 "Photo: Courtesy NCCU Office of Public Relations")
If you walk into room 120 of the Alfonso Elder Student Union you may find an unfamiliar face behind the desk greeting you.
Maria Alvera Lumpkin, is the new director of the Alfonso Elder Student Union.
A native of Columbia, S.C., Lumpkin said she has a vision for N.C. Central University that is like no other.
"I'm here to change the face of Alfonso Elder Student Union and to expand it into a place where students will feel welcomed," Lumpkin said.
"I want them to know they will have a place to be engaged in."
Since Lumpkin's arrival she has established several new programs and has even remolded the union.
Lumpkin has extended the union's closing hours from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. The union now houses the office of Greek Life along with the Student Activities Board, Student Government Association and Student Leadership, Training and Development.
More meeting rooms equipped with flat screen televisions have been added, as well as new tables and chairs and a newly built stage.
A receptionist desk has also been added to assist students and there soon will be a hair salon on the ground floor where the current meditation room is located.
Lumpkin graduated from Saint Augustine's College in 1996 and later obtained a Master of Urban Studies from Old Dominion University, in 1998.
She earned a doctorate in Educational Leadership and Policy from Clark Atlanta University, in 2006.
Before coming to NCCU Lumpkin was the director of Student Life and Engagement at Spelman College, in Atlanta.
"I made the choice to come here because it was a great opportunity for me to come back to a place I was familiar with," Lumpkin said.
"I also wanted to work under the leadership of a millennium leader like Dr. Nelms."
Other activities and programs that she has established include midnight bowling and Saturday Cinema which busses students to South Point Cinemas.
Lumpkin has also implemented a cultural expansion program called Get Away to Explore (GATE). In GATE students will work with the Student Affairs Global Experience (SAGE) and take excursions to different countries, have diplomatic meetings and discussions.
Last semester, former student union director Constance Roberson passed away from breast cancer. She had worked at NCCU in several capacities for 30 years.
Many students remember Roberson for her involvement with students, an involvement that Lumpkin says she will continue.
Lumpkin said that under her leadership the union will offer exceptional customer service, strategic programming and social media. The union's top priorities are night and weekend programming.
"I really want to enhance the intellectual climate of the community and have intellectual discourse with the students," said Lumpkin.
She said she appreciates how eager, polite and unique students are. "I want students to remember a great quote I read by Chancellor Nelms," said Roberson.
" ‘Failure is not an option when others are depending on you.' "
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