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Bethune-Cookman University

Former Dade City commissioner honored

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The City of Dade City recently paused to pay honor to Eunice Penix, one of its longest-tenured public servants, educators and community activists in the East Pasco town’s history.

Family, friends and community leaders gathered outside the City Hall building on Nov. 6 to recognize the many accomplishments of Penix, a longtime city commissioner.

Former longtime Dade City Commissioner and Mayor Pro Tem Eunice Penix, left, receives a proclamation from Dade City Mayor Camille Hernandez. Penix’s 27 years of public service, her volunteerism and her career as a school teacher were highlighted during a Nov. 6 ceremony. (Courtesy of Leslie Porter)

The proclamation ceremony provided an opportunity to formally thank the 79-year-old Penix “for her dedication to improve Dade City for its residents and future generations to enjoy a prosperous, sustainable community.”

Dade City Manager Leslie Porter welcomed the large gathering, and Dade City Mayor Camille Hernandez read the proclamation, presented the plaque and gave closing remarks.

Guest speakers of the event included Florida State Senate President Wilton Simpson and Rev. Clyde Carter, president of the NAACP-Pasco County chapter.

Penix’s lengthy record of public service, included serving as a city commissioner from 1993 to 2020.

In August 1993, she was appointed to the commission to fill a vacancy. She then was unopposed in her bid for election in April 1994, to fill out the remainder of a two-year term. She went on to win reelection seven times, including six contests that were unopposed. She held the title of mayor pro tem from 2009 onward.

During Penix’s time in office, the city hired five city managers, three city attorneys, two clerks and a finance director.

She also played an instrumental role in numerous enhancements to the municipality over the years, including:

  • Annexed lands for commercial and residential development
  • Paved and resurfaced streets and sidewalks
  • The acquisition and restoration of the Atlantic Coast Line Depot, now used as the Dade City Heritage Museum
  • The creation of the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency
  • The initiation of plans to move the city’s wastewater treatment plant
  • The reduction of flooding issues downtown with the construction of Beauchamp Pond
  • Progress on numerous park improvements, including the land purchase to build a downtown splash park/bicycle hub

Penix was a mentor for the Dade City Youth Council, and served in public office during the time of the development of a Hampton Inn and a Publix Supermarket within the city limits.

She advocated for the Morningside Drive extension project and construction of the new City Hall/Police Department facility.

As a government representative, she was involved in the Florida League of Cities, Women in Municipal Government, Florida Black Caucus of Elected Officials, and Suncoast League of Cities.

Aside from her civic duties, the now retired Penix spent four decades as a schoolteacher — the bulk of her time at the now-closed Floyd Academy in Lacoochee and Pasco Elementary in Dade City, where she earned “Teacher of the Year” during the 2001-2002 school year.

Penix herself graduated from Mickens High School in 1958 and Bethune-Cookman University in 1962, earning a degree in elementary education. She went on to obtain a master’s degree from the University of Tampa in administration and supervision in elementary education.

Her other volunteerism and community engagement is notable, too.

Penix has served on the Martin Luther King Scholarship and Moore-Mickens Scholarship committees, including 10 years as president.

She’s been a member of the Dade City Community Alliance-Charter, Dade City Rotary, and Habitat for Humanity of East and Central Pasco County. She also has served as vice president of Beta Sigma Chapter of Alpha Pi Chi Sorority.

Penix is an active member of her church choir at St. John’s Missionary Baptist Church, in Dade City.

She chose not to seek reelection to the commission this year.

Her Group 5 seat is now held by Normita Woodard, a first-time elected commissioner and secretary at Lacoochee Elementary School.

Penix’s final commission meeting was on June 23, held in a virtual format amid the coronavirus pandemic.

During her final meeting as an elected official, Penix took time to deliver some parting words to thank the Dade City community. She said: “I’m grateful for the citizens of Dade City for allowing me to serve them for 27 years. I am so honored. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I love all of you.”

Penix remains involved with citywide affairs, regularly attending commission and other pertinent meetings as a concerned and vocal citizen.

Published November 25, 2020

Remembering the legacy of Odell Mickens

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Odell Kingston Mickens’ legacy as a Dade City educator and civil rights activist endures more than three decades after his death in 1980.

When racism and Jim Crow laws denied blacks access to public education during the 1930s, Mickens expanded the outreach of education to black students in Pasco County.

When white school boards eventually included black schools into a separate, but underfunded system, Mickens continued to expand opportunities for black students, including the right in 1940 to receive high school diplomas.

Mickens championed the economic and civil rights of the black community until he died in 1980.

He was the first black elected to public office in Pasco County, winning two terms on the City Commission of Dade City.

“I find Odell Mickens to be just a giant,” said Imani Asukile, director of global and multicultural awareness, and special assistant to the president of Pasco-Hernando State College.

Asukile was guest speaker on Feb. 16 at the Pioneer Florida Museum and Village in Dade City.

The museum is sponsoring a series of lectures in conjunction with its Smithsonian exhibit, “The Way We Worked.”

Asukile also is author of “Black Americans of Hernando County, Florida.”

Asukile said he is not formally trained as a historian, but has a deep interest in history.

“Somewhere I just caught the bug,” he said. “One of my goals is to unearth stories about local African-Americans.”

Mickens is a particular favorite.

In his research, Asukile learned that Mickens was mentored by Mary McLeod Bethune, founder of the Bethune-Cookman University.

Bethune was internationally recognized as an educator, human rights activist and advisor to several United States presidents.

“She found him to be an outstanding student,” Asukile said.

Mickens was the descendent of Colbert and Nancy Mickens, former slaves from South Carolina.

Mickens’ paternal grandparents were later sold and sent to Marion County, where they raised seven children in the small hamlet of Flemington that Asukile described as “way back in the woods.”

Odell Mickens was born in 1904, the only child of Isaac Mickens and his wife, Anna. At a time when there were no public schools for blacks, they sent him to privately operated black academies.

“His parents invested in him to get an education,” Asukile said.

In 1933, at age 29, as a graduate of then Bethune-Cookman Junior College, Mickens became principal of Moore Academy, the first permanent school open to blacks in Pasco County. It was named for the Rev. Junias D. Moore, who served as its first principal.

Mickens’ wife, Christine, taught at Moore Academy and also coached the Panthers’ basketball team.

“This really turned out to be a wonderful and beautiful partnership,” said Asukile of the Mickens’ marriage.

Mickens oversaw the expansion of Moore Academy. Over the years the campus, in various locations, became Moore Elementary School and Mickens High School.

In 1940, Lillian Arnold, Mozell Thompson and Lila Thompson became the first blacks in Pasco to graduate and receive diplomas.

The school became Moore-Mickens Middle School in the early 1980s, and was later repurposed as an education center in 1987.

The Pasco County School Board closed the education center in 2015. A group of community activists are seeking to reopen the center, but have yet to finalize a plan with the school district.

But, Mickens’ contributions to the county extended beyond education.

He served on the building committee for the Dade City Civic Center which opened in 1963.

He also was a founder of the Negro Civic Association.

Association members lobbied city officials to open up land formerly used as a prisoner-of-war camp in World War II. The city platted the land and, over time, black residents bought lots and built homes in the Moore-Harper subdivision.

Mickens served on the board of the Pasco County Housing Authority; as assistant trustee for the Bethune-Cookman University; and, as president of the Bethune-Cookman National Alumni Association.

In 1980, he was named Citizen of the Year by the Dade City Chamber of Commerce.

Published February 22, 2017

 

 

 

Saint Leo names public safety director

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Cyrus Brown, a 30-plus year veteran of the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), has been named Saint Leo University’s executive director of University Public Safety.

In this newly created position at Saint Leo, Brown will oversee safety and security for all of the university’s locations, including its more than 40 branch education centers and offices across the states of California, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia.

Cyrus Brown has been named Saint Leo University’s executive director of University Public Safety. He will oversee safety and security for all of the university’s locations, including its more than 40 branch education centers and offices across seven states. (Photos courtesy of Saint Leo University)
Cyrus Brown has been named Saint Leo University’s executive director of University Public Safety. He will oversee safety and security for all of the university’s locations, including its more than 40 branch education centers and offices across seven states.
(Photos courtesy of Saint Leo University)

Brown, who most recently served as an associate director of Public Safety at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, plans to perform safety and security assessments at all of Saint Leo’s locations.

“…We’re going to ensure that we have a continuity of public safety across all of Saint Leo’s educational centers,” Brown said. “They’re on the right track, and I’m very pleased with what I’m seeing so far — it’s just a matter of continuing to identify ways to improve what we’re doing. When it comes to public safety, there’s always new technologies that are coming out, so I’m continuing to scan to see what’s out there and what we can do better.”

Crime rates for the university’s main campus in East Pasco County are relatively low.

According to Saint Leo’s 2015-2016 annual security report, there were no reported cases of on-campus robbery, burglary, aggravated assault or motor vehicle theft in 2014.

However, there was one on-campus sex offense and two cases of stalking on campus, records show.

Drug and alcohol abuse were the most common incidents on the university’s main campus, which has about 2,400 students enrolled for the 2016 fall semester.

Records show there were five on-campus arrests for drug abuse violations and 13 disciplinary referrals for drug abuse in 2014. Though no arrests were reported for alcohol-related offenses, there were 288 on-campus disciplinary referrals for liquor law violations.

Saint Leo University’s main campus, in East Pasco County, has about 2,400 students enrolled for the 2016 fall semester.
Saint Leo University’s main campus, in East Pasco County, has about 2,400 students enrolled for the 2016 fall semester.

To further combat crime at Saint Leo, the former Florida Highway Patrol official is encouraging students, faculty and visitors to report any suspicious activity they may come across.

“See something, say something, no matter how small it is,” Brown said. “I think it takes all of us working together, to keep all of us at the university safer.

“The last thing you want is students to be concerned about their safety.”

Brown said his experience working in campus safety at Bethune-Cookman will serve him well in his new role, especially in terms of understanding the dynamics of the university environment.

He noted that Saint Leo’s rural setting is more ideal in detaining an active threat, compared to a university located in a metropolitan area, like Bethune-Cookman.

“If you ask me, Saint Leo is the ideal campus,” Brown said. “The way things are situated, in an urban setting, you’re dealing with everything in a compact environment, but in a rural setting, it’s so wide open…and you can keep a handle on things a lot better.”

Brown, who officially started Aug. 1, said he’s been impressed with the procedures of the campus security and safety department thus far.

“They do a great job of preserving the peace, they do a great job in terms of interacting with students, faculty and even our visitors,” he said. “When it comes to the public safety side, they’re really doing a tremendous job in moving us in the right direction.”

Additional areas Brown is focusing on: more staff training and more correspondence with local law enforcement agencies, such as the Pasco Sheriff’s Office and the Dade City Police Department.

That includes a better familiarity with the main campus’s various entry and exit points, should an active threat arise.

“We’re constantly doing training,” he said, “so they can get a real-life understanding of each of the buildings and the layout of the campus.”

He added: “We have to stay out in front of (possible threats), and we do that through constantly providing training and keeping it fresh on everyone’s minds.”

Q&A:
Why are you interested in law enforcement?
“I guess it goes back to when I was in high school, my interest was to go into criminal justice. I did that through the community college level and then went into the U.S. Army, where I served for three years.”

Why did you want to work in public safety at the university level?
“I wanted to do something in the university perspective in terms of law enforcement or public safety because I feel that’s where my strong points are. I’ve done a lot to prepare for it in terms of the training I’ve received in law enforcement and also the educational aspect of it.

“All of my training, it takes me back to public safety or law enforcement. So, it was an excellent opportunity for me to look at the public safety side of things, and I find it quite intriguing. It’s a little different than law enforcement.”

What’s the difference between law enforcement and public safety?
“If a situation were to go down, such as an active threat or active shooter (on campus), the law enforcement agency will come in and take a leadership role in terms of trying to get that situation resolved. Public safety — we just detain and get law enforcement to deal with the active threat.”

How does your law enforcement background help you in this new role?
“Throughout my law enforcement career, I was able to establish relationships with other law enforcement agencies like the sheriff’s department and the local police department, and I think that helps, too, when it comes to public safety — sitting at the table, working through mutual concerns from both sides. I think with my experience and those network relationships, it’s been a smooth transition for me.”

Cyrus Brown bio
Cyrus Brown holds a Bachelor of Science from Barry University and a Master of Science the University of Central Florida. He also has extensive law enforcement training. He’s graduate from the FBI National Academy, the Southern Police Institute at the University of Louisville and the Leadership in Police Organizations program of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP).
He also has considerable law enforcement experience. He was a trooper for the Florida Highway Patrol (1984 to 1988), a lieutenant with the FHP (1990 to 1994), a captain with the FHP (1994 to 2009) and a major with the FHP (2009 to 2015).

Published August 31, 2016