At
the April 6 Board of Trustees meeting, Terrance Carroll will be sworn in as the
newest BOT member, but he is no stranger to the College or the issues facing
higher education institutions around the state.
Carroll
served four terms in the Colorado House of Representatives (D-Denver), from
2002-10, and was the first African American in Colorado to hold the position of
Speaker of the House. A longtime advocate of the College, he
also chaired the Metro State legislative caucus from its formation in 2006
until he was term-limited in 2010.
He
understands he will need to make adjustments as he takes on the new role of
trustee. "I still have to be a passionate advocate for the College, but I
also have to be a steward now. That’s a little different, as it requires making
decisions that may be unpopular," says Carroll, who delivered Metro
State’s fall 2008 commencement address
and in January delivered the keynote at the
College’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Breakfast.
Recognized
for his sense of humor and great analogies, he referenced the popular Peanuts
cartoon by Charles Schultz when mulling the College’s current growth. He
specifically noted Linus’s attachment to his blue blanket.
The
blanket served as "a false sense of security, but it can act as an
anchor,” he says of the College’s inevitable evolution, while maintaining its
commitment to its mission.
"Revisiting the name is a first step. I understand a lot of people are
attached to the old name. But growth requires letting go" of things
sometimes.
Carroll, who has been an attorney with Greenberg Traurig, LLP since December 2007, adds, "the strategic (planning) process is part of that. Adding master's degrees is part of that. The Hotel and Hospitality Learning Center is part of that growth process."
In
joining the Metro State board, one that boasts a wide range of expertise, he
says he brings a certain skill set from his time in the legislature. "I
learned as a legislator how to build consensus.” He doesn’t believe he’s the
only one on the board to have this skill set, but he has the experience of working
“pragmatically with Republicans and Democrats” and with a “strong moral and
ethical core."
Carroll,
whose appointment was announced in Jan.
10, 2011, replaces Antonio Esquibel. To learn
more about Carroll’s passion for the College, read 9 Answers in the online
version of the fall 2009 Metro Magazine.
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