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CAMPUS
You may know them best as BSC’s leaders, but some of
the college’s recent presidents have also made their personal
passions into public priorities.
Dr. Neal R. Berte is using his platform as president
emeritus to shine a light on payday lending, which he says
is “exploiting the poor.” He rst became aware of Alabama’s
predatory payday and title lending system ve years ago while
attending a social justice rally at the YWCA of Birmingham.
“Toxic lending laws take money from vulnerable Alabama
borrowers and their families and drive them into a downward
spiral of poverty,” said Berte. “The average payday loan APR is
300 percent plus, but high-cost lenders are able to charge up
to 456 percent APR interest.”
Berte has spoken and worked across the state to increase
awareness of the issue. He’s also working with the Alliance
for Responsible Lending in Alabama and the Predatory
Lending Advisory Group, which supports legislation that
would extend the minimum loan term from 10 days to 30
days for payday loans. He is a member of the Governor’s
Task Force on Consumer Lending, which reviews Alabama’s
consumer credit legislation.
“Only the Alabama Legislature can put an end to the
triple-digit interest rates charged by these companies, with the
majority of the huge pro ts paid to high-cost lenders going to
their corporate of ces in other states,” he said. “Alabama needs
to join with the more than 35 other states that have made
major reforms to give relief to our most vulnerable citizens.”
President Linda Flaherty-Goldsmith and President Emeritus
Gen. Charles C. Krulak have a shared passion. They are
working with the nonpro t group Human Rights First (HRF)
on a national effort to educate the public about and advocate
for laws and funding to combat human traf cking.
Krulak co-chairs HRF’s global campaign to dismantle
the business of human traf cking with former FBI Director
Louis Freeh; Flaherty-Goldsmith previously was a
pro bono
consultant for HRF and now serves as one of the campaign’s
ambassadors. Krulak’s involvement with traf cking began
some 14 years ago while he was chair and CEO of an
international bank in England.
“One of my people had their child taken and, unfortunately,
never recovered,” he said. “I was appalled at the tragedy and
vowed that I would try to do something about it.”
Once Krulak returned to the U.S., he teamed up with
Freeh, the HRF, and former Cleveland Browns and Aston Villa
Football Club owner Randy Lerner to combat what he calls “a
cancer on humanity.” In 2013, Flaherty-Goldsmith joined the
effort and brought her own passion to bear on the problem.
“I rst learned about human traf cking six years ago in a
documentary, and it was so troubling to me that I couldn’t
sleep,” Flaherty-Goldsmith said. “It is the most egregious
example of vulnerable people being exploited. Shockingly, in
2017, there are more slaves in the world than at any time in
history.”
She and Krulak have been active during that time working
with the HRF staff to draft legislation to put more “teeth” into
the process of prosecuting criminals as well as pushing for
more money to prosecute perpetrators of this crime, protect
and assist victims, and increase educational resources. They’ve
also been speaking to local organizations and groups on the
topic of human traf cking, bringing attention to both sexual
exploitation and forced labor.
Presidential activism: three college leaders
speak out on major issues of the day