By William C. McCormick, Jr, MBA, Interim President of Florida Memorial University, May 26, 2025
Earlier today, I returned from my first journey to Johannesburg, South Africa. I do so not as a distant observer, but as a deeply moved participant in a transformational experience that has reshaped my worldview and awakened a deeper sense of purpose. To walk on the soil of the Motherland—for the first time—was not just an international trip. It was a homecoming of the soul.
The honor of visiting South Africa is one I will carry for the rest of my life. Boarding the plane in Fort Lauderdale and beginning the 16-hour flight, I anticipated a journey of culture and connection. But as we crossed the vast Atlantic Ocean, I found myself in profound reflection. I gazed out over the waters that once carried millions of African souls to unknown shores under horrific conditions, and I imagined the terror and heartbreak of that forced transatlantic journey. My ancestors were taken from a land that had everything they needed—community, wisdom, purpose—and cast into bondage in a foreign world. Now, generations later, I was returning—freely, proudly, and purposefully. I was going back not as a descendant of the enslaved, but as a leader committed to partnership, progress, and possibility.
Johannesburg welcomed me with open arms and even more open hearts. What I encountered was a nation whose heartbeat is strong with history, pride, and unshakable belief in a better tomorrow. From vibrant streets to centers of learning, my journey was filled with powerful dialogue, sacred remembrance, and the unwavering resilience of a people committed to rewriting their narrative through education and empowerment.
The mission of my visit was rooted in purpose: to engage with the stalwart citizens of South Africa who are boldly working to leapfrog their country into a future defined by educational excellence. I met educators, hotel staffers, uber drivers, restaurant workers, visionary business leaders, and young people whose belief in the power of learning was both inspiring and unstoppable. In them, I saw the same hunger for opportunity that drives us at Florida Memorial University. I saw the same unshakable truth—that education is not just a tool for advancement, but a vehicle for liberation.
Among the many unforgettable moments, my visit to Constitutional Hill stands out as the most soul-stirring. Walking the same grounds where freedom fighters were imprisoned was an experience that shook me to my core. I stood inside the very cells that held Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, and other icons of justice—leaders whose human dignity was assaulted daily, yet never defeated. The air was heavy with the echoes of their struggle, yet charged with their enduring strength. It was there I came face to face with the unbreakable spirit of resistance. It was there I saw how history bends toward justice—not on its own, but through the unwavering courage of those who dare to stand for what is right.
Another moment during this trip will also remain etched in my heart forever. During a roundtable dinner gathering, renowned journalist Joanne Joseph asked the former South African President Kgalema Motlanthe a deeply human question: “What made you keep hope alive during your incarceration? His response was simple, yet profoundly powerful: “We survived by having two hearts.”
He went on to explain further. One heart bore retaliation and pain—the brutal reality of prison, the indignities, the constant attempts to strip away their identity and will. But the other heart was the beat of love that had a vision, one with belief, and one with hope. It was the heart that dreamed of a free South Africa, that envisioned justice not as an abstraction, but as a birthright. To carry that kind of duality—pain in one heart, purpose in the other—demands a rare and deeply rooted strength. It requires emotional endurance, spiritual clarity, and the kind of moral leadership that transcends personal suffering to serve collective hope. It reminded me that resilience isn’t about the absence of pain—it’s about the presence of purpose.
This visit changed me. It changed how I see South Africa—not just as a nation with a difficult past, but as a living testament to the human spirit’s capacity to rebuild, to rise, and to lead. It changed how I understand our own institutional mission at Florida Memorial University—to educate not only minds, but to fortify hearts.
And in this moment of reflection, I am reminded of the words Nelson Mandela might offer us today: “It is in the character of growth that we build not just for ourselves, but for those who come after us. True freedom is not only to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”
For me personally, this journey was sacred. For Florida Memorial University, it marks our emergence as a global institution of conscience and action. Our partnership with the Global Institute for Financial Services (GIFS)—under the visionary leadership of Dr. Kershen Pillay, President and CEO—signals a new era of collaboration rooted in shared values and transformative goals. Together, we are building a transatlantic bridge of excellence, equity, and educational empowerment.
Through this partnership, we will unite our institutions to offer collaborative learning programs that inspire, equip, and empower the next generation of African learners and leaders. From South Florida to South Africa, we are no longer divided by distance, we are united by vision, by purpose, and by the rhythm of two hearts beating in hope.
“It’s Our Time”.
