Earlier this week, outgoing University of Florida President Bernie Machen was appointed to the recently formed Empowerment Center Oversight Advisory Board, which is focused on developing a long-term vision for the center’s success as well as on addressing related issues that arise.
The Empowerment Center encompasses the entire campus off of Northeast 39th Avenue that used to house the Gainesville Correctional Institution. Grace Marketplace, Gainesville’s fledgling homeless center, is now located there, and the Alachua County Coalition for the Homeless and Hungry, which runs Grace, is gradually growing that operation.
The oversight advisory board includes spots for two Alachua County commissioners, two Gainesville city commissioners and one county resident. County Commissioners Mike Byerly and Robert “Hutch” Hutchinson and City Commissioners Todd Chase and Yvonne Hinson-Rawls had already been appointed by their respective commissions to the advisory board, and this week they in turn appointed Machen to the seat reserved for a local resident.
Speaking to The Sun, Hutchinson pointed out that Machen could sit on any board at any corporation or nonprofit in the state. Hutchinson said the fact that Machen applied for the Empowerment Center advisory board shows his willingness to stay involved in the community.
Machen is stepping down from his post as UF’s president in December.