Courtesy of Johnson C. Smith University
Faculty and staff filed into Jane M. Smith Memorial Church Wednesday morning, where Dr. Valerie Kinloch ’96, 15th president of Johnson C. Smith, addressed the group for the first time during the Opening of School Conference.
The bi-annual conference, held a few days before the start of each semester, gives campus leadership the opportunity to share JCSU updates. This year, Kinloch set an energetic tone for the semester to come.
She started her presentation with a reading of June Jordan’s powerful “Poem for South African Women,” which commemorates the 40,000 women and children who protested apartheid in South Africa.
“We are the ones we’ve been waiting for,” Kinloch proclaimed, finishing out the last line of the piece. “Education is freedom, and freedom is opportunity. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We have to stand bold and talk about the ways in which we can impact Johnson C. Smith University and our community.”
Kinloch, who was born in Charleston, S.C., and graduated with a B.A. in English at JCSU, discussed her passion for leadership and inclusivity and her vision to incorporate cultural values that will make Johnson C. Smith University a stand-out institution in Charlotte and beyond.
Her cultural values include critical listening, fearlessness, grace and dignity, community and respect. She explained that including some of these cultural values in her workplaces, most recently in the University of Pittsburgh School of Education, created an environment of inclusivity and discussion that improved the school’s enrollment and faculty and staff satisfaction.
Formerly a member of the JCSU Board of Trustees, Kinloch said she was excited to be back home at JCSU to uplift not only its students, but also its faculty and staff.
“It was the faculty members who cultivated me during my time as a student at JCSU,” she said. “But I am a staff advocate as much as I am a faculty advocate. We need to have a same-vision mindset so we can work together to bring JCSU into a new era of excellence.”
But the bulk of Kinloch’s presentation featured a Q and A session with faculty and staff members eager to learn the next steps Kinloch will take to move the University forward.
Kinloch listened thoughtfully to the questions posed by faculty and staff and took their questions as opportunities to spark dialogue that she says will lead to larger conversations throughout her first 30 days as president.
“I am here to talk with you, think with you and lead you,” she said.
Aside from comments from Kinloch, the morning session also included an invocation and the recognition of faculty and staff who had either just been hired or had received a promotion.
Following the morning session, faculty and staff were invited to Greenfield, Myers and New Residence Halls to take an RA-guided tour of the improved facilities, which received a facelift as a part of the Summer Renovation Project spearheaded by the Department of Facilities.
Later, faculty and staff went to break-out sessions where they learned more about hosting campus events, amplifying student success, a new compensation strategy, purchasing policies and the results of a campus-wide organizational study.
After the informational sessions, faculty and staff were treated to lunch on The Block and took their official faculty and staff headshots.
