I am delighted and honored that you’ve taken a moment to visit my webpage. Each navigation bar contains information about my work in higher education. A transition from federal government employment with the U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration and the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission led to two assistant professorships at Rutgers and Michigan State University. While returning to my undergraduate Antioch College roots of working to create educational opportunities for the disadvantaged, I made a crucial decision to devote a lifetime toward the improvement of every facet of college life from academics, student affairs and research, to fiscal operations and athletics. In high school, I participated in a student group called “The Modern Strivers” who succeeded in developing the first accredited, public high school curriculum in African American history. At Antioch, I was co-founder of the “Center for the Study of Basic Human Problem,” a facility for undergraduates that first took developed in Columbia, Maryland, before becoming the undergraduate center for Antioch-Putney’s Washington, D.C. campus.
After spending 40 years on campuses in the northeast, south and Midwest, my commitment to improve the quality of the university experience for every student remains stronger than ever. I believe as economists, educators, social scientists and the like that there is no greater predictor of a person’s success.
My wish is that every individual who wants an opportunity to attend a four-year college or university or community college has a way to pay for and pursue that degree of choice. It is apparent to me that that dream will be realized. Over the next few years, you will see new collaborative partnerships formed to make college more affordable.
I did not anticipate the skyrocketing cost of obtaining a college degree when I began forming strategic alliances at Albany State with institutions such as Albany Technical College, Bainbridge College, Darton College, Georgia Institute of Technology or Georgia Military College; nor did I foresee mergers of University System of Georgia institutions. In my view, working together with administrators of institutions with a shared mission was the right thing to do. It still is.
As we look toward the future of higher education and make decisions about how taxpayer dollars are spent, academic programs are scheduled and the kind of campus activities to program, let us always keep at the forefront the reason we do what we do. Our goal at ASU is and always will be to offer students of every race, culture and creed an exceptional quality education.
Everette J. Freeman
