The North Carolina Association of Community College Trustees (NCACCT) offered toasts of recognition and appreciation for North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS) President Jeff Cox at their spring meeting on Wednesday in Raleigh. Cox is set to retire effective at the end of June after more than 30 years of service in North Carolina public schools.
“We wanted to make sure we had an opportunity to recognize Dr. Cox and to express how much we appreciate his contribution to our community college system and to our state as a whole,” said Gene Rees, the chair of NCACCT.
A native of Alleghany County and a strong believer in public education, Cox began his career in the classroom as a teacher, then became a principal, superintendent, and community college president, and finally the 11th president of the North Carolina Community College System.
While serving as the president of Wilkes Community College, Cox was appointed to state education boards and was selected for the Aspen Presidential Fellowship for Community College Excellence in 2017.
Cox’s leadership has led to enrollment growth across the NCCCS after the pandemic, the development of Propel NC, and securing the largest gift in NCCCS history from Arnold Ventures for Boost, totaling $35.6 million. At the reception, speakers highlighted Cox’s integrity, vision, and commitment to student success spanning his many roles in education over the last 30 years.
“We will miss your steady guidance, your humor, your unwavering support, and as we move forward, we will honor your legacy by continuing the work, recommitting ourselves to ensuring that our students have the skills, the degrees, and the credentials they need to improve their social and economic mobility,” said Amanda Lee, president of the North Carolina Association of Community College Presidents.
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Tom Looney, chair of the State Board of Community Colleges said: “Tonight, we recognize someone who spent more than three decades in North Carolina education. And that’s no small thing. That is a huge leap. Jeff has seen education from every angle in this state, from the classroom to district leadership to leading a community college and ultimately stepping into the role as president of our system. That kind of journey really matters.”
Cox was also recognized for his commitment to supporting the community colleges in western North Carolina following Hurricane Helene.
“Jeff’s guidance of the 14 western community colleges who suffered from Hurricane Helene, and his commitment to those colleges, in my opinion, will be his defining legacy,” said Rees.
Audrey “AJ” Jaeger, executive director of the Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research at NC State University, shared two main things that stood out to her throughout his leadership. First, his commitment to growing and investing in people.
“Jeff understands how to build human capacity, hire great people, invest in them and get out of their way,” said Jaeger. “Many of you in this room are those people who were hired indirectly or directly. He invested in you. Jeff doesn’t just talk about investing in people — he does it.”
Second, she shared that Cox’s openness to and support for innovation has led to positive changes across the community college system.
“Jeff has the ability to imagine what’s possible, a willingness to support the innovative ideas that people have. During Jeff’s time as president of Wilkes Community College, alongside Dr. Garrett Hinshaw of Catawba Valley, he launched with us the first teaching and learning hub, the West hub. He believed again that faculty needed investment and to be excellent, they needed an infrastructure to provide professional development,” said Jaeger. “It took his commitment and vision to support something new, to believe in innovation and to invest in people.”
Nation Hahn, managing director at the John M. Belk Endowment (JMBE), closed out the night with a toast to Cox on behalf of MC Belk Pilon and the whole JMBE team.
We met Jeff Cox early in our journey together in this community college space, and we’ll never forget his focus on social mobility and mental health, because it just really resonated with us, because it was personal to you and it was real. And as MC pointed out last week, in the more recent years, being a president is hard, trying to guide 58 presidents is arguably harder.
So tonight we’re here to celebrate a man who never forgot that every one of our 58 community colleges has a community behind it, a community in its name, and students whose lives turn because of what happens inside its doors. He’s led the system through challenging times, hurricanes, budgets, lack thereof, even through ERPs and CRMs, God help him, and every other acronym under the sun, and he’s never lost sight of that.
Our students and North Carolina’s community colleges are stronger because of you. Our public schools are stronger because of you, and our state is better because of you.
— Nation Hahn, managing director of JMBE
Editor’s note: Arnold Ventures and the John M. Belk Endowment support the work of EdNC.
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