A President's Story

Editor's note: This interview was conducted by Editor-in-Chief Chris Yurko for the Spring 2024 issue of The Connection, HCC's college magazine. It has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

On your first-day tour of campus, you met Lindsey Pare, one of our alumni, who now works at HCC in Student Engagement. You seemed genuinely thrilled when sge told you the story of her educational journey and how she plans to continue on for an advanced degree. 

I'm such a believer in education, meaning that it's a great equalizer. And I'll probably say that forever. I just feel, in America, if you get an education and you apply yourself that you can change your circumstances. And, so, when I see young people who are pursuing education and passionate about something that they want to do for a possible career, I get motivated by that. It's exciting for me to see that. I wasn't necessarily on that path at such a young age and I want to applaud that and encourage that. 

In some of the other interviews you've done, you've said it would be presumptuous to come in as a new president with a preconceived agenda. Instead, your priority is to listen and to learn. Has anything you've learned so far surprised you about HCC or has it confirmed your impressions? 

It was a more confirmation of what I thought. People have been so welcoming. They have been so kind. I feel like I inherited a really good institution. The work that has been done up to this point is really great, and I'm very excited about the opportunity to work with this team. 

You've said that your role is to promote student success, whatever that looks like, and not to dictate specific pathways. Would you like to talk more about that? 

I think students are changing, and what we did 10 years ago, in terms of servicing students, may not be what's required today. I think, as leaders of higher education and administrators at all levels of the organization, we need to make sure we are responsive to the needs of those we serve. We need to examine the impact of changing demographics and the impact of new technology. What are the needs of our students today? Are we responding to them appropriately? is a question we should all be asking ourselves. In the Northeast, the number of adult learners has significantly increased compared to the rest of the country. Are we prepared to respond to that? And if so, what does that look like? And, if not, what do we need to do to be responsive to that. One example of that is MassReconnect (the free state college program for students 25 and older). How we respond to that as an institution and as a state is really important.

How important was it to come in with a strategic plan already in place? 

It was phenomenal. The roadmap has been established. You guys have done an excellent job creating a framework for what needs to happen for this institution, and I have an obligation to execute it at a high level.  

When did you decide that you wanted to be a college president and what led you to that? 

This has been pretty much a 30-year journey for me. My undergraduate major was finance, and I went into the finance industry. In college, I was pretty decent with numbers, and you cannot grow up into Gen X and not be thinking Wall Street. That was the goal for everybody who was coming up who was interested in business. After I graduated, I worked in the banking industry, and I worked in the insurance industry. I quickly realized that that wasn't my calling. I had an opportunity to reflect and was encouraged to go to a career counselor who sat down with me to discuss what I really enjoy. I took some standardized tests, and they gave me a summary of my interests. During the debriefing, the counselor said, I can't help but notice that you had a phenomenal time during your college years, and I said, yeah, I really enjoyed college, so much so that it took me six years to finish my undergrad degree at Norfolk State. She said, Well, what about a career in higher ed, since that's kind of a place that seems to be comforting and exciting for you? I said, I don't mind teaching classes, but I don't want to be a full-time faculty. She said, what about administration? What about, you know, working in student affairs? Who's to say you can't be a college president? That was an epiphany. When I thought about all of the experiences I'd had as student government president while I was undergrad and having interactions with the college president, I thought, is that something that is really possible for me? And I said, you know what, I want to go for it. And, so, within a year, I applied to grad school and got in a master's degree program in higher ed with a minor in counseling, and I was on my journey to be a college president. Chasing a profit or bottom line didn't seem appealing to me, I felt like there was more to life than that. Having an impact on shaping people's lives and providing a pathway for people to further themselves and get an education, given what education did for me, just seemed like a natural fit for me, and I don't regret it.  

Let's go back and talk about your six years at Norfolk State University. 

I was not necessarily what you would call an exceptional student. I was an average student, but what really motivated me to continue in college and stay in school was that I was very active. From my very first year, I was a member of the student activities club, and then I became president of the student activities club, and got more engaged from there. I got involved in student government and eventually I was president of the student government association. I joined a fraternity and was vice president of my undergraduate chapter. From an early age I was identified as a person with potential leadership skills. My fraternity, Kappa Alpha Psi, was great for me, because I was surrounded with people who were all driven by similar values in terms of wanting to go out into the world. And while we had fun, we were all there for a reason, and we motivated and supported each other through the good and bad times. That was really important for me. 

Did your fraternity have a focus or theme? 

Achievement. Striving to be the best that you can and take on leadership roles. Hence, I've always wanted to be in leadership roles and always wanted to achieve. Service is part of the fraternity's mantra, giving back to the community and giving back to the next generation. Those were instilled in me. 

Why did it take you six years to graduate? 

Having too much fun.  

But you stuck with it.  

Perseverance. Right? And this is the story. You might look at me today and you say, man, this guy must have been really smart or just really had a lot handed to him, but it really is just the opposite of that. One thing I've carried with me is this notion of a strong work ethic that was instilled in me by my grandmother. And grit. And while I may have not always been the strongest student or the most successful student, I was determined to finish. That was always my goal – I'm going to get through this. That was my mantra, that I'm just going to push through. There were some classes I excelled in and others that I struggled in, and, in full transparency, I had to take some classes over multiple times in order to get through. But that's that perseverance and grit. 

Why did you want to be the president of Holyoke Community College? 

It really comes down to three things: it was the mission, the vision, and values that really spoke to me. "Educate, Inspire, Connect" is simple but powerful. You want to inspire people. You want to educate people. You want to connect them to pathways to success, whatever their goals are. Who doesn't want to be part of an institution known for academic excellence and removing barriers to student success? I mean, that's what we do. That resonates with me. We all face barriers. And then the whole notion of values: innovation and collaboration, trust, inclusion, kindness. Those speak to me both personally and professionally.

You've said the HCC student profile included in the job posting for president reminded you of your humble roots. You told one reporter, "Their story is my story." How strongly did you feel that connection? 

It was instant. It was in perfect alignment with who I was as an individual, both professionally and personally. I believe my professional experiences, the positions I've held and the experiences that I've had have prepared me to help move the college forward and add value to this institution. 

So let's go back to your roots. You grew up in Hartford, Conn. 

I wasn't born in Hartford, but I was raised in Hartford. I'm an Army baby. My dad was in the Army, stationed at Fort Polk, Louisiana, which is now Fort Henry Johnson. They changed the name just recently, for obvious reasons. (Henry Johnson was a Black World War II hero, Polk a Confederate general). So, Fort Henry Johnson is where I was born. And then, by the time that I was a toddler, three or four, we moved to Connecticut. It was me and my younger brother living with our parents. Neither of my parents graduated from college. They graduated high school, but never went to college. And as times got difficult for us as a family, my mom and my dad made a difficult decision, because they really couldn't afford to take care of both of us, to be honest. I was always gravitating to my grandmother's house as a kid on weekends. My grandmother was living by herself and enjoyed my company. I was a good kid, for the most part, and so eventually my mom asked me one day, "How would you like living with grandma for a while?" Not really going into the details, but now as an adult I know what the impetus was behind that. I was like, Yeah, sure, why not? I love hanging out with grandma. So, I lived with my grandmother until I graduated from high school. I would go home and visit my parents on the weekends. They lived close by. We weren't too far apart. Maybe a mile or so. I could walk if had to, but I would go back and forth. I'd get dropped off and hang out with my brother and my cousins at the house and then I would go back on Sundays and go to school and live with grandma during the week, for the most part. She really started talking to me about work ethic and the value of education. And it wasn't necessarily about college, because she was very much of another era. Her brothers and siblings all were vocationally trained. One brother was a master plumber; another brother was a master mechanic. She just encouraged me to get an education because she thought that that would be important for me in terms of a livelihood and taking care of a family. But I just wasn't blessed with vocational skill sets. It was a running joke in my family that if I had to use my hands to eat I might not eat, and so I did understand that education was important, and that I had to find my way, and that once I earned it no one could take it away from me. That resonated. She always said, no one owes you anything. You have to go out and make your way and earn your keep. That was always embedded in me. 

You went to public school? 

I went to public school from kindergarten through my Ph.D. I am the product of the public school system in every way. I don't knock private education for those who go to privates. I'm less concerned about where you go as opposed to what you do with the education. How do you use it to help achieve your goals and dreams? That to me is really what is most important. 

You've said you made a commitment to yourself at an early age that no one was going to outwork you. When did you realize that? 

I knew that, in terms of grit, I was always going to achieve whatever I set my mind to. I became more focused on not getting outworked and achieving excellence when I became a dad at 28 and realized that I was now responsible for someone else. That was my first year of grad school. Having my first child was really eye-opening for me and realizing that I was not only responsible for providing for them, but also for instilling values, so I said, I got to step my game up. That's when I really started to excel. I said, You know what, I'm not going to be outworked, and so I graduated from Old Dominion with I think at 3.5-3.6 GPA and then, you know, got into the workspace and realized I needed to execute at a high level. I wanted to separate myself from the herd, whatever that meant. How do I do things differently so that I don't blend in with the crowd? That goes not only to how I conduct myself but to the bow ties and the socks. I've always tried to separate myself in a positive way, whether it was through leadership opportunities, vis a vie student government or through career progression, and then preparing myself through leadership training, professional development, and then being good at what I did. 

What did your grandmother do for a living? 

My grandmother actually worked for the state of Connecticut for 30 years, and she was a social worker. She didn't go to college. She went to community college and took courses, but she never graduated from college. 

You're a first-generation college student. When did you start thinking college was a possibility or something that you wanted for yourself? 

Where I grew up, in our community, graduating from high school was a big deal, and it was kind of like, OK, after high school, you work or maybe go into the military, but interestingly enough, I had the opportunity to go to a suburban middle class high school where there were clear expectations that there was something beyond high school. I would often see many of my fellow students wearing college sweatshirts. Maybe their parents went to college or their siblings were going, and I'm like, what's that about? What's the deal with this? And people would say, I'm going to Northeastern, or I'm going here, I'm going there, or whatever. It was a foregone conclusion that that was the expectation. That was new for me. So I thought, well, am I supposed to go to college? Maybe I should be going to college, if this is what is expected. And a lot of my friends whose parents went to college, honestly, they were living a lifestyle that I wanted to live, and one of the common denominators was that many of them had gone to college or had a trade that allowed them to provide a certain lifestyle. 

How did you wind up at Norfolk State University and how important was it for you to attend an HBCU (Historically Black College or University)?   

It was important, and, as an 18-year-old, I didn't realize how important it was at the time. Oddly enough, one of my father's friends, who was from Virginia, said, you should to an HBCU, and I was like, what's that? My mom and dad were like, Okay, well, you know, if he wants to do that, so it got on our radar, and I started exploring that. My mom, myself and a friend of mine who was looking to go to college, we visited a couple of schools in Virginia, and I did the whole college tour thing. Norfolk State resonated to me the most, and I was fortunate enough to get in, and I had a great time. 

So your Ph.D. and much of your higher ed experience has focused on online learning and distance learning for adult learners. That experience must have been quite valuable at Columbia-Greene Community College during the pandemic. 

Absolutely. I was in the online space before it was very popular, and I can even recall some of my colleagues saying, why would you want to do that and why are you hedging your career on this kind of obscure fad? But I didn't see it that way, especially with my introduction to adult-learner remote learning at Old Dominion University and its commitment to provide education to our servicemen and women. I realized how important it was to provide education to people who were place bound. Old Dominion was obviously in Norfolk, but TeleTechNet had satellite campuses on every community college within the state, which would theoretically allow individuals to complete an associate degree at the local community college and continue to earn a four-year degree at Old Dominion University via satellite. That unleashed my passion for nontraditional learning and adult learners and was something I felt was going to be very valuable to a certain segment of the population. And so I committed to it, and it's served me well throughout my career. 

You've said that community colleges are near and dear to your heart, but you yourself did not attend a community college. So where does that connection come from? 

It started with TeleTechNet. In my first job in higher ed as an Old Dominion University employee, I physically reported to Paul DeKamp Community College in Franklyn, Virginia. And so that was my foray and exposure to the mission of community colleges and the culture of community colleges, which left a lasting impression on me and resolved my commitment about working at open access institutions and serving those historically underserved. 

You did a presentation in 2013 about how the past informs the future. I know you were talking about in the context of higher ed, but actually it seems like a lot of your past has informed your career.  

Your past experiences shape who you are and who you will become. I've been really fortunate to have a successful career and to do something that I enjoy doing. I think that really important. I'm almost 30 years in this higher ed space between being a student and working in this higher ed, and I enjoy it as much today as I did back then. Are there bad days? Of course. But in terms of fulfillment and what this brings me, I get up every morning with a zest and a zeal for what I do. 

In response to a reporter's question about your educational strategy, you mentioned three questions that you're searching for answers to. One: Who are we serving (and are we serving them well). Two: Who are we not serving and why? Three: Who will we be serving (and are we prepared)? That pretty much covers everything, doesn't it? 

As a college president and, really, as an organization it is really about staying relevant. If you can't answer those three questions, then you're not doing your job or not doing your job effectively or efficiently. I think those are the fundamental questions that a leader should be asking themselves to help their team stay relevant and current. 

What will success look like for you in this job, and what criteria will use to assess yourself? 

I think I will be governed by our strategic plan and our ability to execute on the goals identified in the strategic plan. I think that's the framework that has been established. There has been a lot of work and communal effort put into that. I would be remiss if I didn't execute on that because that legwork has already been done. And, so, our job is to deliver now. 

Now for the hard-hitting questions. On your first day here, a new student complimented you on your socks. I believe that day they were bright green argyle. You laughed and said, 'socks and bowties, that's my thing.' How did that become your thing? 

I've always gravitated to this New England preppy dress. That whole preppy kind of look has resonated with me for years. I really enjoy laughing, and I really enjoy having fun. I like to think I have a pretty outgoing personality, but in a professional space, particularly in higher ed, which is often conservative and formal, how do you begin to express your personality? Nine times out of 10, you're wearing suits and shirts. The areas where I felt like I could show a little bit of my personality were my bow ties and my socks, so that's something I've been doing ... I can't even remember. I think I own maybe two or three long ties. I've been wearing bow ties going back 15-20 years easily. 

How many bow ties do you own?

Well over a hundred. When I was first starting to get into the bow tie space, people would buy me the pre-made, pre-tied bow ties. But all my bow ties are self-tied. Every single one. 

That's a unique skill set.

I love it. I really love to tie my bow ties. To people who love bow ties, perfection is in the imperfection. That's how you can tell a person who ties their bow ties versus someone who has a pre-tied bowtie. Pre-tied bow ties are always perfect. It's just a fun way for me to express my personality. And when people don't remember your name, they call you "The guy who works at your institution who wears the bowties." (He laughs). 

So, you said you were 28 and in grad school when you and your wife, Frankie, had your first child. That's that must have been challenging. 

I worked my way through school. I went to school at night and worked during the day. I worked for a credit card company as a customer service rep, believe it or not. It was part time, and they gave health care benefits. That was huge for me. I used to get yelled at by people who were unhappy with their credit card not working or this that and the other, but it taught me some real skills, like how to talk to people and how to defuse certain situations. As a customer service rep, they used to tell us to smile because your smile comes through on the phone. I learned that when someone's really yelling at you, you should listen, and even if you don't agree with them, say something like, I understand how you can feel that way. You're not saying, I agree with you, but you're empathizing with the person. Sometimes when people are really yelling at you, talk softly because if you talk softly it forces them to have to listen, and then they start to calm down. Little strategies that I still carry with me. 

Even though you are just starting out at HCC, you've already made history as the first African American man to serve as president. That is significant.     

I think so. That's important for me. I think it's important for people of color to see someone in a leadership role who looks like them. I don't take it for granted because I know there were a lot of people who paved the way for me to get to this point in my life. I feel an obligation and a duty to do it with excellence and with professionalism, and that's something that I will always commit to, to try to give it my best. 

Some of the best student stories are the ones about those who took a little bit longer to figure out where they wanted to go and where they needed to start. 

Some people might be embarrassed, but I let folks know it took me six years to get an undergrad degree. There is a moral to that. There's a reason why I say that. I go back to what I said earlier: no one can determine how hard you're going to work towards your goals but you. That's a true statement. Not your mom, not your dad. One hopes that those individuals or family members will support you, but for students who maybe come from challenging backgrounds, that may not be the case. That's OK. Because, at the end of the day, you get to decide how hard you're going to work toward your goals. That sole decision rests on your shoulders. You get to decide if you're going to put in 20 hours a week, 30 hours a week, or five hours a week. Are you going to stay the course when things don't go your way or don't go as planned? Are you going to have the grit and keep your eyes on the prize? You get to decide that, and only you get to decide that. If I can impart that and people understand the importance of what that represents, then I like to think I've made an impact.

Anything else you'd like to say? 

I am who I am, and I'm unapologetic about who I am and my story and how I got here, and I hope it can help others achieve their goals, whatever they are. I used to have a running joke with a buddy of mine when I was in my Ph.D. program, I would say, "Man, if I could just be like you," and he would say, "Stop setting your goal so low; be better than me." There's a message to that, though. He was teaching me something, even though we were joking around, even though we were at this level, set the standard even higher. Be better. Be better. So, when I hear young kids say, "Oh, I want to be a president like you," I'm like, "be better than me." Whatever that is for you. Take it to the next level. Take it to the next level. It's important, so thank you for this. Thank you for letting me tell my story. 

PHOTO: President George Timmon relaxes in his HCC office.