 (CHARLOTTE,
NC)--More
than 200 Washington, D.C. area Johnson C. Smith University
alumni honored President Dorothy Cowser Yancy recently in
Greenbelt, Md. for 10 years of expanding educational opportunities
for students.
“We had no inkling at the time when we were in school at
Smith that we would be here now celebrating Bonnie (Dr. Yancy)
as the President of our distinguished university,” said Class of
1964 Alum Ellen Crawford Evans.
Yancy made history in October 1994 by becoming the first
woman to be named president of Johnson C. Smith University.
The Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area Alumni Chapter
hosted the recent elegant event which included a banquet
honoring Yancy and a silent auction to raise money for the
university. The well-attended banquet featured speakers from
Ebony Magazine, the United Negro College Fund, university board
members and staff.
“I am not good at being celebrated,” Yancy said. “I am
better at celebrating other people.”
People who know Yancy described her as “a focused woman
who is always about the business of students at Johnson C. Smith
University.”
JCSU Board of Trustee Chairman Thomas Baldwin said, “As a
trustee, we have put in some long hours for the betterment of
JCSU, but it’s only a fraction of what we see coming from Dr.
Yancy.” “I have watched her take our students into consideration
first and foremost before decisions are made.”
Metropolitan Baptist Church Senior Pastor H. Beecher Hicks
Jr. told Yancy that he appreciated the love shown to his
daughter, a 2002 JCSU graduate.
“I appreciate you being not just a role model to her, but
also a real model,” Hicks said.
He said the attention Yancy showed his daughter has been
shown to countless other students who have “passed through the
walls of Smith during her administration.”
Hicks also described Yancy as a soldier of education.
“God knows the road has not been easy and that you have had days
of toils and struggle,” he said. “But he has a special place for
you because the way you have reached out to this young
generation.”
JCSU has benefited greatly from Yancy’s leadership
during the past decade. The university’s endowment has grown
from $14 million when she first started as president in 1994 to
$40 million in 2004.
Enrollment has also increased and she has ushered new
technology into the classrooms so that students can compete
globally with others when they graduate from JCSU.
There have also been a number of successful new building
projects at the university under her leadership including
construction of a new technology center, James B. Duke Library
renovation, a Irwin Belk state-of the art sports complex with an
Olympic-sized track and current renovation of the historic
Biddle Hall.
Yancy also has a long list of other accomplishments including
becoming the first female president of the Central
Intercollegiate Athletics Association.
The following is a partial list of Yancy’s other
accomplishments:
ˇ In 2000, Yancy was instrumental in making Johnson C. Smith
University the first and only HBCU IBM ThinkPadŽ University
ˇ In 2000, Black Issues in Higher Education named Yancy as
one of the “Most Influential CEO’s of the 20th Century.”
ˇ In 2001, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community Relations
Committee named her the “Top Educator of the Year.”
ˇ
In 2002, Yancy was a Recipient of “2002 Guardian of Our
Legacy” from Harlem Week, Inc.
Yancy officially reached her 10-year mark with the university
this month. If the media would like an interview with Yancy
reflecting on her 10 years, please call JCSU Public Relations
Director Benny Smith at 704-378-1032.
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