‘We’re not just in Miami; we’re of Miami’: Higher ed leaders connect with business community

Five South Florida college and university presidents and a provost pitched what they have to offer to business leaders at a Greater Miami Chamber luncheon.

Julio Frenk, president of the University of Miami, noted how universities contribute to society in three ways: by providing the most advanced part of the workforce, researching innovation and by participating in the economy.

“We are the opposite of an ivory tower institution. We’re not just in Miami; we’re of Miami,” said Frenk of UM, the largest private university in the area with about 17,000 students.

Madeline Pumariega, president of Miami Dade College; Elizabeth Béjar, provost of Florida International University; David Armstrong, president of St. Thomas University; Jaffus Hardrick, president of Florida Memorial University; and Michael Allen, president of Barry University, also joined Frenk.

The 45-minute panel discussion, moderated by Michael Lewis, publisher and editor of Miami Today, took place Wednesday at Jungle Island.

The decision makers shared some of the programs they’ve launched in collaboration with companies that could be replicated.

Allen said that in three weeks, Barry built a 15-week mortgage banking certificate program with Lennar Mortgage, a Miami-based mortgage lender, to prepare much-needed workers for the real estate industry. Barry is a private university in Miami Shores.

“It’s a complete win-win,” Allen added. “We help students. Mortgage bankers have more employees — and they’ve also started to really address some of the diversity in their hiring, which was a goal of theirs as well.”

Armstrong said St. Thomas, a private university in Miami Gardens, created a data analytics program that allows students to partner and solve problems for companies like FedEx, the transportation giant, and Lufthansa, the German airline.

At the end, each administrator gave a short speech they would’ve given their younger self to convince them to attend their school.

Hardrick said he would’ve told himself about how people at Florida Memorial, the only historically Black college or university in South Florida, would treat him like family and he would feel at home there.

Bejar said she would’ve told her younger self about the commitment FIU, the largest public university in Miami-Dade with more than 50,000 students, has with all disciplines.

Pumariega said she attended MDC, one of the largest colleges in the country, on a basketball scholarship, so she believes everybody’s talented, but only those who get opportunities get to show it. MDC does that, she said.

“I do want to echo what Madeline said,” Frenk said right after Pumariega. “I wish I would’ve gone to the University of Miami all my life ... “

“Cause they have good basketball!” Pumariega quipped.

“Now we do!” Frenk replied with a smile, referring to UM’s extraordinary run in the March Madness championship this year, getting to the Final Four for the first time in the school’s history.