By Westside Gazette Staff
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL. — What began as an effort by the Broward College Board of Trustees to remove President Torey Alston has ended with a $430,000 settlement agreement, the dismissal of Alston’s lawsuit and internal complaint, mutual releases of potential claims and growing questions within Broward County’s Black community about the treatment of Black leadership.
Under a Settlement Agreement and General Release signed August 25, 2026, Alston and the District Board of Trustees agreed to a mutual separation effective that same day following Board ratification.
The agreement ends Alston’s approximately 18-month tenure as president of Broward College and resolves a bitter leadership dispute that moved from the boardroom into the courtroom.
Alston, however, leaves defending his tenure and pointing to what he describes as measurable progress made during his leadership.
“I am proud of my record over the last 18 months at Broward College,” Alston told the Westside Gazette. “With record enrollment and both completion and retention increasing, we saw record investments from our federal and state partners. My head is high and looking forward to what the future holds.”
His statement stands in sharp contrast to the concerns about his leadership that led trustees toward termination and raises a central question surrounding the controversy: How did a president who says the College was experiencing record enrollment, improving retention and completion, and record government investment go from the Board’s unanimous choice for president to separation roughly 18 months later?
For some members of Broward County’s Black community, that question cannot be separated from a larger concern about how Black leaders are treated once they reach positions of institutional power.
“I am very concerned that they hold us to a different standard than others,” Broward resident Dewey Knight said. “We must rally around each other and despite our differences support each other.”
$430,000 to End the Dispute
The settlement calls for Broward College to pay a total of $430,000.
Of that amount, $380,000 is designated for Alston, less applicable taxes and withholdings: $57,403.85 for six weeks of severance; $53,827.54 for accrued but unused sick and vacation leave; and $268,768.61 as a settlement payment in exchange for Alston’s release of claims, withdrawal of his internal complaint, dismissal of his lawsuit and the other provisions contained in the agreement.
An additional $50,000 will be paid to Osborne, Francis & Pettis, PLLC for attorneys’ fees and costs.
The Board expressly denies wrongdoing or liability and states that it entered the agreement to avoid the “costs, expenses, and distraction of litigation” and allow Broward College to focus on educating students.
The agreement therefore should not be interpreted as a finding that Alston’s allegations were proven.
But neither does the agreement answer many of the questions that led to the dispute.
From Termination Vote to Settlement
The settlement represents a significant change from where the controversy appeared headed only days earlier.
The Board had been preparing to vote on terminating Alston without cause. Alston went to court arguing that Broward College had failed to follow provisions of his employment agreement requiring mediation before termination.
Circuit Judge Keathan Frink intervened, preventing the Board from proceeding with the termination vote until mediation occurred.
Following mediation, the parties reached the agreement that ultimately resulted in Alston’s departure.
Alston is required to withdraw his internal complaint and his attorneys are required to dismiss his lawsuit with prejudice, preventing those claims from simply being refiled.
The agreement also contains broad mutual releases. Alston releases Broward College, its trustees and others from claims arising from his employment and separation, including potential claims involving discrimination, retaliation, whistleblower protections, breach of contract and defamation.
Importantly, the College also releases Alston from known and unknown claims arising before execution of the agreement and agrees not to sue him over those matters.
$100,000 for Disparagement
One of the agreement’s most striking provisions concerns what Alston and current trustees may say about each other going forward.
Alston agrees not to disparage the Board or its past or current trustees or employees. Current trustees, for the duration of their service on the Board, likewise agree not to disparage Alston.
The consequence for violating that provision could be substantial: $100,000 per violation.
Exceptions permit truthful disclosures required by law and participation in government investigations and proceedings.
The College also agrees that employment inquiries properly directed to Human Resources will receive a neutral reference limited to Alston’s position and dates of employment. Alston, meanwhile, agrees never to seek re-employment with Broward College, its direct service organizations or affiliates.
“A Travesty”
For Dexter Bridgeman, publisher and member of a Black-owned media association, the manner in which Alston’s presidency ended sends a troubling message.
“The vote to remove Broward College President Torey Alston was a travesty and showed profound disrespect for the Black community,” Bridgeman said. “The board acted before hearing our voices. This is the second consecutive Black president whose tenure ended amid controversy. We deserve transparency, accountability, respect and, most importantly, answers.”
That history has become increasingly important to community leaders examining Alston’s departure.
Before Alston came Gregory Adam Haile, who served as Broward College president from 2018 until 2023. During Haile’s tenure, Broward College received significant national recognition, including recognition from the Aspen Institute.
Now Alston another Black president with a résumé spanning government, education, and transportation leadership is gone less than two years after taking office.
Alston previously served as CEO of the Greater Miami Expressway Agency, Chief of Staff at the Florida Department of Transportation, a Broward County Commissioner, Chair of the Broward County School Board and a trustee of Florida A&M University.
The same Broward College Board that unanimously selected him in 2025 has now approved his separation.
“When Will We Stop the Bleeding?”
Community advocates Vincent Logan and Anthony Woodside say the controversy should force Broward County’s Black community to look beyond the personalities involved and confront a much larger issue.
Their question is direct:
“When will we, as Black people, stop the bleeding?”
They point to what they describe as the premature removal, undermining and marginalization of highly qualified Black leaders and question why such developments are not met with stronger demands for transparency, consistency and accountability.
“This is bigger than Gregory Haile. It is bigger than Torey Alston. And it is bigger than Broward College,” Logan and Woodside said in their collaborative statement.
“It is about what happens when Black people finally get a seat at the big table and what happens when we allow the chair to be yanked from under their feet?”
Their statement also challenges the community itself.
“We cannot continue to celebrate Black achievement yet remain silent when Black leadership is challenged, diminished or discarded,” they said. “How much of this do they get away with because we remain quiet and compliant?”
For Logan and Woodside, anger by itself will accomplish little.
“We can be angry, but it cannot stop there,” they said. “We need a cocktail of unity, courage and accountability. We must use our voices to reflect our refusal to accept less than what we know we deserve.”
Questions That $430,000 Doesn’t Answer
The settlement closes the lawsuit, but it doesn’t necessarily close the public-interest questions.
Among them is the substance of the internal complaint Alston agreed to withdraw. What allegations did it contain? What investigation, if any, occurred? What findings were reached before settlement?
There are also financial questions.
The publicly disclosed settlement totals $430,000, but that may not represent the complete cost of the leadership dispute to a taxpayer-supported institution. The public deserves to know what Broward College spent on outside attorneys, mediation and other litigation-related expenses, as well as what additional costs could result from another presidential transition and search.
There is also the fundamental question of how a president unanimously selected by the Board in 2025 reached the point of separation roughly 18 months later particularly when Alston leaves asserting that enrollment reached record levels, retention and completion increased and government investment in the College reached record levels during his administration.
Alston previously told the Westside Gazette that some of the problems being attributed to his administration particularly issues surrounding Broward College’s nursing programs existed before he became president.
He said that when he assumed the presidency in February 2025, the nursing program was already 14 months into a 24-month probationary period and that his administration subsequently took steps including tightening admission standards, providing faculty professional development, hiring new faculty and developing remediation efforts for the NCLEX licensing examination.
Those assertions, along with Alston’s concerns regarding trustee involvement in College operations, became part of a widening disagreement over responsibility, governance, and leadership.
The settlement prevents that dispute from playing itself out fully in court.
A Separation — But Not the End of the Story
The agreement makes clear that neither side admits wrongdoing.
It also gives Alston seven calendar days from signing to revoke the agreement under provisions associated with the waiver of age-discrimination claims. If properly revoked during that period, the agreement becomes null and void and Alston would not receive the settlement payment.
If period expires without revocation, Broward College will have achieved what trustees ultimately sought a change in presidential leadership without proceeding through the termination battle that appeared imminent.
Alston leaves pointing to what he considers a record of accomplishment and saying his “head is high.” Broward College gets a leadership change and an end to pending litigation. And both sides walk away having released the other from potentially significant legal claims.
But for a Black community now witnessing the controversial departure of a second consecutive Black president of Broward College, the questions are not over.
Neither is the demand for accountability.
As Logan and Woodside put it:
“We have to stop the bleeding.”