This comment was taken from an article on Dr. Jill Landesberg-Boyle. It speaks to the frustration of the residents on Key West that were seeing their college go from failing to phenomenal success. Only to see that success threatened by a small group of politically connected individuals seeking to remove Jill from the college.
As a resident of KW and parent to children who were considering attending FKCC, I can tell you that many, many of us feel the departure of Dr. Jill Landesberg-Boyle is a huge loss. The changes she made at our college were beyond our expectations. But our island has a unique sense of being removed from the rest of the world and horrendous decisions are often made for reasons that have nothing to do with what’s good for our community. That’s what happened with Dr. Landesberg-Boyle and we are in shock. Many were considering actually sending our kids to FKCC–something nobody would seriously consider in the past 30 years–thus the plummeting enrollment. FKCC was a joke until Dr. Landesberg-Boyle came, and she was rewarded by essentially being pushed out by a small but politically powerful and entrenched group of people who resisted the change and the new direction. This happened despite a formal vote of confidence by the faculty and overwhelming student support because of they way she turned FKCC into a student centered environment (what a concept!)and despite the unprecidented flow of money and world class faculty she had somehow attracted to us. I am embarrassed that this happened, but your community may benefit from our loss. Our college was fast becoming something very special. I hope we can keep up the path she set us on.
