They came up with the idea for the first Eckerd College Day at City Hall while gathered at a bus stop. Emma Kelliher, president of the Eckerd College Organization of Students, was attending the dedication ceremony of the new SPARK express bus service on campus last fall when Ann Sherman-White ’06, Eckerd’s Director of Equal Access and Campus Community, introduced her to David Thompson, Director of Government Affairs for the City of St. Petersburg.
The idea was to have Eckerd students spend an afternoon meeting with the mayor, city council members and city staff. The students would learn the basics of how St. Petersburg city government, with 3,800 employees and a $976-million budget, serves a city of about 270,000 people. They would also hear how people running the city rose to their positions, and what their priorities and challenges are.
The aim, Emma says, is to build and maintain a strong relationship between Eckerd students and city government.
“David said other colleges do something like this, and the city would love to do one for Eckerd,” explains Emma, a senior literature and political science student from Lakeville, Massachusetts. “Eckerd is kind of in its own little bubble. Sometimes students don’t connect to the broader community. I thought this would be a great opportunity for students interested in local government to establish relationships with city officials that could lead to internships or jobs. At least a better understanding of who these people are.”
So she arranged for ECOS to sponsor the event, sent out a campus-wide email, and set Wednesday, April 8th as the first Eckerd College Day at City Hall.
When the day arrived eight Eckerd students heard from city staff about careers in government, and from City Council Chair Lisset Hanewicz about possibilities. Hanewicz, whose parents are from Cuba, was raised in Miami. She earned a Master of Business Administration from Florida International University and a law degree from the University of Florida. She is a former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida.
“You never know where you’ll end up,” Hanewicz told the students. “I never imagined growing up in Miami that I’d be a city council member.”
Next was St. Petersburg Mayor Kenneth T. Welch, a third generation St. Petersburg resident and the city’s first African American mayor. He earned a bachelor of arts degree from the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, and an MBA from Florida A&M University. Welch served as a Pinellas County Commissioner for 20 years, and his father was a city council member. The mayor grew up in the Gas Plant area of St. Petersburg, where Tropicana Field now stands.
As he sat across a conference room table from the students, Welch leaned back and smiled. “It’s a great job,” he said. “But it’s a big responsibility.” He said he and his staff were excited to host the first Eckerd College Day, and he asked each student their name and their major. “Thank you for being here,” he told each one. “I know when the hurricanes hit in 2024, Eckerd was ground zero.”
Among the issues that concern him, he said, were some state mandates that don’t fit with St. Petersburg’s goals—issues involving DEI, climate change, gerrymandering, property taxes and unlimited campaign contributions. His priorities, he said, are affordable housing, safe neighborhoods, infrastructure and the environment. “The great equalizer,” he added, “is elections.”
To illustrate his point about finding ways to make things happen, he recalled his swearing in ceremony in January 2022. “It was during COVID-19, and for the ceremony, they had to come to my house and set up a tent in my front yard.”
Those personal stories found their mark. “I loved hearing about how staff members ended up where they are, and it was awesome hearing from the mayor,” Emma says. “We want to give back to the city of St. Petersburg and be good neighbors. There are so many opportunities for students to get involved.”
“Eckerd College has been a longstanding educational and economic anchor in St. Petersburg and we were honored to host the inaugural Eckerd College Day at City Hall,” Welch said later. “I enjoyed meeting with current students and alumni and learning more about their vision for the future of our city. I’m confident we will continue to see past and present Eckerd College students serve in positions of leadership across our community for years to come.”
A prime example: Among those watching the presentation was Eckerd alumnus Anthony Holloway ’99, who is now St. Petersburg’s Chief of Police. He worked full time for the Clearwater Police Department while he was attending Eckerd, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business management.







