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The following article is a duplicate of the column that appeared in the March 2, 2008 issue of the Palladium Item for anyone who missed it there, so I will not have to repeat all the facts in the column below. Those who read the original article can skip to the addendum below, if they wish to do so, for more informal commentary.

Many residents of Richmond and Wayne County will remember Charlie Nelms, who was inaugurated Feb. 22 as chancellor of North Carolina Central University in an impressive ceremony before 2,500 in attendance.

NCCU is a historically black university of 8,500 students located in Durham, N.C. now 98 years old and currently the fastest growing university in the North Carolina higher education system.

The installation of Dr. Nelms, or simply “Charlie” as he insists on being called, as chief executive officer of NCCU caps a distinguished career in education which began in Richmond where he was associate dean for student development at Earlham College from 1973 to 1977. After a year in student development at his alma mater, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, he was chosen as associate dean for academic affairs at IU Northwest (Gary) where he served until 1984, when he became vice president for student services at Sinclair Community College in Dayton.

It was in 1987 that Charlie began a seven-year tenure as chancellor of IU East in Richmond, the time period when he is best remembered, when he led the local university’s expansion as the fastest growing college in the state, along with an unusually active list of volunteer efforts in support of local education, economic development, and causes for social betterment.

In 1994, Charlie accepted the position of chancellor of the University of Michigan at Flint, an urban campus of more than 6,500 students. While there, he resolved a sizable campus budget deficit, reversed a four-year enrollment decline, and secured more than $75 million in private gifts to UMF.

In 1998, he was recruited by IU President Myles Brand to head up the office of diversity and student affairs at Bloomington. His successful career there speaks for itself as he has been repeatedly promoted to other duties, and until leaving for North Carolina served as vice president for student affairs and institutional development with wide-ranging responsibilities covering system-wide university planning, research and enrollment, among others.

At the inauguration, Erskine Bowles, president of the 16-campus University of North Carolina system, introduced Charlie as “a proven leader…a man who leads by example (who) has earned a reputation for great integrity, sound judgment and an unwavering commitment to student success … I am thrilled that Charlie Nelms has agreed to join our leadership team.”

In turn, Charlie, in his inauguration address, made it clear there are changes coming to NCCU. He told the audience that historically black colleges are still relevant, pointing to statistics that show they “graduate 30 percent of African-Americans receiving four-year degrees overall and 40 percent of blacks who receive four-year degrees in science, technology and mathematics.”

Then he outlined five “imperatives” of change that must become part of the NCCU vision, adding that, “If we are to remain relevant, competitive and responsive in the 21st century, students, faculty, staff, the community and the alumni must invest in the vision.”

In a private conversation later, he emphasized that “raising expectations” is the most important goal to be achieved at NCCU.

Charlie’s personal vision is for North Carolina Central University to become “one of the best comprehensive, public, liberal arts universities in the Southeast.”

There were 15 speeches preceding Charlie’s half-hour address, including one by Charlie’s former boss, Adam Herbert, ex-president of Indiana University, plus five musical performances, during the three-hour ceremony. Charlie’s brother, Rev. Roy C. Nelms, pastor of Union Valley Baptist Church, Wynne, Ark., gave the benediction.

A sizable contingent of Nelms’ relatives was in attendance, seated upfront, including of course, in the first seats, Charlie’s wife, Jeanetta, and son, Rashad, a graduation of the University of Michigan Law School, who flew in from Rome, Italy, where he is a policy officer with the United Nations World Food Programme. At the reception afterward, at least 1,000 persons were in attendance, and every one of them appeared to want to shake Charlie’s hand, which he did, for more than two hours.

The following views and observations may not be necessary to round out the Charlie Nelms Story, but they are added (no extra charge) for anyone who wants to read about some of the background and impressions surrounding his inauguration.

RANDOM THOUGHTS ON CHARLIE’S INAUGURATION

Maybe the place to begin is with what is called a “Full Disclosure,” meaning to admit any prejudice in viewpoint. I am continuing this report at some length, because I happen to be a great personal admirer of Charlie and his career. Some might call this “hero worship,” but I’d prefer to describe it as recognizing Charlie’s life among us as a gift we all received and, like most life gifts, we seldom acknowledge them at the time. Whatever.

Let’s start by mentioning the flight from Indy to Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina airport. Have you ever been in Durham? If you ever go there, look out. It is the easiest city to get lost in that I’ve ever been in. Sometime I may describe the most frustrating night of getting lost I’ve ever had, but not this time.

How about some notes on the Inauguration Ceremony. It’s hard to describe or overemphasize the importance of the affair to those close to North Carolina Central University. Even beyond the usual “alma mater” feeling, it was obvious that nearly every one of the 2,500 people in attendance had a personal feeling for NCCU as “their” college, perhaps because it is what’s called a “historically black” college, and many of the grads live in the same neighborhood. You could also feel it in the remarks of the 15 persons (that’s right, 15) who spoke on the program before Charlie. It seemed as though anyone with a title was asked to speak, but not in the pro forma way you usually hear, but with a fervor that clearly implied (you will think I’m making this up, but it’s true) they were really glad that Charlie had come to be their leader. From my position in the audience, it made the three-hour program go faster than similar ceremonies.

While I won’t burden you with a recitation of Charlie’s entire acceptance speech, a few highlights are worth noting.

As you might imagine, NCCU was started as a private institution back in 1910, because blacks were not admitted then to the public colleges and universities. At the beginning, it was known as the North Carolina Religious Training Institution, founded by an icon named James Shepard, who remained its president until his death in 1947. Not until 1923 was it publicly supported and re-named the Durham State Normal School, and only two years later, the legislature re-named it again as the North Carolina College for Negroes, the nation’s first state-supported liberal arts college for African-American students. Again, in 1947, the General Assembly changed the name to North Carolina College at Durham, and finally, in 1969, it became as it is today, North Carolina Central University. One can almost trace the history of race relations and civil rights by those name changes.

As mentioned above, Charlie left no doubt that changes are ahead for NCCU, based on his vision, reflecting the theme of the inauguration itself, “Preparing Students to Lead in a Global Society.” “First and foremost,” he declared, “we must raise the expectations we have for ourselves.” In line with this thought, he received his most spontaneous response when he became very specific by stating: “Currently, too many of our students are entering one door and exiting another , with a great deal of debt but with no degree and lacking viable skills that will make them competitive in the global marketplace. This must change. Students, I would suggest to you that if you do not have graduation as your destination, you may want to consider transferring to some place with lower expectations.” He got a big applause for that, especially from the faculty. Afterwards, I told Charlie I’d never heard so much applause in an acceptance speech. I told him he had received almost as many applauses as George W. Bush had receive in his State of the Union Speech – which I’m not sure was a nice compliment.

Charlie speaks frankly. As one of this basic goals, he declared, “We must create and nurture a stronger sense of community within NCCU…We must embrace collaboration…Let it be known from this day forward that the silos that permeate the culture and landscape of NCCU must be dismantled and the component parts shipped to wherever antiquated practices and ideas are buried.” That’s pretty straight talk to the faculty. To the students he said: “Respect and civility must be the hallmarks of this heightened sense of community. Disrespect must be replaced with self-respect…Profane language must be replaced by language that recognizes the dignity and humanity of each person. The attitude of ‘each person for himself or herself’ must be replaced by attitudes of mutual well-being for all members of the NCCU community.” Have you heard reprimends like that in other inauguration addresses?

Just one other comment on the acceptance speech. He said: “While North Carolina Central University will continue its historic mission to be responsive to the needs of African-American students, we will also expand our commitment to meet the educational needs of a student body that is diverse in race and other socioeconomic characteristics.” That sounds like he envisions integration of the student body. I have no inside information on his plans, but it sounds like he plans to do that – after 98 years.

A few more personal comments: One that I probably should not make, but I’m going to do so anyway, is my feeling as I walked about the campus (which is an urban collection of academic buildings, not the expansive landscapes we see here). Especially at the reception held in a large fieldhouse, I had the strong impression that I could be at a similar occasion at an Earlham Homecoming or I.U. East Graduation. Here were the same type of people – the smiling president or chancellor taking congratulations, the revered senior faculty meeting returning alums, the young comers regaling classmates of their worldly successes, the students in all sorts of regalia, the college delegates in their gowns. It was all the same environment – except for one thing: Everyone had a black face. Yes, these were all people of accomplishment, proud of their college — just like us. It was a moving experience, one that those of us who are caucasian do not often have.

Finally (yes, finally), the reception was a great celebration for everyone there – at least l,000 well-wishers. As mentioned earlier, every one there seemed to want to shake Charlie’s hand and, if so, he shook every one of them. Tempting kiosks of different foods dotted the floor and, of course, I had to take advantage of most of them (including the chocolate syrup fountain). As I wandered away with my plate, I realized I didn’t know a soul in the room except Jeanetta Nelms, and she was busy. So I finally sat down at a table with two empty chairs. The two women talking there stopped long enough to greet me and finally asked where I was from (they could tell I was not an NCCU grad). When I told them Richmond, Indiana, one of the ladies said, “Well, I’m from Gary, Indiana.” Subsequent inquiries disclosed that in addition to coming all that way for the occasion, she had not only known the Nelms while Charlie served at I.U. Northwest in that city, but even more amazing, she was the pediatrician who delivered their son, Rashad. She’s still in practice there.

Well, one more comment. Many persons here knew Jeanetta Nelms when the Nelms lived here but may not remember that she was formerly a math teacher, and for the last few years in Bloomington, Ind., she has been director of the 21st Century Scholars program for that area. She is still a very lively and outgoing person. Also, for the first time in many years, I had the opportunity and pleasure to talk at some length to their son, Rashad. He is a handsome and impressive young man who is carving an admirable career as a policy officer in the U.N.’s World Food Programme. He planned to return later that day to his assigned location in Rome, Italy.

At last, the crowd thinned out and I could impose on Charlie for several pictures. When he found out about my agony of getting lost the previous night (I had taken a taxi that morning to avoid getting lost for the inauguration), he beckoned to his security assistant and told him, “Be sure to take this fellow back to his hotel,” which the man did – and even showed up the next morning and provided an escort while I followed him to the airport.

So ends this rather over-extended report of one weekend trip to an important event in the life of a very fine man. He has now come full circle from his youth as a share-choppers son and a student in what amounted to a segregated college in Arkansas to a wider world of opportunity. Now he has returned, in the twilight of his career, to serve a historically black college in helping their young students and graduates break free from the restraints of yesteryears and move into successful career and ways of service to those in need of all races and conditions. It is a noble calling.

Those of us in what was once his home town have enjoyed his friendship here as we have benefited from his time with us, and we wish him well in his challenging new adventure.

We have not heard the last of Charlie Nelms.

Vic Jose :: Mar.03.2008 :: Uncategorized ::

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