Chief Justice Cheri
Beasley, Rev. Dr.
Barber Address
NCCU Graduates
NCCU Media Reations
North Carolina Central University (NCCU) will welcome N.C.
Chief Justice Cheri Beasley and the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II,
’85, for the 133rd Commencement exercises on Friday, May 10, and
Saturday, May 11.
The Graduate and Professional Commencement Ceremony will
feature a keynote from Beasley on May 10, at 3 p.m., in the Mc
Dougald-McLendon Arena. During the ceremony, Beasley will be
awarded a Doctorate of Humane Letters for her community contribu
tions and achievements in the political field.
N.C. CHIEF JUSTICE CHERI BEASLEY
NCCU Unveils New State-of-the-Art Television Studio - Pictured L to R : Carlton Wilson, Ph.D., NCCU
College of Arts and Sciences Dean; Felecia Casey-Hicks, TV Studio Manager; NCCU Chancellor Johnson O.
Akinleye, Ph.D.; Calvin Hall, Ph.D., NCCU Department of Mass Communication Chair; and George R. Ham
ilton, NCCU Board of Trustees Chairman. (NCCU Photo)
NCCU Unveils New State-
of-the-Art Television Studio
Barber will address the NCCU undergraduates on May 11, at 8
a.m., in O’Kelly-Riddick Stadium.
Beasley is the first African American woman to be elected in any
statewide race without first being appointed to the office. She also
is the first African American woman to serve as chief justice of the
state’s highest court, after being appointed by North Carolina Gov
ernor Roy Cooper in March 2019. Additionally, Beasley is the fourth
African American woman to serve as chief justice in the U.S.
NCCU Media Relations
North Carolina Central Uni
versity (NCCU) unveiled its new
state-of-the-art television studio
to the campus and wider com
munity on April 23, 2019.
With $1.86 million in Title III
funding, the new television stu
dio will further enhance the
REV. DR. WILLIAM BARBER II
Beasley began her career as a district court judge in Cumberland
County, N.C., and after 10 years, she went on to serve as an associate
judge on the N.C. Court of Appeals. She is the eighth woman and the
second African American woman to serve on the court.
She graduated from the Douglass College of Rutgers University
and attended The University of Tennessee College of Law. She then
went on to earn her Master of Laws in Judicial Studies from Duke
University School of Law.
Barber serves the community in many capacities, as the pastor
of Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro, N.C., a social justice
advocate and founder of Repairers of the Breach, a leadership devel
opment organization.
In 2017, Barber and colleagues launched a revival of the 1968
Poor People’s Campaign that was spearheaded by the Rev. Dr. Mar
tin Luther King Jr. and many others. In 2018, the Poor People’s Cam
paign launched 40 days of moral, nonviolent civil disobedience in
40 states and Washington, D.C. The campaign resulted in over 5,000
acts of simultaneous civil disobedience in 36 state capitols and the
U.S. Capitol.
Additionally, Barber is an author, contributing op-ed writer for
national publications, and a distinguished visiting professor at Union
Theological Seminary. He also serves in leadership roles at many
institutions of higher education. He formerly served as president of
the N.C. chapter of the NAACP and currently serves as a member of
the organization’s national board.
For more information on NCCU’s 133rd Commencement exer-
http://web.nccu.edu/commencement/.
cises. visit:
Video: Officer who fatally shot
man said she had no choice
By Tom Foreman Jr.
CHARLOTTE (AP) - A North Carolina police officer who fatally shot a black man in a
parking lot after repeatedly ordering him to drop his gun said multiple times that she had no
choice, according to a bodycam video released Apkril 24.
An 11-minute bodycam video was released by Charlotte-Mecklenburg police after local
media outlets went to a judge on April 23 to get the police department to release the entire
recording of the encounter. A 3-minute version of the shooting was released on April 15.
Both versions show the shooting of 27-year-old Danquirs Napoleon Franklin outside a
Burger King on March 25. At about the 2-minute mark of the extended video, Officer Wende
Kerl shoots Franklin, who was crouched next to the car on the passenger side. Right before
Kerl fires, Franklin can be seen raising his right hand with an object in it, still facing the person
in the passenger seat.
Civil rights activists in North Carolina have urged nonviolent response in the aftermath of
Franklin’s death, pointing out that Franklin never aimed his weapon at authorities.
“Deep anger, hurt and, quite frankly, mistrust,” Charlotte-Mecklenburg NAACP president
Corine Mack told WBTV. “There was no threat to her life.”
The extended video shows the aftermath of the shooting. Someone can be heard moaning,
presumably Franklin. Kerl said she had to pick up the gun, and a man inside the car said, “This
Is crazy, man.”
“He pulled a gun,” Kerl said. An officer off camera responded, “Yes, he did. I know, Wende.”.
An officer asks if Kerl is OK and she responds that she is.
About 6 minutes into the video, emergency workers arrived to treat Franklin. None of the
officers appeared to give aid to Franklin. The Charlotte Observer reported that City Council
man Braxton Winston complained that officers didn’t provide aid right away. In a television
interview, CMPD Chief Kerr Putney said officers could have given aid more quickly.
Just over 6 minutes into the video, another officer tells Kerl to go sit inside her patrol car.
“I didn’t have a choice,” she said, to which the officer replies, “You’re alright, you’re al
right.”
At this point, the video shows Kerl’s perspective from behind the steering wheel of her
patrol cruiser. She states again that she had no choice but to shoot Franklin.
“I had to. He wouldn’t drop the gun and he brought it out of his j acket,” she said. An officer
out of view tries to comfort her.
“It’s alright. You’re alright. Look here. You’re sitting here talking, right? Got kids at home,
right? You’re gonna see them this evening, right? That’s all that matters,” the officer said.
Kerl asks an officer close by if Franklin is alive, and the officer says he doesn’t know. Then,
Kerl yells to a second officer and repeats the question.
“No, no,” the second officer responds. Kerl then tries to call her husband but gets no answer.
Another officer then asks Kerl is she is OK and she again repeats her account of the shooting.
“He had a gun. He wouldn’t drop it,” she said. “And then he reached in his thing, pulled the
gun out. We didn’t know. We thought it was in the hand and I shot him.”
A sergeant then arrives at her car and she tells him she shot Franklin. The sergeant tells Kerl
to turn off her video and the recording ends.
Kerl is on administrative assignment, a non-patrol function, said CMPD spokesman Brad
ford Koch.
On April 24, CMPD said the department’s homicide unit turned over all of the evidence to
the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s office for their review.
training of NCCU students
in the growing mass communi
cations industry. The high-tech,
high-touch facility is housed on
the first floor of the Farrison-
Newton Communications Build
ing on campus.
“NCCU’s new television
studio signals a shift in the way
we will prepare our students
who seek to become trained,
job-ready, award-winning jour
nalists,” said NCCU Chancel
lor Johnson 0. Akinleye, Ph.D.
“This studio reflects a signifi
cant investment in intensive and
extensive training through our
mass communication program
that now provides our students
with enhanced practical instruc
tion in a world-class, high inten
sity, hands-on learning environ
ment.”
The new television studio
will provide extensive learning
experiences in audio and visual
technology, camera operation,
lighting, directing and on-cam
era presenting.
NCCU’s award-winning De
partment of Mass Communica
tion has more than 250 students
enrolled. The department soared
past other colleges and univer
sities at the Southern Regional
Press Institute (SRPI) competi
tion in Savannah, Ga. bringing
home six awards. The student
newspaper, The Campus Echo,
was recognized during the 2019
North Carolina College Media
Association Conference.
“This facility reflects the uni
versity’s commitment to the idea
that our students - and those to
train and teach them - deserve
to have access to the best equip
ment and facilities,” said Calvin
L. Hall, Ph.D., chair of the De
partment of Mass Communica
tion.
In addition to the televi
sion studio and campus news
paper, the Department of Mass
Communication also provides
students with hands-on train
ing through radio production.
WNCU 907. FM radio station
broadcasts jazz music and public
programing while student radio
stream AudioNet provides real-
time programming with R&B
and hip-hop music, news and
sports of local and national inter
est.