by Leo Suarez | Jul 18, 2016 | Buzz, July 2016 / August 2016
It is possible these days to run into employees from companies like Apple and Google in downtown Raleigh. No, they aren’t shopping for office space but are instead partnering with nearby Shaw University. They are spending time with students to show them what it takes to make innovative products and what skills are needed to work at these types of technology companies.
This initiative is one of several new strategies put in place by the university’s newest president, a Shaw alumna and entrepreneur, Dr. Tashni-Ann Dubroy. Since August of 2015, Dubroy and her team have been focusing on better complementing Shaw’s curriculum with the needs of new business relationships.
“We have invited corporate partners to come to the campus directly and tell students what they are looking for,” says Dubroy.
Technology, entrepreneurship and analytical thinking are just a few major topics that the new curriculum emphasizes across all fields.
“The business environment is changing and higher education has to respond to those changes,” she says
Those changes, or “transformations” as Dubroy describes, are how she feels Shaw can better position students to compete in today’s workforce.
According to Dubroy, Shaw’s connectedness is “critical to the sustainability of the university.” Operating in a neighborhood alongside a revitalized downtown Raleigh and new growth, historic neighborhoods in East and Southeast Raleigh, Shaw stands to position itself as a leader in the area. However, Dubroy’s initiatives compete for attention between some alumni groups and the school’s Board of Trustees.
Shaw has a proud legacy that goes back to 1865 as the South’s first historically black college and holds a list of prominent accolades over its history. However, more recently the school, like many others in similar size, was facing financial hardships due to declining enrollment. The school’s Board of Trustees, a critical part of the leadership of any private college, has been under fire from select alumni for allowing the school to decline.
In an August 2008 letter to the board, Charles Sparks, President of the Shaw University National Alumni Association, wrote that, “My first observation is that this Board, on the whole, is dysfunctional and derelict in its duties.” In another undated letter to the board, a group of 50 alumni suggested that the entire presidential search process “has been tainted and executed in such an unprofessional manner that the future of our University is at risk.”
It got so bad that after Dubroy’s appointment in mid-2015, a group of alumni went on to form Shaw Alumni and Friends, Inc. and have since sued two members of the board. The group hoped that suing the board would get these issues into the open and force a response.
“They feel like they are being ignored,” says Christopher Young, the attorney for the Friends group. “They want this chairman removed. They would like the board reexamined”
Poor leadership, extended terms limits, nepotism, and actions that have tarnished Shaw’s reputation over the last decade are some of the accusations against Chairman Joe Bell and past Chairman Willie Gary.
The turmoil has added another obstacle to Dubroy’s efforts to improve and transform Shaw into a forward-thinking university. When asked about the friction between the board and the Friends of Shaw, Dubroy says: “The vast majority of our alumni are on board with the direction that the university is going.”
Around the time of the lawsuit, Dubroy issued a statement claiming that the university was “financially stable and sound” and that an audit by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools found no issues at Shaw.
Recently, a judge dismissed the lawsuit paving the way for Dubroy to move past the drama surrounding Shaw’s board. She’s ready to see her plan in action and follow its course for the long term. With a current five-year contract, Dubroy is ready to continue serving Shaw if asked in the future.
“I look forward to a university that will be a force to be reckoned with,” she says.
by Leo Suarez | Apr 29, 2016 | Buzz, May 2016
The Cuban community in Raleigh stands divided behind current events
It’s been 85 years since a sitting American president visited the island nation of Cuba and like those watching around the country, Raleigh’s Cuban community is showing mixed feelings about the changes it could bring.
“The changes are beginning to take place right now,” says Vicente Vila, a Cary resident who left the country in May 1964. He and his daughter, Anita Vila-Parrish who lives in Raleigh, traveled to Cuba in March of this year.
“You hear so much about things changing in Cuba and I felt like I wanted to go while I could witness the transition,” says Vila-Parrish.
The two are in favor of the relaxed travel restrictions that have taken place over the last few years between the U.S. and Cuba. In 2015, 150,000 Americans went to Cuba, up from 91,000 in 2014. With more travelers, the country can benefit from spending at restaurants, clubs, and for services like taxis and hotel rooms. It also means an exchanging of ideas.
“Cubans are beginning to see Americans and American mentality,” says Vila.
On-island Cubans have had very little exposure to the U.S., something that could change faster as more travelers interact with the local population. Increased economic activity may sound good at the surface but Cubans from a generation who’ve watched the Castro regime come to power are not entirely convinced.
“All Cubans who left carry pain,” says Hernando Ovies, an engineer living in Cary who left Cuba in September 1961. Indeed, watching a government benefit from open borders, that decades ago, took away entire savings accounts and tore apart families gives reason for pause.
Many in the Cuban community are angered over Castro’s grip on political and economic freedoms, enforcing and shutting down opposition through beatings, shaming, imprisonment and, in some cases, public execution.
The repression still continues today. The Cuban government imprisoned 8,600 political activists in 2015 according to a report by the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation.
However, the cross-pollination of American and Cuban cultures may cool a once heated relationship between the two countries.
by Leo Suarez | Mar 31, 2016 | April 2016, Do
Drones drop bombs, film movies and even illegally buzz the White House.
Jordan Petersen, Founder of Lift Aerial Marketing, creates high-quality photos and videos using drones and is the go-to guy for Raleighites wanting to experiment.
It can get a little dicey when these flying cameras get too close, he says; some ask if there’s an issue with privacy.
Not at the consumer price range.
“When you look at it from a pragmatic level, there should be very little to be concerned about,” says Petersen. The motors and propellers on drones are pretty noisy, but even with high-definition video, long zoom lenses only exist at the top-end (ahem, priciest) of models.
In terms of actual rules, Raleigh laws aren’t any stricter than those from the FAA. Drones must always be within visual sight, and if you’re flying it over private property, ask for permission first.
by Leo Suarez | Feb 2, 2016 | Buzz, February 2016
Eccentric and indivisualistic. Contemporary with a sense of humor. Intimate and caring.
If a boutique hotel had a dating profile, that’d be it.
A trendy alternative to the “all-business” hotel chains, the boutique hotel trend is growing. They’re smaller—10 to 100 rooms—and focus on providing exceptional personal service with the onsite bar and restaurants playing a starring role.
So why doesn’t Raleigh have at least one?
And why does Durham have two (with a third on the way)? Money, honey. Durham offers millions in county and city incentives that Raleigh doesn’t.
Check it out
• The Durham Hotel features 53 rooms in a five-story building with rooftop yoga and a bar with fantastic city views. Total city and county incentive: $1.2 million.
• 21C Museum blends a 125-room venue with a contemporary art museum, first-class spa and signature restaurant. Total incentive: $7.7 million.
• Jack Tar Hotel: Opening in the first quarter of this year, the 75-room hotel will feature 7,000 square feet of pool deck and 12,000 square feet of retail. Total incentive: $3.9 million.
Are we getting closer?
Raleigh focuses on larger chains, according to “Travel Weekly,” but the tide could be turning.
“Aloft” on Hillsborough Street strikes an intimate chord as will the “AC Hotel” in Midtown, the latter a Marriott International lifestyle brand with 133 rooms and a decidedly European flair. Raleigh is its first NC location.
Who knows, maybe more will follow.
by Leo Suarez | Nov 30, 2015 | Buzz, December 2015 / January 2016
The sound of gunshots while sleeping in the early morning made me spring to attention.
“Not again,” said my wife as I reached for the phone to call 911. A string of incidents through the month of September left me and other neighbors wondering if our neighborhood, Thompson-Hunter, was falling back to the days, decades ago, when crime was common.
But after a week of calls, I was starting to wonder if they were making a difference. Neighbors on our Facebook group kept asking: “Did they ever find the cause?” No one seemed to know.
Then I got a call from our district police officer who wanted to chat about what neighbors were seeing and hearing. In October, about 50 of us packed a meeting room at a local church. We all wanted to know what else we could do.
The non-emergency number was an option or we could join the online community of Next Door, where the Raleigh Police were already talking.
We decided to move our online conversations to Next Door to mesh with the city’s ongoing digital efforts. Since then, the gunshots have stopped, and we’re all sleeping a little easier.
What is Next Door?
It’s a free social network (nextdoor.com) that connects people who live in the same neighborhood and those nearby. In May, the Raleigh Police Department launched a partnership with Next Door.
“The best indication of its effectiveness probably rests with the anecdotal feedback we’re getting from district commanders and district community policing officers, who are the folks actually using the system on a daily basis,” says Jim Sughrue, director of Public Affairs for RPD.
“They report they’re getting tailored crime prevention information to more people and seeing expanded connections with their respective communities.”
