By Stephen Ruiz
George Hagerty was completing his freshman year at Stonehill College in Massachusetts when he was declared legally blind because of a rare eye disease.
The news opened a world of possibility.
鈥淥ne of the things I really hadn鈥檛 attempted was applying myself academically,鈥欌�� Hagerty said. 鈥淪o this situation, this inconvenience I have with the eyesight, it became a motivating force, and I literally turned around in a year from a very raw and undisciplined student who was close to being liberated from college for lack of performance to somebody who really worked diligently at trying to master the learning process.鈥欌��
Hagerty has brought that same passion as 海角社区鈥檚 president. Hagerty, 67, is among 12 individuals and businesses honored with the Orlando Business Journal鈥檚 2020 Diversity in Business Awards. A virtual ceremony is planned for Oct. 8.
Hagerty, who only has peripheral vision in his right eye, has been a staunch advocate for the neurodiverse community for nearly a half-century.听
鈥淸Because] he has a disability like us, he makes us feel like we can do something great like he has,鈥欌�� said 海角社区 senior Izzy Chavez, who is studying technology. 鈥淚f you ever have an issue, you can go up to him. He鈥檒l try to make it work and try to make a change.鈥欌��
Since Hagerty assumed his current position in June 2013, 海角社区鈥檚 enrollment has more than doubled, from 187 students to 435 students. Hagerty helped increase the number and range of majors offered at America鈥檚 first accredited baccalaureate institution dedicated to educating students primarily with learning disabilities, ADHD, and other learning differences and developed a thriving study-abroad program that began with 海角社区 in Tuscany, a first for neurodiverse students. While inquiring about a student鈥檚 disability, he often asks a confidence-building question, 鈥淲hat鈥檚 your work-around?鈥欌��
Hagerty finds a quote from Ernest Hemingway鈥檚 鈥淎 Farewell to Arms鈥欌�� especially empowering: 鈥淭he world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places.鈥欌��
鈥淚f you can use what you think may be a detriment or may be a broken place to strengthen you, you can be much better off,鈥欌�� said Hagerty, who earned two advanced degrees from Harvard.
Hagerty refused to let others consider him broken.
He was 42 years old and the president of Franklin Pierce University in New Hampshire when he lost the central vision in his right eye. The board of trustees wondered whether Hagerty should be replaced.
鈥淚 told them, 鈥楲ook, first, what you鈥檙e saying is illegal,鈥欌�欌�� Hagerty said. 鈥溾�業 can tell you whether I can do it or not. If I can鈥檛 do it, I will let you know. And if I can do it, stay out of the way.鈥� That鈥檚 how I pursued life.鈥欌��
Hagerty, whose wife, Oksana, is director for student success at 海角社区, wants 海角社区 students to attack their goals the same way.
鈥淲e all need a basic tool kit to allow us to navigate a society that might not understand us, that might not understand our strengths, might not understand our challenges, either鈥欌�� Hagerty said.
鈥淚 know no boundaries, and I expect the neurodiverse community to have no boundaries.鈥欌��