Post by Bornthrilla on Sept 29, 2008 13:51:59 GMT -5
One of the Greensboro Four now leads A&T trustees
Friday, September 26
(updated 5:36 am)
By Jeff Mills
Staff Writer
GREENSBORO — On a winter day 48 years ago, a young man named Franklin McCain made history when he and three N.C. A&T classmates took seats at the whites-only lunch counter at Woolworth’s in downtown Greensboro.
The civil rights pioneer took another important seat last week, when McCain was elected chairman of A&T’s board of trustees.
He’s the first board chairman in school history to already have a statue of himself (with the Greensboro Four) on the campus lawn.
“The truth is, I rarely think about that statue,” McCain said Thursday. “It’s probably more humbling than anything else. When someone does mention it, it makes me do a little more self-introspection … I tell myself, 'Make sure you continue to deserve the things that have happened to you.’ I’d work just as hard if there wasn’t a statue there.”
But it is there, on a patch of grass in front of the stately Dudley Building. And the man cast in bronze, second from the left, is now first among his alma mater’s 12 trustees.
McCain takes over the post from Velma Speight-Buford. He served as her vice chairman.
“It was time,” said Speight-Buford, who still holds a seat on the board. “I really had an extra year, you know. They waived the bylaws in order for me to be the chair for an extra year. It’s supposed to be you can serve a maximum of two years, but because we were going through such a transition, I had three years as the chair.”
McCain said Speight-Buford’s leadership helped A&T get through turbulent times. On her watch, trustees dealt with the fallout from a massive audit that led to a State Bureau of Investigation probe into school finances. Chancellor James Renick left for another job, and Speight-Buford led the search that found a new chancellor, Stanley Battle, in 2007.
“(Speight-Buford) shared everything with me, and she invited me to participate in everything,” McCain said. “She was a great mentor in that regard. We’re hoping (the transition) is going to be seamless.
“We’ve got different styles, and my No. 1 priority might be her No. 3, but I don’t think we vary much in what we deem significant,” he said.
So what is significant? In their own ways, both said steering A&T on a proactive course — rather than reacting to trouble — will help the school flourish.
Speight-Buford hopes she put down a solid foundation with reforms, including an updated faculty handbook, a performance evaluation plan for trustees, a new committee structure tailored to best use trustees’ individual talents and revised bylaws that hadn’t been updated since the 1970s.
McCain, the board’s new chairman, said he hopes to put a higher priority on nursing, teacher education and engineering. He wants to increase enrollment in graduate programs and find more money for scholarships. He wants students to feel safer and new faculty members to feel at home.
“I hope we can concentrate now on those kinds of things,” McCain said. “You don’t like dealing with those other kinds of (negative) things to be your No. 1 priority. “We had some challenges in the past take time away from growth and development. We’re past that, and I don’t have any reservations about the things I’m responsible for now.”
Contact Jeff Mills at 373-7024 or jeff.mills@news-record.com
Friday, September 26
(updated 5:36 am)
By Jeff Mills
Staff Writer
GREENSBORO — On a winter day 48 years ago, a young man named Franklin McCain made history when he and three N.C. A&T classmates took seats at the whites-only lunch counter at Woolworth’s in downtown Greensboro.
The civil rights pioneer took another important seat last week, when McCain was elected chairman of A&T’s board of trustees.
He’s the first board chairman in school history to already have a statue of himself (with the Greensboro Four) on the campus lawn.
“The truth is, I rarely think about that statue,” McCain said Thursday. “It’s probably more humbling than anything else. When someone does mention it, it makes me do a little more self-introspection … I tell myself, 'Make sure you continue to deserve the things that have happened to you.’ I’d work just as hard if there wasn’t a statue there.”
But it is there, on a patch of grass in front of the stately Dudley Building. And the man cast in bronze, second from the left, is now first among his alma mater’s 12 trustees.
McCain takes over the post from Velma Speight-Buford. He served as her vice chairman.
“It was time,” said Speight-Buford, who still holds a seat on the board. “I really had an extra year, you know. They waived the bylaws in order for me to be the chair for an extra year. It’s supposed to be you can serve a maximum of two years, but because we were going through such a transition, I had three years as the chair.”
McCain said Speight-Buford’s leadership helped A&T get through turbulent times. On her watch, trustees dealt with the fallout from a massive audit that led to a State Bureau of Investigation probe into school finances. Chancellor James Renick left for another job, and Speight-Buford led the search that found a new chancellor, Stanley Battle, in 2007.
“(Speight-Buford) shared everything with me, and she invited me to participate in everything,” McCain said. “She was a great mentor in that regard. We’re hoping (the transition) is going to be seamless.
“We’ve got different styles, and my No. 1 priority might be her No. 3, but I don’t think we vary much in what we deem significant,” he said.
So what is significant? In their own ways, both said steering A&T on a proactive course — rather than reacting to trouble — will help the school flourish.
Speight-Buford hopes she put down a solid foundation with reforms, including an updated faculty handbook, a performance evaluation plan for trustees, a new committee structure tailored to best use trustees’ individual talents and revised bylaws that hadn’t been updated since the 1970s.
McCain, the board’s new chairman, said he hopes to put a higher priority on nursing, teacher education and engineering. He wants to increase enrollment in graduate programs and find more money for scholarships. He wants students to feel safer and new faculty members to feel at home.
“I hope we can concentrate now on those kinds of things,” McCain said. “You don’t like dealing with those other kinds of (negative) things to be your No. 1 priority. “We had some challenges in the past take time away from growth and development. We’re past that, and I don’t have any reservations about the things I’m responsible for now.”
Contact Jeff Mills at 373-7024 or jeff.mills@news-record.com
