Orange County Mayor to Headline 2023 Crummer Commencement

We are pleased to announce that Jerry L. Demings, Mayor of Orange County, Florida will be Crummer’s commencement speaker on Saturday, May 13.

Mayor Jerry L. Demings was sworn in on Dec. 4, 2018, as the 5th elected Mayor of Orange County, and is the first African American to serve in the role. Mayor Demings was re-elected in 2022. He oversees more than 8,000 Orange County employees and a 7.2 billion dollar budget as the County’s chief executive officer. He says that his goal is to make Orange County the “Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow” by creating a community culture of innovation, collaboration, and inclusion.

An Orlando native, Mayor Demings was appointed the first Black Chief of the Orlando Police Department. He was first African American elected as Orange County Sheriff from 2008-2018.

Mayor Demings is married to former U.S. Representative Valdez B. Demings, who also made history as the first female police chief in Orlando. In November 2016, she was elected to the 115th Session of the United States Congress, was re-elected in 2018 and 2020, representing Florida Congressional District 10.

Mayor Demings and Former Congresswoman Demings have three sons who are all graduates of Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University.

A lifelong public servant, Mayor Demings is a graduate of Jones High School and holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from Florida State University and a master’s of business administration from Orlando College. He graduated magna cum laude.

He is a graduate of the 194th session of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Academy and studied at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Mayor Demings currently serves on several national, state, and regional boards of directors, including the National Association of Counties (NACo) Justice and Public Safety Policy Committee, NACo’s Commission on Mental Health and Wellbeing, Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, Central Florida Expressway Authority, Metroplan Orlando, Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority/Lynx, Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center, Orange County Tourist Development Council, Orlando Economic Partnership and he is involved in numerous civic organizations. He is a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Alpha Phi Omega Fraternity, and Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity and is a steward at Saint Mark AME Church in Orlando. Mayor Demings has a passion for working with organizations that support children and volunteers with several non-profit agencies.

The Crummer School and the Orange County Government have recently partnered to drive the economic impact of the Entrepreneurial and Nonprofit communities of Central Florida. We are thrilled Mayor Demings will be joining us at Commencement to share his insights and wisdom.

The Crummer Commencement ceremony will take place on Saturday, May 13, 2023 at 9 a.m. in the Harold and Ted Alfond Sports Center on the Rollins College campus. The event is open to the public.