Luz Suarez de Highfield and Carol Nicholson Fulp, nominees for UVI’s board of trustees, passed the first hurdle Thursday when the Senate Rules and Judiciary Committee sent them on to the full Senate with a favorable recommendation.
A graduate of New York State University-Excelsior College, Fulp started her career at the Gillette Company working in employee relations. Later she worked at ABC-TV, working as director of human resources and community programs for the network’s Boston affiliate. Currently she is senior vice president of brand communication and corporate social responsibility for the John Hancock insurance company.
Fulp also has past board and fundraising experience. For the past six years she has been trustee for the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston and serves on several other boards and foundations.
As a member of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government’s Women’s Leadership Board, she enlisted V.I. First Lady Cecile deJongh to the board as part of an effort to attract more Caribbean women to the international body, Fulp said.
Active in the Democratic Party, Fulp has worked on several finance and steering committees and helped raise $500,000 for the Obama campaign.
Born in the states, she has family that has lived on St. Croix and St. Thomas for more than six generations, she said.
"I find my skills lie within … annual giving and capital campaign fundraising," she said, elaborating on what she can offer to UVI. "I have experienced so many unique opportunities in large part because so many individuals and institutions have invested in me. As such, it is my responsibility to give back to the next generation of leaders. Given my heritage, there would be no better place for me to do this than the University of the Virgin Islands."
Speaking to the committee, Highfield laid out a detailed agenda for how she would like to see UVI develop. With a major refinery on St. Croix constantly in need of talent, the university needs to focus more on engineering, she said. There is a growing need for associate’s degrees and certification programs, and foreign language programs need expansion too, she said.
"There are no foreign-language degrees being offered, not even Spanish, despite the fact we have a growing Hispanic population and there is a need for bilingual speakers in the workforce," she said.
If approved, Highfield said she would work to improve student retention and be an advocate for young Virgin Islanders who are trying to further their education, especially the many who do not have the advantages bequeathed upon the very top academic performers.
A graduate of St. Patrick’s School, St. Croix native Highfield is a former part-time teacher at UVI and Central High School teacher. She is a translator, holding a master’s in bilingual education and a bachelor’s in business administration, and a former social worker with the predecessor to today’s Department of Human Services.
Both nominees were forwarded on without dissent with a favorable recommendation.
Voting yea were Sens. Carlton "Ital" Dowe, Neville James, Sammuel Sanes and Michael Thurland. Absent were Sens. Usie Richards, Patrick Sprauve and Celestino White.
