Congratulations to Dr. Jimmy Jenkins for not only passing a 10-year milestone as president of Livingstone College, but also for bringing renewed focus and stability to the college in the process.

The Livingstone president’s office nearly had a revolving door before Jenkins arrived, with five different presidents and interims passing through from 1995 to 2006. The turnover prevented the college from addressing financial challenges in a meaningful and sustained way. By 2006, Livingstone’s accreditation was in jeopardy. Interim President Catrelia Steele Hunter brought a sense of calm and steadiness to the campus after a particularly tumultous spell. What the college needed next, trustees decided, was someone with experience at managing higher education finances and identifying necessary but unpopular solutions. Enter Dr. Jimmy Jenkins, change agent.

There was some precedent. Dr. Bernard Franklin had brief success as Livingstone’s president from 1989 to 1995, prompting talk of the “Miracle on Monroe Street.” Jenkins earned similar accolades while he was president of Edward Waters College in Jacksonville, Fla., dubbed by a business publication as “The Comeback College of the Year.”

In 2006, Livingstone needed more than a momentary miracle or a corrective comeback. It needed transformation. Jenkins rolled up his sleeves, literally and figuratively, and set to work. He talked about reclaiming Livingstone and involved everyone, including faculty, in sprucing up the campus. He led the college through tough budgeting decisions to stabilize finances.  Working together, the college community restored a sense of pride at Livingstone.

Jenkins has made his biggest mark with his holistic approach to recruiting, coaching, educating and shaping students. Young people who might not have grown up thinking about college — and who don’t have the grades to get in — can find opportunity at Livingstone. They have to be willing to work hard and challenge themselves, starting with a boot camp called the Bridge Program and extending throughout their time at Livingstone. “It is a fool who is running a race and recognizes that he is behind but refuses to run faster,” Jenkins tells them.

Jenkins is on a mission to take African American students who have been hampered by birth or circumstance — diamonds in the rough, he says — and polish them into dignified young adults ready to take on the world. Congratulations to Jenkins and Livingstone for helping young people raise their expectations and reach for the prize.