La Gaceta Newspaper

Jane Hernandez

As a University of Tampa graduate, one of Jane Hernandez’s greatest passions is the restoration and preservation of the Henry B. Plant Hall on campus.
For the past 16 years, she’s been a member of The Chiselers, an organization that was founded in 1959 and is dedicated to raising funds – hundreds of thousands of dollars each year – to restore the historic building, and now serves as the group’s president.
Plant Hall was initially built between 1888 and 1891 by railroad magnate Henry B. Plant as the Tampa Bay Hotel. Today, it’s home to classrooms, UT administrative offices and the Henry B. Plant Museum, and is a designated National Historic Landmark.
“That building, while the university is living there, using it, it belongs to the city of Tampa. We all have a lot of love for that building,” she said. “People stop in front of it, take photos outside it. Tour buses pass it. It is a landmark for us living here and you just wouldn’t want to see anything happen to it.”
The organization’s signature annual fundraiser, the Chiselers Market at Plant Hall, kicks off March 14 with presale access with the market open to the public on March 15. Bidding on a companion online auction starts March 8.
When they were young teens, Hernandez’s parents – her father from Detroit, her mother from Knoxville – moved to Tampa, where they met and eventually married. A graduate of Hillsborough County Public Schools, she has spent her entire life living in South Tampa.
Her father was a banker and she worked in banking while studying political science at the University of Tampa. After earning her degree, she worked briefly for Seminole Electric Co-op before returning to banking, taking a job at the Bank of Tampa.
Hernandez spent 28 years with the Bank of Tampa, mostly in employee communications, before retiring in 2022.
She learned about the Chiselers through her work at the bank, which encouraged employees to be involved in the community. A coworker and friend who was a member of the group told her about it. “She said, ‘I think you’d be really interested in this,’” Hernandez said. “So, I started volunteering and felt, yeah, this is a good home for me.”
The organization aligned with her love for the University of Tampa and the city’s rich history. “I love the school and felt passionate about how important that building was – not just to the university, but to the city of Tampa,” she said. “It’s a symbol of the city and what got this city started.”
The Chiselers work closely with the university “to make sure nothing happens to” Plant Hall.
Work on the historic building is “just unending – like any old house,” she added. “The building is ¼-mile long, five stories high and over a hundred years old. It’s got a lot of work that it needs.”
Hernandez anticipates that about $140 to 150 million will be needed to complete all the work that needs to be done in the next 10 to 20 years. “The tough thing is you can’t close the building, even if you could raise all that money at once,” she said. “Projects have to be done in a manner that can keep the building going and working. We do projects that affect one area at a time to keep things going each year.”
Currently, critical foundation work is being completed at Plant Hall. The project is funded by two Hillsborough County grants totaling about $375,000 and additional funds from the Chiselers to bring the total amount to $1 million.
Another major project on the horizon is restoration work to the east veranda, which faces the Hillsborough River. “It’s so spectacular when you drive in and see that front facade,” Hernandez said. “There’s a ton of work there that needs to be done top down from the roof downspouts, which are inadequate and causing problems with intrusion.”
The floor’s decking is also “not pitched correctly and needs to be redone to take care of water intrusion,” she said. “That’s a real huge problem there for the building. We’re trying to solve all those kinds of issues. That’s why the money is as big as it is. We’re trying to get to the root and correct that and keep it going.
Last year’s Chiselers Market raised about $170,000 and the organization hopes to bring in just as much at its upcoming sale. The group collects donated items this year that are available to purchase at the market – everything from furniture and lamps to jewelry, books, and art to kitchenware and China. “We have a lot of silver this year, which is fabulous,” Hernandez said. “A lot of art, too. There’s really great fun things as far as collectibles.”
The online silent auction opens March 8 and people will be able to bid on specific items in the week leading up to in-person sale.
This is the first year the organization is offering a ticketed pre-sale access to the market. Tickets are $25 in advance and $35 at the door and allow people “to come in and shop before the crowds,” she said.
The Chiselers are also introducing a new fundraising event this year – Chiseling a Legacy, a dinner for preservation, on April 11. “It’s brand new. We haven’t done it before,” Hernandez said. “We felt we needed an opportunity to have an event where we could share with donors what is happening (at Plant Hall) and what is still needed and also thank them.”

By Tiffany Razzano

Allison Crume knew how important the access to education was even as a toddler. She credits her parents, who were both educators, for this. Her mother retired as a math teacher after more than 30 years, and her father taught in the school system as well before taking a position with Frito Lay, where he still focused on professional development and training.
“Education has always been a big part of my life,” she said. “When I was little, I would have my mom’s teacher edition books and I’d teach my stuffed animals, making up tests for them and all that stuff. I always understood education should be as accessible as possible.”
After graduating from high school in Warner Robins, Georgia, she went on to earn a bachelor of science in history from Georgia College & State University. She also earned a master’s degree in teaching there.
Crume started her career as a high school teacher in Crawford County, Georgia, where she coached soccer and taught history. “I just really had a great time working with students and started to get interested in what happened after graduation and wanted to learn more about how to support students after high school,” she said.
The school was in a rural area and many of her students “didn’t have as many options.” She began to research various options to share with them. “We were always looking at what are those different pathways, but it wasn’t always clear for the students,” she said.
This is how she decided to pursue her doctorate degree in higher education. When her now husband got a job in Tallahassee, the couple became engaged and she applied to Florida State University, where she earned a Doctor of Philosophy in higher education administration
“I’d always been really working with students not only on academic pursuits but their whole development,” Crume said. But she was also concerned about what they did outside the classroom. “What kind of things were they involved in in the community? Just all the different aspects that could help them be successful.”
At FSU, her dissertation focused on student government as a subculture with a focus on campus engagement and how involvement in the organization could lead to greater success for students. “From there, I became really immersed in higher education” with a primary interest in access and equity, she said.
Crume found that one of the best ways to bring access and equity to more students was through student engagement outside the classroom. Organizations like student government leveled the playing field and engaging with students of other backgrounds allowed them to learn from one another, she found.
After earning her doctorate, she took a position with the Board of Governors, State University System of Florida. She worked with the Division of Academic & Student Affairs doing “the same kind of work I was doing in the classroom,” she said, “just different policies and practices that impacted all public universities across Florida.”
One of her main focuses was on the K-20 initiative, which looked “at students right as they’re coming into VPK all the way through graduation from college,” Crume said.
She also served on the State of Florida College Reach-Out Program Advisory Council, a program for low-income and educationally disadvantaged students.
In 2006, she took a position at FSU as assistant director, later becoming associate director, of the Oglesby Student Union, where she focused on identifying opportunities for campus engagement and ways to connect with students. These initiatives were across various departments, including health and wellness, counseling and mental health, housing, and activities.
During her 15 years at FSU, she held various roles, including director of research and programs, assistant vice president and associate vice president for student affairs, interim director of university housing and childcare. No matter the role, they each were “vehicles for providing access and equity for student success,” she said.
A new opportunity came across Crume’s path during the COVID-19 pandemic and she joined the University of South Florida in Tampa as dean of undergraduate studies and associate vice president for student success in August 2020. “What was so exciting about this … was that it brings together that academic focus and support and student services,” she said. “We’re looking at the whole student. I work with all academic colleges to provide that to students.”
The move to USF was “a full circle” for her, she added. “Even when I think about my work as a high school teacher, talking to students and working with them to identify what their needs are and how to improve supporting faculty and supporting the overall university in a welcoming and positive way (that) allows for that space for success.”
The position taps into her true passion for working closely with students. “The other night I was at a late night breakfast hanging out with students,” Crume said. “And the cycle of a semester is just so exciting and helping them achieve their goals and to be a small part of that and being part of commencement (the) next week. It’s very fulfilling.”
Though she joined the university at the height of the pandemic, the transition was easy as USF “had a strong system in place for collaboration.”
“In some ways, it was a little easier to onboard,” she added. “Meetings were happening and everybody was at the table … (to) solve new ways of doing things. I was thrown into a really collaborative group of people who were all working for the same goals in a student-centered way.”
There are several recent initiatives at USF that she’s especially proud of. The university, long known for its support of veterans, was just named as a Purple Star Campus, a state designation for its support of military families. The university has nearly 1,400 student veterans, one of the largest populations for a state university in Florida.
To earn this designation, USF has named a military liaison, has a student-led program to help veterans with their transition at the university, offers professional development training opportunities on how to better serve military students to staff members, and provides web resources and priority course registration for student veterans.
USF has also been recently designated as a First Generation Campus, a national designation. “We worked hard to get that,” Crume said. The university offers programming, support and resources for first-generation students attending college. It also provides a “space for people to come together and celebrate being first generation,” she added.
The university helps to make the transition for first-generation students a little bit easier. For instance, when applying to and attending college, “certain language” and acronyms they might not be familiar with is used. “We break it down and talk about it. We demystify a lot of those things,” she said. “It’s not basic knowledge for everyone.”
The university also recently opened a new Transfer Center, which focuses on transfer student success. “We have a large population of transfer students at USF and many commuter students, and we didn’t have a dedicated space for them,” Crume said.
Outside USF, she’s also involved in the community, especially in areas that involve her family. She and her husband have three children, one a freshman at USF and the other two attending Wiregrass Ranch High School in Wesley Chapel.
The family attends St. Mark the Evangelist Church, where her kids participated in the youth group and Boy Scout Troop 148. She’s been involved with the scouting group, as well as the marching band at the high school.
Crume also serves as a member of the New Tampa YMCA Board and the Pasco Education Foundation Board, which provides support to K-12 schools and teachers in Pasco County.
Much of her community work intentionally involves students and education, as it relates to her work and her greatest passion. “I want to give back and invest in students, who are our future,” she said.

Bob Gilbertson

Bob Gilbertson knew from an early age exactly what he wanted to do for a living – he wanted to work for the YMCA. And that’s exactly what he went on to do, working to develop YMCA locations across the country.
He was recently honored by the Tampa Metropolitan Area YMCA at its annual Community Impact Celebration with its prestigious Red Triangle Award.
Growing up in Knoxville, Tennessee, he spent much of his time after school and during the summer at his local Y. “It’s maybe a little unusual … but I had developed relationships with these counselors and coaches,” Gilbertson said. “I developed this real affection for all the time and things that I did at the YMCA. I thought by the time I was 11, this is what I wanted my life to be about, coaching and teaching at the Y. The Y was always the place that I felt most at home and most supported.”
As a teenager, he was hired as a camp counselor and coach at his local Y, working with youth groups. After high school, he went on to the University of Tennessee, where he worked with the swim team.
After two years at UT, he was ready for something new and moved on to George Williams College in Chicago. The college, which was affiliated with the YMCA, offered an exercise science program that focused on topics such as anatomy, physiology and microbiology, and offered studying of human cadavers and live animal experiments. “It was a unique clinical experience that I couldn’t get in any other places,” he said.
Following his graduation from college in 1974, Gilbertson worked for the YMCA in Frankfort, Kentucky, for two years. There, he coached gymnastics and swimming, and ran other programs. He also continued his interest in exercise science through “exercise testing with an old boxing-style EKG machine.” This was around the time there was a push for running and aerobics. “It was a fascinating time when people were saying to exercise to prevent heart disease,” he said. “It was an exciting time to be part of the whole wellness movement. It was just as the stage of taking off. To incorporate that into the YMCA was an exciting time in terms of using education and the momentum to advance health and fitness.”
From Frankfort, Gilbertson moved on to Spartanburg, South Carolina, where he worked with “a bigger community and a bigger Y environment.” He continued to work in moving the wellness movement forward at the facility, including working with a local hospital physician who encouraged his patients in his cardiac rehab to continue their efforts at the local YMCA. “It was one of only a dozen places in the U.S. where people did that and we monitored it,” he said. “The hospital there didn’t have (a gym). This was their community clinic, if you will, at the YMCA.”
Gilbertson came to the Tampa YMCA in 1981, which at the time operated an older YMCA built in 1908 that had a hotel and a gym attached to it. “There hadn’t been a lot done to it since 1908 by the time I got there,” he said.
There were also satellite branches throughout the region. “The foundation of the Y was pretty shaky,” he said.
It was financially difficult to maintain and was only kept afloat because of a benefactor on Sanibel Island. The owner of Bailey’s General Store there owned multiple properties and after his death, left a dozen lots to the Tampa YMCA. Every time the organization needed money, it would sell off one of the properties.
“It’s completely different today,” said Gilbertson, who moved to Tampa as director of operations. “The idea was that I was an executive who would raise money and I would operate the Y. We had centers and the very beginnings of an after-school program, which grew to be quite large. The DNA for a good YMCA was there, but it just wasn’t there yet.”
Two years after moving to Tampa, his boss left and Gilbertson was tapped to take over the organization as CEO. Under his watch, they consolidated properties and before long they went from “losing $75,000 a year to making about $75,000 a year,” he said. “That was the beginning of getting things sort of going.”
During his time in Tampa, the organization “built an amazing board” and grew from serving about 5,000 people a year to more than 130,000 people. It grew into one of the 25 largest YMCA organizations in the country.
Similar to his previous YMCA locations, he also helped develop a cardiac rehab program at the Tampa YMCA and worked with the University of South Florida’s cardiology division.
His move to Florida also brought him several other “exciting opportunities,” including working with elected officials and about 30 other organizations to privatize child welfare and foster care in Tampa, which took about three years of work to accomplish. “At the time, it was viewed that the state was failing those kids,” he said. “Safety and permanency were the two key components.”
Once the program, Hillsborough Kids, launched, he served as its CEO for a period. “It became pretty well known for advancing adoption and the organization has had its ups and downs, but overall, the view of things, I think, is it’s better for kids,” he said. “That experience was absolutely phenomenal and it centered on what is the central mission of the Y, how to reach people who need services. It was an opportunity to do something completely out of our wheelhouse. It was an opportunity to learn and serve.”
Under his watch, the Central City YMCA on Palm Avenue was built. The goal was to bring together people from various sectors of the community at this location. “Our hope was to serve white, Latino and Black , and we also wanted to serve the full spectrum of economics,” Gilbertson said.
He added, “The idea was you would go in and work out one day and be on a treadmill next to a woman in a burka and on your other side you have a person who had been homeless at one point in time or you get a basketball game going up and you have a banker and maybe a young person who is unemployed. We saw equality in the way people treated each other and we just thought it was great and so did a lot of our members.”
The idea was people from various parts of the community would interact with each other at the YMCA. “Interactions they wouldn’t have in the course of their busy day,” he said. “It’s the essence of the best that YMCA can do – the intersection of different neighborhoods, different people, different backgrounds. It felt to me like when we were at our best.”
After several decades, Gilbertson left Florida in 2007 for Seattle, which was about 30 percent bigger than the organization he had been working for in Tampa and he felt had a lot of potential. “My job was to raise money to build new Ys and expand the service that the Y provides there,” he said.
Similar to the Central City YMCA, the new Ys being built in Seattle also brought together an intersection of the community with people of various economic backgrounds, races and cultures all coming together under one roof. “The real mission was to mix economic backgrounds,” Gilbertson said. “The term that we used (for it) was ‘YMCA on the scene.’ What that really meant was that on one side of the neighborhood were maybe people who could afford the YMCA and could afford to volunteer, and the other side was a neighborhood that didn’t have the same economic choices that the other neighborhood had.”
He was especially drawn to efforts made by the Seattle YMCA for emancipated foster kids, those in their late teens and early 20s who had aged out of the foster system. “When they turn 18, the state stops paying foster families and the kids’ belongings are placed in trash bags and it’s like, ok, you’re on your own,” Gilbertson said. “It’s horrible, absolutely horrible.”
In Seattle, the YMCA offers this community various services and support, including job training, education, mental health services and housing for emancipated foster kids. “The system there wasn’t privatized, but this was a step beyond,” he said. “We watched young people really begin to blossom and take off, even though they’ve had a tough life.”
After retiring in 2019, He joined the YMCA World Urban Network, a group of YMCA CEOs from large cities around the world that met to work on strategies to improve Y facilities and programming, for five years. He traveled the world for these meetings, visiting places like Shanghai, China, and Bogota, Colombia.
Now, he’s writing a book “on some of the great people in the YMCA who did things that are meaningful and left legacies,” he said. “I believe history is a really important thing and I felt like the history of some of the things people did could be lost in the next generation of the Y.”
As he reflects on his career with the YMCA, he’s proud of the work he put in for the organization and what he helped to accomplish. “I think people make choices to work in a career that brings them joy and makes them feel like they’re fulfilled in some fashion and so, for me, gosh, I helped and I gave as much as I got,” he said. “It’s been a great organization to work in and have a chance to lead and I can’t think of a better way to have spent my life.”