Anne Geggis
Two South Florida entrepreneurs, including one working for her legislator-husband’s company, are going to take seats on the Broward College District Board of Trustees.
Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Michael Caschette and Eileen LaMarca to the state college’s Board. Caschette is the founder of a pediatric urgent care, KIDS 1st Urgent Care. LaMarca is the wife of Republican Rep. Chip LaMarca and the LaMarca Group’s vice president of development.
Both of them were educated at Florida’s public institutions of higher learning.
Caschette earned his bachelor’s degree in nursing and his master’s degree in business administration from Florida International University. He previously served as the Director of Emergency Services at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital before he started his business.
Eileen LaMarca earned her associate degree from Palm Beach State College. In addition to her role at the LaMarca Group, a consulting business, she is an appointee to the Board of Pilot Commissioners and was listed among the Top 100 Outstanding Women of Broward County by the Boys and Girls Clubs of Broward County.
The Governor’s role in shaping the state’s public institutions of higher education has been widely discussed as he has backed legislation to make the institutions reflect more conservative values and less “woke.” A purge of all diversity, equity and inclusion efforts have shut down offices at both the Florida State College System and the State University System.
And Broward College, one of the 28 member colleges of the Florida State College System, has experienced some of the turmoil that’s come with the Governor’s role in higher education affairs.
The college’s President of five years resigned last October amid reports of tension with the college’s DeSantis-appointed trustees. Henry Mack III, a Chancellor from the Florida Department of Education and prominent Tallahassee lobbyist, was briefly named Acting President of the 55,000-student school.
Less than 24 hours after he was picked, however, college officials said they were not able to come to an agreement with Mack about his contract terms. Barbara Bryan, a former administrator at the school, took over the reins.
