Dr. Jack Daniels III Steps Down as Madison College President: The Last Hurrah (Part 2 of 2)
Dr. Jack Daniels III took over the reins of Madison College in 2013 and would lead the effort to transform the college to meet the needs of all of the students who lived in its service territory.
by Jonathan Gramling
Back in 2013, Madison College picked the right man for the right time when Dr. Jack Daniels III was selected as Madison College’s president. In Late 2023, Daniels announced that he would be stepping down as president. But due to a failed hiring process, Daniels agreed to stay on until the end of 2024. When the second process failed to find his successor, Daniels tabbed Dr. Tim Casper to be the interim president and the board approved. Daniels last day on the job is the week of December 16th.
Daniels has been adept at leveraging funds to expand the reach and the scope of Madison College. Goodman South Campus, on the corner of Badger Road and S. Park Street, was built entirely with private funds.
“That was $25 million from the private sector,” Daniels said. “And I will never forget that first day of class when the students were coming from all areas of the community. The expectations were exceeded hugely with the number of students coming in. And we’re back to pre-pandemic. That was opened in the fall of 2019. And it was March 15, 2020 when I had to close it down. They are coming back now.”
And through bonding and referendums, Daniels has improved the infrastructure and the quality and breadth of offerings at all of the campuses.
“We added culinary and we built out the dining area with what was left over from the referendum as well as private funds,” Daniels said. “It was a public/private partnership. And because we have the ability to do some other things because we have bonding ability, we have done 5-6 projects. We are constantly looking at how do we improve ourselves and improve the facilities for offering better learning environments for students. Last year, we had created a space for an extensive IT area, 30,000 sq. ft. We started thinking about IT and cybersecurity. We’ve expanded our whole health area because of the demand. On tap now will be expanding the student services area. We do this as a team within the institution, looking at what we need.”
Daniels has also broadened the reach of the campus and expanded the educational experience of students, guiding Madison College to the international community of learning.
“We have over 200 international students,” Daniels said. “We’ve developed partnerships throughout the world. We have an African initiative and have had at least 10 agreements signed out of that and continue to work with that. In fact, during the summer, we had a group of 10 who went to Kenya. I was looking at those types of programs that we can send folks to as well as students come here. We’ve had a long standing relationship with Denmark and countries that are in that area of the globe. When I first came here, during spring break, we sent students down to Costa Rica where they worked in hospitals. Those things are educational experiences, but they also have personal significance in how that changes people’s perspectives because they have made those visits and experienced those cultures.”
While Daniels has accomplished much during his tenure, he isn’t satisfied with the progress made in improving the academic success of Brown and Black students.
“We could have done more to close those gaps for African American and Latino males,” Daniels said. “Their level of success bothers me or maybe their lack of success is what bothers me. We’re trying some things and we’ve been encouraged by what we’ve seen. When you look at the numbers of Black and Brown males who are going on from here, it’s not enough. What should we be doing? I ask this question of myself. We’re trying. We tried. What we did this summer in terms of Black and Brown males in terms of what we call the Advance Program, the vast majority of our students did well and they are still doing well in class. How do you scale that to other disenfranchised and marginalized populations? We haven’t done enough for females as well. Females of color do better than the males of color, but they still lag behind students as a whole.”
For Daniels, the academic institution must understand the students and the environment in which they live so that it can address issues that hold students back.
“I think some of those reasons is prior educational experience,” Daniels said. “Some of them are trying to work because they have families. Who’s encouraging them? Who’s talking to them about how their future could be? What skills are they bringing that we need to help them improve? It might be that they didn’t even look. Where are the policies that we have in place for them? We tried to look at each one of those elements. We touched on some of those earlier. You get in the classroom, it’s about the engagement of them. What do we offer them to get their confidence up?”
And it is also about partnerships and how institutions influence and interact with each other for the benefit of the people whom they serve.
“We have been committed to this community,” Daniels reflected. “We have been committed to good outcomes. We’ve seen growth. I’d like to go back to what is happening on Park Street, the revitalization. Other folks are calling it a renaissance. I think that Ruben has used that renaissance as well. It’s just exciting to see those areas grow. We can focus on the folks in the community. When you look at the Black Center, having a history that you can point to for our experience as well as old folks to understand their community and the impact that folks have in this community. You can’t deny that. And I know there is going to be a lot to be done. I know what Karen is doing at Centro and pushing not just that community, but pushing the service that needs to be done. And it is about service. Service has to be in mind. Sometimes we have to step out of our own little areas because it I picture. s much bigger than just for us. It’s about the total picture. Just like Park Street, it’s the collaborations, being on the same page is key.”
Daniels feels that he came to Madison College for a purpose and that he has fulfilled that purpose. It is time for him to move on.
“I believe that I am directed,” Daniels said. “My faith is telling me that. It is no accident that I am here. It is no accident that I am leaving. I’m going to whatever that next level is and where I’m supposed to do the next good thing that I end up doing. After a while, you know when it is time. And there will be changeover and that leadership will continue within the institution, but they have someone else to lead the institution, who will grow the institution more than I have. That is what it is about. And it’s growing for whose purpose, the students.”
While Daniels is retiring from Madison College, it doesn’t mean he is retiring from life.
“I’m not going out to pasture,” Daniels emphasized. “There’s more for me to do. And I believe that fully that much has been given me and I need to return it. And that’s what I am going to do. I don’t know in what capacity it is or the opportunities there that I am going to look at to see where I can go next.”
Dr. Jack Daniels III has provided true leadership as the head of a team of dedicated professionals who have transformed Madison College and positioned it to serve the academic and ancillary needs of students now and well into the future. Daniels and company have kept their eye on the prize and Madison and beyond have been enriched by their endeavors.