Since taking office at LeMoyne-Owen College in January 2021, I have focused my presidency on what I call the 4 Rs: recruitment, retention, revenue, and relationships to achieve the vision stipulated in the College’s strategic plan, Destination 2023.   That work began with hosting one-on-one visits with faculty, staff, and students to empower and uplift the campus while building relationships. It also meant being intentional about relationships with: the alumni (meet and greets, participation in alumni programming, 807 Telethon); the faith community (one-on-ones with faith leaders, Faith Forward dinner conversations, Sunday Stops) ; and developing partnerships with the Memphis corporate and private community at-large (Bank of America, Kroger, Lowe’s, Truist, City of Memphis, Shelby County Health Department) . 

My administration is keenly focused on improving recruitment and retention.  Our new processes have yielded positive preliminary results.  The addition of an Office of Student Success that includes full time advisors for the population that represent our highest attrition (freshmen and sophomores), identifying early alert systems, developing learning communities in the residence hall, and overhauling the recruitment process from application to enrollment will help the College achieve the fall 2023 recruitment goal.  Last year new enrollment increased 48% and retention increased 9%. 

 The College has expanded and improved its footprint. We renovated the Student Center, established a food pantry and are slated to open the Cyber Café in the fall. The Myron Lowery Communications Center will be a hub for all things communications to include a radio station, a podcast studio, a classroom, and more. 

We bolstered academics by identifying the first Program of Distinction (Cybersecurity), developed an entrepreneur certificate program partnership with the City of Memphis, and added five Fulbright Scholars to our faculty. We’ve also entered into several memorandums of understanding, including one with the New York Institute of Technology to create a pipeline for graduate study in Cybersecurity.  We are currently pursuing accreditation of 3 new programs: Music, Social Work and Computer Science.  Our Business and Economic Development program’s accreditation was recently reaffirmed through 2027 with no notes or conditions.

Communications and marketing took giant leaps forward by developing relationships with media to improve the College’s profile and brand recognition. The College has been featured in numerous stories in print, online and on television. The Memphis Business Journal published an article on the College’s raised profile this semester.  A PBS documentary about the school will premiere in September during HBCU Week.  Digital LED walls and message boards have expanded the College’s ability to market and communicate with the campus.  A total overhaul of the website is currently underway. That will increase the College’s brand recognition, improve recruitment and expand our ability to communicate with national and international audiences. 

Lemoyne-Owen underwent a million plus dollar technology upgrade across campus and in all classrooms, expanded the campus’ footprint through new land and buildings, and refreshed the website.  

Our new strategic plan is a campus-and community-wide effort that is currently underway.  We have entered into a partnership with the United Negro College Fund to complete that process that began last year. A campus masterplan is also underway that will lay the groundwork for further resurgence of the institution.