Florida Gateway College President Slaps Down LC City Councilman For Honest Mistake. County Mainstream Media Hypes Story – Twice
March 19, 2025 4:30 pm | 5 min read
In a rush: go to the 1-minute read
(no pictures–no links)
LAKE CITY, FL – On March 11, 2023, Florida Gateway College President Larry Barrett slapped down Lake City Councilman Ricky Jernigan, demanding a retraction for an honest mistake he made about FGC enrollment. There is more here than meets the eye.
On March 10, the City met in special session to discuss strategic planning. Education was discussed. On March 11, the County’s mainstream print media ran an online piece titled, “FGC seeks retraction after Jernigan ‘misinformation.’ The article appeared in the print version the next day.
Councilman Ricky Jernigan on FGC:
"... all the opportunities are there for
our youth to attend.”
Background
Florida Gateway College (FGC or the College) does not make its enrollment numbers easy to find. A Google search for “Florida Gateway College enrollment” yields “Undergraduate enrollment: 2,065 (2022–23).” US News, in its 2025 rankings, credits FGC with 2,706 students.
A top result on the Google search is a link to Florida Gateway College: Enrollment Continues to Rise at Florida Gateway College. This is a press release directly from the College. Other than stating, "Enrollment is up 16 percent in Spring 2025," nowhere in the release is a hint of the enrollment figures.
If one was able to locate the FGC minutes on the FGC website, one would not find any minutes from 2025. However, the Observer extracted the Board’s minutes from the College’s agenda packets.
The January 2025 minutes reported an increase in year-over-year enrollment from Spring 2024 to Spring 2025 of 2,585 to 2,839. Then, in the February 2025 minutes, the numbers had changed respectively to 2,730 to 2,974. There is no explanation for the 5.6 percent increase in the 2024 numbers.
During the March FGC Board meeting, President Barrett gave the enrollment report without providing any enrollment figures.
What Did the Council Members Say About FGC?
It was generally all good.
During the City’s so-called strategic planning session held as a special meeting on March 10, the Council members weighed in on FGC and education.
Councilwoman Chevella Young said, “I like the idea of youth leaving for college.”
Councilwoman Tammy Harris (file)
Councilwoman Tammy Harris wanted to concentrate on technical colleges. “I would like for that to be incorporated some type of way. Here we have smaller places in Lake City, like Live Oak and Lake Butler, they have technical colleges. So, I think that we should maybe have something like that.
Councilman James Carter added, “I would like to add to what Ms. Harris said… We also have Florida Gateway College here, which is a tremendous boon to the community as well. They’ve got a lot of excellent programs, including welding and nursing.”
Councilman Ricky Jernigan said: “I want to concur with Councilman Carter, of course, Florida Gateway College… all the opportunities are there for our youth to attend.”
City Councilman James Carter (file)
Mr. Jernigan said that he thought there was a “lost connection” in getting young people to go to FGC. “Education is so, so important to a lot of us, and I believe that if we can get those, those young men, young women out there, there will be a really, really great opportunity for us to grow.”
Mr. Jernigan was asked by the facilitator, “They're not admitting them? There's no transportation there? What are the impediments in what you're talking about?”
Mr. Jernigan answered, “In my opinion, it is all the above.” He then guessed at the enrollment, “They may have 1,000 students,” with only “a couple of hundred from Lake City and Columbia County.”
Councilman Ricky Jernigan (file)
Mr. Jernigan then said, “And I don't know the numbers, so don't, don't quote me on that.”
[Because there is no public transportation to the College, getting students to the College has been problematic for years. The Suwannee Valley Transit Authority (SVTA), another good ole' boy regional failure, tried to set up a bus route to the College. The then Transit Authority Director, Larry Sessions, was clueless in promoting people transportation, but great in moving packages. President Barrett was well aware of the SVTA failure].
Mr. Jernigan continued, “Getting those students out there is so, so important for them to get that education, get those high paying jobs. That's important to me. I think that's a really, really big opportunity.”
Mr. Jernigan’s remarks are in the order he presented them.
Mayor Walker did not mention anything about education during the meeting.
After the Meeting: College President Lights Into the Council
Florida Gateway College President Larry Barrett.
(file)
Directly after the March 10 meeting, the County’s mainstream and only print media called College President Barrett for his reaction to Councilman Jernigan's failure to get the College enrollment right and the Harris statement on technical schools.
Your reporter checked with Dr. Barrett, and he confirmed that all his quotes in the newspaper's resulting article, "FGC seeks retraction after Jernigan 'misinformation'" were correct.
In the article, Dr. Barrett said, “I cannot understand or believe why such misinformation was given to the public about FGC from our City Council.”
Dr. Barrett was also not pleased with Councilwoman Harris’ remarks about technical training.
Dr. Barrett told the newspaper, “We are one of the fastest enrollment growing colleges in the state (mostly through CTE programs).”
“To disseminate information that is totally false does damage to our college, our community, and those that seek to become part of our wonderful community.”
Dr. Barrett continued, "The statements made by the council will potentially impact future companies, industries, and individuals, and I would like to see a retraction of these falsehoods.”
Moving Forward
On March 13, the FGC Board met. Your reporter explained to the Board that those who spoke about the College had nothing but good things to say and that Mr. Jernigan's remarks about the enrollment were innocent and could be expected, as the College President and his generals and lieutenants have failed in getting the word out.
Representative Chuck Brannan sits on the FGC
Board. (file)
Your reporter said: “I would ask you and all your lieutenants and generals over here and vice generals think about this. If Mr. Jernigan and all the other trustees of the City of Lake City had no idea of what the enrollment of Florida Gateway College is, then maybe this has something to do with all of you, not just Mr. Jernigan, because not one person of the five [Council members], not the City Manager, nor anybody else got up and said something.”
Representative Chuck Brannan is an FGC Board member. He did not look happy during your reporter’s comments.
Board member Suzanne Norris was the only FGC Board member to comment. At the conclusion of the meeting, she said the College should offer a tour to the Councilmembers.
A month or so ago, your reporter was looking at a dam at the College with Dr. Barrett, which was causing a lot of flooding. Lake City said it didn't build it. At that time, Dr. Barrett mentioned that he had an open invitation for all the Council members to take a campus tour and come out and see the dam. Only Councilman Carter had done so.
Epilogue
After Monday evening’s March 17 City Council meeting, the mainstream media ran an article: “Jernigan apologizes for offending FGC staff,” with a photo that shows a weak recalcitrant Mr. Jernigan.
Mr. Jernigan did apologize. However, if the “FGC staff” was offended about anything, it was not about Mr. Jernigan’s innocent miscue about the College’s enrollment.
Update: 3/20/2025 – updated unintelligible remark.
Note: President Barrett looked very stressed out during the March 13 Board meeting and was previously adamant about not reconsidering his remarks about the City Council. Your reporter contacted Dr. Barrett about his stressed out look after the meeting. He replied, "Lots going on...–getting out of here for a week."
