General Session Keynote
Sunday, March 15
3:30 - 5:00 PM
Michael Gavin
President, Delta COllege
Keynote Address
Innovation at the Sector Level
This keynote will explore how true innovation in higher education must happen at the sector level, with community colleges at the center. Community colleges multiplied rapidly in the mid-20th century in response to a national call to expand educational opportunity, and as democracy’s colleges, they have long been the nation’s most democratic institutions. They reshaped the American landscape in the mid-1900s, yet our economy, politics, society, and technology have accelerated in ways our sector has not fully matched. The keynote will argue that it’s time for a new commission on community colleges—not one led by politics, but one catalyzed by a coalition of leaders and practitioners. It will highlight that many of the solutions we seek around value, economic mobility, and public trust already exist within our own institutions. By examining our sector’s strengths and weaknesses, we can surface concrete practices that shift both our work and the nation’s understanding of higher education. You’ll be invited to consider how community colleges can once again claim their role as the moral and intellectual center of American democracy—and what it will take, in your college and in our collective sector, to get there.
Biography
Dr. Michael H. Gavin is the President of Delta College. He is the author of two books; the most recent, The New White Nationalism in Politics and Higher Education, was released in 2020 and is in paperback as of spring 2023. He leads a national coalition of college presidents and higher education leaders in resisting anti-DEI legislation called Education for All. He has written numerous articles on and presented often about higher education’s role in a functioning democracy.
Known nationally for his administrative leadership that focuses on academic excellence and equity, Gavin has over 20 years of experience at large community colleges. Under his leadership, Delta College was named the winner of the Eduardo J. Padrón Award for Institutional Transformation by Campus Compact; a regional Equity Award winner by Association of Community College Trustees; a Leader College by Achieving the Dream; and the Endurance Award Winner by Michigan College Access Network.
Gavin earned his doctorate in American studies at University of Maryland and, most recently, completed an Aspen Fellowship in community college presidency.
Whether serving on national or local boards, working on a committee, or through his scholarship, Gavin is committed to the notion that community colleges have the capacity to reshape the inequities in society through open access education and teaching excellence.
