Johnson C. Smith University President Clarence D. Armbrister is set to retire in June. The announcement was made early last month. Armbrister, the 14th president of the private HBCU, helped to shape the university’s strategic plan during his tenure in Charlotte. When Armbrister became the president of JCSU in 2018, he gave a speech outlining what the university needed to become more sustainable. He prioritized goals by what is often known as the “Four R’s.”
“I think the order is always important, as I said to everyone. [It] included resources, recruitment, retention and rigor,” Armbrister said.
President Armbrister, alongside the JCSU Board of Trustees, created the Gold(en) Blueprint three years after his appointment. The name of the detailed strategic plan plays on the university colors of gold and blue. One of the objectives of the Gold(en) Blueprint is to create pathways for students entering the school for the first time.
“Coming in from places like the community college, which includes Central Piedmont [Community College] and Gaston community college,” Armbrister said. “With whom we have articulation agreements that provide, for the first time in Johnson C. Smith [University’s] history, an opportunity for those students who meet certain criteria to get scholarships.”
In an effort to make JCSU one of the top 10 HBCUs in the country, the plan intends to retain students who face financial challenges.
“Money can be an obstacle for them completing their education uninterrupted,” Armbrister said. “So, a significant part of the plan is providing resources to make sure that is not an issue.”
Studying inside JCSU’s James B. Duke Memorial Library was student Jayla Deboles, who transferred from Central Piedmont Community College in 2021 with more than $20,000 in scholarships. She said she appreciates seeing Armbrister around campus.
“[In] a lot of universities, sometimes your president is a little bit untouchable and not as personable,” Deboles said. “Versus, he’ll be at the events, doing line dances with us, holding up his bull (the school mascot) and having on his JCSU paraphernalia.”
President Armbrister’s contagious personality led Deboles’ mother, also a student at Central Piedmont Community College, to follow in her daughter’s footsteps.
“She ended up transferring here as well," Deboles said. “And honestly, I would say that a lot of students speak highly of President Armbrister simply because he shows up for us.”
During his time at JCSU, President Armbrister helped secure the largest gift the university has ever received. Mayor Vi Lyles allocated more than $80 million to the school as part of the Mayor’s Racial Equity Initiative. Armbrister said the funds will help support the university’s strategic plan, which includes input from the community.
“We talked to the business community; we talked to the philanthropic communities; we talked to civic leaders and asked them, 'How can Johnson C. Smith [University] be helpful in terms of moving economic viability and upward mobility through this region?’” Armbrister said.
Armbrister said the community leaders emphasized the importance of academics.
“They told us that we need to make sure our students when they come to them, are better prepared,” Armbrister said. "They told us the academic areas in which they thought the students could be very helpful.”
Those academic areas revolve around business, pre-med education, and data analytics. Steven Boyd, who graduated from JCSU in 1979, is now the university’s Board of Trustees chairman, leading the search for its 15th president. Boyd said Armbrister’s successor will carry out the Gold(en) Blueprint at the university.
“We would absolutely expect the new president to pick up that plan and run with it,” Boyd said. “Not to start all over, not to come in and create his own or her own vision, their own vision. But to take this plan and help execute it.”
As Armbrister reflects on his tenure as JSCU president, some of his fondest moments have come from his involvement in the commencement ceremonies.
“Looking at the unbridled joy of a student who has worked so hard, whose family for whom may be the first graduate to graduate from college,” Armbrister said. “And to see the unbridled joy and sense of accomplishment, there’s nothing that gives me greater satisfaction than doing that.”
Upon retirement, the board says Armbrister will transition into a role as a senior advisor to the new president until early 2024.
SUPPORT LOCAL NEWS
From local government and regional climate change to student progress and racial equity, WFAE’s newsroom covers the stories that matter to you. Our nonprofit, independent journalism is essential to improving our communities. Your support today will ensure this journalism endures tomorrow. Thank you for making a contribution of any amount.
