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Mary Ann Begley, Ph.D. [Photo courtesy CF]

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Posted December 16, 2025 | By Susan Smiley-Height, [email protected]

CF announces new vice president

The College of Central Florida has announced the selection of Mary Ann Begley, Ph.D., as its new vice president of Enrollment Services and Student Affairs. Currently the dean of Student Services and Title IX coordinator, Begley will transition to her new role in January.

Begley was selected after a nationwide search, the news release noted. She has served at CF since 2020 in roles including director of compliance and planning and director of institutional research and effectiveness. She also teaches the first-year seminar course. Begley has more than 30 years of experience in higher education and holds a Ph.D. in higher education administration from Bowling Green State University. Before coming to CF, she worked with students at Florida Gateway College as the director of student life.

“Dr. Begley holds a wealth of knowledge in student affairs,” said CF President Jim Henningsen, Ph.D., in the release. “I am confident that her vast experience and vision for CF’s future will strengthen our college community for years to come.”

 

SECO Energy supports Toys for Tots

SECO Energy is continuing its tradition of supporting the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program.

The purpose is to help bring Christmas joy and a message of hope to children across the United States through the gift of a new toy. Since 2001, the Toys for Tots program has consistently been recognized among the top charities by Philanthropy 400, the news release stated.

Each year, starting in November, SECO trustees, employees and members drop off donations of new, unwrapped toys at member service locations in Eustis, Groveland, Inverness, Ocala and Sumterville. The donated toys remain in the local community, the release noted.

 

Corporation forms for thoroughbred racing

The Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association’s Chief Executive Officer Lonny Powell recently announced at the University of Arizona Global Symposium on Racing that the association has entered into a multi-year agreement with a Delaware-registered entity formed by former Miami Beach mayor Philip Levine and attorney John Morgan to pursue development of a thoroughbred racing and entertainment complex in Marion County.

The partnership will leverage the FTBOA’s unique nonprofit racing permit — the only legislatively-approved Thoroughbred permit of its kind remaining in Florida, the news release noted.

Powell credited Levine as “the visionary behind it all.” Morgan, whose firm Morgan & Morgan is the largest personal injury law firm in the world, according to the release, is a thoroughbred breeder with bloodstock in Kentucky through partnerships with Coolmore.

The FTBOA’s nonprofit permit, acquired in 2011 and converted to thoroughbred shortly after Powell’s arrival, has been held in reserve. Because it is nonprofit, Powell said, “it’s geared to build breeders’ awards, purses, equine research — not for somebody that wants to flip it into real estate.” The project does not preclude South Florida racing, but regulatory realities are stark: South Florida permits are address-specific and both Gulfstream Park and Tampa Bay Downs have signaled intent to exit live racing, the article stated.

Powell and Damon Thayer of the Thoroughbred Racing Initiative affirmed opposition to decoupling legislation heading into the 2026 session. Thayer, the former Kentucky Senate Majority Leader, emphasized a “multilateral” approach and praised Churchill Downs Inc.’s billion-dollar private investment in Kentucky facilities as a model. He committed to releasing a long-awaited feasibility study “in the next two weeks before Christmas,” the release noted.