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Editor’s Note: The following is a response to the 2024 Dallas Herring Lecture by Dr. Russell Lowery-Hart, delivered on Nov. 19, from Dr. Scott Ralls, president of Wake Technical Community College.
On a brisk January day in 1964, Dr. Dallas Herring stood before the new Holding Hall at what would later be known as Wake Tech. In a dedication ceremony broadcast on WRAL, he delivered a charge that was echoed around the state and resonates profoundly today: “We must take the people and carry them as far as they can go within the assigned function of the system.”
Dr. Herring’s message was not merely a directive; it was a heartfelt love letter to a state that had long struggled economically. Just a decade earlier, North Carolina ranked among the poorest in the nation, with a per capita income that was only two-thirds of the national average. As Governor Terry Sanford followed Dr. Herring that day, he also emphasized our potential, stating, “We’re seeking to make sure North Carolina, which was 50 years late getting started in the industrial revolution, will be at the forefront of the space age.”
With the innovative spirit that gave rise to the North Carolina Community College System, we took flight. And wow did we fly. Today, North Carolina is recognized as an economic powerhouse—a leader in technology and job creation, a place where individuals and companies flock to and seek to thrive.
The ‘forgotten people’
Yet, amidst this success, we must not overlook the “forgotten people” that Dr. Herring and Governor Sanford urged us to remember. These are the individuals—the Marias who Dr. Lowery-Hart noted—who embody the challenges and aspirations within our communities, but too often have been limited in their opportunities. As we reflect on their potential, we recall Gov. Sanford’s vision for our collective potential expressed on that cold day at Wake Tech: “The lines at the welfare and unemployment office will decrease in direct proportion to the registration lines at these new educational centers,” he said.
Sixty years later, the challenges facing the “forgotten people” can be overshadowed by our collective economic achievements. Consider our community here in Raleigh, Wake County—the state capital and the second-fastest-growing metropolitan area in the nation, also recognized last year as the leading biopharma manufacturing region in the country. Yet, just a few years ago, we were ranked 96th out of 100 metropolitan statistical areas in economic mobility by Harvard economist Raj Chetty. How can this disparity exist in a place heralded for its economic opportunity?
We must recommit ourselves to the “forgotten people” Dr. Herring addressed. As Dr. Lowery-Hart has urged, we need to reimagine our approach to serve them better and to confront the challenges they face in higher education and beyond.
‘Take and carry’
Five years ago at Wake Tech, we embraced a renewed emphasis in our mission, evolving from Dr. Herring’s mantra of “take and carry” to the Wake Tech version of “Reach and Rally.” We are dedicated to reaching students throughout Wake County and rallying around them to go as far as their dreams, talents, and resilience take them.
Our data revealed that too many Marias were not engaging with us, prompting us to forge new partnerships and connections. Collaborating with Title I high schools, establishing a physical presence in the county’s most educationally challenged areas, and forming REACH partnerships with organizations like Boys and Girls Clubs and Dorcas Ministries have been pivotal. While we still have much work to do, we have increased the percentage of students from economically vulnerable areas of our county from 17% to 22% since 2021.
Consistent with Dr. Lowery-Hart’s vision, we have centered our approach around CARE. Transitioning from a fragmented support system, we now provide coordinated wrap around assistance through accessible Care Centers. Where once our advising was organizationally structured similar to the urgent healthcare model, now our students are supported by dedicated teams of advisors, success coaches, and career coaches integrated within our academic program structures. And this year, we have rebranded and reorganized our Tutoring and Learning Centers – TLCs — enhancing our focus on holistic student academic support.
These strategies and initiatives appear to be yielding positive results—our student retention rates are the highest in our history. However, as Peter Drucker wisely noted, “culture eats strategy for breakfast.” The true measure of our progress lies not only in structural changes but in cultivating a culture of courage and compassion.
Confronting the challenging realities
We must possess the courage to confront the challenging realities beneath what I call our “big data rocks,” just as we did over a decade ago when we, as a system, collectively addressed the challenges presented by developmental education for our students. When we uncover uncomfortable truths, we cannot simply put the rock back – disregard those challenges and shortcomings and turn our attention elsewhere. As Dr. Lowery-Hart reminds us, we must collectively lean into these challenges with resolve, not retreat.
At Wake Tech today, “data rocks” that we see are the discrepancies in completion rates for minoritized students in high-wage programs, and low first-year math course completion rates that hinder progress in higher-wage degree programs with heavier math requirements. These are challenges not only to degree completion, but to economic mobility, which is why we can’t let metrics suggesting progress in some areas distract us from data suggesting we must redouble our efforts and adjust our strategies.
For those of us in leadership roles within community colleges, the demands of courage and culture can feel daunting. Yet, I have found reassurance in the belief that strategy, courage, and culture are not solely the responsibility of those occupying the largest offices; rather, they are reflected in the spirit and commitment of our entire institution. Following Jim Collins’ mirror-window metaphor, we often discover the most impactful innovations by looking outward at the innovation within our campus communities and by recognizing the dedication of our faculty, staff, and student leaders.
Student-focused leaders
In my early days as president at Craven Community College, I encountered leaders like Ed Davis, whose primary responsibilities involved maintenance. Yet, while he tended to the duties of his formal job description, he was always listening, and always a staunch advocate for our students, consistently sharing ideas with me and others to better serve those in need. One of my fondest memories was the day we celebrated Ed’s contributions by naming our new maintenance building after him during a ceremony highlighted by a wonderful Down East pig pickin’.
In a powerful 1984 lecture, Victor Frankl—the psychiatrist, Holocaust survivor, and author of Man’s Search for Meaning—shared the story of a dustman, honored with the Order of Merit by the Federal Republic of Germany, for his efforts to find and repair discarded toys for needy children. In another place, another time, Ed Davis’ job title I suppose could have been dustman.
In his lecture, Frankl emphasized that the essence of the original dustman’s work stemmed from love— which he said is an experience of appreciating the uniqueness of others. “Experiencing someone in their uniqueness and singularity,” says Victor Frankl, “means loving them.” It means seeing the beauty in the Marias that our colleges uniquely are created to serve.
Since meeting Ed Davis, I have found leaders at every community college I have served motivated by the love of students. At Wake Tech, we recognize and reflect their examples with what we refer to as a Rally Award given at each of our bi-monthly Board meetings. Rally Award winners have included innovative, caring, loving student-focused leaders like:
- Police officer Travis Smith who after watching a homeless student’s daily struggles helped her access a can opener at just the right time, along with other support items to lighten her daily load. Travis was the catalyst for creating “Safe Bucks” on Wake Tech campuses to encourage and reward students’ support of our campus community.
- Emily Bergen, a librarian at our Public Safety Education Campus who recognizing regularly occurring student needs at Wake Tech, set up a resource table in her campus library that included both information about student support services and basic items that students may need during a day, like school supplies and hygiene products. Emily’s work was a catalyst for what we now refer to as The Perch at Wake Tech, resource pantries managed and operated by the Wake Tech Libraries and the TLCs, Tutoring and Learning Centers; and
- Jackie Swanik, a longtime Wake Tech biology instructor and now Associate Dean who catalyzed our STEM Academic Research and Training (START Program) that combines the power of student research, paid internships and mentorship into a high impact program championed by the National Science Foundation. A graduating student last year commented to me that the START program had changed her life.
When Dr. Lowery-Hart said in his remarks today that “we must reimagine ourselves, as institutions, and as a sector of education, in order to serve Maria and meet the growing challenges facing higher education,” he echoed the words of Dr. Dallas Herring.
Dr. Herring envisioned a community college system grounded in courage, clarity, and intentionality—a system that continually reinvents itself to meet the needs of the “forgotten people.” He understood that true leadership and innovation flourish not only in the offices of presidents but among dedicated leaders like Ed, Travis, Emily, and Jackie—those who form the backbone of the Great 58, from Tri-County to the College of the Albemarle.
Together, let us reaffirm our commitment to the Marias of our communities. Let us embrace the courage to confront challenges, foster a culture of compassion, and continue the vital work of transforming lives through education.
