Where we’re going as an institution um matter of fact this is going to be a little bit of my my my um my words for tomorrow uh so we’re going to be uh celebrating um 157 years tomorrow a757 right and so in that time period uh
So and we’ll talk a little bit about that but the a part of my on the program tomorrow I will be talking about where we are so we have a past president going to be showing up he’s going to talk about his error uh Carl flamer who was
President um during his time period and then um then we have Tracy Flemings oh absolutely abely absolutely and Tracy Flemings thank you who was the interim president before me she will talk about her time period as president of the institution and then I’m going to talk about where we’re
Going right and I’m going to give you guys a sneak peek which a lot of people have not seen is really the future of bar scoa College um so I always want to start off you know and I thought about I was thinking about today like how you know which I’m
Glad that the uh that we have this setup here um I was thinking about you know how do you start off a conversation about a barber scoa college right um and what it means to the community so so first I got to take you guys back because you know before you know where
We’re going you got to definitely know where we’ve been and and that really involves the the nation right so may I think it was May of 1865 is when May 13th to be exact of 1865 is when the cingil war end officially ended and as you all know you know throughout history you know those of us who know the history of our nation um the country was in a really tough
Place yeah in 1865 right um and so you you you had the South who was looking its wounds from the north you had the north who was licking their wounds from the south right um you know brothers fighting Brothers um and all of it built
On the cusp of uh slavery and and and the the abolishing of slavery so fast forward just a year and a little bit a half year and a half later Baris Chicago just founded you know here in Concord North Carolina wow you know um and it was the first
Institution founded in the South for newly freed African slaves africanamerican female slaves female females so it was a seminary school for only women SL uh former women slaves um and so uh the Presbyterian Church God bless them um uh Luke dorland who was the minister who made his way uh from
Ohio here to Concord North Carolina um he was his job was to find some land in the South um to establish this new school because he felt that was his mission uh to be able to create a space where um women that were just um uh free from slavery would be able to
Be educated um and of course in that time educated education for them was uh knowing how to sew knowing how to be hous makers um and do those types of things and also know the gospel you know that was that was their that was their whole thing
So Reverend Doan made his way here he found the land and he said this is the spot like wow W right I’m just I can’t believe that uh but it was what it was and in January of 1867 barbar Scotia was officially founded um it wasn’t until November of 18 6869 that the governor um officially chartered uh the institution and they had been operating and they had been Gathering students and doing um you know laying the ground work um and it was it
Was just it was called just the Seminary and everybody knew about the seminary in the conord area now as I read the history of the institution it says that Reverend Doran um in public the Ministers of the area would say in private they would say you’re doing the right thing you’re doing
You’re doing God’s work I’m say he said they would say they would say you’re doing the right thing in in private they would say that uh you’re doing the right thing uh but in public they absolutely could not demonstrate that because they were still upset from the Civil War and
Some things don’t change and some things don’t change and so he of course as he navigated the dirt roads of this area uh he would find Young women who were on the farm and uh and and just in in the communities that were in the area and
Encourag them to come to Barb sco Chic college and once the word got out they started to come from all over the South right and so in 1877 the very first building um was built on the campus officially that’s Graves Hall that you all see from Cabas um from CIS Avenue so
So it’s one right along one of the ones right along CIS Avenue so if you’re facing the college you’re facing the college there are there are the the Brick colors change so there’s one that’s you know kind of lightish pinkish then there’s one that’s kind of darkish the kind of
Darkish one is Graves Hall and that was built in 1877 wow 1877 and then they added the extension of it which everyone knows as the roof that got the big hole in it uh that extension was added in 1884 because they were growing they were growing and then in 1890 they added
Faith Hall which is the the other building that’s connected to the very front with the tower uh and so Alto together those two buildings could technically could house up to 700 students whoa wow could house up to 700 students you know bad wise now Graves hall because of the way that it was
Built Graves Hall the way that it was built has these enormous rooms like they’re like the size they’re like this size and so they have multiple bed they have like five and six beds in it in Graves Hall this is exactly not a classroom not a classroom dorms dorms
Dorms now in the first phase of of graves Hall the one that faces the street the first phase I brought um oh Y come on in come on come on yeah come come oh really all right yes may I get you a glass of water glass of wine
Water be sh say yes don’t be sh don’t be sh no be sure um so um so we were talking about I was talking about Graves Hall yes and the history of graves Hall and so in Graves Hall uh the the initial initial rooms were pretty decent sizes and so um of
Course I snuck over so let me just say this you know being on the campus right now um and I know that there are alumni who yes alumni who you know they have amazing Stories and they come and they share them with me uh about the campus
You know but you know I’m on there a lot by myself so it’s like I’m like this kid I have this whole campus to myself and I know that I’m working hard to one day have a bunch of students and I can’t wait for that day but I technically I’m
Enjoying the quiet right now as I kind of navigate around and and I’m learning right I’m finding all these treasures and so um you know so I know Grava looks very scary but you know but I made my way into Grava and went into one of the
Rooms like I said there are some rooms that have four or five beds you know that are that were in there right um and so Graves Hall uh Then There came Faith Hall uh in the 1890s and then of course then subsequently the rest of the campus
So but shirle Berry Hall Kart hall and then the the more traditional uh campuses uh buildings that are there um Seminary as we as it was called in the early 18 1800s it was really becoming a place where um word of mouth is what the name of Barbara Scotia was in
The wind and that’s how the population grew but then of course in the Great Depression came and many of you know what that meant for our country and so it became very challenging for the institution so in the 1930s there was another Seminary School
In the South and let me take it back so I don’t know if you guys have ever heard of a college in Atlanta called Spellman College who Spellman Spellman College it’s an all girls college in Atlanta was called Spellman College uh it was actually founded by um um I think it was
Rockefeller’s um rockefeller’s wife made the name was Spelman so really John de rockefeller’s wife is you know here the one who funded Spellman College and so Spellman College loves to say that they are the oldest uh um all girls college in the South but it’s really and when I tell you that there
Will come a time where I will regain that mantle and make sure that the story is known that it was us who established the first all girls college in the South they were they came in the 1890s they’re M babies compared to our 1867 um so so moving moving past that
Time period the once that great compression came the and in the 1930s there was another seminary in Alabama um in an an ofon Alabama called Barber Memorial um Seminary school and so of course the Presbyterian Church you know making the decisions business decisions that you know they had they had now
Created all these colleges all over the country um but the resources were very limited and so that’s how Scotia which was named after um one of the one of the um early who was from Scotland is where Scotia actually came from um that’s how we merged to become Barber Scotia from
The Seminary that was in Alabama that closed and so and at that time Johnson C Smith that you all know that’s there in Charlotte Johnson C Smith was an all males college and so they were like our sister school that was founded also by the Presbyterian church and so we would
Share resources we would share uh a lot of back and forth and in the early books that I’ve read um Johnson C Smith or at that time bidd um uh college and and and Barbara Scotia were very very close in in in that regard so now we were in all
Girl school up until the 1950s and then in 1954 the first male came to barbar scoa college right um I met uh an alumnist who was a part of that first class she’s a fir cracker to this day and um she talked about how when the
When the boys came and how it just really changed the Dynamics of the campus but a little a little fact the first male that was on the campus was a white man he was there for a whole year before the next class came of the first
10 black males the first male on the campus the first male student was a white guy do we know his name who was he ah I don’t know I got to keep on searching I got to keep on searching but it was a White Guy and um but he came because
He um uh the president at the time um they never they didn’t tell the Press you know they they kind of kept him hidden because they they didn’t want it to be news that he came to a school for that used to be formerly black girls
They wanted it to be that he came to school at bares Scotia and so for a year they kind of kept him hidden um and until eventually so by the time the news got out and the reporters came um they said we heard and they said
Why is this news it’s he’s clearly been here now for five six months why is that even why is that even important and they were like wow and then they he said they left and and they never ran story about it you know because it would have
Created a whole another stir in 1954 right that’s you know what we didn’t what is what we didn’t need right and so throughout the history of the campus after that there was growth that took place but it was always challenges along the way right um one of the things and
All of you many of you know is that when you think about historically black colleges and universities here in the country uh you always see the stories that pop up about the um how many of them have been underfunded if you’re a state institution you think about the fact
That the general assembly didn’t allocate funds properly as they did to other institutions a lot of that comes you know a lot of that is because you allocate dollars to the institution that you go to and if you don’t if you’re not in the room then
Who’s going to fight on your behalf so you think about in the early 1900s when in the late 1800s and the early 1900s North Carolina has 11 HBCU we have one we’re one of um in the South we are one of the states that have the most historically black colleges in
The South uh Alabama Mississippi is right then is North Carolina we have 11 and of the 11 of the 11 uh six I believe what is it um eleth City fa State uh Central uh North Carolina ENT win State University are all public I think those are the
Those are the public ones um and so think about the fact that they were most of them were founded in the late 1800s early 1900s they didn’t have any representatives in the general assembly they didn’t have any graduates and so who is going to stand in the gap for
Them you know when the time comes for allocation of free of funds they had nobody and so therefore for almost a hundred years over 100 years these institutions have not received the resources that they need in order for them to be successful and so it took individuals pulling themselves up by their
Bootstraps uh and finding whatever resources they could in order to get the colleges to continue to be operational because why because we understood that in our community in the black community um if I’m going to go to a place that’s going to teach me that I need to go I’m
Going to go to more than likely HBC you that was really the institutions that would only allow us in in the early 1900s and so our institutions were important you know and so by them but you get there and we may not have the textbooks that we need or we may not
Have the chalkboard or we may not have the and so you’re so you’re scrapping for resources in the community that you’re in in order to teach the individuals and then you wonder how um how a Mary McLoud Bon becomes who she becomes you know who went to a barb
Scotia um you know there are so many figures I just learned um Her Name Escapes me but the first black pharmacist female pharmacist in America was a Barb Scotia gr you know uh and and and and and it goes and it goes on and on you think about the resources that
They did not have then but these individuals go out into the world and be do extraordinary things that’s why when people say why are HBCU important because of that because of those types of individuals and the environment that they created so Barbara sco has had an amazing an amazing journey now of course
Um when you get to the point where we in 2004 when we lost our accreditation there’s a lot of reasons why these things happen right um for us as an institution um Barbara Scotia took out a loan a Federal Loan um and the way that it works is that
When you take out a Federal Loan you got to pay it back you got to pay it back um but to pay it back you got to have the right business formula enrollment drives everything at a college plain as simple as that enrollment drives everything at a college well unfortunately we didn’t
Have the enrollment to support not only the repayment of that but to support the other operations of the college and so when the sax accreditation team comes in they’re looking at your books they’re looking at your you know your finances they’re looking at all these um um how you’re delivering your instruction to
The students and unfortunately they said no this is not right now what’s interesting again as I continue to read my history there um the president of the sack of Sachs at that time go ahead let me just say that southern Association of Colleges and Schools sorry yes absolutely the accrediting
Body um it was it was quietly said that the president at that time in their early in the early 2000s was not really friendly to HBCU there were a couple of other HBCU that all fell under the same situation um that lost their accreditation two of them uh bth cookman I
Wanted went um and it was another one that appealed and they won their appeal because they argued that it was basically racist what they were doing for some strange reason we didn’t appeal and I can’t you know I wasn’t there so I don’t know what what the answer is we
Didn’t appeal and of course that put us on a path for the last 20 years of where we are today right so fast forward To uh fast forward to the last 20 years we’ve had multiple presidents who have come uh who have attempted to lay out a vision we came very close to accreditation when Dr Olaf um um was the president um and at that time we started seeking accreditation through um no no
Longer saxs but through another organization called trackx and so there are five various accrediting bodies that the Department of Education recognizes that says okay if you accredited through one of these we we recognize you Dr Ola at the time went through tracks it was 16 things that you have to check off
That if you meet the requirements you’re good to go we we met 15 of the 16 the piece that we missed was the financial piece because at that time we had a $12 million debt hanging over our head from the loan the loan that was used to revitalize Faith Hall uh which is
Absolutely amazing inside it is beautiful so they did a good job with the money um but the loan was still hanging over our head still hanging no I will say that uh in the last administration because it’s always always politics um that $12 million was forgiven for Barbara
Scotia and so what it did was is that it took that off the books for but it didn’t mean that we didn’t have other challenges right so go ahead yes sir I just want to ask a question so what is the so the college has not been operational for
Years what is the body that is they can afford to hire you and sure whatever who who is that what is that it’s the Lord uh so so so technically the col has never closed in 157 years so it never closed it never closed it has always been operational uh whether there’s half
Students or through admin you know Administration you know because you could call today I need my transcript I need you know you can it’s still it’s never closed but to your point you know the body that has allowed for it to stay open is this alumni the alumni has done
An amazing job um of continue to Rally around the institution now you know it’s a lot of emotion you know when it comes to your school right and a lot of emotion but the reality is that the alumni has done an amazing job I give
You an example in fiscal year um 2022 to 2023 the alumni raised in just their giving $194,000 that is what it’s allowed to keep the grass cut so when you drive by like a jungle um you know and and to be able to address minor maintenances that
C colle has had um and um and be able to cover you know the salary of the maintenance folks and so forth and so on uh so that’s why that answers the question and so after getting the $12 million uh the $12 million forgiven then
You get to a place where now we have other challenges that we have to now start prioritizing so the truth is is that you know so we have a challenge at the Concord city level we have a challenge at the county for cabreras level we have a challenge at
The state of North Carolina level still and we have a challenge at the at the um state of North Carolina level so there’s money that’s owed in all those areas right now in different capacities so that’s the first challenge right and then you have a infrastructure that has been
Crumbling for the last 20 years so when everyone sees that big hole that’s engra H that the news loves to capture that started with a leak you know some people come on Camp like so when what when was the fire did the fire tank place and yeah I
Say no no no it’s started with a leak so when you think about um when you don’t address leaks in your life they tend to grow and that’s what has happened with the institution over the last 20 years of um there have been individuals and I will you know leadership everything
Rises and falls with leadership um and there have been some tremendous folks that have really tried to take on the task of trying to move the needle from Barb scoa College it’s a heavy lift uh but one that requires a different way of thinking um most folks that are on
Higher ed approach the college like a traditional College leader when I interviewed for the job I said that I am not your traditional College leader I’m a businessman a businessman who’s had the Good Fortune to um be in various spaces whether it was in the military
Whether it was being the mayor of a city uh whether it was running a company or whether it was being a senior executive uh at a fortune uh 20 company and that experience allows for me to see the Dynamics of our of of bar sca’s challenges a little bit different um and
So we are approaching this very surgically as it relates to how the future of the institution is going to be so the first thing you got to think of is what is a Barb sction going to look like when you think about the challenges
Of of HBCU how do we not fall back into the same trap the beautiful thing everyone asks why did you take this job you know why is it number one because I feel like I have a responsibility to not allow another historically black college to close on my watch
That’s why I mean that is exactly why I took the job you cannot have had the experience that I’ve had and not be able to thank an HBCU like a Barbera Scotia I’ve been able to have the amazing journey that I had because there were individuals who came through a barber
Scotia to kick down doors for me and so I am the recipient of all of these people that I speak of and so here I have an opportunity to save a college and history while then begin making sure that we create an environment for the Next Generation justes want to be a part
Of that would you tell the brief story of how you got the confirmation that this was your role yeah so um so I was watching the news one day um and I saw the story where the city of Concord had dissolved the committee that they had the commission that they had on
Working with the college that commission came about because 10 years ago the city tore down dorms that were dilapidated um then for 10 years they never sent a bill to the city to the I mean the city never sent a bill to the college but they created a commission to
Kind of talk through how can we work together some of the leadership felt very suspicious of the city that really it was about having a land grab now you know the reality is uh black folks you know can have a level of Suspicion to white folks because of our history makes
Yeah you know our history tells us that you know and so the leadership didn’t feel comfortable with really what the city was trying to do so there wasn’t really good communication that took place which I believe and I and I say this to my Board of Trustees now I think
That’s where we went wrong right but you know that was that was 20 years ago and it’s been like I mean 10 years ago and it’s been going like that since so I saw the news report now outside of being the president of Barbara Scotia I am the
President of a of an international eternity right so uh in the culture of the Black Culture there is these nine organizations called The Divine n right of historically black fraternities and sororities five fraternities four sororities that were all founded in the early 1900s um and I am the international
President of five Beta Sigma fraternity Incorporated uh F Beta Sigma is um we have you know 100,000 members we have over 600 chapters around the world some of the most extraordinary men have men of 5 Sigma from you know from John Lewis um uh to Philip a Randolph who was
Really the architect uh huie P Newton uh e uh the the writ of the black uh national anthem uh James Welden Johnson to Elijah Cummings to uh just amazing men who have done amazing work um in our commun Harry bellante I love Harry he was I remember when I first met him he
Was like Oh Brother Ray he was so he was so cool cool um and so so I went to the chair of the board and I said hey you know president of FL say you know what can we do to help Barbara scoa College I mean it’s in my
Backyard you know I live in I literally live off of Mala Creek I’m 11 miles from the college I like what can I do and so she said you know you should come to this we’re having a Gayla 1867 Gayla and she said you should come help us you
Know raise money you can meet some of the folks and she said well maybe you you know maybe you get On The Board of Trustees or get on the committee to help and I was like absolutely so I walked into the building and all of a sudden
These folks started coming up to me and saying oh my God Chris Ray we know you we see are you applying for the presidency what wait who what no the presidency no I I no absolutely not I am not applying to the Pres bar SC that is
Not I’m here to help uh do some other other things um but you know folks kept on coming at the Giga and so I said well what is this though here you are you know so I woke up the next morning and I went to the college and I started walking
Around the college and I walked around the college for almost 3 weeks every single morning praying if this is what I’m supposed to do and one morning morning and one morning I saw it like it was as clear as day I saw the buildings I saw people walking I saw
Students I I saw it like it was I just saw it and I knew this is what I’m supposed to do um and what was even more confirmation was I had a dream and I drank this oh I dream this I mean I had a dream and I dreamt this I don’t know
How it popped in my head I don’t know how it got in my dream um I went to the board chair I said I’ll do it I’ll apply that’s what I said I’ll apply I didn’t even I didn’t even I didn’t even say yes I said I’ll
Apply um cuz I mean it was other people who were applying I don’t know if I’m going to get it you know um but I knew that I knew in my heart I was it was going to happen because I saw it and so of course eventually I went through the
Process and they narrowed it down you know the three of us and they interviewed all three of us and I walked into there the whole plan of the future of bar Scotia walked out with the unanimous vote from the Board of Trustees to be the next president and so
Here we are but let me tell you what was the punctuation however whatever happened before this particular board the board chair also had this Vision oh W right so I was rustling through like I said said through a closet and behind on the floor was this I almost passed out it
Was in a closet on the floor but this is what I dreamt this is what I dreamt and so I was of course because because it was so clear in my mind of course I I got you know folks that are in architect I was
Going to just you know take what was in my head and bring it alive this was on the floor like this in a closet so of course I’m wrestling around I picked it up and I had a whole moment in the closet I had a whole moment in the
Closet and so this is in my office now because this is where I’m trying to take the college um and this represents historic this represents historic um Farm schip all of this is the future all of that is the future whether it’s new dorms new academic buildings a new um
Athletic Facility uh and so I know where I want to take us so I I have to now reimagine what is this college going to look like now it’s what are we going to stand for and what is going to be our mission as an institution so you can’t
Be so in the military I was a uh Information Technology officer with a cyber security background um so after you know you know hanging out in Iraq and Afghanistan I um I I decided I Sor of people trying to kill me so I decided to um you know get
Out the Army and I called uh John Lewis uh John Lewis uh was my mentor uh for a long time I met John Lewis in 2013 no 2003 I mean I met him in 2003 at a at a at a conf because he was a sigma he was
A five Beta Sigma he’s a member of my fraternity and they had told me they said Brother Ray we have a VIP that we want you to we want you to you know Shadow and make sure he’s fine I like well who is this I can’t say it I like I’m not
I mean he’s that was of a VIP you can’t even tell me who it is it’s like you know and of course and I’m ashamed to say when I initially who’s this guy you know and then they were like that’s John Lewis I’m like I don’t know no John
Lewis you know I I I and I and I told him that he you know put me you know he put his arm around me and for the whole weekend that I was shadowing him at the very end he said young brother you’re going to run for office
One day and when you do I’ll be there his exact words I said I will never run for public office I will never do that of course when I ran for mayor uh n years later John came and campaigned for me and I ran for mayor
Three times I won all three times he came to campaign for me all three times awesome just amazing amazing amazing man and um so I went I worked on Capitol Hill with him for a little bit while I was trying to figure out what I wanted
To do next so I went to Barnes & Noble one day bought a l book and I read it for two weeks then I went into dad um and then I applied to way and Mary and I got into way and Mary and that’s where I
Went to law school while I was in law school I was like oh my God I’m a broke college student again so I said I need to go back to the military so I joined the National Guard and while I was in the National Guard they realized that I
Was the only National Guard member that had a it cyber background and was studying law so I started writing cyber security policy for the Department of Defense while I was in law school the day after I graduated from law school the next day DOD hired me and I was a
Gs13 right out of Law School uh writing policy for the Department of Defense um and I wrote a white paper about how the National Guard could not augment the active duty component because we weren’t ready that white paper made itself all the way to Congress and they ended up
Funding uh what they now have as a cyber Brigade for the National Guard because of a white paper that I wrote in 201 11 you know which is absolutely just crazy and I got to oversee the project and I did that before I retired two years old
Um in 2022 and in that and in that experience coming here I said oh we have to reimagine what a Barbara scoa can offer and so with my IT background you know we’re going to launch a School of Technology that focuses on Cyber artificial intelligence and bio um U bioanalytics uh because why
CU you can’t have an Eli Lily three miles down the road from the institution and I’d have a feeder for them and so what we’re going to do is we’re going to make sure we stand firm on Our Roots barbas Scotia was a seminary school and
So we make we’re going to make sure we have a school of divinity uh for barbar Scotia um and so we now have five courses that we’re offering at the institution uh we started classes this semester for the first time um officially in a long time so we’re going
To have we’re offer now an Associates in um religion a bachelor’s in theology a bachelor’s in religion a master’s in business science and a bus and a Bachelor’s in Business Administration with a concentration in entrepreneurship Information Systems marketing um uh human resources and something about risk management
Those are the four first five courses we’re offering for now because when you’re going through the re accreditation process the the more you offer the more infrastructure you have to have and so we don’t have that infrastructure yet and so my my my job is just to get us across the finish line
For the accreditation process which our packet will be um submitted in October of this year um it takes about 15 to 18 months while the packet is submitted uh but in that process I am fully confident that once our packet is submitted in the fall of
2026 uh or either at the beginning or at the end we’re going to be fully accredited as an institution again wow that’s the future yes sir okay uh as far as students coming in and affording college do you have to be accredited or do you have to be on the path towards
Accreditation for students to receive pel grams loans such like that great great great question so um in the beginning yes so yes you have to be accredited you know you have to be accredited um to get um um fully to get federal financial aid so started thinking about
That and how do you how do you create a model of the future right because the traditional pieces you go into the classroom and and we know that technology is in such a way now that you can do both and I think what is exciting about Barbara’s coach is that we’re
Going to create a new hybrid model that’s going to allow for the student that really needs to be in the classroom we’re going to be able to provide that and the student that is just fine with being in the dorm room or being at home
And not being able to have to come all the way to Concord they’ll be able to plug in this is what I see the teacher the instructor in a classroom all monitors nothing but monitors and on those monitors or nothing but the faces of their students that’s the kind of
Classroom that we want to build for the institution and then you have a few desk for those who really got to come in because I got I I need to be able to to lean in um and and and hear the teacher and and and and really try to get it
Because we know that those students exist but the future that I see is the wall full of monitors of students that we’ll be plugging in but during the accreditation process when the application is submitted what the way that it works is you submit the application once they
Receive it they’ll come and do their first site visit to make sure that we’re real you know we’re real school because you got people you don’t be down no no school at all uh trying to get a credited um they’re going to come and they’re going to see if we’re a real
School and if we meet all of the things that’s on the check mark we will then be um go to a category called um uh basically provisional right will’ll be provisionally um it’s not called call something else but I’m just going to use the word provisional for now I should
Know this by now but I got too much in my head um where we will then be able to get access to federal financial aid even though we’re not fully accredited yet because once you’re in the um that category Now we move to what’s called selfstudy and in the self-study process
Uh we’re going we’re doing what we’re doing and we’re making sure that the systems that we put in place is real and we’re documenting it and then we’re sending it to them and then at the end they’ll show back up again and make sure that we’re doing what we’re supposed to
Be doing and if we meet the meet the standards then they stamp it for you guys are good to go and so that’s how the process works yes ma’am okay I think somebody over here was asking how do these current five students afford to be students if they don’t have access sure
So uh what we decided to do because this is how I’m getting ready to change the game as I love to say to attend barbar Scotia because I’m looking at the formula now of the cost of delivering education to students right the traditional sense it is it is labor
Intensive and it is resource intensive having them on campus having them under dorms having them well right now these students aren’t they’re not there everything’s online right so to attend Barbara Scotia starting in the fall is um they we have five that’s with us now but we have pool of applications that is
You know we are very excited about for the fall but to attend Barb sco is $2500 a semester okay that’s going to be the future um now what does that mean that means that we’re going what I’m building is uh a model where online instruction will be the order of the day
And for those that will come on campus those who will come on campus they will have the same price point but as I shared and I showed the as I shared with the Board of Trustees in five years if this if this goes right and I believe that it will because you
Would have created a true affordable model we’ll end up having five 600 students on campus maybe up to close to a th but we’ll have 5 to 10,000 online the 10,000 online is what will subsidize the ones that are in person because we’ll never go past the Thousand you
Know you have to have a cut off point for what you will have on campus and then you build the model so when you think about the Walden universities and the Southern New Hampshire state universities Walden universities is a great example Walden has over 65,000 students what worldwide
The majority of them are black students they are really the largest HBC in the country in the world Walden University has one building in Maryland that’s basically their administration building where they manage everything for that institution all of the instruction is online and what I’m creating is a hybrid
Model because in the Black Culture historical black colleges love to get together the students want to get together we have a great time especially during homecoming all that great stuff like that so I have to create that model but knowing that there will be someone who lives out of Missouri that will not
They you know that will not ever want to come to Concord but they want to go to an HBCU and they want to get an affordable education or it’ll be that or it’ll be that man or that woman who knows that they needed uh they need to
Finish their degree so that they can get promoted or they need to get a higher degree to get promoted Barbara scosa will be an option because because it’s only $2,500 to go there and that’s how we’re going to do it yes ma’am is there uh are there other HBCU that are
Have taken your model or have you taken other HBCU models no there is no HBCU that’s doing this and what I’m doing is absolutely revolutionary and the reason why this is such a great opportunity is because Barb Co a blank canvas most presidents that enter into a presidency
Is entering into a culture that he or she is inheriting that they can’t really Che because you have folks that just can’t imagine you know what we’re saying but what I’m getting ready to do is help reimagine what it is and help these HBCU in such a way and I’ll give you an
Example um Johnson C Smith you know in our history we were we Besties you know and you know ironically the new president because I came in in July the new president came in she came in in August and she and I have really gotten to a place where we understand
That building this relationship is going to be important for our for our for both our our futures what I’m willing to offer them is for them to reimagine instruction to their students when you think about paying an instructor you know a decent salary it could be very resource intensive for an
Institution but imagine that you know you have an instructor who’s teaching cyber security and imagine if Johnson C Smith barvas Scotia college and Livingstone College have the same cyber curriculum right imagine the wall that I tell you that I’m talking about where the instructor comes in and all those
Students are students from the various institutions but now we split the cost of that instructor’s salary so now instead of having to pay that instructor 90 I’m only have to pay them 30 but that instructor still walks into a situation where they’re helping all these individuals so my hope is is that
Sharing resources will be the order of the day for the institutions because when you add up all of our students right now it’s not even 2,000 students because because they’re operating off of the old model where they have to get them on campus and when you’re a private institution it is very
Hard to change the old model because you know you got to make sure the grass is cut you got you got the maintenance of the buildings that are old uh you have an alumni base that probably don’t give back the way that they should because think about
It most of the individuals who went to college at black institutions in the early 1900s and most of them even to today today uh most of them you know go into professions that don’t allow for them to write paychecks and so when you think about the initial the initial folks that went
To college Teaching Ministry um you know just and or was in the trades right those individuals weren’t able to write huge business checks you know they weren’t corporate men because you think about the then the racism you had to deal with to try to build yourself up as
A as as a as a leader in that regard and so I wasn’t able to give back to my institution so here you go in the 40s and the ‘ 50s and the 60s you have these dilapidated buildings because the end of the generation that came before you
Wasn’t able to give the resources to build it up you know and so you know again I went to East Carolina undergrad and then I um um I went to Brown for my masters and then I went to um way Mary for my for my law degree these institutions
Especially way Mar there a different kind of money there I mean we’ve been there since 1693 and so when you think about the money that has been in um Wills that have been written you know the inheritance that they have received um it’s far beyond and now so I sit on our
Alumni association board of directors and to see the flow of resources that come through there from the Alum that’s generational and that’s and and the thing is I’m not mad at them because that’s you know they only know what they know HBCU haven’t had an opportunity to experience that until now but the
Challenge is we have so much investment that is needed to catch up that’s why Barbara scoa is so important to the HBCU botel because today I’ll share this with you guys today I had a donor who called me and said um I will pay for the first 20 the first
50 students I will pay their tuition for the next four years so he’s going to pay $2,500 yeah for the next four years each semester for the first 50 students that we bring in so what does that mean so what does that what does that mean for
So now what I can do is I can tell a student if you start with us when you end will be accredited and oh yeah by the way when you walk across the stage you’ll be debt free that’s how I’m going to change the game in the very beginning right I had a
Funeral company call me yesterday and he said hey I want to you know I I don’t know I don’t even know how we got to the 50 first it was just you know a funeral company called me uh he said I want to sponsor student you know for said great
Then another company called and said the same thing you know so this all happened within 24 hours and then today the big call came and I don’t even know how he got my number but he was like I’ve just been watching you on the news he said and I’m just I’m touched
And he gave this whole Spiel and I didn’t know what he was going to say at the then he said and um and he came by he came by well he he called and he came by uh he brought his assistant with him and he shook my hand he made the
Assistant he said I didn’t bring any paperwork for this we said so take a picture of her shaking hands and I’m going to send to you and this is our he said we’re going to use this you know so of course you know until I get the
Check but it was amazing to hear what he said today because he believed because I Shar with him the whole vision of that we want to transform this campus into being a place where um we position our future students to not only the foundation will always be um last week
Um this denom ation came by um I took them on a tour um and they said they need a school to send all their ministers through because that’s important for them they don’t have degrees you know some of them have degrees some you know then you know some
Folks get some you know some folks get these Church degrees you be like side of the road this theology school uh you know so they said we need a formal school to send our folks through and he was like we want Barb Scopia to be that
School so that’s what I I mean by the application pool looks very interesting for us in the fall so they’re bringing their Bishop conference here which is their Bishop they have about 400 300 400 Bishops in their in their Co whatever and they’re coming they’re going to do
Their conference in barbar Scotia and they are planning on using Barb Scotia as the institution to train for their in for their ministers to get formal degrees you know so yes I hope that you um budget to to pay the teachers the professors to accommodate a class load of course yeah
So that is greatly increased from a classroom size oh absolutely and so and to your point that’s and that’s why um as we look at the new model that we’re trying to create so right now all the all of the um all the instructors have said this is for now because we don’t
Have the resources but they’ve been so amazing they were like you know they’re all volunteers for the first year I’ve asked them give me the first year give me the first year and they all have everyone that I’ve hired takes no salary but they act as if though they are
Working 40 hours I I mean now granted I get emails at all kind of crazy hours of the day you know when I get into the office like oh Lord my CFO just sent this to me at 1:13 in the morning but they play no games because they understand what we’re trying to
Accomplish I can’t do this by myself and so you got to have people who are so committed and and understand that this mission is so much bigger than themselves because some of them have come from nowhere nowhere uh I met a surgeon who’s an alumnist he’s retired now he sent us um a
Check to the school which I’m so grateful for he said and this was his he said I’m from nowhere in North Carolina he said he said Barbara scoa was the only school gave me an opportunity he said and I am a retired surgeon because I got my biology degree
From barbar Scotia college and I’ve heard that so many times from so many individuals from so many alumni how can I not step into the Gap and help to transform this institution and be a part of what you know to change The Narrative of who we were but know
What we can be how could you not do that it’s got two things one I I had to step out so I don’t know if I missed this but if not would you um talk about Barbara scoer Rising yes and also I understand that the accreditation accomplishment is essential critical do or
Die what can those of us who care about this institution do to contribute to the success of that what do you need from someone like me to hit the accreditation 16 points so a couple of so a couple of things so number one so Barbara sco
Rising so um I took I I I got a model that I you know that I kind of followed so there’s a college in Atlanta called Morris Brown right Morris Brown I like to tell her we’re the new Morris Brown uh Morris Brown of course was like Barb Scotia they lost their creditation
Almost 20 over 20 years ago um and uh Dr Kevin James you know basically brought it back and they got the accreditation about a year ago so it’s possible so that’s that’s one thing so if it could be done once it can be done again you know I’m scientist
That buy a core so you know all you got do is keep on replicating replicating that and so I know that it can I know that it was possible so their moniker was U the hard reset that’s what he would say that’s what he called his
Campaign the hard reset so you know of course when I took the job I was like okay you know what could you know what could we do for bar scoti so when I talked to the board chair chairwoman pink me it was just an amazing Soul she
Said said you know we’re like a phoenix that can rise if we just you know we’re a diamond in the rough we’re like a phoenix that you know that can rise if we just have the right you know strategy I was like rise of course I thought
About um I took it very personal I thought about just you know you know my life and um when you think about the Journey of all of our lives and you have these points where you just like man am I going to get through am I going to
Make it is this you know I’m you know I’m at my lowest and for whatever reason God steps in says I’m not done with you yet you know so rise my son and let’s go and I see this as the same type of Journey uh and so Barbers coal Rising popped
Into my head and and and it just became an amazing campaign in s months we have doubled what we have doubled what we raised in the fiscal year before in our Rising campaign because we did it in small doses right Mar go was 156 years old I just asked folks to give us
$156 and then there were some you know some donors that said well I’m going to give you 1,150 okay sure okay you know and it just kept on going it just kept on going but when you like today I just mailed out um and it’s been a long time
Coming but I feel so bad but it’s just so it’s you know at the end of the day I was it’s just me you know at the school you know me and my grounds guy who I love so much um uh today I mailed down almost 600 thank you cards from donors
600 in the seven months that I’ve been here so you know should be hitting your mailboxes next week you know U and I’m excited about it because you know there was a time where we couldn’t even afford to do that right you know and to be able
To do that just like we’ve you know we’ve had some vandalism over the last couple of weeks uh which I you know was really upset about but you know all those winners have been replaced you know U except for the ones in student union which going to cost us it’s like
30 grand to do that but it’s okay you know we you know we boarded it up and looks real good and we painted it and we it you know it looks really good it looks like actually like it’s supposed to be a part of the Student Union but um
That’s the future of us getting that squared away I’m not going to spend $30,000 cuz I need it right now cuz I got to wait for the the letter to come back from the because right now we’re in a back and forth with the city right so we owe the city
$384,000 right and so the city sent their demand letter say hey give us our $384,000 or here goes all the land we want from you all right so now we have to you know so of course we countered and so now we have to wait for
Their counter back um and we’ll see what you know what they say um but you know we’re encouraged because there’s a different there’s a different mood on the campus today um uh chairwoman she’s there today because of course we have our Founders Day program tomorrow um so
We’re going to start off at 9:30 in the morning with uh locking arms around the quad and praying for the college so that’s at 9:30 uh so whoever comes whoever shows up we’re going to pray for bar Scotia because I do believe in prayer um and then at 10:00 the found
State program starts it’s only going to be about an hour um so she was there so she you know she she came up to my office she said you know the campus this looks really good you know president Ray like you be out here you know you know
Picking up the lambs you know we have folks out there cutting grass and um but I’m always excited because we do it because there was a time when we couldn’t do it you know so um in faith Hall um we’re trying to bring Faith Hall back online so that it can be utilized
For dorm use whether it’s for summer camps for there been some folks have mon restyle that say hey we you know we like to you know use your campus for summer camps do you have any place for beds and I’m like oh I do just I don’t have that
Certificate of occupancy yet um but the thing that was keeping us from doing that God completed yesterday now when I took the job 7 months ago you know the estimate was $155,000 to fix this huge valve that we have to fix in faith Hall um and you know that you know we
Couldn’t see that you know but it was we were able to do that you know so it’s a little things like that that when you have support it allows for you to do that so the barbar sco sh Rising campaign has allowed for us to not only
Do that and your other part of your question when you say what can you do as we get on the road to accreditation is is number one if there are individuals who are retired instructors you know that would be great if they can you know you know teach classes online we we we
We need I need instructors right depending on what their background is and we’ll go through all of that but you know the the more the merrier you know especially if they have terminal degrees um having folks to come and you know just volunteer at the school uh you know
Sometimes uh um you know I had to get now I hate it in my spirit that I had to spend all this money to get get the cards printed cuz at first I was like I was going to handw write them I was like
Oh I can do that you know and then you know I sent it to minut Man Press and so they were like wait would you like us to put the card in the envelope and you know look Li the I was like I was like
But it was only me so I was like at that point I said yes you know but now moving forward everybody that you know that you know I’m but now we’re on top of it but it would be great to have folks to volunteer you know two three times a
Week if you know once a week or whatever say Hey you have any thank you cards that you want to be able to write you know write on it cuz I’m not going to do that anymore but I needed to get that bulk out to say thank you because I was
Hearing folks like you know we send us the money he didn’t even say thank you you know I want him to know I am grateful but it’s just so much that’s happening every single day and so to that point you know folks volunteering uh this upcoming Saturday next Saturday
Um there’s a group of men who are coming with their weedwackers and there you know uh because uh we have a a company that Cuts our grass right that’s all they do they cut the grass right but you know I need the edge of edging is what
Makes it looks pretty you know and blowing in and all so these guys are coming to do that for us to help pick up Limbs and and things of that nature um so that’s the kind of stuff and oh yeah by the way um the county our challenge with the county is
Is that the county is now CH is now um challenging our tax exempt status now we’ve been exam for 157 years but they’re saying well you’re not using these buildings for the purpose of what they’re supposed to be so we need to you know potentially start charging you taxes on the property
Of the college so of course you all have received your evaluation for 2004 I mean 2024 um so we of course we appeal their decision it’s at the is at the state level now we’re waiting for you know we have a hearing in April we our prayer is
Is that we will that we will be successful in that if we don’t we have to pay them $137,000 for our taxes from 2023 and who knows what it’ll be for 2024 right now for every building that comes online we can take it off of that but you know
That’s going to take some time right so now we have to be creative and what that looks like so because it has to be used for education purposes so if you guys would like to start having education classes at Barb scoa College you know we
Can use even if it’s one once a week you know if you need to use our buildings you know so that we can say that hey this building is being used for educational purposes let me take that picture real quick post that on you know
And you and to so and so I can be honest and say this campus is being used for educational purposes that would be great um I don’t care if it’s one day a week you know to show up and to do a class to class you know it can be we you know
Something educational could be happening on the campus I have this gentleman called Dr KW he’s he an amazing Soul uh so he has been you know finding all this wildlife and taking the pictures of so we have um I naturalist we have a an account on this called ey naturalist so
Barbara Scotia has a has a page on there has an account out there and he’s been capturing Falcon and all these you know weird things that’s on our campus so what I hope is is that you know he can do some educational classes taking folks around this hydrum here is the you know
Whatever but we have to be creative until we can get to where we need to get to that’s going to take a team effort um and so I welcome you know if you know of anyone or any organization that just needs to have a place to meet to that’s
Doing something educational I can say Hey you know so the seniors of of the that live in uh that lives in the county that are alumni are going to start taking taking a baros Scopia class you know um just to you know and they’re going to show up and do it and we’re
Going to do it in a building we’re going to do it in all the buildings and I got to move I got to move everybody around you know like this building is being used for educational purposes this week and or whatever but we those are the
Things that I have to do until I get to where we need to get to can it be Christian education absolutely it’s education okay it’s education class you know you know this education class how much property is the school owns uh we own close to 38 AC 30 Acres 30 acres and
This right here is just what’s contiguous right so everything that I’ve shown that’s what my what my what the future looks like we own that where’s Corbin I’m sorry so Corbin is back here okay Corbin is back here thank you um and but then we have properties out in
The county you know um folks who have passed away that were Barb scoia grass that left their that left their property to us and of course the county was like oh those aren’t used for educational purposes I’m like yeah so I’m thinking to myself I wanted to
Tell the tax assess I’m like all the tax assess are before you and you’re the one who shows up in this era of our life that wants to you know like I leave but you know it’s okay we’ll get we’ll get I’ll start growing lettuce on there if I
Have to you know don’t worry it will be we’ll figure it out right um but I just need that’s how the community can help and that sends a message that you know not only do you believe in what an institution like Barb sco was but what
It can be and that’s how it works and so I’m I refuse to save this college by myself and I mean that and so that means it’s everyone’s responsibility because why that could be a place where summer I mean pres Scotia campus could be a place
For summer camps for all kind of kids you know you think about this County and and what it could be and it used to be you know I have someone who reached out to me they want to they want to invest in um helping to bring the pool back up
So you know like yes absolutely you know you know pool is you know still has water in it you know it’s very you know it just needs to be cleaned and you know but I got to get the the roof has to be repainted and has to be you know I need
To pull the water out make sure that you know scrub off the tiles and make it all pretty again and then treat the water and fill it back up you know so I mean you know we can be used for Au purposes and you know get on Au circuit and you
Know high school you know swim circuit so um all of this stuff is possible you know it’s just I just need I just need time and so what I have is these other forces City count you know federales federales you know I got I gotta so I have all kind of little
Points I’m meeting with the Secretary of Education because we still have a $1.4 million debt that we owe to the federal government from you know student alone situations but I’m very confident we’re going to be able to get that forgiv I just got to meet with the secretary
Which I’m going to meet with him next week you’re really sparking some cool ideas and I can feel the energy in the room but yeah I also heard um at your office that one of your little revenue streams is renting your facilities yes tell me what buildings and facilities
Are up to standard and so of course the chapel chapel is you know let me tell you the chapel is the that’s the money maker over there buddy I mean we you know weddings funerals concerts so we’ve the chapel has been very very popular the gym is
Also a you is also utilized the only challenge with the gym is that the HVAC system doesn’t work because someone got up on the roof and of course what you know they steal the the copper and the coils and all kind of you know of course
These things I never knew about until I became the president of the college but the gym is you know um the gym is the gym as juize here’s the library is another building that we can that we can use because there classrooms because that’s where we’ll be doing the class
The classes in we’ll be in the library uh We’ve converted some of the rooms um but Lord knows I got a I got another call from another granting organization um um that if we you know they basically would let me know you know all you have to do is apply
President Ray and we know get you squared away but if we get that Grant and we get the full Grant I will be able to use that dollars to actually renovate the entire Library so that it can you know CU there are still Parts you know
Leaps and little things that need to be um so I will have the resources to bring in a contractor to seal the building right and and then be able to you know paint it and make it look really nice and fruit FR uh but right now it can
Actually be used as a classroom because we have our certificate of occupancy for it my next Focus now is to get the certificate of occupancy for Faith hall and then eventually the big Behemoth which is the Student Union which will be the game changer where is that yeah the
Student Union is right here here the Mabel Parker mlan Student Union so that’s you know that’s where we have the kitchen and the it was you know the cafeteria and then you got classrooms and you have all kind of other but of course um I need to find someone who is
Going to bless me because I need all of the kitchen equipment yeah thrown away it’s it’s done I mean it’s not you know and you I need all kind of new you know so I need a whole new situation but the but that right there that that could be
That could be a retreat for companies I mean you got like I said classrooms you can have you know my hope is is that eventually the 1867 Gaya will be back there instead of having to rent out you know Hotel space I got a whole free
Facility I can use all my campus um but there’s a lot of work that needs to be done with the because it was built in 1870s now of course you know we can either renovate it and go up with it or you know it has reach his natural use
Life turn to build a brand new M you know m right yes Lael was the first woman that was president of bar scoa College yeah she was the first female president so before we go I brought a couple of things for yall to take a look
At you know you guys Show and Tell yeah a little show and tell because I didn’t have a whatam call it but you know but I did bring up a picture of of course Luke dorland who was oh who luk Doran is the that’s the founder you know younger than I would
Have were back then many are still and then and then the first then the first um so he was the first president then the sixth president was Dr Who was the first black not only he was he was the first black president of the college he was number six so that
Was number six think say he did from AAR Mabel P mlan She was the first woman um she was just I mean I mean her name I mean again all over she’s all over the college I mean she was a a true institution true Ins at least she’s
Smiling yeah I know right and then of course this is this is some of the early pictures of uh some of the women that attended actually stay in graall so there’s a chapel right that’s in faith Hall the chapel was built in 1890s and it’s a part of Faith Hall and um
Unbelievable beautiful beautiful Beau amazing I just read a wonderful I can’t quite say the name of it I think it was called first ladies first ladies um and it was elanar Roosevelt and Mary McLoud bethon yes yes and yes I I knew her just kind of by name but what she did with
President Roosevelt was oh yeah just astounding and Philip Randolph and yes yeah she took no prisoners I mean she was she was committed she was absolutely committed so this is a picture of Felicia Rashad um that’s in faith Hall been in there years ago um oh gosh what year were yall at um
What year I had I started at Barbara Scotia at the year 2000 and was there all the way up until 2004 oh a foure student that’s pretty good yeah oh look at them the ladies ladies on the lawn this is really nice so I saw a
Picture it’s in it’s in it’s in one of the books I saw this picture of how in Graves Hall Graves Hall used to be the library and then at the bottom and then uh then then the administration building Kart all became the library and then they eventually built the other so
There’s a picture there’s a picture of all of the ladies um passing the books from graves Hall to 30,000 books that they did they did this huge chain you know from graves Hall all the way to the administration building and so Graves Hall of course is one the whole
In the building you know all the way and it was just amazing just amazing uh to see that picture like wow I thought i’ bring a couple of pictures they got the job done they got the job done they got the job done they got the job found like old thing with
Judge Hatchet she was the women history celebration speaker you know judge hat you know she’s she’s I’m thinking I’m wondering if if Barbara scosa and Johnson C Smith were kind of brother sister schools like Davidson and queens they were they were I mean literally they’re in they’re in
Our history books and then on their Charter Johnson C Smith’s Charter they actually mentioned Barbara scosa the charter their Charter yeah um so I was over there a couple of couple of weeks ago and this you know Old Gentleman just gave just like a bar scos oh yeah it was
He was so excited like saw a picture of the CH look at um like wow they all look so uniform now not so much more diversity in dress good times good times in Barb sco College good times in Barb SC College and more to come more to come to I think you’ll have
To come back next year when we do this so we see what progress I mean really so this no so this was one of the this was one of the churches this was the church that Luke Doran built you know here on the corner which we don’t
Own anymore which is so weird you know we we don’t own it anymore but we so ladies and gentlemen that is my presentation thank you so much for your time uh I hope and pray that you will you know make your way over to the campus at some point and
Um you know most of the time you see me in the around there um but uh I hope that you will come we you know my goal is is to continue have programs on the campus uh that will tell the story of the C you know of our school and where
We’re going and um I think sometime this summer they’re supposed to have my official inauguration as president so that’s going to be a I guess they say it’s a big deal so that’ll be a big deal so I will encourage you to go to our website and at the very bottom is’s this
Little U you know subscribe so you can just get our you know get what we you know what we have going on you know I don’t send out a lot of emails but you know when we do at least you know what we have going on um and keep up with us
Right now we’re doing a um we’re get our mascot is the saber-tooth tiger so we’re getting ready to do a refresh of our saber to so you know we’re get to you know a refresh so it’s going to be a whole Community um we have all these
Artists that are that’s redoing it and then we’re going to send it out and have everybody vote on it and then the top three you know top three will present to the board of trust and then you know let them you know pull it together you you
Know let them let them do their thing and then at the 1867 Gayla which is in April will unveil you know what our new saber looks like for the for the college as we begin our branding um you know so just a little just there a little things
Like that that will make all the difference and besides I need a new Vector file uh cuz I don’t have a file for the curent saber so like yeah good opportunity to get a new one cuz I don’t have of vector file for the old on the
Most recent PR uh meaning the local newspaper I’m new to the town so um it has been was since your arrival has been favorable I would say so I’ve heard that a few times yes yeah we’re glad for that and we will continue to you know continue to tell
The good news because I mean there is a lot of great opportunities and I mean and why not wake up and be a part of History you know why not that’s all of us you know so that means all of us can do something and so so well thank
You president Ray for being here and I’m inspired and encouraged and very impressed with the vision I knew you had a vision but I didn’t know it was so fresh and new and creative and Innovative this is been such a ho in community and I’m so hopeful and want
You to just fill that hole and I want us to be a part of it I’ve only been in Concord for a couple of years I moved here a couple of years ago but I just have a heart for the school and it’s history and it’s part of my new town and
I want to be part of helping it I mean I as I said I cannot do it and I will not do it by myself and and if and if you all allow me to do that then shame on you shame on all of you you
Know and I’ll leave it at that all right well thank you good night good night good night
source
