.jpg)
Broward College President Gregory Adam Haile, Esq., was formally installed as the institution’s seventh president during an investiture ceremony on March 29. During his investiture speech, President Haile announced the launch of Broward UP™, a community-centric program designed to improve the quality of life for residents in zip codes with little exposure to postsecondary opportunities. The announcement culminated with a personal commitment of $100,000 from President Haile, his wife Chae Haile, and his two daughters.
While Broward County’s unemployment rate is approximately 3.8 percent, it soars to an average of more than 10 percent in the areas targeted by Broward UP™, with some zip codes reaching unemployment levels nearing 15 percent. Through Broward UP™, which stands for “unlimited potential,” the College has partnered with more than a dozen community organizations to help residents in these communities access programs that will lead to meaningful careers.
“We believe that every individual and every community in our county has Unlimited Potential,” said President Haile. “We are committed to developing community partnerships in which we can leverage our resources to improve the quality of life starting with communities in zip codes with high unemployment and where relatively few people attain certificates and degrees. These are our Broward UP™ communities. These are the communities with Unlimited Potential.”
To tap Unlimited Potential, Broward UP™ focuses on student success, including tutoring, career counseling, social and family services; outreach to promote student awareness and enrollment; and program, course offerings covering expenses related to faculty, curriculum, materials, space and equipment.
“Broward UP™ is about expanding our focus, not just retaining and completing those who can get to us but going into the neighborhoods of those who cannot,” added President Haile. “Taking the transformative power of higher education into all communities; meeting people where they are and busting the myths around “what is college” and who is “college material.”
Before his presidential appointment in July 2018, President Haile served as Broward College’s general counsel and vice president of public policy and government affairs. A public servant, community leader, and accomplished educator, he has served on more than 35 boards and committees. He has also repeatedly spent time in Cambridge Massachusetts to teach a self-designed, 4-credit course titled Higher Education Law and Policy at Harvard (Summer School).
