DM When you were going through school, was there an educator who inspired you? JA My father was a headmaster – in those days, we called them headmasters but it’s like a principal – of an elementary school. So I understood the value of education very early on in my life. He told all of his children, “You have to have higher education. You have to.” It’s the same value that I try to instill in many of our students today because for many of them, that’s the only ticket out of poverty, to change not just their lives, but the lives of their children and generations to come. DM How is N.C. Central working with the city? JA I have met with just about everyone in the department of the city manager, Mr. Tom Bonfield; county manager, Mr. Wendell Davis; the mayor; transportation department. … That was one of my major objectives when I came in as chancellor: I wanted to strengthen NCCU’s partnership with the city and the county. We are working together on so many fronts now, talking about economic development and economic revitalization of areas around the university, working with the city in terms of intensified and increased security around the university. They’ve been really, really responsive.
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Dr. Johnson O. Akinleye, chancellor of North Carolina Central University, talks town-gown relations and the university’s rising star B Y HO L LY W EST | PHOTO BY BR IAN A BROUGH
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DM What are some projects you’d like to partner with the city on in the next few years? JA I’d like to see some expansion and some development in the areas surrounding NCCU, and of course, all of that is going to happen now with the movement around the light rail. This city is doing some good planning already, and we are talking to the city manager, and we’ve been at the table talking to the Durham Housing Authority [CEO Anthony] Scott about their plan and how the university fits into that. It’s very, very encouraging. DM In terms of affordable housing, does that include housing for students? JA Yes. … We can’t house all of our students on campus. So decent apartments around campus, affordable housing on campus – all of those would