Kandi Deitemeyer will officially be inaugurated Friday as Central Piedmont Community College’s president after 10 months on the job.
Deitemeyer is only the school’s fourth president and the second woman to lead CPCC. She succeeds Tony Zeiss, who held the position for nearly 25 years.
Deitemeyer came to Charlotte from Elizabeth City, where she was president of the College of Albemarle.
Before becoming president, Deitemeyer says she read reports about how those born into poverty in Charlotte rarely move out of it. She wants CPCC to help change that.
A product of a community college education herself, Dietemeyer says she wasn’t college-ready when she graduated from high school. She says she also had to work her way through school.
“I’m really the story, I know our students' story very well,” Dietemeyer said on Monday's Charlotte Talks. “Like most of our students, I was on financial aid and took out loans when I went on to university to finish out, so it is one of the most import aspects of who I am. I never thought I would become a president, but I’m grateful for the opportunity.”
Deitemeyer says she’s excited about a new $1.5 million program called the Opportunity Scholarship Initiative. Forty-two low-income minority students from high poverty schools in CMS received full scholarships to attend CPCC this fall.
Deitemeyer says they will have a team to work with the students daily to make sure they are on track and have what they need to succeed.
