A&T's new chancellor must have some Aggie Pride
Sunday, April 26, 2009
By Jeri Rowe
Staff WriterGREENSBORO — They’ll start searching for a new leader at N.C. A&T on Monday.
They’ll converge behind closed doors and start poring through the applications of people who want to lead a university that’s been a way of life for so many for so long.
You see it every fall during homecoming. At least 40,000 alums spill into our city for a few days and end up spending at least $12 million, a figure that Hulk-stomps anything Greensboro’s five other colleges try to do in terms of economic clout.
A&T is a piston in our municipal engine. But it’s more than that. Just ask any grad, any student, any person crowding the curb and barking “Aggie Pride!” during the homecoming parade in October.
Or better yet, ask a boy named Nathan. He lives in Clinton.
He’s 11, the first cousin of Javonne Weathers, an A&T senior. Nathan has at least three A&T sweatshirts, given to him on his birthday and for two Christmases. And they’re all from Weathers.
Like thousands of others, Nathan has come to homecoming. And when he comes, or when he sees Weathers on holidays and breaks, he often asks the same question.
“I wonder, when I get your age, if I am going to able to wear my A&T sweatshirts still?’’ Nathan asks.
Nathan wants to go to A&T. He wants to be an engineer.
“Me coming to college is more than getting a degree,’’ said Weathers, the first generation in her family to go to college. “It’s providing a pathway for members of my family to be better than me.”
That’s it. Aggie Pride.
A&T, which was founded in 1891, was built under the long shadow of racism. Since then, it has become a bricks-and-mortar example of black achievement, and it has provided generations a pathway to middle-class success and beyond.
Yet, for the past several years, A&T has struggled with stability, financial issues, leadership and academic achievement.
Although no criminal charges came from it, audits found university officials mishandled hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars.
Our dollars.
Students dropped out or were put on academic probation, whittling away what many inside and outside the A&T community regard as a litmus test of academic success: graduation and retention rates.
In spring 2007, one out of every four students — 25 percent — was on academic probation. By spring 2009, the statistic has dropped to 12 percent.
Now peek into the classroom.
Right now, A&T has 110 vacant teaching positions — more than any school in the UNC system. Next year, there will be fewer classes and the remaining professors will teach more classes with more students.
Then, look at the fourth floor of the Lewis C. Dowdy Administration Building, where the chancellor’s office sits at the end of the hall.
It’s been a revolving door of leadership. Since 1999, when Edward Fort retired, A&T has had two chancellors: James Renick and Stanley Battle.
Now, A&T needs a third.
After 19 months on the job, Battle announced his resignation Feb. 24, effective June 30. His mother died on Christmas, and he’s said he’s leaving for family and personal reasons.
But beyond a two-sentence statement, Battle has said nothing more publicly.
“I don’t understand where he’s coming from,’’ said Tate Williams, a retired Air Force colonel, retired A&T professor and a member of the A&T Class of 1964, who earned a degree in engineer physics.
“Being a scientist, you like to know the reason for things. The reason why. Saying personal reasons doesn’t tell me much.’’
Without anything beyond 37 words, you can only speculate what happened — whether it was problems with Battle’s management style or his push for academic achievement or his … what?
Still, there’s a bigger issue here.
“It’s about the future of the university,’’ said Syene Jasmin, A&T’s incoming student body president. “We need to create stability. We have an economic recession, a budget deficit. We’re losing teachers, and truly and honestly, this is about education.’’
That brings us to Monday, the first big day of many days to come.
The search committee will begin going through at least 18 resumes to find the next leader of A&T.
According to committee Chairman Franklin McCain, everyone is on the same page on what A&T needs: an academic visionary who can inspire, raise money, politick and shake a few hands.
And McCain said he believes someone can be picked by June 30.
But really, does that academic Superman — or Superwoman — exist?
“They want someone to walk on water,’’ said Weathers, the A&T senior, “and that’s not going to happen.’’
Whatever happens, A&T will survive. It’s inherent in the university’s DNA. A&T was born out of the struggle for equality and captured the spotlight because of its tenacity in fighting for equal rights.
Reade more:
www.news-record.com/content/2009/04/25/article/at_s_new_chancellor_must_have_some_aggie_pride
