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GREENSBORO — The N.C. A&T community gathered Tuesday evening  around the campus statue of the A&T Four to celebrate their new chancellor, Harold Martin.

That statue commemorates one of the proudest moments in the school’s history: The student-led sit-ins at the Woolworth’s lunch counter in downtown Greensboro sparked a national movement. One of the four, Franklin McCain, was on hand as chairman of A&T’s board of trustees. He said Martin’s return to his alma mater is another historic occasion.

“He will breathe new life and new birth into N.C.  A&T,” McCain said.

The crowd of students, teachers and alumni greeted the promise with wild applause and calls of “Aggie Pride!”

McCain, who led the committee that chose Martin, said A&T has been “blessed with a true leader.”

It was a sentiment the many guest speakers echoed — none more strongly than UNC system President Erskine Bowles.

“You think you’re happy right now?” Bowles asked members of the crowd, who stood and sat on the lawn in front of the Dudley Building. “Wait until two years from now, once you’ve been exposed to the leadership of this great man.”

Bowles lured Martin away from his job as chancellor of Winston-Salem State University in 2006 and made him the UNC system’s chief academic officer. Bowles said Martin’s knowledge, wisdom and patience were invaluable, and it was hard to give him up.

“But I understood why he wanted to come back home to A&T,” Bowles said.

Martin, an A&T graduate, worked his way from an assistant professorship to dean of the college before becoming A&T’s vice chancellor for academic affairs.

 “I have come to believe that Harold was born — if not mechanically engineered — to lead A&T,” Bowles said.
 

Among the event’s other speakers were former Chancellor Edward Fort and City Councilwoman Goldie Wells, who represents the district that includes A&T. Councilwoman T. Dianne Bellamy-Small also was present.

The school’s SGA President Syene Jasmin said he believed Martin was the right man for the job in a trying time.

“I look at the challenges we face, such as budget cuts, retention and economic uncertainty,” Jasmin said. “But I look at this man and I think, 'A&T has a lot of potential.’”

Jasmin said the fact that Martin is the first alum to return to lead the school is inspiring, and his experience is just what the school needs now.

Martin said he was honored by all the acclaim, but he stressed to the crowd that he would need each of them to work with him to realize the university’s potential.

“My late mother said to me years ago, 'You will never outwork me,’” Martin told the crowd. “I say that, too — you will never outwork me. So, if you give half the effort that I will give, just imagine all that we can accomplish.”

Contact Joe Killian at 373-7023 or joe.killian@news-record.com