Late Sunday, Broward College President Gregory Haile and the college board of trustees chair, Alexis Yarbrough, traded emails over his abrupt resignation, announced last Wednesday. At an emergency meeting Thursday, trustees declined to accept the resignation, but Haile says he was denied access to college technology. The emails shed light on the conflict between Haile and trustees and raise a question: If trustees did not accept Haile’s resignation, why did they deny him access to his college email account? Yarbrough called it a “routine” action because Haile stopped coming to work. We are publishing both emails in their entirety.
Broward College is an irreplaceable community asset. We urge Haile and trustees to work professionally to resolve this conflict.
President Gregory Haile to trustees:
Sent: Sunday, Sept. 17, 2023, 8:05 p.m.
Chair Yarbrough, Vice Chair Zachariah, and Trustees Agrawal, Zanotti, and Kushner,
I recognize that we have been in a unique series of events. Accordingly, let me outline at a high level where we have come in the last four days. On Sept. 13, I exercised my 120-day notice of termination provision contained in my contract. At approximately 9:40 a.m. on Sept. 14, my access to my Broward College emails, calendars, Workday, and all technology to support the communications and business of the College was removed. My biometric (fingerprint) access to the 12th floor, where the President’s office is, was removed. My capacity to serve as the president was removed. During the afternoon of Sept. 14, the board rejected my exercise of the termination provision.
Between Thursday, Sept. 14, and Friday, Sept. 15, Vice Chair [Zachariah “Reggie”] Zachariah and Trustees [Akhil] Agrawal, [Mario] Zanotti, and [Cindy] Kushner reached out to me via personal text and/or phone. I spoke briefly to Trustee Kushner. Yesterday at 10:56 a.m., I emailed from this same email address the aforementioned trustees, acknowledging their outreach, and notifying them that (in case of unawareness) my capacity to serve as the president had been removed. I have received no response to the email. Also, since my 10:56 a.m. email of yesterday morning, Chair Yarbrough has reached out to me via personal text. Please consider this my response to that text.
I have described various calls and various texts, and I am seeking simplification and understanding. Can one person please explain to me, in writing, the planned next steps as a result of the meeting last Thursday?
Evening regards, Greg
Reply from board chair Alexis Yarbrough to Haile:
Sent: Sunday, Sept. 17, 2023, 9:59 p.m.
President Haile,
As of tonight, it appears from your email you have received calls from all the Trustees but have refused to return any of them, save for Trustee Kushner. You also failed to attend the Board meeting regarding your unannounced resignation where you would have had the opportunity to discuss your resignation with the Board. You also failed to attend a UFF union impasse hearing publicly noticed weeks ago where your attendance was required. A meeting to discuss the contract for our full time faculty was not only required, the faculty deserved for you to be there and it was disrespectful to have intentionally refused to attend. Likewise, the Board was there to consider your recommendations without the benefit of your presence. Dr. [Broward College Provost Jeffrey] Nasse undertook to assume your responsibilities with no notice. There were no access barriers to your attendance, no doors were locked, and the public was present.
Since your resignation, I have been surprised to learn from staff that we have accreditation interviews coming up in just three weeks and the Board of Trustees is supposed to have preparation meetings established prior to our interviews. You never mentioned this to me when we spoke last week before your resignation and no such meetings have been scheduled with the individual Trustees for their preparation to meet the accreditation team. Additionally, staff has advised me that the accreditation team has cited 22 findings out of 40. Staff has explained this is a very serious matter which could have severe consequences for our students’ ability to obtain financial aid, which would then lead to a significant loss in enrollment. Apparently, the College suffered findings in 2018 which resulted in the loss of $5.6 million in student financial aid. If the College has any findings in the current 10 year accreditation, the damage could be severe. Staff advised that each Trustee should anticipate an hours-long meeting to prepare. I was never so informed of the findings and a preparation meeting was never scheduled with me. I am working with staff to effectuate the scheduling of individual Trustee preparation meetings immediately, a responsibility that squarely fell on you even before your resignation.
Since your resignation, I am informed that you have accessed your office to gather personal items and that you met with the Provost to transition items for the upcoming regularly scheduled board meetings. At present, your duties include communicating with your supervisors, the Trustees. From your email you acknowledge that you have failed to communicate with them as requested. This is my second request that you meet with me to discuss next steps. I also request that you communicate with all Trustees as they may request of you.
Regards, Alexis
Special to the Sun Sentinel
Yarbrough’s text to the college president.Additionally, Yarbrough texted Haile on Saturday to invite him to a meeting. In the text, Yarbrough said: “Good morning Greg, would like to meet for a coffee at our usual spot to talk about what’s going on? Pick a time that’s good for you.”
The Sun Sentinel requested a copy of the email Haile wrote that he had sent at 10:56 a.m. Saturday, which Yarbrough said she did not receive. The college provided the email, in which Haile told the four other trustees: “Each of you has reached out to my personal cell, and I wanted to acknowledge your outreach … My capacity to serve Broward College has been removed.”
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