Month: July 2021

As we prepared to enter the Tucker Center for the summer 2021 graduation, I saw Jean Thrasher, the wife of 56 years of FSU President John Thrasher.  President Thrasher will retire on August 14, 2021, but FSU will lose the active service of two members of the Thrasher family.  I will spend a little time talking about the tremendous influence Jean Thrasher has had on this university. 

I remember entering the Tucker Center for graduation in 2016 and seeing Jean Thrasher sitting there.   Little did I, at that time, realize the impact she would have on the future of FSU.

Jean Thrasher has attended every graduation since the two of them agreed to take on the presidency in the fall of 2014.  I have seen her at football and basketball games and other sporting events.  She has attended hundreds of academic events and has been a strong partner with our president.

I have seen her cheer when our students do well in academics, athletics, and life.  And I have seen her shed a tear when they have struggled.  Florida State is big on student success.  Jean Thrasher helped lead the way

A grandmother, with at least one granddaughter in school at FSU, Jean  has had a natural connection with our students.  Many of them call her “Gi Gi.”.  She never fails to stop to talk to a student, regardless of how busy she is.

Outside of her focus on students, I am most appreciative of the fact that she is always willing to talk and at the most appropriate time, provide excellent advice.  Sometimes, my wife, Jerri, and I did not even realize she was providing that advice at the time.  But later, it became very clear.  Others in leadership positions at FSU have had the same experience.

She has not only provided support and advice across campus, but has been a a great advocate for our university.   Because of her strong connection to the students and the entire FSU family, she has been a formidable advocate in business and governmental circles, including the Florida Legislature.

During the most recent Friday afternoon graduation ceremony, President Thrasher’s voice cracked as he introduced Jean.

I chuckled as he said thank you to Jean for saying yes when he told her seven years ago that he wanted to apply to be president of FSU at 70 years of age.

Seven years later, the two of them have made a huge difference for our university and our state.  Florida State is now a Top Twenty public university and has the highest four-year graduation rate among Florida’s universities.  Across the country, everyone in academic knows FSU is on the rise.

It is a tradition to have a statute of former FSU presidents placed on campus and John Thrasher is so deserving.

In my heart there will also be a statute of Jean Thrasher commemorating her wonderful service to the university, its students, and the State of Florida.

 

Today was the memorial service for Dr. Frederick Humphries, the former president of Florida A&M University.

Although I have been involved in higher education in one way or another for most of my professional life, one of the most rewarding experiences I have had was to serve on the initial Board of Trustees of Florida A&M University.

In 2001, I was finishing a term on the State Board of Community Colleges.  A new system of higher education governance had been put into place by the Florida Legislature.  The Governor had the opportunity to appoint the members of the new boards at each of Florida’s then 11 universities.  I was fortunate to be named to the initial board of FAMU.

You cannot be a lifelong resident of Florida and not understand the importance of FAMU and the significant impact that Dr. Frederick Humphries had not only on FAMU, but on the state and nation.  Having been actively involved in higher education and the Tallahassee community, I knew Dr. Humphries, but we were not, at that time, close friends.

About six months before the change in the governance structure and the new board appointments, he and I were in the Tampa airport and our flight home was canceled.  I rented a car and we drove back to Tallahassee late in the evening along with the then lobbyist for FSU, Mary Kaye Cariseo Detzner.  I can still remember much of what we talked about that night.

I got home that night exhausted, but also amazed at the discussions the three of us had during those five hours in the car.  Fred Humphries had the amazing ability to have a keen understanding of national and state issues, but also know about some of the more detailed information that was happening on his campus.  This was not long after FAMU had been named the Time Magazine Princeton Review College of the Year.  FAMU was on the rise and ranked number one in the nation (ahead of Harvard) in the number of enrolled National Achievement Scholars in the nation.

Fred Humphries told us about his vision for FAMU during that drive, which included increasing the number of PhD graduates in the STEM fields.  But he believed that if you placed the right support around a student who may have struggled in high school, that student could be successful at a top ranked university.

And he believed in the mission of HBCUs.  He firmly believed that students, especially those with different experiences, should spend time at a university where people had shared experiences.

Shortly after I was appointed to the board, I heard from someone that Dr. Humphries was concerned about my loyalty because I had a degree from Florida State University.  The history between the two institutions had certainly been rocky over the years.  However, during his tenure a joint engineering college approved shortly before he took office, grew in stature.  In addition, there is a strong political connection between the establishment of the College of Medicine at FSU and the reestablishment of the FAMU College of Law.  Today the relationship between the two institutions is strong.

Fred Humphries was, in many ways, larger than life.  He was not only a large man – he was a brilliant scholar and had a strong desire to help students succeed.  I will never know if he ever became convinced that I was committed to the FAMU mission, but I can tell you that I spend a good amount of my time today at FSU leading a campus working to emulate some of the very positive initiatives that I saw and continue to see FAMU put into place.

Florida A&M is a national treasure.  Fred Humphries deserves significant credit for many of the great things the university is know for today.   Rest in peace Mr. President.  Let all of us (graduates or not) who are part of the FAMU Family  continue to fight for the mission and success of this great university.