Light rail extension coming to campus in 2017

The light rail onto campus includes the only underground stretch
of the Blue Line in the entire LYNX system.

The LYNX Blue Line Extension allows for a new dimension of connectivity between UNC Charlotte and the neighborhoods and business districts along the Blue Line as far south as Pineville. 

Light rail also provides greater accessibility for the citizens of the region to the resources of the University.

The prospect of bringing more people to and from campus for work, performing arts, athletic events, festivals and other activities will prove revolutionary for students, staff, faculty, alumni and visitors.

The Blue Line Extension includes a unique pedestrian bridge
that spans the entire width of North Tryon Street at Institute Circle.

Beginning in late summer 2017, new Charlotte Area Transit System light rail stations at Ninth Street – beside UNC Charlotte Center City – J.W. Clay at North Tryon Street and Cameron Boulevard at Wallis Hall will bring the convenience of light rail to the heart of the University campus. And as part of the Blue Line Extension, eight other new light rail stations – and related bus routes -- will provide an alternative to using automobiles.

The LYNX Blue Line Extension begins at Seventh Street in Uptown Charlotte and continues to the UNC Charlotte Main Station. Stations along the way are located at Ninth Street, Parkwood, 25^th Street, 36^th Street, Sugar Creek, Old Concord Road, Tom Hunter Road, McCullough Drive, J.W. Clay Boulevard UNC Charlotte Station and UNC Charlotte Main Station, along Cameron Boulevard near Wallis Hall and the North Deck

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Hunger to Help: Jamils give to support student food pantry, scholarship

By Paul Nowell

Dhiaa Jamil at dedication of a food pantry
for UNC Charlotte students

Dhiaa Jamil grew up comfortably, the son of parents with sufficient financial resources. By the time he entered college at UNC Charlotte that had all changed.

“When I ended up here, I had no means,” he said. “I worked, struggled and relied on the giving of others. Some people call it ‘food security.’ I call it hunger.”

Jamil became interested when he learned about a new project at his alma mater — a food pantry for needy students. He first heard about the pantry at a Board of Trustees retreat two years ago.

“I perked up because the idea brought me back to a certain time in my life,” Jamil said, speaking of his time as a college student. He and his wife, Hope, became fervent supporters of the then-fledgling operation, which became a small venue on campus.

60^th Birthday Honor

The family also established the Hope E. Jamil EPIC Student Fellow Scholarship to provide support for students with financial need. Recently, Hope Jamil put together a donation for a larger food pantry in honor of her husband’s 60th birthday.

The Jamil Niner Pantry helps ensure
food security for students.

On Aug. 31, University officials, students, faculty and staff gathered in the backyard of that larger facility, a ranch house on the edge of the UNC Charlotte campus near East Deck, to dedicate the house as the “Jamil Niner Student Pantry.”

The naming event was held to honor the Jamils for their generous support to benefit students who struggle with a phenomenon called food security. National studies have found a large number of college students are unable to find or afford nutritious food.

“This food pantry clearly meets a real need for our students,” said Chancellor Philip L. Dubois, who was joined by his wife, Lisa, along with members of the Jamil family and others at the naming ceremony. “With this boost from Hope and Dhiaa, it will continue to do so for years to come.”

University Advocate

A 1978 graduate of UNC Charlotte and Duke Energy executive, Dhiaa is currently serving as secretary of the University’s Board of Trustees. He advocates with local corporations on behalf of UNC Charlotte initiatives, including faculty development, scholarships, athletics and the Pride of Niner Nation Marching Band.

The pantry provides assistance to undergraduate and graduate students. It has also benefited from donations from Food Lion, which donated $8,000 worth of nonperishable items to the pantry in its first year. The supermarket chain continues to support the food pantry.

To qualify for assistance, students must live off campus and not have a University meal plan. In addition, each client must complete an intake form and a food-pantry inventory list. In establishing the pantry, UNC Charlotte joined 13 other UNC system institutions with similar initiatives.

“There is no other place I would rather have my name associated with than this building,” Jamil said. “It touches my heart because it provides support to students with dignity.”

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UNC Charlotte students demonstrate peacefully after shooting

By Leanna Pough

On September 21, UNC Charlotte students conduced peaceful demonstration in response to a police shooting in Charlotte’s University City area.

Chancellor Dubois addressed a gathering of concerned students on Sept. 21.

The demonstration follows the death of 43 year old Keith Lamont Scott who was shot and killed Tuesday afternoon by a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer.

Members of Black Student Union (BSU), a student organization at UNC Charlotte invited the campus community to join them in raising awareness concerning police shootings.

Wednesday, Sept 21, participants gathered in front of the Popp-Martin Student Union for a community forum to share personal accounts and fears surrounding racial injustice.

Following a moment of silence to honor the victims of police brutality, Chancellor Philip Dubois expressed his condolences and encouraged students to both speak out and exercise their right to vote.

Shortly after, a group of nearly 150 students met on the back patio of the student union to protest.

Students assemble prior to a demonstration in the
Popp-Martin Student Union rotunda.

Led by Fahn Darkor, Student Government Association

President, participants prayed and were reminded of the importance of their involvement. Darkor asked demonstrators to avoid using their phones to document their participation and to instead remain present in the moment.

Entering the union, protesters laid down, lining the floor of the student union rotunda. Their bodies sprawled side by side was a visual reminder of the slain victims of police brutality.

As visitors entered the union, protesters sang songs of encouragement and openly shared why they chose to participate.

Students lie down in an expression of solidarity.

“I do this because my oppression is not a figment of my imagination,” one student said.

“I do this for Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin and Korryn Gaines.”

“I do this so they’ll listen,” another said.

As a campus community that serves as an anchor for all of University City, UNC Charlotte as a whole grieves the loss of human life. The safety and well-being of all members of the campus community remains a priority for the University.

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Leanna Pough ('15) is communications coordinator in the Office of Public Relations.

Prof's book explores black militia after Civil War

By: Leanna Pough

A recently published work by history professor Gregory Mixon analyzes one state’s process of freedom, citizenship and the incorporation of African Americans within the political and economic structure of the United States after the Civil War.

“Show Thyself a Man: Georgia State Troops, Colored, 1865-1905” explores the history of Georgia’s black militia and how both independent militias and state-sponsored militias defined freedom and citizenship for African Americans. The work is available at University Press of Florida.

“Black people had a vision for freedom after the Civil War. They had a vision of what citizenship should be and that vision conflicted with white definitions of post-Civil War freedom and citizenship,” Mixon explained. 

He added that attempts to fulfill the African American vision of freedom have often met with resistance.

“There were two kinds of militia in Georgia. One was an independent militia, which was not associated with state government. Independent militias were used to organize the black community around political and economic issues such as voting and land acquisition. Tunis Campbell was one man who came south to help African Americans organize after the Civil War,” Mixon said. 

Tunis Campbell, regarded as an influential African American politician in 19th century Georgia, openly spoke against laws and policies that undercut African American citizenship and economic rights.

State-sponsored militia companies served between 1872 and 1905 as an officially recognized division of state government, and both whites and blacks organized militia units at the county level to use as an instrument to dominate local governance, said Mixon

“For blacks, independent militias were a means to defend economic rights such as land ownership. State militias became more of a ceremonial group in Georgia’s cities,” he added. 

State militia companies organized the celebration of Emancipation Day; the anniversary of the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments; May Day; and Independence Day. If there was an emergency within the state, state militias could be called to restrain any threats to public safety and harmony.

According to Mixon, the resistance blacks once faced in their fight for citizenship during the 19th century is still present today. “It’s evident in the threats to the right to vote. It’s evident in police-community relations. It’s evident in the disparities of resources and the questions aimed toward the current president of the United States. It is evident in the firestorm being dumped on the quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers seeking to define the nation as a nation that sees all as equal.”

Mixon’s scholarship offers an in-depth approach to race relations, politics and U.S. urban history. Earlier this year, he received the Atkins Library Faculty Engagement Award, which honors a UNC Charlotte faculty member who has engaged in innovative or exceptional work with library collections, programs and services. The award, presented along with a $2,500 allocation for professional development, enables the library to recognize outstanding faculty contributions to its mission, vision and strategic initiatives.

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Leanna Pough is communication coordinator in the Office of Public Relations.

Researcher studies movement, evolution of Zika virus

Edited by Leanna Pough

Named for the African forest where it was first isolated in 1940, the Zika virus has remained a public interest over the past year. Ongoing outbreaks in Brazil are estimated to have infected more than one and a half million people and have been associated with debilitating birth defects and other serious health concerns.

As the eyes of the world turned to Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Summer Olympics, scientists and public health officials across the globe moved quickly to respond to the virus which many experts believe will spread across the Americas in the coming months. Among those responding, Dr. Dan Janies, The Carol Grotnes Belk Distinguished Professor of Bioinformatics and Genomics at UNC Charlotte sat with Inside UNC Charlotte TV to discuss Zika.

As a researcher studying Genomics and Bioinformatics, what do you do when consider when studying a disease or a virus like Zika?

Epidemiologists typically look at the occurrence of the disease, putting points on a map. In Genomics, we look at the biology of the disease itself, its genetics. In a more functional molecular way, we look at what has occurred to cause the disease. By observing genetic similarity, geneticists connect those dots and see how the disease is moving across the earth. So, we’re looking at both time and geography, as well as comparing samples that have been taken from patients across time and geography. Labs across the world are sequencing the virus and sharing that information over the Internet. We compare all those viruses and compare their Meta data, where they're taken from, and what biological properties they have, what animals or humans they are taken from, and we put all that in context akin to a weather map.

Zika has been known as a relatively mild virus. What's different in current cases that have public health officials concerned and scientists involved?

The disease recently spread from Africa across Asia and the Pacific. In doing so, it's taken on new properties, causing birth defects in children and Guillain-Barre Syndrome in some mature adults. Our work has shown that the virus has picked up novel mutations as it crossed the Pacific into the Americas. Those mutations seem to be allowing it to attack the immune system, causing both birth defects and the Guillain-Barre Syndrome. That's completely new for the virus.

Can those conditions cause long-term debilitating conditions or, in some cases, even death?

Yes, in children it’s microcephaly –the child's head and brain don't fully develop. That's one very obvious phenotype of the disease but there are many others: limb problems, eye problems, hearing problems and developmental problems.  It might not just be microcephaly.  In mature adults, Guillain-Barre Syndrome is a paralytic disease; if it’s not treated, it can attack the lungs and then cause death.

How dependent is this kind of science on advances in technology?

Bioinformatics and Genomics in our program is a reflection of a lot of very recent technological advances. One, the ability to share information rapidly over the Internet primarily. Two, the ability to rapidly compute on that shared information. These are big data problems and we have high performance computers to do that. Lastly, the advent of very good sequencing technology so we can observe with precision the building blocks of the viruses.

In the past, you’ve explained these changes to the virus as purposeful. Why is the virus doing this?

As viruses replicate themselves, they make a lot of errors. They don't have a lot of error correction in their replication and that's actually an advantage; their sloppiness is an advantage and some of those variants go on to take on new properties and allow the virus to have new strategies such as crossing the Pacific not on mosquitoes but on human travelers.

What are the next steps moving forward for you in your lab? What are some of the concerns you're looking at from an American and a North American perspective in terms of the spread of this virus?

Since the outbreak in Miami it has become a continental U.S. problem and it looks like these outbreaks are not travel warranted. People who have not traveled to Miami are starting to experience the disease from their local mosquitoes. What we're looking towards now is which species of mosquitoes can be infected and what the range of those mosquitoes is across the continental United States. That will allow us to predict the spread of the virus.

As an Urban Research University, we also look at the student experience and educating students. How does this work relate to what your students are doing and what the Bioinformatics program is doing?

UNC Charlotte has a Department which is unique to the country and around the world in training Master’s and Ph.D. students and undergraduates in technologies used to track pandemic diseases. What they're doing is extremely socially relevant work.

Watch an 8-minute video interview of Janies on YouTube.

Dr. Janies is a national principal investigator in the Tree of Life program of the National Science foundation and is funded by the Defense Applied Research Projects Agency. His work involves empirical studies of organismal diversity and development of software.

In July 2012, he joined the University of North Carolina at Charlotte as The Carol Grotnes Belk Distinguished Professor of Bioinformatics and Genomics. Dr. Janies received a Bachelor of Sciences degree in Biology from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Florida.

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Profs' Film Earns Emmy Nomination, Explores Impact of Art

By Kendra Sharpe

UNC Charlotte researcher Margaret M. Quinlan and colleagues received a regional Emmy® nomination for Creative Abundance, a film that explores how art can redefine vocational opportunities and expand the lives of people with developmental disabilities.

Quinlan, an associate professor in Communication Studies and core faculty with the Interdisciplinary Health Psychology doctoral program, is a co-producer on the film.

UNC Charlotte's Margaret Quinlan (center) shares the Emmy spotlight
with colleagues Evan Shaw (left) and Lynn Harter.

“It is a huge honor in so many ways,” Quinlan says. “It is an honor that the individuals in the film allowed us to tell their stories. This documentary draws from years of research. Dr. Harter invited me into a research project she was working on in 2003 related to disability and sheltered workshops. My passion for creating these films started with that work over a decade ago.”

Quinlan was nominated by the Ohio Valley Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in the category Documentary – Cultural/Topical, along with lead producer Lynn Harter, professor, Scripps College of Communication, Ohio University; and Evan Shaw, chief videographer/editor, WOUB.

The documentary is part of a series, The Courage of Creativity, which explores the role that artists and creativity can play in people’s well being in health-related contexts. In 2014, the series won a regional Emmy award from the Ohio Valley Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, based on the strength of a promotional trailer.

“Our research and creative activity is inspired and informed by the stories of individuals,” Quinlan says. “Storytelling is a powerful form of experiencing and expressing.”

The most recent film, the second in the three-part series, examines services in place for individuals with developmental disabilities, usually in the form of vocational and rehabilitative workshops that often are sheltered from the public eye and from community interaction.

With this research, Quinlan and colleagues have found that the use of art can help medical and other professionals understand and address the impacts on people’s lives caused by illness or disability.

“Artists do not eliminate the uncertainties surrounding illness,” Quinlan says. “Even so, they answer suffering in ways that go beyond the traditional reach of biomedicine. We hope that Creative Abundance will offer people a glimpse of creative programming that integrates artful encounters in various settings.”

The film also will be shown on PBS affiliates over a four-year period, through a national distribution arrangement with the National Education Association. The schedule for broadcast in North Carolina is not yet set.

The Ohio Valley Regional Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences will present the Emmy Awards on August 6 in Lawrenceburg, Ind. The film and various people involved with it also received three additional Emmy award nominations for videography and production.

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Kendra Sharpe is a student communication associate in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.

Fulbright Fellow pens 'The American Workday'

By Leanna Pough

Study, go to class, graduate and land a job — that’s a familiar path to college students searching for the American dream of prosperity.

As part of the process, astute college students seek out mentors or participate in internships to develop career insight. These opportunities can provide valuable tips on what to expect in the future. But what does it really mean to be a member of the American workforce?

Levine Scholar and UNC Charlotte alumnus Austin Halbert sought the answer. The resulting book, “The American Workday: Tales of Life and Work in the United States Today,” published in January 2016, shares stories of America’s workers. It explores how one’s career can affect an individual’s personal life off the clock, along with misconceptions associated with jobs and class.

Horizons Expand with Levine Grant

A native of Shelby, N.C., Halbert attended Crest High School. Growing up in a small town just west of Charlotte, he was exposed to a working-class population and had little understanding of how people lived outside of that lifestyle.

Austin Halbert is completing a year-long Fulbright Fellowship in Sweden

“When I became a Levine Scholar, I was given an opportunity to go to school in a diverse city, to travel and meet people from backgrounds that were foreign to me,” noted Halbert. “This taught me so much about people whose conditions I could have only speculated upon before leaving my hometown. As soon as I heard someone’s story directly from them, I was then able to feel empathy for others facing similar circumstances.”

To gain a better understanding of how society functions, Halbert listened to people’s stories and connected them to larger social trends.

“I believe storytelling is the best way to foster empathy. When I heard discussions in America becoming increasingly divisive — politically, economically and socially — I wanted to find a way to inject a little bit of empathy into the equation. Fortunately, I found many generous people who were willing to share their stories for this purpose,” Halbert said.

During a three-year period, he and fellow Levine Scholars Laura Outlaw and Vrushab Gowda interviewed and photographed 38 diverse workers across occupations. Interviewees ranged from stock clerks to Fortune 500 executives.

Workers Have Similar Motivations

“Most of the workers interviewed were from the Charlotte area, and if they are any indication, the people of Charlotte are an incredibly resilient, compassionate and hard-working bunch,” Halbert said. “I found that each person I spoke to had fundamentally similar motivations: to provide for the people who depended on them, to find pride and dignity through their work and to find balance between working hard and leading a fulfilled life.”

A member of the Class of 2015, Halbert completed a bachelor’s degree in management with a concentration in organizational management. He also earned a minor in economics.

“The American Workday” was funded through a grant from the Levine Scholars Program, which enabled Halbert to complete the work. The book is endorsed by the Global Engagement Summit and the Clinton Global Initiative University. Proceeds from the book, available at www.americanworkday.com in hardcover and e-book formats, benefit Charlotte Works and Hired Heroes, organizations working to end unemployment by matching jobless citizens with workforce-training opportunities.  

In September 2015, Halbert began a yearlong Fulbright graduate research fellowship at Sweden’s University of Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law. He is studying sustainable development through an assessment of public-private partnerships. Additionally, he is interviewing government and business officials in the capital of Stockholm.

Sustainability Across Sectors

“My mission is to find out how institutions approach social, economic and environmental sustainability across sectors and to determine what can be done to further efforts,” explained Halbert. “Sweden is a world leader in sustainability and innovation, so hopefully these insights can serve as a lesson for institutions around the world on how to meet the needs of society while growing strong businesses.”

Interviewees have included ministers and ambassadors for the Swedish government, as well as top executives at global companies such as Ericsson, Electrolux, Ikea and H&M.

The Fulbright program is one of the largest and most prestigious international exchange programs in the world today. Its main objective is to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the citizenry of other nations through the sharing of ideas, knowledge, skills and individual experiences.

Recently, Halbert was appointed to the Youth Working Group for the U.S. National Commission to UNESCO. The 12 American leaders who make up the group endeavor to engage youth and share UNESCO’s mission of international peace and universal respect.

“As a new member of the Youth Working Group, I am leading the creation of the UNESCO Action Coalition, which will pair young activists and social entrepreneurs with experienced mentors in their fields. The mission is to connect new and experienced generations of change-makers, while providing guidance to high-impact projects focused on sustainable development,” Halbert explained.

With the help of two co-founders he has met while conducting research in Sweden, Halbert is also planning the launch of a social enterprise he calls “ImpactEd,” which will empower universities to bring real-world problem solving into the classroom.

Leanna Pough is communications coordinator in the Office of Public Relations.

Alumnus’s project reimagines historic Brooklyn neighborhood

By Melba Newsome

Although Lindsey McApline (‘90) was pursuing a double major in Business and Psychology at UNC Charlotte, he always knew real estate development would play an outsized role in his professional future. “I was actively working in real estate and anxious to go out in the business world,” he recalls. “I started my first development company between my junior and senior year in college.”

Lindsey McAlpine

Fast forward a quarter-century and the former UNC Charlotte alumni president has made his mark in the development world. Yet, McAlpine feels his biggest and most personal project is just around the corner. As the managing partner of Citisculpt, an urban mixed-use developer working exclusively in the Carolinas, McAlpine is now one of three developers vying to revive and redevelop the Second Ward community once known as Brooklyn. The Mecklenburg County Commission will make the selection.

“This is the most impactful project in Charlotte in my generation,” says the Charlotte native. “It’s an opportunity to rebuild a historic legacy and to build nearly the whole quadrant of the Second Ward.”

Second Ward is currently dominated by the city’s government quarter, the courthouse, the no-longer used Board of Education offices and the rarely-used Marshall Park. Fifty years ago, the area was home to about 1,000 African-American families. The community was razed as part of the kind of urban renewal plans that swept through the country during the 1960s and 70s. Residents, who had no say in the matter, were supposed to be relocated to federally-funded public housing that never materialized. The families, largely left to their own devices to find housing, were dispersed to the city’s poorer neighborhoods surrounding the city center. The treatment left deep scars with those who lost their homes, neighborhood and community. 

In large part, the kind of urban renewal projects that displaced urban, minority communities and wiped out a city’s character and history have largely been discredited. Now, development and gentrification tend to focus on, if not preserving the past, at least giving a nod to it. Redeveloping the Second Ward is no doubt a tricky project since it contains so many moving parts, including reimagining Marshall Park.

One concept for Brooklyn Village presented by CitiSculpt.

McApline has worked to keep all these elements in mind throughout every step of his design process. The group researched the area’s history and the stories of people who had lived there in order to understand the best way create a positive and inclusive legacy. He believes CitiSculpt’s community outreach sets it apart from the other two competitors. “We are absolutely committed to hearing what all the stakeholders want in this design and it’s extremely important to hear the community’s input about this design.”

CitiSculpt has put together a team with the kind of unique experience necessary to bring its vision-- up to 1,378 residential units along with hotels, retail space and offices -- to fruition. Prominent architect and former mayor Harvey Gantt essentially came out of retirement to lend his insight and vision to this project.

“There’s a lot of pain associated with the removal of that community,” says Gantt. “That is why this development has to be done well and realized. It sends a serious message to the African-American community that we wanted so badly to restore the community that we chose the right company to deliver the completion of this project.”

If McAlpine is selected, he will be very, very busy for the next 4-5 years. That’s how long he estimates creating the new Brooklyn will take.

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In the video available through the link below, Lindsey McAlpine and Harvey Gantt discuss the possible future of Brooklyn Village.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqogU5AeAyo

Theatre professor publishes new young adult thriller

By Phillip Brown

Andrew Hartley, Robinson Distinguished Professor of Shakespeare in the Department of Theatre, has written a new fantasy-adventure-mystery for young adult readers. “Steeplejack: A Novel” will be released by Tor Teen on June 14.

Set in 19th-century South Africa, the book has received glowing reviews, particularly for its young female protagonist. The monthly book review publication BookPage named it the “Top Teen Pick” for June 2016. Steeplejack is the first book in a series of three.

Hartley, who writes fiction under the name A.J. Hartley, has published numerous novels of fantasy, mystery and historical fiction for adults and young adults, including novelizations of two Shakespeare tragedies, “Macbeth” and “Hamlet” (written with David Hewson). He recently collaborated with platinum-selling musician Tom Delonge to write “Sekret Machines Book 1: Chasing Shadows,” the first of three volumes that was released by Simon & Schuster in April.

Among his scholarly publications are two books published in 2014: “Julius Caesar (Shakespeare in Performance),” published by Manchester University Press, and “Shakespeare on the University Stage,” published by Cambridge University Press.

Phillip Brown is assistant director for internal communication.

Young alums, inspired by Obama's My Brother's Keeper, endow scholarship

By Paul Nowell

When Zacch Estrada-Petersen attended UNC Charlotte, his academic focus was not a technology-based curriculum. Graduating in 2005 with a degree in accounting, he also explored Spanish, journalism and music.

Alumni Kevin Jackson (left) and Zacch Estrada-Petersen

When he graduated, he set his sights on an entirely different sphere.

“I became increasingly concerned about the lack of diversity in the technology field,” Estrada-Petersen said. “I reached out to my friend, Kevin Jackson, who is in the IT field and also an alumnus of UNC Charlotte.”

Jackson and Estrada-Petersen were inspired by President Obama's initiative, My Brother's Keeper. They decided to start an endowment to provide a scholarship in a STEM field, specifically for students from underrepresented populations.

It was a remarkable and daunting challenge for the two young men.

“We are both still early in our careers - I am 31, and he is 36,” Estrada-Petersen said. “We each donate a little more than $200 per month, and our endowment will be fully funded within five years.”

In September 2014, President Obama issued a challenge to cities, towns, counties and tribes across the country “to implement a coherent cradle-to-college and career strategy for improving the life outcomes of all young people to ensure that they can reach their full potential, regardless of who they are, where they come from or the circumstances into which they are born.”

Of concern to the two were the rising cost of higher education and the number of students at schools like UNC Charlotte who needed financial assistance. After they did their research, they learned the average student debt at graduation was $26,000.

“I know from personal experience how a scholarship like this can change your life,” Estrada-Petersen said. “I was fortunate to get some scholarships, but I still had to borrow a lot of money to finish my degree.”

And the impact of student loan debt is felt years after graduation. For him, it means waiting a few more years before launching his own business venture.

“I think of the bright student who might be the next great innovator but is limited in what he or she can do because of debt,” he said. “It really changes how you can move ahead with some of your dreams.”

During his time at UNC Charlotte, Estrada-Petersen worked at University Times, the student-run newspaper. As a senior, he founded the Voices of Eden Gospel Choir, a student organization with which he still very active.

Since 2008, he has worked as a senior accountant for the Charlotte office of a New York-based multinational diversified-media company. In addition to serving as a member on the UNC Charlotte Alumni Association board of directors, he is co-marketing chair on the board for the Charlotte chapter of Habitat Young Professionals and the social media chair for the Charlotte chapter of 100 Black Men of America.

Jackson is a 2007 graduate of UNC Charlotte with a degree in software and information systems. Prior to enrolling at the University, he served in the U.S. Army for five years. He currently works as a middleware engineer for a Charlotte financial services company.

Both Estrada-Petersen and Jackson know that what they are doing is unique.

“This idea may seem a little crazy to some people, and I can tell you neither one of us is independently wealthy,” said Estrada-Petersen. “We had to take the long route to fund this endowment, paying about $2,500 each per year for five years.”

It’s tough to be patient and wait to see the fruits of their hard work and sacrifice.

“We hope to do a couple of other small things in the interim,” said Estrada-Petersen. “We will feel a lot better when we get to see the impact of this scholarship.”

Paul Nowell is senior communications manager at UNC Charlotte.