FRANKENLUST TWP, MI - For Dr. Michael Gavin, Delta College’s reputation preceded itself.
He knew of the college from his time as Vice President of Learning at Anne Arundel Community College in Maryland, having worked with former President Dr. Jean Goodnow through the League for Innovation in the Community College. Delta and Gavin share a philosophy about higher education: A community college education is incredibly valuable in today’s society, he said.
“Some feedback I got made me feel like this was home in a lot of ways,” Gavin said. “The major reason that I wanted to come here is the value systems were absolutely aligned.”
That reputation led him to apply for the college’s open presidential position and eventually accept an offer after being chosen by Delta’s Board of Trustees in June. For weeks before officially assuming the position in mid-August, Gavin has worked alongside Goodnow in a transitory period, allowing him to observe the inner workings of the college before needing to call the shots.
“I’ve had a couple other jobs in higher education, I’ve never had that experience where somebody’s been able to mentor you at least for like a month,” Gavin said. “It’s not in a document of how to do this, the things that she’s been helping with are the culture both of the different counties as well as the institution, that I would never be able to read a book or read a paper on.”
So far, Gavin feels really good in the position, which he said is a credit to the staff that were already there. He praised his “sharp” cabinet for helping him smoothly transition into the role.
“I’ve been able to step in and start us thinking about the long-term future for Delta because some of those things are already handled,” Gavin said. “I do think it’s more of a testament to them than it is to me.”
Gavin has a keen interest in social and racial justice, he said. One of his priorities for his presidency is to engage the community in conversations about what it has learned over the past year, whether it’s from the nation’s “long overdue racial awakening” or the pandemic, he said.
“People’s lives have shifted and perspectives have changed in ways that I think we could use to benefit students in general,” Gavin said. “We have academic disciplines that have never had to teach online that have taught now online. And asking questions to those faculty and staff about ‘what does that mean if we can deliver a biology class online, maybe at midnight, to a single parent?’ I want to engage in those kinds of questions about access to education and using technology to bridge what has traditionally been a big gap between those who have busy lives as well as the marginalized.”
One of Goodnow’s accomplishments over her 16-year tenure was increasing the proportion of minority students at Delta College, which is smaller overall than the communities it serves. Gavin hopes to continue to make progress on diversifying the student body, as well as maintaining Delta’s relationships with local communities by actively engaging and supporting the new Saginaw and Midland campuses.
“Ultimately, I would like to see us increase that number to about six more percent of our student body being African American or Hispanic or Latinx to match the demographics of the County of Saginaw,” Gavin said. “I definitely would want to build off of her good work there.”
Gavin is the father of 3 daughters, who are taking the move from Maryland to Michigan very well, he said. He grew up outside of Chicago, coming from a family of University of Michigan alumni and thus harboring a “religious” fandom for its football team, “as heartbreaking as that is.” His “secondary passion” is music; in an alternate reality he might have ended up being a rock musician, but was never given the talent, he said.
Gavin’s family will move into Delta’s presidential home soon but plans to find a different house somewhere in the area within another year or so, he said. He and his family are excited about the wealth of diversity in the tri-cities, both in people and things to do, and he’s very happy to be back in the Midwest.
“I do think that there’s a Midwestern way of being, or ethos if you want to call it that, that I have missed,” Gavin said. “I’m actually really excited to explore Michigan... I really had no idea until about three months ago how big this state is. This is a huge state and I’m really excited to see all of it.”
Read more:
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