Florida Atlantic: Small-town Roots to National Impact

From his election as mayor straight out of college to becoming CEO and executive director of the National League of Cities (NLC), Clarence Anthony '81, '82 has had an immensely successful political career. And Florida Atlantic helped lay the groundwork for his remarkable ascent.

Anthony grew up less than 70 miles from Florida Atlantic in South Bay, a small city with fewer than 5,000 people on the western edge of Palm Beach County south of Lake Okeechobee. Anthony's family could not afford to send him out of the area for college, which led to his journey at then-Palm Beach Community College before transferring to Florida Atlantic. This proved to be a natural fit.

"It was a great place for me to be able to work and to be able to continue to grow and get the excellent education that would allow me to move forward in my life," Anthony said.

Florida Atlantic was also a proving ground for leadership skills that would underpin his life's work. Anthony served as president of the student senate and president of the Black Student Union. He also was a member of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society.

After graduating from Florida Atlantic with bachelor's and master's degrees in public administration, Anthony returned home to South Bay at the age of 23 with a bold goal in mind: become the city's mayor. While he was propelled by a youthful exuberance, he felt Florida Atlantic had laid a firm foundation to set him up for immediate success.

"I wanted to make the lives of people in South Bay better," Anthony said.

"I think that FAU gave me the opportunity to develop my leadership skills, apply those skills on campus, and gave me a lot of confidence at 23 years old. I had the audacity to run for public office at that time, and I won."

Anthony took office in 1984 and had a lengthy and productive tenure as mayor, serving for 24 years. He said his proudest accomplishment as leader of South Bay was helping to spearhead the construction of a city library, a nod to his belief in the power of education.

For decades, South Bay had only a mobile library that would pass through occasionally for a few hours at a time. Anthony knew from firsthand experience that students had limited access.

"I was a ferocious reader, but I recognized that education was going to be my way out of a community that had per capita income of about $13,000 at that time a per family — a community that was built on the backs of people who worked in the celery fields and the cane fields, the bean fields," Anthony said. "When I came back, [getting a library] was my No. 1 priority."

After five years of advocacy, Anthony was successful in securing state and local funds for a library. The Clarence E. Anthony Branch Library, named in his honor, has served the community for more than 25 years.

During that time, he also served as president of the Florida League of Cities. Then in 1999, he was elected as the NLC's president. The organization is more than 100 years old and is comprised of cities, towns and villages focused on improving the quality of life for their current and future residents. In 2013, Anthony became its CEO and executive director, a position he still holds.

Under his leadership, the NLC delivered billions of dollars in direct, flexible federal relief through the CARES Act and the American Rescue Plan Act to help local governments respond, recover and rebuild from the COVID-19 pandemic. The NLC also ushered passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, delivering transformative investments in transportation, broadband and water to communities across the country.

"This job makes me feel like I'm doing something to make our communities better," Anthony said.

This past spring provided a bit of a homecoming for Anthony, who was asked by Florida Atlantic President Adam Hasner to speak during two of the university's commencement ceremonies. The opportunity gave Anthony time to reflect on his journey and Florida Atlantic's role in it, he said.

"It made me recognize the value of education, and, more importantly, the value of FAU in my life," Anthony said. "We could all grow up in Palm Beach County, or in Broward or Dade or Indian River County, St. Lucie, and think, 'We have to go someplace else to get an education.' But we have the most magnificent, amazing university right in our backyard. It made me recognize how proud I was to be an Owl.

"I will never forget that honor, and it will be one of those important moments in my life that I'll always reflect on."