Faculty Highlights: Professor Lawrence E. Hibbert

Social responsibility is one of Union’s foremost values, and I see it displayed every day in the passion of the leaders who work and teach at Union. This month I am happy to recognize Professor Lawrence E. Hibbert as one of the outstanding faculty members who embodies that value in unique ways.

Professor Lawrence E. Hibbert is the Director of the Criminal Justice Program in Miami, Florida. He has been part of Union’s full-time faculty since 2006, and it is through his servant leadership, innovative outreach and program development that the Criminal Justice Program has experienced such success.  

Professor Hibbert served for many years as a Sergeant of Police in Jamaica, where he was born. When he came to the United States in 1980, he worked full time while completing his bachelor’s degree in Union Institute & University’s business management program. Professor Hibbert went on to the master’s program in dispute resolution at the Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. He completed both degrees while continuing to work and support his family.

According to Professor Hibbert, many officers come to Union with reservations—they do not know if they can complete their degree and continue to work full time. He is able to empathize and share his own experience with them and encourage them through their courses and, ultimately, across the graduation stage. He knows that completing a degree takes time, scheduling, focus, and dedication. Because of that care and empathy, Professor Hibbert is a trusted mentor and counselor for officers pursuing their degrees.

One of the new developments for the Criminal Justice program in Miami is the addition of a new off-site classroom at the Miami Dade Police Academy—the largest police department in South Florida. This makes a total of eight off-site classrooms that the Miami Center has established throughout southeast Florida. These off-site locations are key strategy components for program enrollment. This allows thousands of officers to find out about Union and the opportunities to complete their bachelor’s degrees and qualify for promotions. “I know it’s a feather in my cap to get into the academy where they train all their officers,” Professor Hibbert said. “Being there when the new officers come in, they‘re going to see that there are other officers who are completing their degrees, and they’re going to want to be a part of it. That will help us a lot with recruiting.”

In addition to expanding class offerings through off-campus sites, the Miami Center offers Saturday tutoring sessions where students can receive one-on-one instruction in writing, math, and questions relating to their respective programs. Participating in these Saturday tutoring sessions is one of the ways that Professor Hibbert has made the Criminal Justice program so attractive to the students. These tutoring sessions are tangible retention practices that have kept the academic program strong.

When asked about the role of social responsibility in his life, Professor Hibbert said, “Being socially responsible means that I must behave ethically and with sensitivity towards everyone. Striving for social responsibility helps me to have a positive impact on students and prospective students of Union Institute & University and the South Florida community as a whole.

I believe that my commitment to social responsibility is reflected by the activities I choose to participate in and the lifestyle I lead as a husband, father, grandfather, colleague, and faculty member. Only through embracing and embedding a sense of social responsibility into your personal value and belief system can you truly become socially responsible in all that you do.

This is my motto and I live by it: ‘I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die. For the harder I work the more I live.’” (George Bernard Shaw)