Winston-Salem State University staged a pep rally Monday for new Chancellor Bonita Brown, creating a scene similar to the Rams' football and basketball games with its cheerleaders' and band's performances.
The university's Powerhouse cheerleaders and its Red Sea of Sound Band showcased their music and dance routines at the Clocktower, the center of the WSSU campus.
Nearly 500 people, including the cheerleaders, band members, students, faculty and administrators, attended the event, which was part of WSSU's first day of classes.
"Hi, chancellor," a cheerleader said to Brown before her squad performed.
"We are here to celebrate our first female chancellor," said Tyrone McNair Jr., the president of the WSSU Student Government Association.
Brown began her duties as WSSU's 14th chancellor on July 1 and is serving as the university's top administrator as the 2024 fall semester began.
"I wasn't expecting all of this," Brown said to the pep rally's attendees. "I truly feel welcome."
Brown is the former first vice president and chief strategy officer at Northern Kentucky University in Highland Heights, Ky., in northeastern Kentucky.
A native of Winston-Salem, Brown grew up in Welcome in Davidson County and attended North Davidson High School. Brown received a bachelor's degree in history from Wake Forest University and a law degree from Wake Forest University School of Law.
Brown succeeds interim Chancellor Anthony Graham and Chancellor Elwood Robinson who retired in June 2023.
After the pep rally, Ayden Jones, a first-year student from Memphis, Tenn., said Brown appeared to a genuine person.
"When she says she's going to do something, she's going to do it," Jones said. "We will see how this year goes."
In her remarks at the pep rally, Brown said she is invested in the students' success at WSSU.
"I invested in your future, so I am here to work for you," Brown said. "I feel like you all are my bosses. So, I am here to work for you."
Brown said she wants to help students reach their goals.
"Thank you for all that you do," Brown said to the students. "You represent the best HBCU (historically Black colleges or universities) in the UNC System."
Brown leads WSSU with its enrollment of 4,776 students, according to its website. A group of 963 students have enrolled at the university for its fall semester, said Kimberly Harrington, a WSSU spokeswoman.
Syana Sissoko-Bates, a sophomore from Charlotte, said she missed the pep rally for Brown because she was attending her choir class.
"I hear that she is making a lot of changes," Sissoko-Bates said of Brown. "I hope she brings some good changes."
Sissoko-Bates said she wants Brown to find a solution to the shortage of parking spaces for students on campus. The university should add more spaces for student drivers, Sissoko-Bates said.
At a news briefing following the event, Brown said that university administrators and student leaders didn't tell her that WSSU would stage a pep rally for her.
"I was shocked," Brown said. "To see the band, the cheers and the flag girls was overwhelming. And it's just amazing -- that the talent of the students (that) we have here at Winston-Salem State."
Brown is looking forward to a successful academic year for the students.
"I'm still assessing and learning what's going on here," Brown said. "I do hope to bring a new focus on (students') careers. Students come to school to achieve a job at the end."
Brown said that it's exciting and interesting that she is the first woman to lead the university.
Brown reiterated her earlier statement that WSSU is the top HBCU in the UNC System, saying that assertion will stoke the rivalry between the state's four other publicly supported HBCUs such as N.C. A&T State University in Greensboro.
"There is always a rivalry," Brown said. "Our friends down the road claim they have the greatest homecoming on Earth."
"There is nothing wrong with a good rivalry," Brown said. "We are all in it for the same purpose."
Javaris Jeffries of Winston-Salem, a junior, described Brown as a great woman who is dedicated to the students.
"She's driven," Jeffries said. "She wants all of her students to push hard. She wants the best for all of us."
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