her family, wearing many hats as a loving mother, daughter and wife. I learned this firsthand when during our interview the phone rang and she answered it kindly explaining, “I always take the phone when my mom or husband calls.”
Whatever the future holds for Prather Davis, one thing is certain – she will continue to improve the lives of those around her due to her selfless and understanding compassion. When discussing the most rewarding aspect of being a college professor, she best summed this up by saying, “It is the interactions with the students. Making them successful and helping them through a rough patch. It is a privilege when someone comes to you and I am thankful to listen to someone.”
