Gordon Chavis can spin slowly in his chair and watch a montage of his life at UCF scroll past his eyes. Within reach of his fingers is a UCF baseball, and on the walls are a UCF pennant and a few framed photos and awards. You might think of them as the \u201cconventional\u201d types of keepsakes. But there\u2019s nothing conventional about the journey Chavis has traveled.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a wild ride,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Raised in Baltimore and educated in the Ivy League. Told in high school to settle rather than climb. Hired as associate vice president for enrollment services at a university he barely knew existed in 1999 and retiring from it 23 years later as the largest public university by student enrollment in the U.S. Chavis turns and proudly points out a football with a UCF logo on it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho would have thought?\u201d Chavis says. Then he answers his own question. \u201cEveryone needs someone in their life to believe in them. When that happens, it can inspire amazing results.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former UCF President John C. Hitt and Vice President Tom Huddleston believed in Chavis when they hired him to manage the university\u2019s enrollment, which in the late 1990s totaled 32,000 students. And Chavis believed in Hitt when he described his vision for a university that everyone in all 50 states would recognize, with a nationally ranked football program, a stadium on campus, a medical school, and twice as many students excelling in everything from hospitality to engineering to nursing.<\/p>\n
But the believer who showed Chavis he could pursue anything he set his mind to was the person whose mere presence made him feel that he could accomplish anything: \u201cMy mom.\u201d Chavis starts a lot of thoughts with those two words. If it hadn\u2019t been for the belief she had in her son at a most crucial time in high school, there\u2019s no telling where the squiggly path of life would have taken him.<\/p>\n
Chavis grew up as the oldest of four children in a close-knit family. His parents didn\u2019t have the opportunity to attend college, but there was never any question that Gordon and his siblings would. Their futures became a nightly topic at the dinner table.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing a first-generation college student wasn\u2019t really a \u2018thing\u2019 back then,\u201d Chavis says. \u201cWe talked about going to college as if it were a foregone conclusion. I thought I might even go to medical school at some point.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the fall of his senior year, Chavis went to meet his high-school counselor so they could discuss his plans after graduation. Chavis had done his research. He sat in the counselor\u2019s office and said he planned to attend either Penn or Maryland. Then he awaited advice for his next steps.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember the counselor looked up at me and flat-out said, \u2018You won\u2019t get into those schools. Be realistic. Look at local colleges.\u2019 And that was it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Chavis left school that day with disappointment and embarrassment replacing the space that hours earlier had been occupied with confidence and self-worth. He avoided everyone except one person.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mom,\u201d Chavis says, \u201ctold me there will always be people in life who will not be supportive of your goals. You need to move beyond those people and pursue what you want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chavis had an example in his own home. His dad, Gordon Chavis Sr., was one of the first five Black men to play on the Professional Golf Association (PGA) tour. There were far more doubters than believers in the early 1960s, but Gordon Sr. paid more attention to the latter \u2014 most of whom were also Black golfers who had chosen a path known to be full of resistance.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone needs a motivator to help imagine what the future could hold,\u201d Chavis says. \u201cI can point back to my experiences with the counselor and my mom as the reasons I got into enrollment management. I didn\u2019t want anyone else to go through that.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the lift from his parents, Chavis received acceptance letters from Penn and Maryland. He chose Penn. After graduating from there, he earned his J.D. from Georgetown. At both schools he worked in the admissions departments, learning about data and details, but mostly providing a source of encouragement as he traveled the country to meet high school counselors, students and their families.<\/p>\n
Then, in 1999 he heard from a colleague that a position had opened at UCF. Chavis wasn\u2019t exactly sure where UCF was located on the map.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had no idea what the institution was all about,\u201d he says. \u201cSo, I did some research and it looked as if they had some interesting strategies for growth.\u201d<\/p>\n
He met with Hitt and Huddleston and liked what he heard about building a brand, earning a reputation for excellence, creating partnerships, and opening pathways into communities where high school students might simply need a glimpse of what could be possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cI often say we had to be a scrappy institution. We aren\u2019t tied to traditional ways of doing things, so we\u2019ve had the freedom to try new ideas and set high goals. Back in 1999 UCF was number four or five in the state pecking order for kids looking at colleges. We set out to be the number-one destination. I\u2019m sure the people on our team were the only ones who believed it could happen.\u201d<\/p>\n