Kendall Campus President Steps Down To Join The Aspen Institute

Pascale Charlot, who has served as dean of the Honors College and president at Kendall Campus, left Miami Dade College after a decade at the school.

Charlot, whose last day at the College was Jan. 22, accepted a position as a managing director at the Aspen Institute. She will work with the executive director, providing thought leadership and strategic thinking to influence the work that’s done at the Aspen Institute.

“We wish you the best of luck and thank you for your 10 years at Miami Dade College,” MDC President Madeline Pumariega told Charlot during the school’s January Board of Trustees meeting. 

Anthony Cruz, who has served as Hialeah Campus president for two years and a half, will serve as interim president at Kendall Campus until the College finds a permanent replacement. The College hopes to have a new president in place by June. 

Cruz, who will remain in his role as Hialeah Campus president, has made a large impact during his time in the City of Progress. 

He has continuously worked on building strong relationships with elected officials. His outreach inspired Hialeah councilwoman Monica Perez to lead efforts to provide students at Hialeah Campus with a free new transportation option—Freebee.

The campus has also revamped its social media footprint during his tenure to forge stronger relationships with high schools in the school’s feeder area.

In 2020, Cruz started ¿Qué Pasa Hialeah?, a show published on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook that highlights news and happenings around the campus and city of Hialeah. 

“I’m very excited,” said Cruz, who started working at Kendall on Monday. “I know that it’s going to be a very busy few months, but I look forward to the challenge and to working with everybody here on campus, listening to students.”

Charlot was appointed dean of the Honors College in 2011 after Alexandria Holloway retired. Eight years later, she was selected as president at Kendall Campus. 

Before MDC, Charlot worked as an assistant district attorney in New York, associate director of the Public Interest Law Center at New York University School of Law, assistant dean and director for the Minority Student Program at Rutgers University and served as dean of student affairs at NYU School of Law.

In 2019, she was selected as an Aspen Presidential Fellow. 

“Leaving Miami Dade College is very difficult,” said Charlot, who will start as managing director at the Aspen Institute on Feb. 28. “When you spend 10 years somewhere, you become family. There are people you see every day and work alongside to do this very important work of ensuring that the college mission is available to anybody who wants it.”