MLK Day Speaker - Dr. Toby S. Jenkins
In commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Garden City Community College (GCCC)
will welcome Dr. Toby S. Jenkins, a distinguished educator and speaker, on Monday,
January 20, 2025, at 7:30 PM in the Dennis Perryman Athletic Complex. This inspiring
event, sponsored by the GCCC Student Government Association (SGA) and bUSters United,
is free and open to the public.
Dr. Jenkins, a nationally recognized expert in inclusive leadership, will deliver
a talk titled “This Hammer Called My Heart,” reflecting on themes inspired by Dr.
King’s enduring legacy. In addition to Dr. Jenkins’ presentation, GCCC will celebrate
the 2025 Tommy Austin Community Impact Honoree, recognizing an individual whose service embodies the spirit of the late Tommy Lou
Austin, Garden City’s first African American female City Commissioner and a beloved
community leader.
Garden City Community College invites the community to join in this meaningful evening
of reflection and inspiration.
For any questions, please contact Stacey Carr, GCCC Communication Associate Professor,
at stacey.carr@gcccks.edu.
ABOUT SPEAKER:
Dr. Toby S. Jenkins is a Professor of Higher Education Administration and Associate
Provost for Faculty Development at the University of South Carolina. In the past,
Dr. Jenkins has worked as an administrator at the University of Maryland, Penn State
University, George Mason University, Georgia Southern University, and the University
of Hawaii. She is considered a national expert on inclusive leadership and inclusive
excellence. Her book, “My Culture, My Color, My Self,” was named as one of the Top
100 Books for understanding race in America by the American Association of Academic
Publishers. Her current book, “The Hip-Hop Mindset: Success Strategies for Educators
& Other Professionals” received the 2023 Phillip C. Chinn Book Award by the National
Association of Multicultural Educators. She has authored five other books, served
as a consultant on inclusive excellence for over 50 national organizations, and facilitated
over 100 lectures, keynotes, and workshops at institutions across the United States
and abroad. Her research, teaching, and professional studies have taken her to over
35 countries.
For her career long work focused on inclusive excellence in higher education, the
National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education awarded her the 2022
Individual Leadership Award and the National Conference on Race & Ethnicity awarded
her the 2021 award for Outstanding Scholarship.
Dr. Jenkins is a mom of a super-active 10-year-old son, a daughter, sister, and friend.
She is a breast cancer survivor who is also living with lupus. Culture, in the form
of art, poetry, music, storytelling, elder wisdom, historical resilience, and street
knowledge feeds her soul.
