NCCU Now Summer 2019 Alumni Magazine

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A M AG A Z I N E F O R N C C U A L U M N I , F R I E N D S , FAC U LT Y A N D S TA F F

HERO TO THE HUNGRY

EAGLE ALUMNA JASMINE CROWE COOKS UP APP TO CUT FOOD WASTE

+Deconstructing the Universe

MATH AND PHYSICS RESEARCHERS STUDY SUB-ATOMIC PARTICLES FOR CLUES TO OUTER SPACE

Understanding Leads to Acceptance CAMPUS RESOURCE CENTER GIVES LGBT COMMUNITY A HOME

p. 30 Abimbola Abudu, a graduate student in Environmental, Earth and Geospatial Sciences, examines particles through a laboratory microscope.

NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL UNIVERSITY / SUMMER 2019 /

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International Alliances

Doing Well by Doing Good

A partnership in Beijing, China, grows with implementation of a language disorders exchange program.

Alumna Jasmine Crowe redirects food waste to alleviate hunger using a smart phone app.

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Equality for All

Universal Knowledge

On the Cover JASMINE CROWE ’05, found a way to harness technology to address the age-old problem of hunger.

Photo courtesy of Goodr

p. 38 ____________________________________________________ Resource center works to ease anxiety and educate the campus on LGBT issues.

Research scientists analyze physical materials and gravitational forces on Earth and in outer space.

Departments Inbox

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Chancellor’s Message 6

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International Taste-Maker André Talley Comes Home to Durham In town for Hillside High School’s Heritage Week, the renowned Eagle spoke with NCCU Now about his distinguished fashion career and growing up in Durham in the 1960s.

For the latest NCCU NEWS visit www.nccu.edu

Strategic Plan

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Academia

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Bookshelf

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Faculty and Staff News 18 Discoveries

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Student Life

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On the Yard

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Alumni News

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Giving

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Athletics

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From the Archives

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Photo Credit: ©Colin Gray

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Email us your feedback to now@nccu.edu

SOCIAL MEDIA

N.C. Central University @nccu I June 3, 2019 Patrick “9th Wonder” Douthit (@9thwonder), NCCU artist-in-residence who teaches in the Department of History, was recently named to the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame!

DocRich @blackraiden76T I June 3, 2019 @9thwonder He is a genius ... only makes sense literally ... he is doing things in hip hop no one has every done ... being a doctorate of pharmacy myself everytime I look he has another academic achievement for his prowess... much respect. Zion II is my favorite album to open my creativity.

UNC System @UNC_System I May 24, 2019 The new state-of-the-art television studio at @NCCU was constructed using $1.86 million in Title III funding and will further enhance the training of students in the growing mass communications industry.

NCCU NOW MAGAZINE is published by North Carolina Central University's Office of Communications and Marketing, 1801 Fayetteville Street, Durham, NC 27707.

View a digital version and past issues at issuu.com/nccentraluniv NCCU NOW CONTRIBUTORS EDITORS: Renee Elder, Ayana D. Hernandez SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Pandora Frazier '82 DESIGN & ONLINE MARKETING SPECIALIST: Bryan Huffman WRITERS AND COPY EDITORS: Kia C. Bell, Bernita Cooper, Renee Elder, Ayana D. Hernandez, Kyle Serba, Quiana Shepard, André Vann '93, Karen Willenbrecht PHOTOGRAPHY: Chioke Brown '12, Nathaniel Dunn '18.

Rashid Abdus-Salaam '20, Vernon Samuels '14, Ivan Watkins '95

NCCU BOARD OF TRUSTEES CHAIR George R. Hamilton '77 VICE CHAIR John Barbee '73 SECRETARY Oita C. Coleman

MEMBERS: John A. Herrera Kevin M. Holloway '75 Michael P. Johnson '69 John T. McCubbins Brandon Hedgebeth '20 Allyson Siegel Kenneth R. Tindall, Ph.D. Isaiah Tidwell '67 Karyn S. Wilkerson '82, '97 James Walker '88

ADMINISTRATION CHANCELLOR Johnson O. Akinleye, Ph.D. INTERIM PROVOST AND VICE CHANCELLOR OF ACADEMIC AFFAIRS Paul R. Liverpool, Ph.D. VICE CHANCELLOR OF ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE Cornelius Wooten, Ph.D.

NCCU Athletics@nccuathletics I May 2, 2019 “The Thrill of Victory” @NCCUSoftball celebrates upset win over No. 24 UNC on Tuesday. Many thanks to photographer @JCamarati for capturing this historic moment.

VICE CHANCELLOR OF INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT Harriet Frink Davis, Ph.D. VICE CHANCELLOR OF STUDENT AFFAIRS Angela Alvarado Coleman, Ed.D. CHIEF OF STAFF Al Zow, J.D.

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Curated photos from the NCCU community

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CONGRATULATIONS TO THE CLASS OF 2019 / 1 / Ruth Islas; photographer, Kaylee Sciacca / 2 / Fateya Black with her son; photographer, Vernon Samuels / 3 / Tafari Bailey; photographer, Rashid Abdus-Salaam / 4 / Front to back: Shea Barr, Peyton Fox, Brooklyn Campbell, Elizabeth Thompson, Emily Barton, Abby Wingard and Sara Zadrzynski; photographer, Rashid Abdus-Salaam / 5 / Jordyn Weaver; photographer, Vernon Samuels / 6 / Udochukwa Onuoha, photographer, Rashid Abdus-Salaam

Interested in sharing your photos with the NCCU community?

Upload your 300 dpi photo to now@nccu.edu and include your name, details and the photographer's name.

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Chancellor’s Message CHIDLEY HALL DEMO

Dear NCCU Community, North Carolina Central University is growing. That’s evident in the many upgrades and expansions underway at the Nest, including five major capital projects. It is also unmistakable if you examine our student body, with numbers of traditional and online students steadily increasing.

The first half of 2019 was especially active. Major events included a third consecutive MEAC Tournament championship and advancement to the NCAA Division 1 tournament; the opening a new state-of-the-art television studio to enrich our flourishing Department of Mass Communication programs; and renaming of the main administration building to honor our esteemed founder, Dr. James E. Shepard.

Throughout these changes and accomplishments, we remain steadfast in our desire to more effectively communicate with our alumni, donors and friends. To that end, we have redesigned our signature, award-winning magazine NCCU Now to offer a new, fresh look at our university with updates on campus development, research and teaching highlights, and achievements of our students, faculty, staff and alumni.

In this issue, we have a conversation with alumnus Andre’ Leon Talley, ’70, who returned to his hometown of Durham for a tribute honoring his contributions to the fashion industry worldwide. We also showcase our focus on global immersion, including my own trip with School of Education faculty to attend an international conference at Beijing Language and Culture University. Additionally, we recognize and celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Julius L. Chambers Biomedical/Biotechnology Research Institute, NCCU’s first major research center.

Going forward, we hope to expand our alumni coverage in the Class Notes section.

We will be counting on you to send us information about your accolades and achievements so we can share them with others.

No doubt, our NCCU Eagles are soaring. Let’s soar on!

In Truth and Service,

Johnson O. Akinleye

/ 1 / NCCU students Davanta Parker ’19, Ajamu Dillahunt-Holloway ’19, and Brandon Hedgebeth ’20 stand tall in front of the newly christened James E. Shepard Administration Building. / 2 / Hip-hop artist Clifford “T.I.” Harris visited campus to speak at the Rock the Lyceum Lecture series in March 2019. / 3 / Eagles basketball forward, Jibri Blount, celebrates a third straight victory in the MEAC tournament for the team.

Photo by Dyann Busse. / 4 / NCCU officially broke ground on construction of two new residence halls and a 100,230 square-foot student center, in June 2019. / 5 / Giving a warm welcome to the Department of Mass Communication program’s new TV studio are studio manager Felecia Casey-Hicks, Chancellor Johnson O. Akinleye, Department of Mass Communication Program Chair Calvin L. Hall and NCCU Board of Trustees Chair George R. Hamilton.

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A look back on spring 2019 GALLERY NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019 I 7

Chancellor Akinleye Introduces New University Strategic Plan:

CHARTING A NEW LANDSCAPE FOR STUDENT-CENTERED SUCCESS A NEW NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL UNIVERSITY STRATEGIC PLAN was introduced in March 2019 after it was approved by the NCCU Board of Trustees at the February 2019 meeting. The plan is titled “Charting a New Landscape for Student-Centered Success,” and there are four central goals included in this innovative and transformational plan: Student Access and Success; Innovation, Research and Entrepreneurship; Collaboration and Partnerships; and Institutional Sustainability.

WE ARE CONFIDENT

that the foundations of this plan will strengthen the university and better prepare our students for the global marketplace,” noted Johnson O. Akinleye, Ph.D., chancellor of NCCU, in the official announcement.

The plan’s theme emphasizes the university’s commitment to students at every level of its operation. Each goal is accompanied by objectives and measureable strategies that, when implemented, will position North Carolina Central University as a top-tier institution that has a robust and flexible curriculum, innovative research, market responsive co-curricular programming and impactful community engagement.

As a result, NCCU will produce graduates that exemplify The Eagle Promise.

STRATEGIC GOALS

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NCCU provides support and access to an ever-diversifying student population so that their success can be realized in a quickly evolving market.

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These goals are aligned with the University of North Carolina System’s “Higher Expectations” 2017-2022 strategic plan goals: Access, Student Success, Affordability and Efficiency and Economic Impact and Community Engagement.

Additionally, the goals, objectives and strategies established by the plan will encourage greater collaboration, interdisciplinary programming and accountability, both internally with faculty and staff, as well as with external constituents – from employers and NCCU’s partners in the Research Triangle Park – to organizations and non-profit entities that help fuel the university’s community engagement activities.

BY AYANA HERNANDEZ

INNOVATION, RESEARCH AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP The university seeks to position itself as a higher education institution that increasingly prepares students to become transformational leaders and practitioners equipped to respond to the needs of the communities they serve.

THE FOLLOWING FOUR GOAL AREAS WERE IDENTIFIED: ¨ Student Access and Success ¨ Innovation, Research and Entrepreneurship ¨ Collaboration and Partnerships ¨ Institutional Sustainability

STUDENT ACCESS AND SUCCESS

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COLLABORATION AND PARTNERSHIPS Collaboration with organizations and agencies that provide robust experiences for NCCU’s students.

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INSTITUTIONAL SUSTAINABILITY As the university seeks to advance its priorities through efficient use of resources, it realizes the need to ensure sustained incremental progress.

NEXT STEPS:

A series of forums, conversations and

other activities will be scheduled to officially unveil the new Strategic Plan and its components. To view the complete plan, visit www.nccu.edu/2019StrategicPlan.

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academia

THE INTERNATIONAL IMPRINT

R O V I D I N G A H I G H - Q U A L I T Y,

globally connected education is a key element of The Eagle Promise, NCCU Chancellor Johnson Akinleye’s platform of priorities. To fulfill this promise, NCCU deploys students around the world in an array of academic exchange programs, experiential learning projects and volunteer opportunities.

One example of this work is NCCU’s Communication Disorders Program, housed in the School of Education, which has forged strong international relationships in both China and the Dominican Republic. The Communication Disorders Program has an educational partnership with China’s Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU) that provides both NCCU and BLCU students with international, hands-on experiences while also helping local agencies improve care for clients with a wide variety of language-related disorders.

The alliance was established in 2014 to combine study-abroad with clinical practical experience for students. The collaboration also focuses on student and faculty exchanges, joint research and educational training programs and research contracts. A dual-degree program, as well as enterprise and entrepreneurial activity are also integral aspects of the alliance.

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Approximately 30 students have participated so far, including second-year Communication Disorders graduate student Linjun Huang, a native of Mengzi City, China. Huang, who will graduate in December 2019, is among five Chinese students who have earned their graduate degrees through the program so far.

She said that studying at NCCU and gaining handson experience in Beijing, a city nearly 2,000 miles from her more rural hometown, was educationally and culturally rewarding.

“The trip to Beijing gave me a new cultural perspective, which has allowed me to think about how to adapt the clinical theories and techniques I learned at NCCU to the needs of the locals,” Huang said.

In October 2018, Chancellor Akinleye and his wife, Juanita, accompanied

by Associate Dean Edward Moody, Ph.D., and Chair of the Department of Allied Professions Grace Hao, Ph.D., visited the university in Beijing for the Expo on International Language and Culture Exchange, which promotes international exchange for communication, education and language professionals.

The chancellor was invited to give the keynote address during the Language Disorder

Rehabilitation Forum of the expo that was titled, “The Contribution of Language and Culture Exchange to the Advancement of Society and Education.” The program is an important aspect of China’s national efforts for child language development and the diagnosis and treatment of language disorders.

Other NCCU graduate students spent six- to 12week stints in Shenzhen, China, to provide individual and group speech and language therapy sessions along with therapists and teachers from a local speech-language clinic. Other communications disorders students, led by School of Education professors Katrina Miller, Ph.D., and Grace Hao, Ph.D., implemented a 10-week day camp program to help Chinese youngsters improve their communications skills.

Outreach by the team to the Dominican Republic has included international immersion visits by students in 2013, 2015 and 2017.

The trip to Beijing gave me a new cultural perspective, which has allowed me to think about how to adapt the clinical theories and techniques I learned at NCCU to the needs of the locals.” — LINJUN HUANG The program has established partnerships with local educators and caregivers to promote language and literacy development for children in orphanages and after-school programs in the mostly Spanish-speaking country.

Pictured left to right: Brandi Montgomery, Deja Whitaker, Huihui Ling, Jalisha Legette, Yanan Li, Cuicui Kong Zhaoyang Li, Qingqing Xie and Linjun Huang

“My experience was amazing,” said Jalisha Legette, a second-year communication disorders graduate student who participated in the trip. “I was able to fully immerse myself into the culture. I learned so much about different cultures after this experience. Traveling abroad has sparked a new love for exploring international travel opportunities.”

Financial support from a NCCU faculty mini-grant allowed Elisha Blankson, director of NCCU’s

Hablemos! Clinic, to take several students to the Dominican Republic to practice Spanish and provide services for local children.

Blankson is a therapist fluent in Spanish, French and English and who specializes in early intervention.

These projects are just a sampling of the many international initiatives underway at the university.

With key strategic partnerships and an ongoing tradition of providing quality education to students, NCCU continues to expand its impact on the world by developing the next generational of global scholars.

BY KIA BELL

Chancellor Johnson O. Akinleye, bottom row, second from right, and other members of the NCCU delegation to China met with officials of the Beijing Language and Culture University.

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academia

VISION CASTING FOR THE 21ST CENTURY: JLC-BBRI CELEBRATES 20 YEARS OF RESEARCH NCCU CHANCELLOR EMERITUS JULIUS L. CHAMBERS, the first alumnus to lead the institution, had spent most of his life as a civil rights leader, winning landmark U.S. Supreme Court rulings to integrate public schools across the nation and to enforce Title VII rules barring employment discrimination. However, in 1993, he returned to his alma mater with a vision that would change the trajectory of the institution.

“Chancellor Chambers saw things quite differently than most and, because he was a lawyer, he thought outside of the normal educational model,” said Andre’ Vann, coordinator of university archives at NCCU. He saw NCCU’s proximity to Research Triangle Park, the largest research and development park in the country and one of the largest in the world, as an opportunity to expand the university’s offerings beyond liberal arts.

“While NCCU had many underreported relationships, it lacked formal partnerships,” Vann said.

“Chambers challenged the university to expand its portfolio and position itself for the 21st century by leveraging its current relationships in the Research Triangle Park.”

A friend-raiser by nature, Chambers quickly began seeking sources of support for the development of a research institute that would address health disparities in the community and train minority researchers.

In 1997, he received permission from then-UNC System President Emeritus C.D. Spangler Jr. to submit a proposal for an institute that would bear his name - Julius L. Chambers Biomedical and Biotechnology Research Institute (JLC-BBRI). By January 1998, he had received approval to establish the facility and JLC-BBRI opened in September 1999 under director Ken Harewood, Ph.D., a university consultant who became the institute’s first academic leader.

Harewood remembers the period as “one of the most memorable and important experiences in my life.”

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“While I had a sense of the major HBCUs, none of them had articulated a vision like Chancellor Chambers,” Harewood said.

“I was impressed that a lawyer would turn his attention to biotechnology rather than law, and I couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to help him make history.”

Harewood spent his first year setting up the infrastructure for JLC-BBRI, including hiring key personnel and establishing the institute’s first major initiative, a cardiovascular program sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

“Our first initiative was a preeminent program for HBCUs in the cardiovascular arena [and] laid the groundwork for the training of minority researchers,” Harewood said. “Master-level students co-authored papers alongside faculty, which was uncommon at HBCUs unless they had a Ph.D. program, which we did not at the time.”

Construction of the 40,000square-foot Biomanufacturing Research Institute and Technology Enterprise headquarters was followed by creation of a Ph.D. program in Integrated Biosciences and a nutrition research partnership with the North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis.

Here is an institute that was established in 1999 at an HBCU to focus on health disparities and preparing minority researchers at a time when there weren’t a lot of institutes that were doing this type of work. I am grateful to have been selected to expand upon Dr. Chambers’ vision.”

— Deepak Kumar, Ph.D. Director, JLC-BBRI

More than $90 million in research funding has been raised by the institute to date.

In 2010, NCCU recruited Sean Kimbro, Ph.D., from Emory University’s Winship Cancer Institute to replace the departing Harewood.

Kimbro oversaw a $5.7 million Center of Excellence grant from the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities Exploratory Center for cardio-metabolic disease research, the institute’s longest-funded National Institutes of Health grant to date.

After Kimbro stepped down to return to research, Deepak Kumar, Ph.D., was named as the institute’s third director in 2016.

“I am extremely excited about celebrating the 20th anniversary of JLC-BBRI,” Kumar said. “Here is an institute that was established in 1999 at an HBCU to focus on health disparities and preparing minority researchers at a time when there weren’t a lot of institutes that were doing this type of work. I am grateful to have been selected to expand upon Chancellor Chambers’ vision.”

In 2017, the institute and Kumar secured a $16.3 million grant from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities for a new Research Center in Minority Institutions to elevate the university’s health disparities research program. The

research funding is the largest annual grant amount received by the university, excluding Title III funding, and the largest for a single principal investigator on the campus.

That research initiative served as a framework for strengthening the structure of health disparities research at NCCU by further uniting the various colleges, school and faculty members from different disciplines.

“Health disparities research has really evolved over the past decade,” Kumar said.

“We are seeing that the two distinct ways of thinking about this type of research – the focus on genetic and biological differences that predispose certain populations to certain diseases and how social determinants play a role in the biology of diseases –have merged. Both sides are beginning to

realize how each of them are important in this health disparities work.”

Currently, JLC-BBRI conducts research in four broad areas: cardiometabolic diseases (liver disease and psychosocial stress); cancer (triple negative breast cancer, prostate cancer); neuroscience (drug abuse and alcohol abuse); and nutrition (argininerich foods and sickle cell, plant-derived nutrition and cancer cells).

BY QUIANA SHEPARD

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academia

Budding Social Scientists Learn Research Techniques Through RISE A lot of the data used to effect change through public policy comes from social science.

It really has an impact on humans, especially policies around education, welfare and health.”

—WYNETTA LEE, ED.D. NCCU Professor, School Administration Program

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ducational obstacles; economic barriers; racial and sexual discrimination.

Problems such as these frequently make headlines in America, but news reports alone can’t stop discrimination based on skin color, ethnicity, sexual orientation or nationality.

However, someone who can make a difference is a skilled social-science researcher, according to NCCU Professor Wynetta Lee, Ed.D. “A lot of the data used to effect change through public policy comes from social science,” Lee

explained. “It really has an impact on humans, especially policies around education, welfare and health.”

Lee is director of the Research Institute for Scholars of Equity, or RISE, a program dedicated to enhancing the research skills of undergraduates to address some of society’s most pressing problems. She is also principal investigator for the $1.11 million Institute of Educational Sciences grant that was awarded to fund the program for five years.

Spring 2019 marks the fourth year of the RISE program at NCCU, with about 45 students having completed the training.

Up to 15 rising junior and senior college students from NCCU and five other participating institutions are admitted for a yearlong commitment to the program. To qualify for the program, undergraduates must have at least a 3.0 GPA and express serious interest in earning a Ed.D. or Ph.D. in a social science field. Previous experience with research also helps.

“To be able to conduct research is almost as important as your ability to read, these days,” Lee said. “We want to give

them those skills, plus train them to be able to handle the pressure of a doctoral program.”

The students receive a $5,000 stipend for the year, along with $2,600 to support them during their eight-week summer institute that kicks off the program. During the summer, students develop and write a thesis for a research project intended for publication in an academic journal or to be presented at a conference.

Successful academic researchers serve as mentors, offering advice and teaching scientific research methods and presentation skills. The mentors also stay in touch with students after they return to their undergraduate programs, assisting them in completing their research projects over the course of the following academic year.

RISE students also get help preparing for the GRE for graduate school admittance and receive training in critical race theory, which examines how policies and programs affect people from different financial, racial and educational backgrounds. The approach is often used in fields such as psychology, political

Students visited graduate schools at the University of Virginia and other campuses to gain insights about research requirements and opportunities.

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Not only do RISE students gain research skills, they have the chance to develop culturally through outings such as this one to Sarah P. Duke Gardens.

science, education, social work and criminal justice.

Randy Ludlum, who was in the first cohort of RISE participants, and said the process has helped him acquire research skills and other strategies for applying to graduate school.

“One of the first things we did was to become qualified as researchers through CITI [Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative],” Ludlum said. “We also heard from a number of mentors who talked about their own research and how they became involved in their work.”

A 2018 NCCU graduate and a first-generation college student, Ludlum said he took a year off to work but is now applying to attend the University of Virginia or Tufts University to purse a graduate degree in international relations.

He remains with Lee, who is advising him in his graduate school application process.

“Since no one in my family had done it, I didn’t realize how difficult it could be,” Ludlum said.

As a rising senior, Ajai Smith attended the summer institute in 2017.

After taking a year off from school, she is now weighing whether to attend NCCU School of Law in Fall 2019 or enroll as a master’s student in sociology at Arizona

State University, where she has already been admitted.

“Being part of RISE and having a faculty mentor for advice made it easier to handle the graduate school applications and to learn about available resources to continue my education,” Smith said.

Smith said she conducted her research on the

impact of domestic violence on school-aged children.

“Children are often silenced and overlooked in domestic violence situations,” she said. “I wanted to give their perspective a voice.”

Her ultimate goal: “to be a catalyst in changing the laws for domestic violence so that children are made just as safe as the direct victim.”

BY RENEE ELDER

Scholarship Extends Training for Communication Disorders Specialists $100,000 gift from the Rehab Therapy Foundation Inc. will help graduate students enrolled in NCCU's Communication Disorders program.

The H. Donell Lewis Graduate Fellowship is named in honor of H. Donell Lewis, Ph.D., a renowned speech pathologist and retired director of NCCU’s Communication Disorders Program. Lewis has been a longtime advocate for the university and played a significant role in several large gifts to fund academic initiatives and student scholarship needs at the university.

Under Lewis’s leadership, the Communication Disorders program achieved its first national accreditation by the Council of Academic Accreditation. Lewis also played a significant role in establishing NCCU’s radio station, WNCU, by securing more than $2 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

“Dr. H. Donell Lewis is a champion for North Carolina Central University,” said Chancellor Johnson O. Akinleye.

NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019 I 15

bookshelf

Publisher Louis Austin Fought for Equality with Pen and Ink ISTORY PROFESSOR

Jerry Gershenhorn first saw Louis Austin’s name in the 1990s while conducting research for his master’s degree at NCCU. Some decades later, Gershenhorn circled back to tell the fascinating story of this NCCU and graduate Durham newspaperman who spoke up for the black community, sometimes putting his business and even his life at risk.

“I wanted to tell the story of Louis Austin and the Carolina Times and the important role that Southern black newspapers played before and during desegregation,” said Gershenhorn, who earned his Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill before joining the NCCU faculty.

“Louis Austin and the Carolina Times: A Life in the Long Black Freedom Struggle” follows the life and career of Austin,

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE CARIBBEAN CRIMINAL JUSTICE PROFESSOR LOOKS AT TRENDS IN ISLAND CRIMES THE PICTURESQUE CARIBBEAN is the setting for a book co-authored by Associate Professor of Criminal Justice Lorna E. Grant, but it’s not your typical vacation reading material.

Grant, a native of Jamaica, was attending an international criminal justice conference a few years ago when she and two other academic researchers were asked to consider writing a book that would examine trends in crime and violence in the Caribbean Sea islands.

“There has not been much literature on the Caribbean in general and Jamaica, in particular,” Grant said. “While we were at the conference, we were asked to put a book together that would reflect some of the things happening in the region.”

The result was not one but two books worth of information about criminal activity in the Caribbean, with one published in December 2018 and a follow-up expected in December 2019. Nearly a dozen researchers contributed to the first issue.

Although Grant specializes in juvenile justice, writing and editing the book required her to branch out into adult crimes, including gender-based violence, homicide, drug use and money laundering. “One of my chapters was about how people put money into these offshore accounts, and then move it around to various banks to launder it,” she said, adding that banking regulations are relatively lax in parts of the Caribbean.

Grant attended the University of West Indies in Jamaica before earning her doctorate at Prairie View A&M State University in 2007. She came to work at NCCU the following year.

Co-authors are Sherill V. Morris-Francis, assistant professor of criminal justice at Mississippi Valley State University, and Camille A. Gibson, a criminal justice professor at Prairie View. The book is available on Amazon.com and at academic bookstores.

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who was born in 1898. In 1927, Austin purchased the Carolina Times, originally known as the Standard Advertiser, and served as its editor until his death in 1971.

Gershenhorn’s book, which earned the N.C. Literary and Historical Association’s 2018 Ragan Old North State Award for Nonfiction, follows Austin’s record as editor of the Carolina Times, a community paper he elevated to statewide prominence. Austin and his reporters focused on issues facing black communities during segregation and the civil rights era.

Despite First Amendment guarantees, black advocates faced risks when publishing articles critical of white businesses and white-run publications. Austin felt the sting of economic retaliation when advertisers pulled away from his publications, but he kept his eye on the bigger picture.

“He got involved directly with lawsuits to integrate public higher education as early as 1933,” Gershenhorn said. “He led picketing campaigns to get African Americans hired at grocery stores. A cross was burned on his lawn by the KKK. He was incredibly courageous.”

Published by the University of North Carolina Press, the book is available at local independent bookstores, as well as online. Gershenhorn’s previous book, “Earlie Thorpe and the Struggle for Black History, 1949-1989,” was published in 2010.

f a c u lt y a n d s t a f f n e w s

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SINCE 1968, NANCY D. PINCKNEY HAS SPREAD HER PASSION FOR DANCE

across the NCCU campus. A native of South Carolina, Ms. Pickney earned her bachelor’s degree at Allen University in Columbia and her master’s at Indiana University. Following graduate school, she joined the Eagle faculty as an assistant professor of physical education and has since gone on to inspire generations of students as director of the NCCU Dance Group. Ms. Pinckney, often called “Ma P” by students, always insisted on excellence and professionalism from every Dance Group member, and thus the ensemble became known for its high quality performances on campus and throughout the state for more than 45 years.

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f a c u lt y a n d s t a f f n e w s

LABS TO OBSTACLE COURSE LAPS NCCU BIOLOGY RESEARCHER IS WORLD-CLASS IN OBSTACLE RACING

Most people do their best to avoid unnecessary obstacles, but NCCU assistant professor Jodie M. Fleming actually seeks them out.

Fleming, a breast cancer researcher at BRITE, loves to challenge herself and others on obstacle courses, and even has her sights set on the next world championship.

In fall 2018, she conquered two big events: the Obstacle Course Racing World Championship in London, U.K., and the World’s Toughest

Mudder competition

Entering two races, the 3K and the 15K, Jodie M. Fleming came out 12th and 13th, respectively, in the 35-to 39-year age group.

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in Fairburn, Ga. The World Championship in London took place in October, just after Fleming learned she was a few weeks pregnant.

This added new obstacles to the challenge, including hormonal issues and a ban on caffeine, she recalled.

Entering two races, the 3K and the 15K, Fleming came out 12th and 13th, respectively, in the 35-to 39-year age group.

A month later, she was in Georgia running a fivemile gauntlet of obstacles that changed repeatedly over a 24-hour period.

“I was able to finish 25 miles, even though I was hoping for 50 miles,” she said. “During the day it was manageable, but between 1 and 4 a.m. in the dark, it was freezing!”

Through the rest of the winter and spring, Fleming took a break from workouts. She and her husband, Carl Falish, welcomed their new son, Liam Alexander, on May 15, 2019.

She said she plans to return to training and competition soon.

“I will ramp it back up in July and hope to qualify for the North American Championships in August,” Fleming said. “If that’s not enough time to recover, I will shoot for qualification to the World Championship later in the year.”

Fleming joined the NCCU faculty in 2012.

When she’s not training for competition or spending time with her family, she teaches molecular cell physiology and investigates aggressive, metastatic breast cancer, a disease that disproportionately affects African American women.

BY RENEE ELDER

f a c u lt y a n d s t a f f n e w s

appointments

PATRICK R. LIVERPOOL, PH.D.

Interim provost and vice chancellor of academic affairs Former Role: Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

Where were you born and raised? I was born in Guyana and spent the first 17 years of my life there.

Where did you attend college/graduate school?

I attended the Inter American University of Puerto Rico, where I earned an undergraduate degree in economics and business and a Master of Business Administration degree. I pursued doctoral studies in management at Vanderbilt University before completing my Doctor of Business Administration degree at Kent State University in Ohio.

What has been your primary professional and/or research interest? My primary interest has been in organizational politics and democratic culture in the workplace. I did my dissertation on employee participation in decision-making.

Why did you want to come to work at North Carolina Central University? Since my initial retirement several years ago as dean of the School of Business at Delaware State, I have taken on several short-term administrative roles including Provost at University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Central State University and interim Dean at FAMU and North Carolina A&T State University. So when I got a call from Chancellor Akinleye asking if I would consider serving an interim term as provost at NCCU, I said yes.

What is one thing that most people do not yet know about you? As a young man, my greatest ambition was to play professional cricket for the West Indies team.

After high school I had to make a choice between college or professional cricket, and I chose college. But I still dream of being a professional cricketer.

LIVERPOOL

M O U LT R I E

WILLIAM MOULTRIE, J.D.

Interim Dean of University College Former Role: Associate Dean of University College Where were you born and raised?

I was born and raised in Albany, Ga. Where did you attend college/graduate school?

I received both a bachelor’s in business marketing and a Master of Business Administration from Albany State University. I obtained my juris doctorate from NCCU. What has been your primary professional and/or research interest? My research interests include urban schooling, retention, persistence, graduation, student success, college access and choice and multiculturalism and diversity in higher education.

Why did you want to come to work at North Carolina Central University? While attending NCCU School of Law, I served as a graduate assistant with University College. This experience allowed me to narrowly tailor my focus and interest in student success. I wanted to use my knowledge in higher education, and NCCU was the perfect place to do so.

What is one thing most people here do not yet know about you? One of my favorite things to do is travel.

I enjoy venturing into new experiences and engaging in new opportunities and adventures.

NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019 I 19

f a c u lt y a n d s t a f f n e w s

LAMISA McCOY FOXX

appointments

DELORES HARRIS

Assistant Vice Chancellor for NCCU Alumni Relations Former Role: Alumni Events Manager, NCCU Office of Alumni Relations

Director of Employee Relations and Affirmative Action Officer Former Role: Deputy Director of Human Resources, N.C. School of the Arts

Where were you born and raised?

I was born and raised in Durham, N.C., not far from the campus.

Where were you born and raised?

I was born and raised in Durham, N.C.

Where did you attend college?

I graduated from North Carolina Central University in 1995.

What has been your primary professional and/or research interest?

My primary professional interest has been in establishing life-long relationships with our graduates and getting them to show a greater interest in our alma mater.

Why did you want to come to work at North Carolina Central University?

I am a graduate of NCCU and I wanted to give back to the place that had given so much to me.

What is one thing most people here do not yet know about you? One thing most people here do not yet know about me is that I love interior design. I enjoy helping family and friends redesign their current homes or create designs for new ones.

20 I NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019

Where did you attend college/graduate school? I received my bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies from Winston-Salem State University. I am also a certified Equal Employment Opportunity instructor.

What has been your primary professional and/or research interest?

I have always been interested in working in human resources. I have always considered myself a fair and balanced individual; this is essential to working in human resources.

Why did you want to come to work at North Carolina Central University?

I grew up in Durham and many of my family members attended NCCU; I was yearning to learn “the Eagle Way.” I also wanted to be close to my grandchildren.

What is one thing most people here do not yet know about you? I marched in the band in high school as a flag girl.

To this day, I still have a passion for marching bands. I always attend the Honda Battle of the Bands and watch bands perform on television.

MICHAEL PAGE, D.MIN.

Director of External Affairs Former Role: Durham County Board of Commissioners Where were you born and raised?

I was born in Charlottesville, Va., and raised in Roseland, Va. Where did you attend college/ graduate school? I received my Bachelor of Arts degree in public administration from NCCU and my Master of Divinity from Shaw University. After that, I earned my doctorate in ministry from United Theological Seminary.

What has been your primary professional and/or research interest?

My professional interest is in leadership and skill development.

Why did you want to come to work at North Carolina Central University?

I wanted to work at NCCU because of my interest in higher education and seeing young people achieve their dreams and because my journey, which created many opportunities in life evolved here.

What is one thing most people here do not yet know about you?

Most people do not know that I am a foodie and fairly good chef.

DISCOVERIES RESEARCHERS EXAMINE GEOGRAPHY IN SEEKING ROOT CAUSES OF

HUNGER

Æ

HEALTHY FOOD is one of humankind’s basic needs, yet more than a million residents of North Carolina struggle to put fresh fruits, vegetables and high-quality protein on the table.

About 15% of state residents experience food insecurity, which occurs when families are forced to skip meals or survive on inadequate diets due to lack of money or trouble gaining access to healthy foods, said Tim Mulrooney, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Environment, Earth and Geospatial Sciences.

Mulrooney is among a team of researchers studying underlying causes of food insecurity in areas known as food deserts. People who live in food deserts lack nearby grocery stores, farm stands or other retailers offering basic ingredients for healthy meals.

The research, funded by a $750,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, is being conducted in partnership with North Carolina A&T State University. The teams will compare social metrics such as age, income and family size with geographic conditions involving soil types, land use, water and other resources.

Understanding all these factors could help reduce food insecurity across the state. Potential measures include offering agricultural initiatives for growing food locally if soil and water quality permits, assigning food trucks with healthy options to visit the area regularly or providing economic incentives for grocers to open stores in the vicinity.

“This project will be looking at the relationships between socio-economic characteristics, land use and water quality to determine how people can respond to food deserts and food insecurity,” said Mulrooney, who uses geographic information system (GIS) models to uncover patterns and unintended consequences of land-use impacts and other factors related to food insecurity.

$750,000

15%

GRANT WAS SECURED FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION TO CONDUCT RESEARCH

OF NORTH CAROLINA RESIDENTS EXPERIENCE FOOD INSECURITY NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019 I 21

discoveries

Minority Health Research Needs Greater Cell Line Scrutiny HEN SCIENTISTS RESEARCH

diseases prevalent among a particular group of people, known as health disparities, they examine human cell lines that contain lots of relevant genetic information.

Or at least that’s what is intended.

A recent study initiated at City of Hope cancer treatment center shows a cell line commonly used for research into African American prostate cancer is only 9% African American.

“It seems surprising, but that’s consistent with the fact that European ancestry dominates in all types of research,” said K. Sean Kimbro, Ph.D., associate professor of biology and principal

K. SEAN KIMBRO, PH.D. Professor of Biology

RICK KITTLES, PH.D. Professor, City of Hope

PROFESSOR HELPS TO IMPROVE TRAINING FOR AFRICAN CHEMISTS Chemistry and Biochemistry Professor Abdul K. Mohammed, Ph.D., has been awarded a Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship for a six-week program at the Federal University of Technology in Minna, Nigeria.

Mohammad traveled to Minna in mid-May 2019 to work with Nigerian professors in implementing a new computational science program at the Nigerian university. He also brought back research results from Federal University of Technology projects for analysis at NCCU. “One of the key questions I hope to answer by the end of my visit is how to teach chemistry in a developing country with limited resources,” Mohammad said.

The Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship is through the Institute of International Education with support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the United States International University-Africa.

Mohammad, who was born in Nigeria but grew up in the United States, said the program gives African-born, American-educated scholars the opportunity to assist with eductional needs in Africa. This will be Mohammad’s second Carnegie Fellowship since 2017, when he helped faculty at the Nigerian university develop a new chemistry curriculum.

“During my first visit, we designed a new course on Introducation to Computational Chemistry but we did not have time to teach the course,” he said prior to the trip. “We hope to be teach the course for the first time during my visit this summer.”

The educational approach Mohammad and his Nigerian counterparts are developing will ultimately help more African students be successful in chemistry and, eventually, will be used to strengthen STEM skills for students at NCCU. 22 I NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019

investigator for the Center for Translational Health Equality Research at North Carolina Central University.

Kimbro worked with Rick Kittles, Ph.D., a researcher in the Division of Health Equities at City of Hope, in securing cell lines used for the health disparities study, which was published Feb. 20, 2019, in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

Kittles said the prostate cancer line, which has been used in research for several decades, likely originated during a time when subjects were identified as black based on any sign of African American background.

City of Hope researchers also recently examined cell lines from normal and malignant breast tissue used in African American health disparities research. This time they found that only 13% of the material could qualify as African American.

“This is problematic as underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, who are more likely to suffer disproportionate disease incidence and mortality, remain also underrepresented in biospecimens available for research,” Kittles wrote in the study.

Kimbro contacted the National Institutes of Health (NIH) regarding his concerns about the misidentified cell lines used in minority health disparities research at NCCU and other research institutes. Patricia Valdez, a research integrity officer at the NIH, acknowledged to Kimbro that more needs to be done to ensure that actual minority cell lines are available to conduct health disparities research.

“There is a huge need for model systems from diverse backgrounds for studies on the biology of cancer and other diseases where disparities exist,” Valdez wrote in her response.

PROSTATE CANCER CELLS

Nanoscale Dot and Free Radical Reactions Under Microscope

ARKINSON’S AND ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE sufferers could ultimately benefit from North Carolina Central University research into interactions between nanomaterial particles and free radical molecules in biological systems.

The National Science Foundation provided a $1 million Excellence in Research grant to principal investigator John Bang, M.D., Ph.D., of the Department of Environmental, Earth and Geospatial Sciences. Bang, who directs the Environmental Health program, will be working with co-investigator Darlene Taylor, Ph.D., an NCCU chemistry professor, and researchers from two other institutions.

Free radical molecules in the human body are unpaired electrons known for their potentially erratic behavior and disruptive effects on cellular structures, reproduction and

JOHN BANG, M.D., PH.D. Department of Environmental, Earth and Geospatial Sciences

DARLENE TAYLOR, PH.D. Associate Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry

other vital functions of various organs and tissues. Yet, they also have a positive impact by helping the immune system battle microbial infections and abnormal cell behavior.

The NSF-funded research will help provide a better understanding of free radical reactions involving engineered nanomaterials, specifically carbon nanodots.

“We hope to improve fundamental understanding of the mechanistic connection between the physicochemical characteristics of the nanoscale materials and their potential as antioxidants for different types of oxidizing materials,” Bang said.

“Studies about free radical mechanics eventually will be able to give insight into how we should approach treating inflammation-induced illness and diseases such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s.”

Nanomaterials with antioxidant potential have certain advantages in minimizing the negative impacts of free radicals because their size provides an increased surface area for quicker reaction times and greater effects than larger molecules of a similar mass.

Other scientists working on the project include Bijoy Dey, Ph.D., a computer engineering professor at Claflin University in Orangeburg, S.C., and Jianjun Wei, Ph.D., from the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering in Greensboro, N.C.

Studies about free radical mechanics eventually will be able to give insight in how we should approach treating inflammation-induced illness and diseases such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s.” — JOHN BANG, PH.D. NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019 I 23

student life

Dreams are Your Only Boundaries L E G E NDARY L E GI S L ATOR H .M. MICH A U X JR. TE L L S G R AD UATE S TO S ET H IGH E X PECTAT ION S

WITH 640 DEGREES AWARDED, IT WAS THE LARGEST FALL COMMENCEMENT IN THE UNIVERSITY’S 108-YEAR HISTORY ______

H.M. “MICKEY” MICHAUX JR.

24 I NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019

VIDEO

GALLERY

WHETHER YOU CALL it an aerie, a convocation, or a flock, the large gathering of Eagles at NCCU’s December 2018 graduation set a record for the academy.

With 639 degrees awarded, it was the largest fall commencement in the university’s 108-year history. During the 132nd Commencement Ceremony on Dec. 8 in the McDougald-McLendon Arena, the university recognized 465 scholars earning undergraduate degrees, 161 completing their graduate degrees, and 14 being awarded professional degrees or a doctorate.

Chancellor Johnson O. Akinleye acknowledged several special graduates, including Qingqing Xie, the second graduate of the Bilingual Speech Language Pathologist training program, a partnership between NCCU’s School of Education and Beijing Language and Culture University, and Doneva Chavis, who re-enrolled in NCCU in 2016 after a 41-year absence to complete her undergraduate degree in Behavioral and Social Sciences.

Commencement speaker H.M. “Mickey” Michaux Jr., a double-Eagle alumnus, urged graduates to continue fighting for equal treatment of minorities and people of color, despite describing progress

P R O F I L E of N C C U

FALL CLASS OF 2018

640

DEGREES AWARDED

465 UNDERGRADUATE 161 GRADUATE

1 13

DOCTORAL DEGREE AWARDED JURIS DOCTOR DEGREES

69,837

UNDERGRADUATE SERVICE HOURS CONTRIBUTED TO THE COMMUNITY Valued at: $1.72 Million TOP STATES

as “only incremental” since passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

589

“I want to cash that check for freedom, but first we must go back and learn

our history,” said Michaux, who was then just weeks away from retiring after 36 consecutive years in the N.C. General Assembly. He described great

NORTH CAROLINA

leaders as having great passion for their work, invoking the words of Christian reformer Martin Luther: “Here I stand; I can do no other.”

Michaux’s own civil rights credentials go straight to the top. During

several times again over the years. Michaux holds two degrees from NCCU: a 1952 Bachelor of Science in biology and a 1964 law degree.

SOUTH CAROLINA

6

8

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s first visit to Durham in 1956, Michaux, then just 26, invited King to stay at his home, which the famous minister did that night and

7

MARYLAND

NEW YORK

*Data is from the Office of the Registrar

NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019 I 25

student life

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

AT TOP OF CAREER ASPIRATIONS FOR STUDENT Above, Drake Dais worked with a number of colleagues at Lenovo who helped her expand her skill set. Below, NCCU students who undertake internships say it broadens their perspective on life and helps them better envision their career trajectory.

26 I NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019

OR NCCU student Drake Dais, higher education goes well beyond the classroom. The junior business administration major recently completed an internship with Lenovo, a Fortune 500 U.S. company headquartered in Morrisville, N.C., with support from the North Carolina Governor’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Internship Program.

An honors student since 2017, Dais said working with Lenovo’s University Recruiting and Diversity teams gave her a more nuanced view of issues related to diversity in hiring.

“I didn’t realize that diversity is more than just race or ethnicity,” Dais said. “It’s also about age, intellect and emotions. It broadened my perspective of what employers look for and how to diversify the company.”

Despite being familiar with Lenovo’s consumer products, going to work in the technology industry was “outside of my comfort zone,” Dais said. But she took the plunge.

“Having the opportunity to research and learn about Lenovo and more about technology excited me, because technology is the wave of the future,” she said. “You will have to understand how to use it

and how to relate it to people.”

NCCU’s School of Business strives to position students for success by connecting them to high-quality internship opportunities. Many are in the Research Triangle area and some are with Fortune 500 companies. Business majors are required to take a career-readiness class to hone their resume and interviewing skills.

Other internship options come through NCCU’S Office of Career and Placement, which also helps students advance their professional development and career-readiness skills.

“Students have to do the work; we simply coach them through the process,” said Shannon Morgan Keith, assistant director of experiential development for Career Services and Placement. “Students who consistently come to the career center land jobs.”

As a potential intern, Dais had several strengths, Keith recalled.

“Drake did not have a lot of experience but she had a solid resume, she did her research on the company, and she did an

awesome job on her interview,” she added.

Upon graduating in 2020, Dais will begin a career trajectory that she hopes will lead to roles such as chief diversity officer at a Fortune 100 company or as a vice president of global human relations. She’d also like to start a nonprofit to help underrepresented women.

Among her top tips for job and internship seekers are to remain open-minded to a variety of opportunities and to build a wide network of contacts.

“Talk about your interests when you meet people; let them know what you’re passionate about,” Dais said. “Introduce yourself as if they can hire you on the spot, because you never know who somebody else might know. Even build that type of relationship with peers. You never know what another person can connect you to.”

BY BRIAN BYRD ‘20,

a NCCU Office of Communications and Marketing intern and mass communication major.

Although I was actually working on the diversity and inclusion team, I didn’t realize that diversity is more than just race or ethnicity. It’s also about age, intellect and emotions. It broadened my perspective of what employers look for and how to diversify the company.” — DRAKE DAIS

Drake Dias not only gained experience, she also had fun with her teammates.

NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019 I 27

student voices

REFLECTIONS ON MY FIRST RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM I and two dozen other NCCU students gathered facts, ideas and months’ worth of diligent research in preparation for the North Carolina Undergraduate Research and Creativity Symposium in November 2018. With universities from across the state participating, we knew we had our work cut out for us. It was a day filled with jittery college students rehearsing their presentations, making sure their boards looked incredible, and double-checking for perfection in every detail before our presentation time was called.

The NCCU students came from an array of academic programs, including criminal justice, mass communication, history, biology and chemistry. Like me, most of the NCCU students were first-time symposium presenters. All seemed confident in their work, although we were still nerve-racked by anxiety at the thought of presenting in front of a room filled with unfamiliar faces.

Doubts ran through our heads: “Did we do enough research? Will this translate with the audience? Will I forget to breathe?”

After everyone’s presentation was finished - and sighs of relief issued - the student researchers all took a moment to reflect on their journeys. There were lessons learned and pride felt in our accomplishment. But at the conclusion, the one phrase heard most often was: “Wow, that wasn’t so bad!”

— By Jasmine Hall, ‘19

Takeaways from the 2018 North Carolina Undergraduate Research and Creativity Symposium From hip hop culture to spectroscopy, students at the 2018 state Undergraduate Research and Creativity Symposium addressed topics on a wide range of issues.

Here are a few things we learned: In the 1930s, media experts believed that political or commercial propaganda could be beamed directly into the minds of audiences via radio or television.

--------------------------------“The Corporatization of Hip Hop: Hip Hop Influence on Sneaker Culture” — Joshua Stephenson ‘20

28 I NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019

The Rosenberg SelfEsteem Scale, a widely used assessment tool, was never designed to accurately measure the self-esteem of African Americans.

--------------------------------“The Effects of Social Media on Black Self-Esteem” —Kevin Blyther ’19

People from all walks of life would like to know more about the lives of Latin American youth.

Black women and other women of color get blamed for being victims of crime at higher rates than white women victims.

--------------------------------“Latinx Juveniles in Durham County, N.C.: A Qualitative Study”

--------------------------------“#SayHerName: A racial comparison of press coverage and missing white woman syndrome”

—Jamesa Bethea ’19

—Jasmine Hall ’19

ADVANCE YOUR CAREER WITH OUR CLINICAL RESEARCH CERTIFICATE Medical and pharmaceutical lab technicians are needed in the Triangle area and beyond. Work with NCCU’s industry partners to advance or update your skills and knowledge.

Visit nccu.edu or call 919-530-7551 for details.

THE DISCOVERY PLACE SCIENCE RESEARCHERS SEEK ANSWERS TO MANKIND’S TOUGHEST QUESTIONS

HUMANS SEEM DRIVEN TO UNDERSTAND THE WORLD.

ROM EARLY EXPLORERS

setting off in dugout canoes to today’s astronauts-in-training, the desire to explore what lies just beyond our view is universal.

At North Carolina Central University, students are engaging in this time-honored pursuit through theoretical and laboratory research that no less pushes the boundaries of current knowledge. As intellectual explorers, they are making groundbreaking progress in tiny systems such as subatomic particles and in concepts related to the Hercules-Corona Borealis Great Wall, a cluster of dust, gas and dark matter considered the largest structure in the cosmos.

“Working with mentors, our students develop advanced research techniques using stateof-the-art equipment,” said Branislav Vlahovic, Ph.D., professor of physics, who directs several scientific research programs. “They apply cross-disciplinary skills to solve problems, which is excellent preparation for most technical and scientific career fields.”

More than 40 laboratories in the Mary Townes Science Complex have been established for conducting research in the physical sciences. That’s where students and faculty members search for answers to emerging problems and ongoing mysteries, including how to effectively control robots in space or predict the rate of expansion of the universe.

Physics professor Diane Markoff, Ph.D. hopes to learn more about the formation of stars. To do so, she studies processes inside the nuclei of atoms.

“If you want to understand how stars are formed, we have to understand nuclear reactions and how neutrinos and particles interact,” Markoff said. “We set up interactions and studies in the lab and use the results, combined with a little theory, to understand what is happening in a supernova or what took place in the early universe.”

30 I NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019

Brogan Thomas, a 2013 magna cum laude physics graduate, credits her experiences in NCCU labs and mentorship by professors for helping guide her to her current profession in computer-aided design.

“I’ve always enjoyed knowing how things work and wanted to build things,” said Thomas, a Cary, N.C., native. “My learning style is hands on, and the professors at NCCU gave me opportunities to work in the physical side of physics. This meant I could open up and enjoy what I was learning.”

Now a research associate at Duke University, Thomas uses both her design skills and material science knowledge to build oneof-a-kind lab environments for specific projects.

“Because I studied physics, I understand what they are trying to do, and from a real-world perspective, what materials it will require,” she explained. “It could be anything from a table that supports a detector weighing 1,000 pounds or an intricate container with specified air pressure and materials.”

In addition to the laboratories on campus, researchers in nuclear science have access to the Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory (TUNL), a specialized facility housed at Duke for nuclear physics experiments that is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

NCCU is a partner in the TUNL program, along with Duke, N.C. State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Labs at TUNL can be set up to reflect conditions in outer space for experiments involving nuclear activities, although “it’s extremely hard to recreate the astronomical environment in the lab,” Markoff concedes.

“THE AMEGO IS THE ONE OF THE LARGEST ONGOING NASA PROGRAMS AND WILL BE THE MAIN WINDOW TO INVESTIGATE THE UNIVERSE FOR THE NEXT FEW DECADES.” Branislav Vlahovic, Ph.D.

1

2

3 / 1 / Physics professor and researcher Branislav Vlahovic, Ph.D., forges partnerships with outside agencies to develop funding for special projects. / 2 / Graduate research assistant Olabode Oladele specializes in nanophotonics, a branch of optics research. / 3 / Graduate students Abu Mohammed and Abimbola Abudu work with undergraduate STEM major Ry Gibson.

NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019 I 31

in varying gravities led by chemistry professor Liju Yang, Ph.D., seismic research by faculty geophysicists Gordana Vlahovic, Ph.D., Rakesh Malhotra, Ph.D., and mobile robotics advances led by mathematics professor Alade Tokuta, Ph.D. “We have developed several so far that have been very important,” said Branislav Vlahovic, who began working at NCCU in 1996 after spending six years at Duke. He has since established several new facilities for Eagle teaching and research, including labs for nanotechnology, material science, and semiconductor physics, and research programs in theoretical DIANNE MARKOFF, PH.D. WITH STUDENT RESEARCHER, EREM UJAH and computational nuclear physics.

Combining rigorous academics with opportunities for hands-on development in the research lab has been a boon for the physical sciences.

RANKED 5TH In his support letter for renewal of the NASA grant, Chancellor JohnIn 2018, DIVERSE: ISSUES IN HIGHER EDUCATION son O. Akinleye pointed to recent MAGAZINE RANKED NCCU FIFTH AMONG ALL UNIimprovements in STEM (science, technology, engineering and matheVERSITIES IN THE NATION IN PRODUCING AFRICAN matics) scores. He also noted rising AMERICAN PHYSICAL SCIENCE GRADUATES. overall student achievement, more peer-reviewed faculty publications, and increased partnership activities Funding for such cutting-edge inwith government and other academic institutions vestigation comes from a variety of over the five-year grant period. sources, such as the Department of Maksym Eingorn, Ph.D, a research associate at Education, the National Science FounCREST, studies gravitational interaction between distant dation, the U.S. Department of Defense galaxies to help understand more about the universe, and others, including NASA, which such as dark matter and the Big Bang origin theory.

Liju Yang, Ph.D. previously provided a $1 million His findings could eventually help explain the exAssociate Professor per-year grant to create the Center istence of dark matter and dark energy, the mysterifor Aerospace Device Research and ous substances that make up 94% of the universe.

Education (CADRE) at NCCU. “If we can learn their properties, then we can un Research funded by the grant, derstand more about how they influence the world,” awarded in 2010 and now up for reEingorn said, referring to dark matter particles. newal, focuses on development of ma Also stemming from the NASA grant was a new terials and products that are beneficial tool to analyze high-energy gamma rays, the hottest to the space program. and most energy-producing objects in the cosmos.

Both CADRE and the NSF Center That device is already in use at the DOE’s Thomas of Research Excellence in Science and Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, called the Technology (CREST) encourage interJefferson Lab, in Virginia, Branislav Vlahovic said, disciplinary efforts that cross academic and - after needed modifications for space - will departments, including Mathematics eventually be used by NASA in its latest observatory and Physics; Chemistry; and Environproject known as the All-sky Medium Energy Gammental, Earth and Geospatial Sciences. ma-ray Observatory, or AMEGO. Much of the research has focused “The AMEGO is the one of the largest ongoing on emerging fields, such as material NASA programs and will be the main window to inscience, nanotechnology, renewable vestigate the universe for the next few decades,” he energy, nuclear physics, robotics, geosaid. “Most new information about the universe will physics and big data. be provided by AMEGO.” Examples include development of Other breakthroughs have included a complex biosensors that take measurements computer program that could contribute toward 32 I NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019

better understanding of nuclear forces and nuclear structures; a new, more accurate method for measuring violations of fundamental symmetry in space; and an intense positron beam with 10,000 times greater brightness than other facilities.

“Jefferson Lab is considering building a positron center based on our concept, which the World Positron Congress in October 2018 noted as the largest leap of progress in positron physics instrumentation for the last several decades,” Branislav Vlahovic said.

And while astrophysicists look out into the universe, Environmental, Earth and Geospatial Sciences professor John Bang, Ph.D., is working with chemistry professor Darlene Taylor, Ph.D., to analyze activities of tiny atomic particles (see page 23). With a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation, the team is experimenting with free radical molecules, which are known to disrupt cell production and vital organ activities in humans. Bang and his team are examining the effect on free radicals by carbon nanodots, which serve as antioxidants and may be useful / 1 / Abimbola Abudu, a in reducing the negative impacts graduate student in Enof free radicals. vironmental, Earth and Along with these exciting disGeospatial Sciences, excoveries has come growth in amines particles through the number of students earning a laboratory microscope.

STEM degrees at NCCU. In 2018, Diverse: Issues in Higher Educa/ 2 / Brogan Thomas is tion magazine ranked NCCU fifth employed as a research asamong all universities in the nasociate at Duke University tion in producing African American physical science graduates. after earning her degree Student recruitment and rein 2013 from NCCU’s Detention has improved, leading partment of Mathematics to 108 master’s degree recipiand Physics. ents between 2009 and 2017 – most of whom went on to doctoral programs with scholarship support. That same time frame saw 190 receiving bachelor’s degrees in STEM subjects, with more than 75% graduating in four years, twice the national average.

Other advances include the creation of a new Engineering Physics concentration as part of the Physics major at NCCU and a new Computational and Engineering Mathematics (CEMA) concentration under the Mathematics degree program.

In addition, NCCU provides 3-plus-2 dualdegree programs in engineering with N.C. State University as an option, along with the existing programs with Georgia Tech University and Duke University.

NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019 I 33

/ continued from page 33 / The College of Arts and Sciences hopes to expand its degree programs in STEM at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. A new degree in Clinical Research Science is being planned for Spring 2020, according to Dean Carlton Wilson.

“By expanding our research platform and challenging students with hand-on projects, we are helping them develop their passion for science, technology and math,” Wilson said. “There are many career opportunities for researchers, scholars and innovators in all the STEM fields.

NCCU STEM graduates will be well-positioned to help the state of North Carolina meet its critical workforce needs.”

BY RENEE ELDER

PROFESSOR MARVIN WU

34 I NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019

Left to right, Branislav, Gordana and Margita Vlahovic

BROTHERLY ADVICE PAYS OFF FOR GEOPHYSICS RESEARCHER ROTHERS AND SISTERS OFTEN INFLUENCE each other’s lives. Sometimes, the bond can even change life's direction, as it has with a Croatian brother and sister who serve as colleagues on the NCCU College of Arts and Sciences faculty.

The talented siblings are Gordana Vlahovic, chair of the Environmenta, Earth and Geospatial Sciences Department, and her brother Branislov Vlahovic, a professor of physics and director of the CREST and NASA Research Centers. Along with their sister, Margita, the two were raised in Sisak, Croatia, an industrial city where technology and science are highly prized occupational skills. Both parents worked as engineers; their father as a mechanical engineer and mother in the electrical field after becoming one of the first women in Croatia to earn an electrical engineering degree.

Gordana recalls watching her brother, who is eight years older, playing for hours with electromagnets, small engines and electric circuitry kits their parents brought home.

“He’s always had the drive to understand things and to discover new things,” she said.

He’s also full of brotherly advice. When it came time to apply to college, Gordana was thinking liberal arts.

“I wanted to be a writer, but he told me: You don’t have to go to school for that. Why don’t you study something real, like physics?”

Gordana recalled. “I thought: Okay, how hard can that be?”

Branislav left Croatia in 1990 after completing his Ph.D. at Zagreb University, and accepted a temporary appointment at Duke University. Expected to last nine months, he ultimately stayed several years as new research opportunities arose. In 1996, he made the switch to NCCU. Gordana left Croatia after earning her undergraduate degree and, following her brother’s trajectory, came to the United States, where she studied geophysics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After earning her Ph.D. in 1999, she joined Branislav as a member of the NCCU faculty.

GOODR APP REDIRECTS EXCESS FOOD TO THOSE IN NEED

EMPATHIZE. INNOVATE. INSPIRE.

ALUMNA JASMINE CROWE has been helping others for most of her millennial life.

Now, the 36-year old social entrepreneur is focused on Goodr, a mobile app she created to address food insufficiency that has produced nearly a million meals for people who are hungry since 2017.

“We’re helping everybody, from people in senior homes to after-school programs and veterans centers,” Crowe said. “We help local nonprofits that are feeding people on the streets. But I think we could reach a lot more people. I want to reach billions.”

Goodr works by enlisting restaurants and organizations, such as MetLife Stadium or the Hartsfield-Atlanta Airport, to send alerts when they have surplus food available. Goodr team members pick up the food and deliver it to a place where people who are hungry are fed, such as a homeless shelter.

Launched in 2017, Goodr so far has saved more than a million pounds of food from the landfill, the equivalent of 960,000 meals, Crowe said. The company also has begun expanding into Chicago and Washington, D.C., with future plans of reaching Los Angeles and the Triangle area of North Carolina.

NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019 I 35

C

ROWE, WHO ATTENDED NCCU from 2001 to 2005, traces her sense of social responsibility to childhood growing up in a military family. While living in Arizona, Texas, New Mexico and elsewhere during her formative years, she often worked as a volunteer with children with disabilities at school and summer camps. Her concerns about food insufficiency developed early.

“When I was seven, we took a trip to Washington, D.C., and I kept seeing all of these people who were on the street and looked hungry, so my dad began to explain the hunger and homeless problem that many faced,” she said.

By the time she graduated from high school, the Crowe family was living in Charlotte.

“I applied and got into several North Carolina state universities, but when I came to visit NCCU, I met a lot of great people, and it just felt right,” she explained. “Plus, it wasn’t too far from my parents.”

A mass communication and English major, Crowe made an impression in the classroom. One teacher, communication instructor Brett Chambers, recalled that Crowe worked hard and seemed driven to make an impact on the world.

“Whatever she did, she did it well,” Chambers said. “When the class assignment was to write a blog, Jasmine wrote about black celebrity giving.

That led to a website and then to a full-blown business.”

36 I NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019

Meanwhile, Crowe served as sophomore and junior class president, a member of the Campus Echo newspaper staff, and as Student Government Association president. She also created a new spirit organization, Eagles Live.

“I’ll always remember the advice and rapport that I established with my professors at NCCU, and I’ll never fo get the lessons that they taught me,” she said.

One of her ah-ha moments was the realization that helping others first meant helping herself.

“What Mr. Chambers told me was to always keep my lights on – meaning that if I was going to be an entrepreneur, that I had to make sure whatever I did would support me in my work,” she explained.

Crowe graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree and then attended Arizona State University for a master’s in nonprofit management. While there, she met former Miss Black Arizona Kim Anderson and the two created the Little Black USA Pageant, which ultimately led to a four-episode show on TLC network known as Little Miss Atlanta, which appeared in 2016.

Meanwhile, BlackCelebrityGiving. com, the blog she started at NCCU, became an official business in 2011, highlighting black philanthropists and community service organizations. After her move to Atlanta in 2013, Crowe’s public relations career blossomed, as well, with clients ranging from entertainment figures to NFL athletes. Crowe was still looking for a more hands-on way to help when she found her future niche.

“As I was driving through downtown Atlanta, I saw the high population of homeless men and women on

the streets without food,” Crowe said.

“I didn’t have a lot of money, but I knew that something needed to be done.”

One evening soon after, she made a large batch of spaghetti, rounded up friends to help, and served dinner to about 100 homeless people in what became the first of dozens of Sunday Soul dinners in downtown Atlanta, which have since been replicated in many parts of the U.S. Initially, Crowe bought the food for Soul Sunday dinners herself using coupons and price matching for bargains.

Eventually, she started calling restaurants, grocery stores and other venues to seek assistance with supplies and food donations. That’s how she learned that a lack of food wasn’t the real problem. Instead, it was the logistical nightmare of getting excess food to people in a timely and safe manner.

“That’s when I had the idea for the mobile app,” Crowe said. “Uber Eats was just entering the Atlanta market.

I knew that it was time to engage the tech world about my idea.”

Working with Georgia Tech technology students to build a prototype, Crowe tinkered with it for a year before turning to grants and fundraisers to complete the design.

Launched in 2017, the app uses blockchain technology to create a secure ledger that tracks transaction data, compiling it into “blocks” of information that cannot be copied.

Her work ethic and creative ideas have earned Crowe national recognition. During the past year, she has been featured in Forbes magazine, produced a TedTalk, appeared on Oprah.com, NBC News, and other media platforms.

Crowe was also was honored with Walmart’s #ReignOn award during the 2019 NAACP Image Awards.

But what might seem like an overnight success to the public represents years of hard work and investment, Crowe pointed out.

“My biggest advice for anyone is that these things don’t happen overnight; I’ve been working at this 10-plus

WORKING WITH GEORGIA TECH TECHNOLOGY STUDENTS TO BUILD A PROTOTYPE, CROWE TINKERED WITH IT FOR A YEAR BEFORE TURNING TO GRANTS AND FUNDRAISERS TO COMPLETE THE DESIGN.

years,” she said. “But I would definitely advise young people to follow their passion. Just don’t give up. Keep going until it happens.”

In the future, Crowe would like to see Goodr become the largest food waste management company in the world, expanding to 10 cities by the end of 2019 and to 20 cities by the end of 2020. Her motivation is simple: “I just remind myself that I have millions of other people to feed, and I am trying to solve a problem that matters. I just want to ensure that nobody goes to bed hungry tonight.”

At top, Jasmine Crowe, second from right, and her Goodr team members are all smiles after attracting more than $1 million in start-up investments for the company.

Below, residents of Atlanta pick out much needed food items that would otherwise have been thrown away.

BY BERNITA COOPER AND RENEE ELDER

NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019 I 37

INCLUSIVE OF ALL

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students at historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) have often downplayed their sexual orientation, fearing negative reactions from family members and rejection by friends.

JENNIFER WILLIAMS Staff director LGBTA Resource Center

TIA MARIE DOXEY Director of Assessment in Research, Evaluation and Planning

38 I NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019

But a shift is occurring, as LGBT rights gain wider public support and enrollment efforts at the college level are bringing in more first-year students who already identify as LGBT. “North Carolina Central University was the first HBCU [historically black college or university] in North Carolina and only the second in the nation to designate space for an LGBTA center,” said Quentin Mercer, a sophomore psychology major from eastern North Carolina. “NCCU is one of the most progressive campuses for human rights.”

Mercer initially didn’t apply to attend any HBCUs, worried that traditional “Bible Belt” theology would create a hostile atmosphere. So, he was pleasantly surprised to discover the LGBTA Resource Center on NCCU’s campus,

where students and staff initiate a beehive of educational programs, social activities, volunteer projects, and LGBT-affirmative programming, such as the campus drag show that made history during Homecoming 2018.

“We were a little nervous, but the drag show was extremely popular,” said Jennifer Williams, staff director of the LGBTA Center. “We packed out B.N. Duke Auditorium and had a really good time.”

The ‘A’ in the LGBTA Center’s name stands for “allies,” and that means anyone who is supportive of the center’s goals is welcome. This may include roommates, siblings and friends of LGBT students and others who want to support them on campus.

Involvement on campus has been shown to improve academic outcomes for stu-

dents, said Tia Marie Doxey, director of Assessment in Institutional/Research who helped create the LGBTA Center as director of Residential Life in 2013.

“The overall reason for opening the center was retention and graduation,” Doxey said.

“If we are going to be an institution that tries to graduate all students, we need to make sure that all students’ needs are being met.”

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual students have long been part of the student body, staff and faculty at NCCU. A student group known as Brothers and Sisters was formed in the late 1980s. In 1999, the group was reorganized as COLORS, which stands for Creating Open Lives and Organizing Real Success.

Kaleidoscope, an LGBTthemed housing option, completed its second year on campus in spring 2019 in Ruffin Residence Hall.

Additionally, the Lavender Project encourages leadership development

and holds a Lavender Graduation each spring. Project members also assist with Safe Zone Training to help acquaint the campus with LGBT issues.

More than 130 faculty, staff and students have participated so far.

Earlier generations who downplayed their sexual orientation or non-binary gender identification sometimes did so with reason, said Tanya Bass, a sexuality educator in the NCCU Department of Public Health, recalling an incident from the early 2000s when a gay friend was assaulted.

“He was beaten up; it left him feeling isolated and unsupported and like he did not have a safe place to go,” said Bass, who counseled him at the time. “The center would have been that safe place, and that’s why I think it is so important to have it here.”

Mercer was among several LGBT students who traveled to Atlanta, Ga., in November 2018 for a leadership program designed specifically for HBCU campuses by the Human Rights Campaign, a national nonprofit advocacy group.

“NCCU was the F I R S T HBCU in North Carolina and only the second in the nation to designate space for an LGBTA center.”

—QUENTIN MERCER sophomore psychology major

Æ

“We learned a lot about enforcing and promoting advocacy and equal rights of LGBTQ youth on HBCU campuses,” Mercer said.

At a recent Welcome Wednesday meeting at the LBGTA Center’s meeting hall, nearly two dozen participants discussed a variety of topics including the use of gender pronouns – such as “they, them and theirs” instead of “he, him and his,” and then shifted to reactions of peers encountering someone who does not dress according to gender stereotype.

“It seems to bother people if they can’t immediately tell your gender,” said one

DERRICK SWICK '19

of the Welcome Wednesday participants.

Other students expressed concerns about having to choose a gender-specific bathroom when not dressed

in typical gender-conforming attire, and several mentioned the trauma of having their legal name used in classes when it does not conform to their gender identity.

“Outting a student is a safety concern and may do irrevocable harm to the relationship between the instructor and student,” Williams said. “These two points have very real implications for academic persistence through to graduation.”

In her training classes, Williams encourages faculty members to email students before the semester to ask about their preferred name and pronouns for use in classroom settings.

As more and more students arrive at college with gender identities that are non-binary, or who may be transgender, gay, lesbian or bisexual, it is important to provide a welcoming atmosphere, said Williams, who was working as a graduate assistant at NCCU when the center opened and became its director in 2016.

“We are trying our best to create an inclusive environment for all, a place people can go to be themselves,” Williams said. “We have great programming and off-campus collaborations so everyone feels part of a real college experience.”

BY RENEE ELDER

h RESOURCE CENTER DIRECTOR JENNIFER WILLIAMS, LEFT, INTERACTS WITH STUDENTS DURING A WELCOME WEDNESDAY GATHERING.

NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019 I 39

on the yard

MORE THAN Just A HAIRCUT NCCU BARBERSHOP REMAINS A STAPLE ON CAMPUS AND IN THE COMMUNITY

BARBICIDE, SCISSORS, RAZORS AND BRUSHES line the counter; the television is on, clippers are buzzing, and therapy is in session. The barber’s chairs are filled with customers waiting their turn and the atmosphere is relaxing and familiar.

Tthe NCCU Barbershop – or the Shop, as regular patrons refer to it – has remained a staple on campus and in Durham for 66 years. It opened in 1953 in the old Chidley Residence Hall and later relocated to the bottom floor of the Alfonso Elder Student Union, where manager Bryan Brandon, some six decades later, and barbers Orlando Covington and Jamel Campbell offer up informal therapy and friendly banter along with their stylish cuts.

“It’s a popular misconception that black people don’t go to therapy, but the barbershop is therapeutic for a lot of people,” said barber Orlando Covington.

Covington, 31, has been a professional barber for more than a decade. Brandon has been cutting hair for 27 years and is encouraging the younger Campbell to develop his passion for barbering.

“When you love what you do and understand the impact that you have in the community, it’s not work,” Covington said.

As barbershops across the city raise prices, the Shop remains affordable for most, with haircuts starting at $15 and shape-ups at $8.

BY BERNITA COOPER 40 I NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019

Paul McAlister, a senior honors student from Ohio, has frequented the barbershop throughout his four years at NCCU. “I didn’t have a car on campus during my freshman and sophomore years, so it’s great having somewhere that is close by, inexpensive, and I can plan my schedule around,” McAlister said.

Each year, new students arrive on campus bringing new trends in hair styling, Covington said. Styles currently popular at the Shop include traditional fades and undercuts, as well as artful cuts reflecting city skylines and geometric patterns. The barbers acquire new techniques as the need arises, including coloring, using the curl-and-twist sponge technique, and even installing weaves – also called “hair units” in barbershop lingo.

Along with students, faculty and staff, and nearby alumni, the Shop also welcomes its share of local dignitaries, including former Durham mayor Bill Bell. It is also noted that NBA legend Michael Jordan occasionally visited the Shop for haircuts during his time as a student at the University of North Carolina.

A loyal customer for more than 20 years, Durham resident Daryl Evans said he always looks forward to his visits, “listening to all of the great stories that the barbers tell and seeing the students.”

All three barbers working at the Shop agree that it is an honor to be a part of the lives of so many.

“Most students have never lived on their own, and we have the opportunity to teach them life skills, such as budgeting, while they get their hair cut,” Brandon said.

The Shop is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. To see some of the latest styles being requested, follow The Shop on Instagram @nccubarbershop and for more information call 919-530-6046.

Photos courtesy of Nathaniel Dunn '18

Most students have never lived on their own, and we have the opportunity to teach them life skills, such as budgeting, while they get their hair cut.� — B R Y A N B R A N D O N

/1/

/2/

Photo courtesy of Chioke Brown '12

/ 1 / Stylists Bryan Brandon, / 2 / The late Yvonne Hendrix, and / 3 / Orlando Covington, serve up professional haircuts and a sense of

/3/

community for patrons at the NCCU Barbershop.

NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019 I 41

T E L L U S YO U R S T O RY à Do you have a new job, received a promotion or awarded a

NEWS I EVENTS I IN MEMORIAM

degree or professional award? These are accomplishments we want to announce. Email now@nccu.edu with a 300 dpi photo and include your graduation year, college and major.

’63 I Yvonne Simmons Pettis was appointed to

the North Carolina Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism as one of six new members on the commission established by the North Carolina Supreme Court in 1998.

’75, ’76 I Lauretta H. Holloway was awarded the 2018 Council for Advancement and Support Education (Case District III) Bill Franklin Volunteer of the Year Award.

Holloway was recognized for her volunteer contributions and the long-term support of NCCU. ’97 I Lewis D. Ferebee*, Ed.D., was named chancellor of the District of Columbia Public Schools.

Ferebee previously served as superintendent for Indianapolis schools. Under his leadership, five charter groups came together as innovation network schools and legislators agreed to expand the initiative statewide in 2017.

ALUMNI HIGHLIGHTS

’87 I Terrence Sembly was

’76 I Lillian Lowery, Ph.D., was named vice president of Student and Teacher Assessments by The Educational Testing Service. Lowery has over 30 years of educational experience with an extensive resume of leadership in the education field. ’85 I LeRoy Jones Jr. was named president of Sheridan Broadcasting Co.’s Radio and Digital Division. He was host of the syndicated radio program Ask, Talk & Listen from 2007 to 2017 and served as Sheridan’s vice president for radio and digital.

appointed to deputy chief of the Durham Police Department.

Previously, Sembly served as assistant police chief and commander of the Organized Crime Division of Durham’s District Four.

’90 I Amanda Bryant-Friedrich, Ph.D., was appoint-

’90 I Kim Bassett has been named

’90 I Annette Taylor joined the North Carolina

secretary of the District of Columbia, where she manages a variety of city business, including ceremonial services, government document publishing, public records and more.

She was previously director of the Mayor’s Office on Women’s Policy and Initiatives.

42 I NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019

ed by Ohio Gov. John Kasich to serve on the Ohio Lake Erie Commission, a group that promotes preserving the lake’s natural resources and endorsing its potential for economic development. Bryant-Friedrich currently serves as dean of the College of Graduate Studies for the University of Toledo in Toledo, Ohio.

Education Lottery as its first Minority Business and Community Affairs Manager. Taylor also serves as an adjunct instructor at NCCU teaching nonprofit management and the art of fundraising.

’92 I Marri “Nicki” Fryar was named associate director of patient care service and chief nurse executive at the Veterans Affairs Health Care System in Durham.

She previously served as an associate chief nurse executive for performance improvement and research at the facility.

NATIONAL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION INC.

A L U M N I R E L AT I O N S à Alumni Relations serves to develop, coordinate and

foster programs to keep you informed and involved with NCCU. For information, call 919-530-6363, email alumni@nccu.edu or visit nccu.edu/alumni.

Alumnae Appointed University Athletic Directors Two NCCU alumnae were appointed to top positions in NCAA athletics. In a traditionally male-dominated industry, these Eagles are taking charge.

’96 I Etienne Thomas* serves as director of athletics for Kentucky State University. Prior to her appointment, Thomas served as associate athletics director for student life at Kansas University. She was named to this position on July 20, 2018.

’08 I Jennifer Lynne

Williams* was appointed director of athletics at Alabama State University on October 10, 2018. Since 2017, Williams has served as interim director. Previously, she served as the deputy athletic director of the university.

à

For news, events, information and/or to join a local alumni chapter, visit nccualumni.org or email info@nccualumni.org or call 919-530-5222.

NCCU EVENTS AUG.

18

AUG.

26

SEPT.

21

SEPT.

30

OCT.

5

new student eagle

INDUCTION AND PINNING CEREMONY B.N. Duke Auditorium first football game

NCCU vs AUSTIN PEAY Clarksville, Tenn. I 2 p.m. first home game

NCCU vs ELIZABETH STATE UNIVERSITY O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium I 4 p.m. n at i o n a l y o u n g alumni committee

QUARTERLY MEETING Location TBA I 7:30-9 p.m. n at i o n a l a l u m n i a s s o c i at i o n

ANNUAL COUNCIL MEETING Location TBA I 7:30-9 p.m.

SHARE YOUR MILESTONE Share photos of your milestones— such as weddings, births, legacy announcements, reunions with classmates — or memories from your days on campus for potential publication online, on social media and/or in our magazine. Photos must be digital and 300 dpi or higher and can be submitted by emailing to now@nccu.edu.

*Forty under Forty alumni award recipient

NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019 I 43

DICKENS

’95, ’99, ’02 I Emily M. Dickens* was appointed to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Advisory Council, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization that educates and connects Latino youth by providing leadership programs and educational services. Dickens currently serves as corporate secretary and chief of staff for the Society for Human Resource Management. ’97 I Avery Michelle Crump was elected the first woman district attorney for North Carolina’s Guilford County. Crump previously served as the district court judge for Guilford County starting in 2008.

CRUMP

JOHNSON

’98 I Danielle Brown was named vice president of advertising sales for the Walt Disney Co. In her new role, Brown oversees creating partnerships and advertising revenue for The Walt Disney Co. networks and brands including ESPN, ABC, Freeform, Disney Channel, Disney XD and the Disney Digital Network. ’98 I Timothy Johnson* was named by United Way of the National Capital Area as chief strategy and impact officer for the organization in January 2019. He also was selected by the Washington Business Journal as a Minority Business Leader for 2019.

LEGACY CIRCLE DEVAN NELSON ‘19 ENGLISH MAJOR

“My mom, Helen Nelson ’96, inspired me to be an Eagle and she is my greatest example of hard work and determination. I am in awe of her indiependence and strength, and proud to carry on our family’s NCCU legacy!

Following graduation, I will continue my education as a Louis Armstrong Museum Fellow in Corona, N.Y., and then law school in fall 2020. NCCU has provided me with many opportunities, which I have been so grateful to experience. My professors have played an important part by recommending me.”

Pictured above, Helen and Devan Nelson

Alumnus Named Winston-Salem State University Coach Cleo Hill Jr. ’94 was recently named the men’s basketball team coach for WinstonSalem State University (WSSU). In his new role, Hill aspires to increase efforts to assist player success on and off the court.

Hill previously served as Shaw University’s men’s basketball head coach where he led the team to a 24-2 record within the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA).

Hill is the son of legendary former WSSU basketball player Cleo Hill Sr., a 2017 National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductee.

Hill obtained a bachelor’s degree in physical education from NCCU. 44 I NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019

*Forty under Forty alumni award recipient

Photo courtesy of Winston-Salem State University

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

A N D R É TA L L E Y ’70

DURHAM’S NATIVE SON OF I T ’ S A S AT U R DAY I N F E B RUA RY 2 0 1 8 and the air feels damp as a crowd gathers outside the auditorium of Durham’s historic Hillside High School.

We enter a choral classroom to await our subject, André Leon Talley, a native son of Durham. A few minutes early, the international fashion icon enters the room wearing a black velvet Moroccan hood with braided detail, a Scottish Glengarry hat and a navy-blue tunic from Ethiopia, obviously custom-made for his 6-foot, 6-inch stature. His voice is sincere as he speaks graciously to everyone in the room.

Talley glances at the original artwork on the wall and sees a reference to famed singer-songwriter Nina Simone, another North Carolina native.

“Nina Simone was very bold in her music and in her personal style,” Talley comments. “I drew inspiration from her and many others.”

Talley, 69, is back in Durham for Hillside’s Legacy Alumni Weekend. Introductions made, we sit down to take in the thoughts of a man who is recognized on the streets of Paris and New York, as well as in his own hometown.

Talley recalls finding fashion inspiration everywhere as a child – in history, nature, paintings, books, films, travel and other forms of beauty.

Despite the racial tensions and limitations of the segregated South in the 1950s and 60s, Talley saw glimmers of hope in his surroundings.

Raised from an early age by his grandmother, Bennie Frances Davis, a domestic worker in Durham, the future designer frequently attended church. He recalls having his inventiveness and imagination jolted as he examined the stylish dresses, coats, hats, furs, high heels, suits and other intricate details of the women’s ensembles.

“Everyone always dressed in their best on Sundays; this was the moment I fell in love with fashion,” Talley says.

In his adolescence, Talley sought out fashion literature such as Vogue magazine and couture memoirs to quench his fashion appetite. He would often walk through Duke University’s campus to a newsstand where he could pick up the latest edition of Vogue and escape into the fashion world.

g

FA S H I O N

TALLEY RECALLS FINDING

FASHION INSPIRATION

EVERY-

WHERE AS A CHILD – IN HISTORY, NATURE, PAINTINGS, BOOKS, FILMS, TRAVEL AND OTHER FORMS OF BEAUTY. DESPITE THE RACIAL TENSIONS AND LIMITATIONS OF THE SEGREGATED SOUTH IN THE 1950s AND ’60s, TALLEY SAW GLIMMERS OF HOPE IN HIS SURROUNDINGS.

André Leon Talley in THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ANDRÉ, a Magnolia Pictures release.

Photo Credit: ©Colin Gray. Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.

NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019 I 45

Although Talley was known even then for his quick wit and no-nonsense attitude, he sometimes endured stinging remarks from classmates who didn’t embrace his flamboyant style or unique appreciation for fashion.

But he still has many good friends in Durham, including Bill McNeal and Bruce Weaver, who enjoy spending time with their former Hillside classmate when he comes to town.

“We have always remained friends through the thick and thin,” says Weaver, a childhood friend who has dropped by to say hello. “I would not let anyone tease him.”

At Hillside High, Talley took French classes and developed a fondness for the language – and for Paris. He also discovered an interest in the performing arts. While his English teacher, Wanda Garrett, urged the school principal to establish a drama program, Talley lobbied the district superintendent and eventually they won their case.

“The neighboring white schools had drama programs, so we saw the need for the same creative outlet at Hillside,” Garrett said.

Talley believes some of his most important life lessons were absorbed in this period.

“The experiences and lessons that I learned in high school and in my childhood are with me for the rest of my life,” he says. “Anyone can be talented, but confidence is needed to go out into the world and make a lasting impression.”

Talley majored in French at North Carolina Central University, and with thoughts of a career as a scholar of French literature, Talley left Durham after graduation in 1970 to begin graduate studies at Brown University. From there, he transitioned to nearby New York City, where he began building a foundation for a career in the fashion industry.

In New York, he began meeting influential artists and cultural trendsetters, including pop artist Andy Warhol, fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld and Diana Vreeland, who was then editor of Vogue.

46 I NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019

ANDRÉ TALLEY AND BRUCE WEAVER

WE HAVE ALWAYS REMAINED FRIENDS THROUGH THE THICK AND THIN. I WOULD NOT LET ANYONE TEASE HIM.” — BRUCE WEAVER

Talley wrote for Warhol’s Interview magazine, Women’s Wear Daily and The New York Times before going to work at Vogue in 1983 as fashion news director.

He left Vogue briefly to work for W in Paris from 1995 to 1998, then came back to New York’s premier fashion magazine as editor at large in 1998.

Regularly joining editor Anna Wintour on the front row of fashion shows, Talley was often the only African American male in the elite company of international style influencers, editors and designers. The fashion icon believes that cultural shifts have helped break down diversity barriers in the fashion industry, but there still is work to be done.

“It’s evolved, but we have a lot of work to do,” he said.

After leaving Vogue in 2013, he hosted a satellite radio show and joined the Board of Trustees at Savannah College of Art and Design. He’s been interviewed

by Oprah, made cameo appearances in films, and served as a fashion correspondent on numerous television shows, as well consulted for the esteemed Met Gala.

Talley’s February homecoming weekend in North Carolina concluded with a viewing of a documentary about his life, “The Gospel According to André Leon Talley.” Onstage after the screening, he appeared in a custom caftan by Dapper Dan, taking questions about fashion,

entertainment, finding one’s passion and more.

He spoke about the need for more collaboration among up-and-coming designers, models and creatives in the Triangle and advised aspiring designers to finish college and then jump in.

“Obtaining your degree and getting your education will allow you to explore horizons and pathways that you never thought of,” he said. “Do not be afraid to take any job in fashion. Put your head down and work hard.”

And, he advised, don’t be afraid to take a giant leap to make things happen.

“Never give up on your dreams,” he said. “If you have to move outside of your comfort zone for the sake of your dreams, do that.”

These days, Talley enjoys spending time at his White Plains, N.Y., home reflecting on his career and life journey. He continues to make frequent appearances on television and on the red carpet and keeps in touch with some of his friends from the fashion industry.

“I’m still in the chiffon trenches and I love it,” Talley said.

Yet when he needs a break, he steals away for leisurely visits with his North Carolina family and friends.

BY KIA C. BELL AND BERNITA COOPER

Photo courtesy of Ivan Watkins Photography

yo u n g

alumni voice W I L L A N Y U, ‘ 13, ‘ 16

IN PRAISE OF PREPARATION AND COMMUNITY ecently, a few colleagues and I sparked up a conversation about how prepared for graduate school we were as a result of our undergraduate institutions. Throughout this group, we had people who had attended schools such as Harvard University, University of Michigan, University of Arkansas, University of Rhode Island, Tougaloo College and North Carolina Central University. In addition to being college graduates, we shared one distinct commonality: We all identified as African American or were of African descent.

a l u m n i

News Briefs ’01 I Kennetta Hammond-Perry,

Ph.D., has been named a National Humanities Center Walter Hines Page fellow. Hammond-Perry was among 39 selected out of 556 worldwide applicants for the fellowship.

’04 I Christopher Tyner was

named vice president of operations for Concord Hospitality Enterprises, a hospitality management and development company.

In his new role, Tyner leads the Mid-Atlantic Region of Concord Hospitality Enterprises which includes properties in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia.

’04 I LaTanya Bowman* was

*Forty under Forty alumni award recipient

memories of attending a PWI prior to transferring to NCCU. I remember often being told by administrators and faculty alike that I would not make it to graduation. I often witnessed my peers being treated poorly because of the color of their skin.

But, most of all, what I remember is being overlooked simply due to the color of my skin and my social class.

But all this changed once I stepped foot on the campus of NCCU. For the first time in my life, I was surrounded by black brilliance. I attended classes taught by black teachers; I learned firsthand about the African diaspora from black scholars. The senior leadership also was composed of black people – people who looked like me. In many ways, I attribute my decision to embark on a career in higher education to the love, resilience, passion and power I experienced as a student at NCCU. Looking back at my educational journey, I recall the lessons I learned at NCCU that still serve me well today.

Voice continued on page 48

honored with the 2018 Walker’s Legacy Award. The award recognizes accomplishments of minority and culturally diverse business and professional women. g

As we discussed what aspects of our respective institutions assisted in our development and preparation post-graduation, one thing repeatedly came up: absence of community. My peers who attended predominantly white institutions (PWIs) consistently spoke about their lack of community – not necessarily from their respective peer groups, but more so from their institutions as a whole.

As we further engaged in this conversation, something became apparent.

Throughout my undergraduate experience at NCCU, I never felt unsupported by my institutional community. In fact, I dare say that I would not be pursuing a doctoral degree at an Ivy League institution right now if it were not for the community I experienced at NCCU. Although my peers attended wealthier institutions, they complained about the lack of support they received. In fact, one member of our group stated, “I don’t believe my school appreciated my blackness. To be honest, as a black person on that campus I was looked down on compared to my white counterparts.”

This statement brought up my

Briefs continued on page 48 NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019 I 47

/ Alumni Voice continued from page 47 /

LESSONS LEARNED: 1. It takes a village.

2

An old African proverb states, “It takes a village to raise a child.” As an out-of-state student, faculty and staff members often invited me to family dinners, church and other activities so I would not feel alone. I also was challenged by my university mentors to be an exceptional student. It was through these acts of love and care that I have been able to reach for the best version of who I am meant to be.

Work like your life depends on it.

During my sophomore year, my mentor told me, “work like your life depends on it, because one day it just might.” Although that was almost a decade ago, those words remain relevant. My first semester of doctoral studies nearly destroyed me, mentally. But reflecting on that statement prompted me to work day and night - in addition to practicing self-care - to ensure that I would come out victorious.

3

SPEND YOUR 24 HOURS WISELY.

Former NCCU Chancellor Charlie Nelms once told me: “Everyone has the same 24 hours in a day.

What determines an individual’s future success is how they choose to spend their 24.” Balancing full-time work while pursuing a terminal degree can be exhausting. But capitalizing on how I choose to spend each day, while scheduling time for adequate rest, has allowed me to maintain this balance.

4 Strive

for your purpose.

Coming into NCCU, I thought I wanted to pursue a law degree. But by the time I left, I realized that fighting for educational equality was my purpose. As such, I have dedicated my life to creating opportunities for those to whom society often turns a blind eye.

WILL ANYU ’13, ’16, earned both a bachelor’s degree in mass communication and a Master of Public Administration. While enrolled at NCCU, he was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. and participated in the Centennial Scholars Program. He is currently working toward his Doctor of Education degree at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education, where he also serves as assistant director of operations and programs at the Penn Center for Minority Institutions.

News Briefs

continued from page 47

’05, ’08 I L. Reesie Holsey, Ph.D., is making her mark. She was named assistant vice president of Student Success and Engagement and dean of students at Edward Waters College located in Jacksonville, Fla. Holsey previously served as an adjunct professor of history and director of Student Involvement and Activities at Bethune-Cookman University. She also taught freshman African-American Studies seminars at the university. ’06 I Jamar McKoy* was honored as Big South 3A Conference 2018-19 Coach of the Year. McKoy has served as head football coach at Hunter Huss High School in Gastonia, N.C., since 2000. He led the team to a record-breaking 13-1 season in 2018.

McKOY

’07 I Sarah Frayer was honored with the National University System-Sanford Teacher Award for her efforts to inspire advanced academic achievement for school-age children. ’07 I Vann Newkirk, Ph.D., was named provost and vice president for Academic Affairs of Fisk University. Newkirk previously served as provost and vice chancellor for Academic Affairs at Elizabeth City State University.

’08 I Reggie Lochard premiered

his first feature film “When the Well Runs Dry” at the BronzeLens Film Festival in Atlanta. The movie explores the lives of two brothers who strengthen their relationship after the loss of a parent. This film is Lochard’s debut as a co-producer and writer in a feature film. He also stars as one of the story’s main characters. Previously, he appeared in the thriller movie “This House” and on TV’s “Celebrity Ghost Stories.”

’09, ’13 I Christopher Jones* was named assistant athletics director for major gifts at Temple University.

Jones previously served in development roles at Clarion, Lincoln and North Carolina Central universities.

JONES 48 I NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019

*Forty under Forty alumni award recipient

in memoriam

’41 I Madge Tucker Holman Harry, 98, Durham, N.C., March 17, 2019. ’46 I Jessie Pulley Parker, 91, Durham, N.C., March 3, 2019. ’49, ’53 I William A. Marsh Jr., 92, Durham, N.C., Nov. 19, 2018.

ATHLETE AND COACH CHARLES FOSTER SET RECORDS IN HURDLES ’75 I CHARLES FOSTER, 65, a member of the

NCCU Athletics Hall of Fame, died March 31, 2019, in Chapel Hill, N.C. Foster, 65, was the world’s top-ranked hurdler during his collegiate career at NCCU. After his 1975 graduation, he competed in the 1976 Montreal Olympics, placing fourth in high hurdles. After a successful professional career, he joined the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill track and field coaching staff from 1986 to 1992. He then worked for the Atlanta Olympic Games Committee and was on the board of the Olympics World Summer Games Organizing Committee.

From 1999 to 2008, he coached track athletes at Clemson University, and he was assistant coach at Virginia Tech from 2009 until his retirement in 2015.

Athletes coached by Foster included two Olympic gold medalists, a silver medalist and bronze medalist, among many other high-level competitors.

’49 I Swannie Moore Richards, 96, Savannah, Ga., Nov. 18, 2018. ’50 I Ola Lofton, 95, Philadelphia, Penn., Jan. 6, 2019.

’52 I J. Raymond Oliver, 85, Winston-Salem, N.C., Dec. 26, 2018.

’54 I Artis Plummer Sr., 93, Durham, N.C., March 11, 2019. ’54 I Robert Odell Mason, 91, Gastonia, N.C., Feb. 23, 2019.

’56 I Joseph Hubert Hannon, 85, Winston-Salem, N.C., Sept. 12, 2018.

’57 I Dibold “Elworth” Hughes, Baltimore, Md., Sept. 12, 2018. ’57 I Reginald Spaulding, 83, Tacoma, Wash., Feb. 18, 2019.

‘58 I Theaoseus T. “T.T.” Clayton Sr., 88, Warrenton, N.C., April 4, 2019.

Alumnus Ballance was a State Lawmaker

’59 I Barbara Lyon Hudgins, 81, Newark, Del.,

’65, ’67 I Frank W. Ballance Jr.,

’59 I Herbert E. Tatum Jr., 90, of Durham, N.C., Jan. 27, 2019.

77, Raleigh, N.C., died on Feb. 22, 2019. An attorney and member of the N.C. House of Representatives from 1983 to 1986, he was also a member of the N.C. Senate from 1988 to 2002.

Jan. 9, 2019.

’60, ’61 I Eugene “Smitty” Smith, 86, Durham, N.C., Feb. 28, 2019. ’61 I Ida Patterson Johnson, 78, Winston Salem, N.C., Aug. 29, 2018.

NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019 I 49

/ i n m e m o r i a m continued from page 49 /

’61, ’65 I Clarence Freeman Williams Sr., 86, Durham, N.C., April 3. 2019. ’63 I Shirley Dudley Brown, 80, Durham, N.C., April 6, 2019. ’63 I Cottis Lewis Dickens, 79, Durham, N.C., Oct. 14, 2018. ’64 I James E. Tyson, 84, Indianapolis, Ind., Nov. 21, 2018. ’69 I Joseph “Pete” McIntyre Pridgen Jr., 70, Willingboro, N.J., Nov. 17, 2018. ’73, ’76 I Jacob R. Hopkins, 69, Rural Hall, N.C., Oct. 25, 2018. ’73 I Garvin Stone, 67, Fayetteville, N.C., Jan. 17, 2019. ’77 I Brenda Jane Fletcher Trent, 65, Bowie, Md. ’83 I Iola G. Royster Cheek, 97, Sandy Creek, N.C., Feb. 25, 2019.

’12 I Gloria J. Vann, 56, Henderson, N.C., Dec. 23, 2018.

NCCU NOTA BLE Y VO N N E G O O L S BY S P E N C E R

SPENCER USHERED NURSING INTO NEW AGE Retired professor Dr. Yvonne Goolsby Spencer, 85, a career educator who taught in the NCCU Department of Nursing for 20 years, died at her Winston-Salem home on January 14, 2019.

Spencer began teaching nursing at NCCU in 1986 and retired in 2006, with her legacy now etched on a department plaque dedicated to her by faculty and staff. She was an accomplished teaching professor who also served as assistant dean of the department during that time. In 2003, she was given the Outstanding Service Award by the College of Arts and Sciences.

A native of Stokes County, N.C., Spencer attended several higher education institutions after high school, beginning with her Registered Nursing Degree at Lincoln Hospital School of Nursing in Durham. She later also received degrees from North Carolina A&T State University and Columbia University, where she received a Ph.D.

50 I NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019

VIDEO

GALLERY

VIDEO

the

homecoming experience

THROWBACK We are taking a look back at 2018 and OU R favorite homecoming memories.

SILVER CLASS OF 1993

SOCIETY OF GOLDEN EAGLES CLASS OF 1968

GALLERY NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019 I 51

Giving

university advancement

COUPLE ESTABLISHES ENDOWMENT SCHOLARSHIP FUND TO SUPPORT EDUCATION DR. WILLIAM “BILL” McNEAL

and his wife, NATA FAYETTE “FAYE” McNEAL understand the importance of a high-quality education in a welllived life.

“Education is the great equalizer,” Bill said. “It can level the playing field, regardless of race, economic background, gender or religion.”

Faith in education was at the core of the career choices made by the two lifelong educators, as well as their decision to establish a $25,000 endowment for student scholarships in the School of Education.

“The ticket out of poverty, the ticket to a great career and a fulfilling life, is education,” Bill said. “Students can break the cycle of poverty and the cycle of non-fulfilling careers by obtaining their education.”

The power of education has certainly been evident in their own lives. Both Bill and Faye grew up in North Carolina, first meeting as students on NCCU’s campus. Bill obtained bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social studies and political science in 1971, — BILL McNEAL while Faye obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in business education the same year.

After graduation, Bill spent two years in the Army before he and his bride moved to Connecticut for their first teaching jobs. In 1974, they relocated to Raleigh to work for the Wake County Public School System.

“I pursued a career in counseling to serve as a resource for students planning for their futures,” said Faye, who continued her education, earning master’s degrees in business education and guidance and counseling from NCCU. Bill, who earned his doctorate at North Carolina State University, was promoted to assistant principal, then principal and, ultimately, administrator at the school and district levels. He was named Wake County Schools superintendent in 2000, and led the system in achieving a 95% grade-level proficiency among third- and eighth-grade students.

He served as superintendent until 2006, during which time the system was named third in Forbes Top Ten List for the Best Education in the Biggest Cities. Bill was named National School Superintendent of the Year in 2004. That same year, he received the

The ticket out of poverty, the ticket to a great career and a fulfilling life, is education.”

52 I NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019

NCCU Chancellor’s Merit Award and was honored to serve as his alma mater’s Commencement speaker.

Since her 2006 retirement, Faye has continued working with students as scholarship coordinator for the North Carolina American Chemical Society’s Project SEED program, which provides science training and help with the college admissions process for underserved, academically gifted high school students.

Bill has authored a book, titled A District’s Journey to Excellence, offering an account of his tenure as Wake County superintendent. In addition, he also works with North Carolina State University to coach aspiring principals in the university’s Master of School Administration program.

Neither Faye nor Bill show signs of slowing down. In their spare time, the couple enjoys spending time with daughters Tiffany Fox and Crystal Utley, and their families, including grandchildren Yahzmin Fox, Moses Fox IV, Tiffany Alexandria Utley and James Christopher Utley.

They also will continue building their endowment fund and encouraging other alumni to establish funds to support NCCU. “There is a long list of individuals from all ethnic backgrounds who attended historically black colleges or universities and beat the odds,” Bill said.

“NC Central has been a driving force for many. It needs the ongoing support of alumni giving to ensure that the university is thriving and equipped with the resources for generations to come.”

BY BERNITA COOPER

NCCU’S FIRST LADY MOBILIZES SUPPORT FOR STUDENTS N AT I O N A L S T U D I E S H AV E S H OW N that almost a third of students in higher education today are the first in their families to attend college, a milestone that brings both opportunities and challenges for some NCCU students.

Without the wisdom of experience handed down by their parents, these students often face a steeper-then-average learning curve when attempting to decode the application requirements to enter college or acquire financial aid.

With that in mind, Juanita Akinleye, wife of NCCU Chancellor Johnson O. Akinleye, created Ladies Soaring to Eagle Promise, a mentorship experience for first-generation college women at NCCU. “My goal was to provide mentorship, professional career counseling and development for first-year and first-generation women by supporting their efforts to excel as successful graduates of the university,” said Juanita Akinleye, who is a registered nurse.

Now into its second year with about 60 students enrolled, the program has expanded thanks in part to a $10,000 gift from PNC Bank. Lori Jones Gibbs, senior vice president for the bank, presented Juanita Akinleye and program chair Lauretta Holloway with $10,000 to support emergency needs, such as tuition assistance, purchase of textbooks and other development opportunities for the ladies.

The Durham chapter of The Links Inc., one of the nation’s oldest and largest volunteer service

organizations for African American women, is also involved, sponsoring skills workshops in areas such as time management, resume writing, personal finance, networking and formal dining etiquette.

Demand for the program has been high, even among those enrolled at the university beyond their first-year, and NCCU’s first lady wants to make sure no student is turned away.

Holloway, who also serves as a mentor, said the student and mentor pairs develop individual strategies for staying in touch throughout the academic year, whether by email, phone calls or texts. Mentors are expected to check in on their students at least once a month and have at least one in-person contact each semester.

“It has been a really good experience,” said Angel Ward, a sophomore psychology major.

“We’ve attended workshops on resume building and other skills that are helpful, and we’ve done some fun things, too, like taking a Zumba class.”

Along with building positive relationships for students, the program also aims to acclimate students into the local community and create a home-away-from-home feeling at NCCU, Holloway said.

æ Now into its second year with about 60 students enrolled, the program has expanded thanks in part to a $10,000 gift from PNC Bank.

Juanita Akinleye

(front row, third from right) started Ladies Soaring to Eagle Promise to provide strong mentor relationships for first-generation college women. Alumna Lauretta Holloway (front row, far left) serves as a mentor and chair of the program.

NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019 I 53

Giving

university advancement

J O H N S M I T H ‘64, L A U R A B R O O K S S M I T H ’ 65

ALUMNI HONOR OUTSTANDING MATHEMATICS PROFESSOR à

John and Laura Brooks Smith are flanked by their daughters, Marchia Jones ‘88, and Marjorie Brown.

H E L E G A C Y O F M A R J O R I E L E E B ROW N E , P H . D. , late professor and longtime chair of the Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry Department, was celebrated recently with the naming of a lecture hall in her honor in the Mary Townes Science Complex.

The naming of the Marjorie Lee Browne, Ph.D., Lecture Hall was made possible by alumni John N. ’64 and Laura Brooks Smith ’65, who donated $50,000 to commemorate their former professor’s memory and provide support for current students.

Browne, born in Memphis, earned her undergraduate degree at Howard University and her doctorate at the University of Michigan in 1949. At that time, she was one of only two African American women to have obtained a doctoral degree in mathematics.

In 1951, Browne joined the faculty at North Carolina College, now North Carolina Central University, where she conducted research and taught until her death in 1979. On April, 23, 2019, dozens of her former students and colleagues, along with current students, Board of Trustees, faculty and staff, came to Mary Townes Science Complex to witness the lecture hall dedication.

John, who received his undergraduate degree in 1964, and his wife, Laura Brooks, who met as undergraduates at NCCU, both said they were greatly influenced 54 I NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019

by Browne, who seemed to know when a student needed a little extra encouragement.

John said that he once asked the professor: “Why did you take an interest in me, a sharecropper’s son and first-generation college student?”

And he got his answer: “She said that I had impressed her as someone wanting to make something out of my life, to improve my station.”

John said Browne strongly influenced his 30-year career at IBM, particularly her decision to install the first computer at NCCU in 1960.

John learned to operate the IBM 1620, likely the first computer at any historically black college or university campus.

Laura Brooks Smith credits Browne with giving her the courage to believe she might aim for a doctorate. Laura received her Ph.D. in mathematics education at N.C. State University in 1993, after earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees from NCCU in 1965 and 1983, respectively. She also taught at NCCU intermittently from 1968 to 1987, between cross-country moves necessitated by her husband’s job.

The Smiths said they made their contribution to ensure that future generations would know about the influence of this great teacher, and with the naming of a lecture hall in her honor, it’s a mathematical certainty many of them will.

at h l e t i c s

EAGLES WELCOME ALUMNUS HOME TO ENHANCE FOOTBALL PROGRAM TREI OLIVER

Trei Oliver

Head Football Coach

VIDEO

first stepped on NCCU’s campus in 1994 to play football for the Eagles.

Twenty-five years later, he returns as head coach, eager to double down on the concept of Eagle Pride.

“When I talk about Eagle Pride, I’m talking about unity and discipline,” Oliver said. “If we’ll fight for one another and we have discipline in our program, then the sky is the limit.”

Oliver became the university’s 24th head football coach in December 2018, succeeding Jerry Mack.

He is the third alumnus to lead the team, following Bishop Harris, a 1963 graduate who coached the Eagles from 1991-92, and Herman Riddick, a 1933 graduate who led the team to a school record of 112 victories from 1945-1964.

Oliver returns with 20 years of college coach-

ing experience behind him, including five conference championships and three national black college football titles.

“It’s good to be back home,” Oliver said. “NCCU is so special to me because of the great people that I met here as a student-athlete. When you are around good people, it’s easy to be successful.”

A native of Yorktown, Va., Oliver received all-conference and all-region honors as a defensive back and punter during his student-athlete days at NCCU from 1994-97, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education. He also holds a master’s degree in criminal justice from Grambling State University.

He isn’t the only one in his family overflowing with Eagle Pride: his parents, Colon and Evelyn

à

Football Coach Trei Oliver and his team of assistants prepare to kick off a winning season in fall 2019.

Oliver, and wife, Yvette, are also NCCU alumni.

His father played football as a wide receiver at NCCU from 1963-66.

After graduation in 1998, the younger Oliver joined Delaware State University as defensive backs coach and assistant special teams coordinator for three years, before returning to NCCU in 2003 as an assistant coach, helping the Eagles to win back-to-back Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) championships in 2005 and 2006.

He departed NCCU in 2007 for Grambling State University, where he was outside linebackers coach, recruiting coordinator and special teams coordinator through 2010. While he was there, Grambling earned two Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) West division titles and won the SWAC championship game in 2008 with an 11-2 record.

Five seasons at N.C. A&T State University resulted in shared Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) titles in both 2014 and 2015 and a win at the 2015 Celebration Bowl following a 10-2 overall record. From 2016 until his appointment at NCCU, Oliver was defensive coordinator and safeties coach for Southern University. Oliver helped

NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019 I 55

/ OLIVER continued from page 55 / lead that team to the SWAC West division championship and earn a trip to the SWAC championship game.

That’s the type of record he hopes NCCU’s Eagles will become familiar with in the years to come.

“I want to build a championship culture at NCCU. We need to get Eagle Pride back in the program,” he said.

In early 2019, Oliver announced the team’s coaching staff additions, with Juan Navarro as recruiting coordinator and defensive line coach; Freddie Aughtry-Lindsay as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach; and Brian

Jenkins as special teams coordinator and running backs coach.

Moses Ware, an alumnus and one of the university’s all-time leading receivers, will lead the offensive unit and wide receivers. Ware earned his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from NCCU in 1999.

Also joining the staff are John Tomlinson for quarterbacks; Lonnie Teasley for the offensive line; Dovonte Edwards as safeties coach; and Thomas Dunson for tight ends.

NCAA Division II National Basketball Champs

1989 EAGLES BASKETBALL COACH REFLECTS ON HISTORIC SEASON

OACH MICHAEL BERNARD

might have been the only person who wasn’t surprised in 1989 when the NCCU Eagles won the NCAA Division II national basketball championship 73 to 46, a record-breaking margin of 27 points.

Bernard said he always believed the 13 players he coached that year had something special.

“It was a pleasure to coach a group of young men who were totally dedicated,” said Bernard, who was then in his fourth year as head coach at NCCU. “Through it all, they stayed together, stuck together, worked together, and accomplished some great things.”

56 I NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019

It’s a dream we all have as players and as coaches – to be the very best in a given year.”

— COACH MICHAEL BERNARD The March 1989 game was celebrated again on Feb. 9, 2019, when the university honored the players and coaches during halftime at the Eagles’ game against the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore Hawks.

Coming together to celebrate the three-decade mark was like a reunion of old friends, Bernard said.

“These players have all kept in touch over the past 30 years,” he said. “They

group text and sometimes interact on a weekly basis.”

Bernard coached alongside assistant Greg Jackson, now head coach at Delaware State University, before leaving NCCU for a job at Norfolk State University in 1991. His overall win-loss record at NCCU was 115-56; he was named 1989 National Division II Coach of the Year and CIAA Coach of the Year for 1988 and 1989.

During his tenure at Norfolk State, Bernard led the Spartans to two NCAA regional titles and three tournament appearances, but he says 1989’s Division II championship was a game that stands out.

“It was definitely a pinnacle of my career,” said Bernard, who played basketball at Kentucky State University before becoming a coach. “It’s a dream we all have as players and as coaches – to be the very best in a given year.

That year, we were the best Division II team in the country.”

The former coach said he believes the present-day Eagle basketball team is in great hands under the direction of Coach LeVelle Moton.

“Coach Moton does a great job with his players; he’s an excellent basketball coach,” Bernard added. “I’m certainly rooting for them. Central is very special. It holds a dear place in my heart.”

A LUMN I S POTL I G HT

at h l e t i c s

NCCU Alumni Honored with Hall of Fame Inductions in Spring 2019 Three former North Carolina Central University student-athletes have been honored posthumously for their outstanding contributions to athletics with induction into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame and the Central Collegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Hall of Fame.

Pictured top to bottom:

Willie Bradshaw, Ernie Barnes and S. Dallas Simmons Jr. (center) accepting the award on behalf of his father, the late Dr. S. Dallas Simmons

Artist and gridiron standout Ernie Barnes, who played for the Eagles in the late 1950s, and Willie Bradshaw, who played both football and baseball at NCCU in the late 1940s, were inducted May 3 into the N.C. Sports Hall of Fame. On March 1, S. Dallas Simmons, Ph.D., a double Eagle and former head of the University Relations Office at NCCU, was inducted into the 2019 John B. McLendon CIAA Hall of Fame.

Barnes, a Durham native, began his football career at Durham’s Hillside High School, graduating in 1956. After receiving numerous scholarship offers, Barnes chose to play for what was then North Carolina College at Durham, where former art professor Ed Wilson encouraged his love of drawing and painting. Barnes played for the Eagles until he was drafted by the Baltimore Colts football organization in 1960.

He later played for the New York Titans, San Diego Chargers and Denver Broncos, and in 1965 became the official artist for the American Football League. In 1985, NCCU honored Barnes with induction into NCCU’s Athletics Hall of Fame.

Barnes died in 2009 at age 70.

Bradshaw, another outstanding student-athlete from Hillside High School, presented a double threat for opponents of NCC. While playing football and baseball, he earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education and went on to earn a master’s.

Bradshaw embarked on a career as a high school coach and administrator after graduation, spending 15 years as athletic director at Hillside High School. He also had a stint as athletic director for the Durham City School System and served as president of the North Carolina High School Athletic Directors Association and the North Carolina Coaches Association. He was inducted into the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 1995, the National High School Hall of Fame in 2010, and the NCCU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1985. Bradshaw passed away in 2015 at age 86.

Legendary higher-education administrator Simmons earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business from NCCU and doctoral degree from Duke University.

He began his professional career as the director of NCCU’s Computer Center in 1962, taking on additional duties as assistant professor of administration, assistant to the chancellor and vice chancellor of the University Relations Office. From 1964 to 1966, he served as director of Norfolk State University’s Computer Center.

In 1981, Simmons was named president of St. Paul’s College, where he served until 1985, when he accepted an appointment as president of Virginia Union University.

He died in 2014 at age 74.

NCCU NOW I SUMMER 2019 I 57

FROM THE ARCHIVES /

CIRCA

1920

/

The Sarah P. Avery Auditorium was the FIRST BUILDING on NCCU’s campus, constructed in 1909-10 at the site of the present-day Lee Biology Building.

It was named in honor of Sarah P. Avery’s $1,000 contribution to the university.

The 1920 class photo was taken on the auditorium steps.

Photo cour tesy of t he Nor t h C arolina C ol le c t ion, D urham C ounty L ibrar y, C ont r ibutor : Ju li a Har r is I S ource: D urham Histor ic Photog raphic Archives

Please send address corrections to Advancement Services, Phone: 919-530-7399 / E-mail: altoler@nccu.edu or mail to 1801 Fayetteville Street, Durham, NC 27707. At a cost of $1.53 each, 8,000 copies of this public document were printed for a total of $12,245 in summer 2019 and distributed to NCCU supporters and donors. NCCU is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award baccalaureate, master’s, education specialist and doctoral degrees.

Contact the SACSCOC at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, GA 30033-4097 or call 404-679-4500 for questions about the accreditation of NCCU. Copyright 2019, North Carolina Central University.

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