Giving all they got

Carl and Jackie Gibbs pay their love for TCNJ forward.

Words by Kara Pothier

Carl and Jackie Gibbs

From high school sweethearts to a power couple at TCNJ, Carl and Jackie Gibbs have forged a remarkable journey of partnership and entrepreneurial success. They are deeply committed to using their knowledge, business experience, and love of the college to strengthen TCNJ’s financial standing and its attractiveness as a go-to school.

“TCNJ was a game changer for me,” says Carl Gibbs ’93, chair of TCNJ’s Board of Trustees. “I am a first-generation college graduate. That experience transformed me.”

As a student, he took advantage of the Educational Opportunity Fund program, receiving college prep skills in a summer session designed to get underserved students up to speed academically before their first semester. He also had access to tutors, mentors, and career development. He credits his EOF/Project Chance advisor, Robert Alston, who was then director of financial aid for the college, as one who guided him through his time as a business administration and marketing major. “The coursework was tough, but he directed me to the resources I needed to be successful.”

Now, Carl is president and CEO of Sturdivant & Co., one of the oldest minority-owned investment firms in the country. With a 30-year career in the financial sector, Carl served for eight years on the board of directors of the TCNJ Foundation before joining the college’s Board of Trustees in 2017. Last fall, he became chair. “My number one goal as chair is the financial stability of the college,” he says. “I am excited about the future of the institution and seeing how we prosper in new areas.”

For Jackie Gibbs ’88, the youngest of nine in a family where you were expected to go to college or the military, it was a few TCNJ professors who most influenced her path. Professor Gloria Dickinson, a founder of the African American studies department, and advisor James “Chico” Chambers were key to making her feel she belonged on campus and encouraged her to work hard and start her future at TCNJ. Retired business professor Lynn Braender sparked Jackie’s interest in computer programming, setting the stage for a promising career as a consultant and project manager in a field where women were few. “They instilled positivity in me, and so I wanted to succeed for them, too,” she says. “To thank them for believing in me.” Now Jackie inspires her own students as an instructor for TCNJ’s MBA program.

Jackie, who was in the inaugural class of TCNJ’s College Ambassadors — the group of students clad in blue and white striped rugby jerseys responsible for giving campus tours and serving as public relations representatives for the college — still very much plays the part. Elected to the TCNJ Foundation Board of Directors in June 2024, after serving on the Alumni Association Board for more than five years, she plans to build new community partnerships while also urging alumni and students to stay connected and get involved. “Growing our networks of support will help to keep the college viable,” she says.

Together, Carl and Jackie are frequent visitors to campus, attending meetings, celebrating at homecoming events, and gathering with his Kappa Alpha Psi brothers and her Alpha Kappa Alpha sisters at Alumni Weekend. They also like to take advantage of the lectures and special presentations the college offers.

Carl says inviting people to campus for these events goes a long way in promoting the college, too. “So many people who have not been on campus for awhile come back and see how much it has changed,” he says. “They’re just in awe. And I say ‘I don’t understand why you stayed away.'”

In their new leadership roles, Carl and Jackie are even more motivated to tout all that TCNJ has to offer to as many people as they can. “Each one, teach one” is a favorite motto of Jackie’s. “Don’t stop with just the education you get,” she says. “Take what you have to offer and give back to the college. That’s how the cycle continues.”