by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
It’s not surprising that just about everyone Dr. Edythe Abdullah runs into knows her by name. From students to co-workers, the entire Downtown Campus of Florida State College at Jacksonville is familiar with the campus president.
That’s what happens when you devote over nine years of your life to improving the educational environment and helping students reach personal and professional goals that were once thought unattainable.
Abdullah was named Downtown Campus president in October of 2000. April 1, she’ll close the book on this chapter of her life and start another as President of Essex County College in Newark, New Jersey. For Abdullah, who was born and raised in Jacksonville and went to Raines High, the move is the “logical next step” in her 24-year career in higher education.
“I felt my experience and my passion and my connections both locally and nationally would be of great service to Essex,” said Abdullah, who was recruited for the position starting in late October. “This is an opportunity to fly. I love Florida State College and I have had a wonderful, successful career. I could not speak more highly of our president, executive vice president and my colleagues.
“The timing just seems right.”
Abdullah has been moving up her entire educational and professional career. While at Raines, she attended St. Paul Lutheran Church and at the urging of her pastor went to college at Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Ind. She said getting out of Jacksonville for college was a wise decision.
“It was totally different and gave me a different perspective of the world,” she said, adding she learned the “mid-America work ethic” while in college.
That work ethic extended to her next step. Abdullah went to the University of Florida where she got her law degree — and had two children.
“I had one while I was in law school and the second two weeks after I graduated,” she said, admitting that raising a family while going through law school wasn’t easy.
While she never practiced law — in fact, Abdullah didn’t take the Florida Bar exam until 18 years after graduating from law school, passing the second time — Abdullah said the legal education paid off all through her career at the school where she started as an advisor on a grant for minority recruiting and scholarships to being associate dean of Open Campus to her role today as president of Downtown Campus. Abdullah admits when she first went to work for the school April 23, 1985 becoming president of anything wasn’t on her agenda.
“It was not a goal of mine until about 12 years ago,” she explained. “I was recruited by a community college in the south to be their campus president and it dawned on me that, gosh I may have the skills and ability to do this. I was always a really hard worker and passionate about education.”
That passion has extended to her children. Abdullah has two sons who have both graduated from Princeton and a daughter who is getting her master’s from Penn State.
She’s also looking forward to taking that passion to Newark. She said within about a 10-block radius of Essex is the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Seton Hall and the Newark campus of Rutgers University. With her new job also comes the opportunity to sit on a board with the presidents and chancellors of those schools and others nearby.
“Very much so,” said Abdullah, when asked if she’s excited about the move. “I admit to the cautious trepidation. But, that comes with moving away after 25 years in your hometown. The city (Newark) does not have the greatest reputation, but I am excited about the experience I will have. And, honestly, being 25 minutes from New York City is not a bad deal.”
Dr. Steven Wallace, president of FSCJ, praised Abdullah for her time with the school and said he and the school’s board will begin looking for her replacement.
“We will build upon Dr. Abdullah’s extraordinary leadership of our Downtown Campus through an aggressive national search for a highly qualified new campus president,” he said.
Locally, Abdullah will stay involved. She’s on the board at the University of North Florida and she intends to monitor the progress of funding for community learning grants and a partnership between the City, the school and the Gates Foundation.
When she leaves at the end of March, Abdullah will move on knowing her nine years made a difference.
“They will talk about Pathways, that’s a big one,” said Abdullah of the innovative program for students to obtain their high school diplomas and continue on a higher education path. “They will talk about that I had an impact on the Downtown Campus — physically, fiscally and through academic excellence.
“I believe they will remember me for my innovation and ability to create something successful out of nothing.”
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