Unflappable leader poised to ascend

Former seminarian Antoine Garibaldi, a USF finalist, prefers collaboration to confrontation and is eager to take charge of his own institution.

By BARRY KLEIN

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 5, 2000

WASHINGTON -- Floretta McKenzie is the vice chairman of the Board of Trustees at Howard University, an institution that she says has more than its share of "prima donna" professors and deans.

That's why she is so impressed with Antoine Garibaldi, who as Howard's provost has ridden herd over that bunch since 1996.

"He has a style, a smoothness, that can get even strong-willed academics to work together," said McKenzie, a former superintendent of schools in the District of Columbia.

But when he can't, she said, "he can also kick butt."

"Antoine will do what's necessary to get the job done," McKenzie said.

Garibaldi, 49, is the chief academic officer at Howard, one of the nation's oldest and best-known historically black universities. He also is one of three finalists for the University of South Florida presidency, a job he says he very much wants.

The state Board of Regents is expected to name a new president Friday. The other contenders are Thomas George, chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, and Judy Genshaft, the provost at the University at Albany, State University of New York.

During a recent interview in his office at Howard, Garibaldi ticked off all the reasons he thinks his background and experience are a good fit for USF:

Both USF and Howard have medical schools, growing research programs and student bodies with similar academic profiles. USF has 28 doctoral programs; Howard 26.

There are differences, of course: Howard is almost 100 years older than USF and is predominantly African-American. It is a private school with no regional campuses.

Garibaldi thinks the similarities are far more important than the differences.

"In every important respect, USF is poised to move to the next level," he said. "So am I."

This is not the first presidency Garibaldi has pursued in recent months.

In November, he interviewed for the top job at California State University, Northridge, which he didn't get. Until last month, he was a semifinalist for the presidency at Eastern Michigan University. He pulled out after being named a finalist at USF.

Garibaldi noted that he has spent nine years as a chief academic officer, first at Xavier University in New Orleans, and now at Howard.

"I've been satisfied with being a contributor to successful programs," he said. "But now I want a chance to run my own."

People who know him well say he is more than ready.

"He's intelligent, he's self-confident and he's tough without being antagonistic," said Ike Tribble, a former chairman of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce.

Tribble met Garibaldi more than 20 years ago when both were working with the U.S. Department of Education. He is quite certain his friend would make a fine president and an effective community leader.

"He comes from New Orleans, which is a diverse community with an old guard and a power base similar to Tampa's," he said. "He has good political instincts. He would do very well."

Culture shock

Friends and colleagues tend to describe Garibaldi in similar terms: Hard-working, open-minded and, above all, controlled.

"I have never seen him ruffled," said Joseph Reidy, a nationally known historian and an associate dean for educational affairs at Howard. "I've seen him in small groups and large groups. I've seen him in unhappy groups. He is always completely unflappable."

Garibaldi had an unusual upbringing for a top-flight academic.

He is the sixth of nine children born to working class parents in New Orleans. His father was a Pullman porter. His mother, who also did charity work, took care of the kids.

Education was a driving force in the household, but so was religion His mother, now 85, is a devout Catholic.

That had a big influence on Garibaldi.

"I worked a lot in our parish, and I was struck by the dedication of the priests I came into contact with," he said.

At the age of 14, he entered a Catholic seminary, the Society of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart in New York.

His life changed dramatically.

He moved from New Orleans and its strictly segregated schools to Newburgh, N.Y., a rural area about 60 miles north of New York City.

"There were guys there from the North and guys from the South. A lot of them were white," Garibaldi said. "We used to have lots of wonderful conversations about differences. It was a very broadening experience."

Garibaldi said seminary life taught him how to deal with conflict.

"If you fought with a guy on the football field or the basketball court, within an hour you would be kneeling next to him in the chapel," he said. "You learn quickly that there is little value to holding a grudge."

In 1970, at 22, Garibaldi decided to leave the seminary. He said he couldn't ignore what was going on around him.

"There was the civil rights struggle, the Vietnam War. There were major changes occurring in the church," he said. "While my focus and interest was still to serve others, I realized there were other ways to do it."

He earned a sociology degree from Howard in 1973, then received a doctorate in educational psychology from the University of Minnesota. For the next several years, he worked on issues involving public schools, including juvenile delinquency and alternatives to school suspension and expulsion.

In 1982, he returned to New Orleans to become chairman of the education department at Xavier, a small Catholic institution. He quickly rose to dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, then vice president for academic affairs.

In 1996, officials at Howard University decided to create the position of provost, part of a major restructuring designed to quell growing criticism from Congress, which provides much of the school's funding.

"I saw it as an opportunity where change was happening and I would have the opportunity to implement it," Garibaldi said. "I jumped at it."

A tough sell

The most important task facing Garibaldi when he arrived at Howard was convincing the campus community that a proposed merger of several colleges into three would be beneficial for everyone.

It was a tough sell.

"There is no question it was difficult," said Joseph Reidy, the associate dean. "People were trying to defend their turf, which is understandable. And you have to remember this wasn't his plan. This was a mandate from the Board of Trustees."

McKenzie, the board's vice chairman, said Garibaldi was able to make headway because of his willingness to listen to all concerns.

"Some of that seminary stuff has clearly stayed with him," she said. "He can deal with situations that would make a lot of people blow up."

Garibaldi said he much prefers collaboration to confrontation. It's almost always a more effective means of achieving a difficult end, he said.

"But my approach is not to try to please everyone," he said. "My approach is to listen and do everything I can to be fair."

The merger eventually went through. And last year, Howard secured its largest-ever appropriation from the same congressional subcommittee that a few years earlier had threatened to strip away its funding.

Affirmative action

Garibaldi said he has spent considerable time studying USF and the issues facing Florida's higher education system.

None, of course, have been more contentious than Gov. Jeb Bush's plan to eliminate the use of racial preferences in university admissions.

Opponents call the change an attempt to eliminate affirmative action. Garibaldi said he strongly supports affirmative action.

"How could you say otherwise if you have been a beneficiary of it?" he said.

But he views the governor's plan as an opportunity rather than a problem.

He likes the idea that it would provide additional money to higher education. He likes even more the plan's emphasis on improving college preparation in grades K-12.

"We have to get students thinking about college in the eighth grade, not the 11th," he said. "I see the plan as an additive, not something that's being taken away."

Antoine Garibaldi

AGE: 49

POSITION: Provost/chief academic officer, Howard University, Washington, D.C.

BACKGROUND: The son of a Pullman porter, Garibaldi was the sixth of nine children in a Catholic New Orleans family. Before he became the chief academic officer at Howard, one of the nation's best-known historically black universities, he was the dean of arts and sciences and vice president for academic affairs at Xavier University in New Orleans. He serves on the boards of several educational and scholarly groups and was a finalist last year for the California State University, Northridge presidency.

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