In the opening of Dr. Charlie Nelms’ new life memoir From Cotton Fields to University Leadership: All Eyes on Charlie, he writes that it was the cotton fields of Arkansas where he first learned how to dream.
“My body was in the field, but my mind was never there,” writes Nelms, recalling his experiences picking cotton in the 1950s and 60s. “I dreamed of a more equitable America where my parents and siblings (indeed all ‘Negroes’ as we were called back then) could enjoy a quality of life beyond anything they could imagine.”
In many ways, Nelms’ decades-long career in higher education has come full circle. His memoir now serves as a compelling message for the next generation of leaders to answer the calling to provide equitable educational opportunities that transform students’ lives.
From Cotton Fields to University Leadership starts with the former chancellor’s upbringing in the Deep South in a time when “the cards were just stacked against African American people,” Nelms told Diverse. Because they had to pick and chop cotton, he and his siblings never attended school for nine months consecutively.
It was the dreams and support of his parents — and their constant messaging on the importance of voting, owning land and getting a quality education — that motivated Nelms to embark on a journey to leave the world a better place through education.
Nelms attended the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff — then known as Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical and Normal College — for his undergraduate degree in agronomy and chemistry. He came to the institution “ready to work hard” after years of toiling in the cotton fields and found that he had to work harder and smarter.
“My work ethic was such that I was accustomed to hard work,” he said. “I was accustomed to doing my best and not anything less.”
