 HBCU Digest Radio, welcome back. I'm your host, Jared Carter. We are continuing our coverage of the HBCU community's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, global pandemic, speaking with the best and brightest of our leaders and stakeholders from around the HBCU community. And today, I gotta say, this is a special treat for me. This is the first time in the decade or more that I've been doing the digest that we will have an opportunity to converse with a presidential transition. That is the outgoing president of Central State University, the esteemed Dr. Cynthia Jackson-Hammond and the incoming president, brother Jack Thomas. And so I'm really excited about this. Thank you both for your time today. Let me begin, brother Thomas. First, give us some of your feelings about coming into this particular presidency and what attracted you to Central State? What was most appealing about it and has any of that shifted or changed because we're now going through this public health crisis? Jared, thank you so much for having me on along with President Hammond. I must say that I am excited about this opportunity, more so because President Hammond has done an excellent job in positioning Central State University to where it is today and having the opportunity to work with her along with the Board of Trustees to make this what I call a wonderful transition. And answering the question that you oppose, as you look at my background, you would know that I have been fortunate to have a career where I've held various kinds of positions and particularly increasing responsibilities in higher education. I've worked at HBCU as well as I've worked at the majority of the institutions. And during my over 30 years in higher education, I've been able to develop key relationships, produce academic intellectual property, and most importantly, to cultivate and develop the next generation of leaders. I was a first generation college student and I'm glad to accept the presidency at Central State because it's an 1890 land grant institution. I am a product of two 1890 land grant institutions as well as I held positions at two 1890 land grant institutions. And I want to embrace the heritage, the legacy and traditions of Central State University. And I saw this as an opportunity to bring all of the skills and experiences that I've had over the years to Central State University. And Central State University has become what I consider to be a game changer and an institution that not only develops students into holistic citizens, but to make sure that students provided a quality and well-rounded education. And it's quite funny that you asked that question about when I first accepted position, I know the institution was on solid foundation, but now that, and it's still on that solid foundation, don't get me wrong, but at the same time, now that this COVID-19 pandemic has hit, that means that it's going to bring various kinds of challenges to the forefront. And we've already begun to address those with one of the committees, which we call the IRT, which is the institutional response team that President Hammond and I held put together, and we're already working towards that. So there's gonna be some major challenges in terms of the cause of the pandemic, which kind of changes my overall view and those that I initially had when I was first accepted the position at Central State University. Madam President, you never thought, I'm sure, when you announced your plans to retire, that you would do so under these kind of circumstances, but have these circumstances given you a different view of the work that you did over your time in Ohio, not to say that anything changes about the value or the impact of it, but as Dr. Thomas mentioned, because there are some challenges ahead, do you look back at your work and say, you know what, that is even more valuable than I thought it was at the time. And thank you so very much for having both of us on this morning, Mr. Carter. And I've been on these conversations with you in the past and I found them to be very, very enlightening and helping to share what institutional values are, values especially, but the broader community. My work at Central State and the achievements that we have got over the years is the result of a team effort. Sometimes the President is out there in the front, but it's really the entire university working collaboratively and in sync to make things happen for the betterment of not only the institution, but particularly for students and the communities that we serve. COVID-19 has been a complete change for everyone, not just for Central State, but for the state, for the United States and for the world. So naturally we will have to reassess, rethink our past going forward. One of the things that has been instrumental in the success of Central State was becoming an 1890 land grant, which allowed the institutions to have more focus on research and extension. And extension means how do we serve the people of Ohio in their communities? And COVID-19 has certainly raised our awareness of how we serve. And I know that going forward, Dr. Thomas and the administrative staff and the university will continue to keep that focus paramount because if ever there was a time that the community needed the interactions and the resources that can be leveraged through the university, it is now. Let's talk a little bit about those details because I think people need to know the impact that Central State really had on Ohio and in that region. So the things that you've done, training skilled laborers with new levels of education, you mentioned the land grant status acquisition, which was a historic thing. Do you think that some of those gains will better position the school, that those things that even with the pandemic, even with the new way we will social distance and all those things, those changes are to last. We're always going to need agricultural extension. We're always going to need workers to be trained up and skilled up. Those things are going to last, but do you think that the logistical challenges of that may change in the future or that that will be a new burden for Dr. Thomas to look at as he comes in? Well, of course everything is going to change the way we deliver services. But we are just not reacting to COVID. We are trying to be as proactive as possible, taking into consideration the students that we serve and the communities that we serve. Social distancing means more access to technology, more utilization of technological devices, more opportunities to engage at our platform that we did not have to engage on before. But going forth, it is what it is. And we make those changes to adapt to the needs of the community and to our students, whatever those changes might be. Right now with COVID-19, there are so many unknowns. We don't know what's going to happen a month. We can only make plans and those plans have to be adaptable and fluid enough that if we had to modify changes in any kind of way, we would be prepared to do that. So like everyone else, Mr. Carter, we are planning for the unknown, the best that we know how. Dr. Thomas, you mentioned before the other stuff that you've had over your career, you've led other institutions in interim and permanent capacities. In Ohio, it's a little unique in that it's at the forefront of a lot of conversation about how the country reopens, right? And there are a lot of political imaginations about that. There are a lot of economic considerations. In your experience, how do you think central state will play a role in helping Ohio to either reopen safely or to consider the ramifications of doing such? And this is particularly for black folks in Ohio. What do you think the school will do to help drive that conversation and that execution? I believe in centering everything that we do around the students. I'm a student-centered person and we wanna make sure that we continue to have a student-centered university. So my priority in all of this would be on the students to make sure that we have a safe environment for our students as well as our employees. And none of us could have imagined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. And the experts, I think, are learning more every day and they are discovering new discoveries as President Hammond has already stated. These are unprecedented times, so we really don't know. But as you're aware, Central State, like other institutions, moved its academic programs online this past semester. And I would say that based on my discussions and all, that we fully plan to be open in the fall. Our opportunity is to gauge our students and faculty to share how things worked with state officials to provide a perspective that may influence their planning and decisions. And we will be looking for guidance from the World Health Organization, the Center for Disease Control and the State and the local leadership and health officials. And this will actually help guide what we will do in the fall as well as in the summer, but more so in the fall and what that would look like. We'll, with the IRT committee, which is the Institutional Response Team, we are coming up with various kinds of scenarios because this pandemic is changing every day. But we will also take guidance in our discussions from the state and from the governor. But we're committed to being here for our students and equally committed in exploring the right solutions to continue our mission in educating our students. I have confidence in our state leadership and it is important that we stay aware and aligned and in lockstep with our state leadership as we gain a better understanding of what we're dealing with this pandemic. And as I stated, these are very unprecedented times. So we wanna look at best practices. We wanna look at what's happening around us as well as with other institutions and both best practices across the country. So we look forward to the fall, but we are still planning and discussing what that would look like. And just to echo what Dr. Thomas has said, again, the safety, the health and safety of all of our constituencies associated with Central State University is probably paramount to everything else. Let me focus on that real quick because one of the things that you guys mentioned to me before we even started recording is that one of the assets of this transition is that it's being done the way it's supposed to be. There's not a sudden retirement, a sudden departure, there's a planned exit and a plan entering into the seat. But do you think that because of this particular period where there's so many other stakeholders with whom you gotta talk, the governor, the health department, local and state, does that make the transition a little more complex because so much of what you would have wanted to get done in terms of arranging an executive team, in terms of organizing new strata of, what is our institutional spirit, is that different because there's so many people involved in the conversation now? And I would pose that to both of you. The transition really started the day that he was announced, that Dr. Thomas was announced, which was back in February. And of course, March hit with the pandemic. But we had a little time in transitioning prior to COVID-19. And it just sort of, the time that we spent together, the time that we talk on the phone, the time that we had the Zoom meetings to just sort of escalated because of this situation. And being able to introduce Dr. Thomas to the various stakeholders, the various committees, I think has probably just grown every day sometimes I'm always concerned that I'm giving him too much information or exposing him too quickly. But at the same time, he's a seasoned leader. And so he's able to receive and participate very fully. But absolutely COVID-19 was not on the transition agenda, but it is now and he certainly has adapted well and has been very participatory at all levels. And I would like to thank you, President Hammond, for those wonderful remarks and your kindness. I think that as President Hammond has stated, I think because I've been in various positions prior to coming to Central State and have served as president for eight years at another institution in all of the positions that I've held and experiences that I've had over my 30 years in our education, I think those have really helped me tremendously, particularly because I kind of find it sometimes kind of challenging because we're doing everything remotely and even in meeting the leadership team as well as talking with board members and those kinds of things. I think because of the experiences that I've had that has really, really helped. But at the same time, I think it has brought us very close together in a good and very healthy working relationship because we're all concerned about our students, we're concerned about our faculty and staff, and we're concerned about the university community. And again, we have to go back to health and wellness as well as safety. We're very passionate about that and we're passionate about our students, we're passionate about what we do and we're passionate about the mission of Central State University. And I think that really comes out in this, what I call the remoteness that we do in all of the meetings that we have, phone calls and Zoom meetings. I think that has really brought us closer together. And President Hammond and I, I'll just say this, we decided long ago that no matter what happens, we're gonna have a good transition and we're gonna have a good working relationship. And that we have had because in any transition, you're gonna have things to occur. But at the same time, what I really like about her is that we both, she'll pick up the phone and call me, while I pick up the phone and call her and you're not worrying me at all, but it just really helped me in this transition. To make things stronger and better. So I'm just excited about even this relationship with President Hammond, it's been great. See, Alpha's and AKAs didn't work well together. That's what I hear. All right. That's what I hear. That's what I hear. I will round out, I will round out. You have to go there. Absolutely, the AKAs take care of the brothers. I know that first hand. Absolutely. I will round out with these two questions, one for each of you. Dr. Thomas, if we had a preponderance of Central State families for incoming students and continuing students listening to this right now, what would you want them to know about the first year of your tenure and what, as we try to get back to normal, knowing that there's a new modus operandi for that. So what would you want those families to know that they, for as much as you can, could and should expect in the Thomas era, particularly starting with year one? I want the families and the students to know that we care in being a first generation college student. I know the needs of our students. We wanna make sure that students come to our university and that regardless of the pandemic, that these students will still get a quality and well-rounded education that is second to none, that we're gonna provide an outstanding education and that we are passionate, as a president, I'm passionate about what I do. I'm a people person. I'm reachable, I'm touchable, and we're here to serve and to make sure that the students who come to this university, we will put everything in place in terms of the various kinds of support that we have, the various kinds of academic programs that we have and that we would do all that in our power to make sure that these students, that the students are our priority. I go back to being a student-centered institution. Everything that we do is that, and every decision that we make is what the students best interest at heart, that they can get a quality and well-rounded education, and an education that means not just what they learn in the classroom, but those things that they learn outside of the classroom as well, and that we're going to provide a nurturing and safe environment for the students. And that's just from the first year here all the way through graduation and even as the alums of the university. And then Dr. Hammond, I would ask you as you embrace the new chapter and so much of your career and so much of your work, particularly in Ohio, has positioned you to be one of the mothers of our sector. And I don't mean that in a sexist way, I mean that in a way that presidents of all sizes and all genders look to you as someone who's done it well, someone who's done it with class and someone who's been an exceptional role model. When you look back at the sector as a whole, what advice would you give HBCU presidents even with all this uncertainty? What is the number one thing that you think that we all ought to look out for or to be joyous about or to be concerned about? What is your piece of advice for the HBCU community as you walk away? And before I respond directly to that, I want to send a heartfelt congratulations to the class of 2020 of Central State University and all of the 2020 classes across this great nation. They have overcome, and that's what education provides. It provides them with a mechanism to learn that this is not the only mountain that they recline, but there will be other mountains that they know how to get over, around, or through that mountain if necessary. My response to other leadership in higher education is to be faithful to the cause. And the cause is quality academic assurances and to be faithful to the mission and the visions of your institutions. COVID-19 may change some of us in a way that may require us to look at things differently. That's okay, but we should always, and all leadership should always be faithful to the mission and the vision of higher education. And that is to uplift and to help young people, especially become changed ages, not just for themselves, but for their communities. Central State University has three tenets, service, protocol, and civility. And we believe that our universities, Central State University should be about service. And then secondly, understanding protocols as we never gate this very changing environment. And then thirdly, to act with respect and civility to ourselves and to everyone else around us, our families, and our institutions. So to summarize, stay true to the institutional mission and vision and act with service, protocol, and civility.