In June, College Unbound (CU) marked a year of transformative education in Greenville with a powerful evening of reflection, celebration, and vision for the future. The event, held at Furman 101, brought together students, board members, and community leaders to honor the achievements of CU Greenville’s inaugural cohort and reaffirm the college’s commitment to expanding access to higher education for adult learners.
This celebration also commemorated the 10th anniversary of College Unbound’s founding, featuring remarks from CU President Dr. Adam Bush and a dynamic panel discussion, where Greenville students Ricco Booker and Naketia Smalls shared personal stories of resilience and academic transformation.
Headlining the panel were two distinguished Greenville natives and national figures in education and justice: Judge O. Rogeriee Thompson, U.S. Circuit Judge for the First Circuit, and Francie Heller, founder of Heller Advisory, CU and Furman University board member, and daughter of Max and Trude Heller.
“As our student panelist Ricco said, ‘CU sees you.’ That affirmation captures the heart of our mission,” said Dr. Bush. “College Unbound is built around the lives of our students. In Greenville, as in all of our sites, we’re proving that adults with complex lives thrive in college when education is built around them.”
The event coincided with the Board of Trustees meeting, held in Greenville for the first time. JoKeitha Seabrook leads the Greenville cohort. Seabrook has tremendous experience in the civic, nonprofit, and professional development sectors. College Unbound is an accredited, nonprofit institution reimagining higher education for adult learners who have faced barriers to degree completion. CU offers a Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Leadership and Change through a student-driven model that integrates academic work with students’ real-world challenges, jobs, and passions. CU Greenville launched in 2024.