“We were trying to make the institution relevant to our time,” Garland says. “We had many hours of thoughtful conversation. We talked about what we believed in and the direction society was taking.”
Today, Garland, president of Central State, and his college friend Renick, who began serving as senior adviser to Garland in May, spend time brainstorming ways to strengthen and expand their alma mater, whose main campus is located in Wilberforce, Ohio.
The duo are working to address serious challenges, such as securing more funding and improving student retention at Ohio’s only public HBCU. They are also devising ways to boost graduation rates as Ohio has started linking school funding to institutions’ ability to graduate students. A signifi cant expansion is in the works, which includes a recently opened Dayton campus.
Troubled Times
Garland, a New York native who dropped out of high school at 17 to join the U.S. Marine Corps, enrolled at Central State after earning a high school equivalency diploma. He graduated from The Ohio State University School of Law in 1974.
The journey back to Central State in a leadership capacity for Garland began when he became general counsel to the University of the District of Columbia in 1988. He became intrigued by higher education.
“It’s the students. It’s the whole idea of helping young people. It’s helping the next generation — it’s an exciting process,” Garland says. “Universities are one of the most complex nonprofi t organizations that you can fi nd. We not only educate people, but we house, we feed. We’re an organization that takes on a complex role in the lives of young people.”
