ASHEBORO
(March 14, 2007)
Dr.
Robert S. Shackleford Jr. was inaugurated as the fourth president
of Randolph Community College on March 8, 2007, in a ceremony attended
by over 200 colleagues, community members, friends and family members
at AVS Banquet Centre.
The oath of
office was administered by The Honorable Clinton C. Hicks, a federal judge from
Charlotte, N.C. The ceremony was presided by James M. Campbell Jr., chair of
the RCC Board of Trustees. H. Martin Lancaster, president of the North
Carolina Community College System, gave the inaugural message.
Lancaster
said he identified Shackleford as a presidential candidate early on. From Shackleford’s
start as head of RCC’s Early Childhood curriculum in 1998, he moved quickly
to various leadership roles, eventually attending the Future President’s
Institute in 2005 and winning the Herring Fellowship, a scholarship awarded by
the NCCCS Foundation that recognizes outstanding leaders. “He is one of
us. He is a home grown community college leader whose roots are sunk deep in
the community college,” said Lancaster.
Other speakers
included The Honorable Jerry W. Tillman, State Senate; J. Harold Holmes, chair
of the Randolph County Board of Commissioners; Dr. Stuart B. Fountain, member
of the State Board of Community Colleges, Dr. Martin Nadelman, president of Alamance
Community College representing the North Carolina Association of Community College
Presidents; and Dr. Robert Keys, president of Rockingham Community College, where
Shackleford most recently served as vice president for student services.
Student, faculty
and staff representatives also spoke. Charles Skeen, president of the Student
Government Association, said that within three weeks of taking office, Dr. Shackleford
had met with the SGA leaders. “A real leader speaks with the people he
serves,” said Skeen. “Dr. Shackleford has done that. It means a lot
when a leader does what they promise.”
Chuck Egerton,
president of RCC’s Faculty Association, said, “The faculty sees Dr.
Shackleford as one of us. We don’t need to ask if he understands our concerns.
We love our work and are filled with renewed hope.”
Wanda Brown,
executive assistant to the president and the Board of Trustees said, “We
appreciate Dr. Shackleford’s demeanor and rapport with people of all backgrounds.” She
went on to enumerate the various meetings that Shackleford has been involved
in since he took office January 1.
In an emotional
response, Shackleford thanked all the various groups of supporters attending
the ceremony. He told how his mother had to drop out of high school to help
support her family. “My mother and father paid for me to go to college
with money they had to borrow while they did without,” said Shackleford. “After
my sisters and I finished school, my mother returned to the local community
college and earned her Adult High School Diploma. I was more proud of that
than I was of my Ph.D.”
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