News-Record.com

I had lunch with Jim Renick Friday.

Over noodles, stuffed mushrooms and sweet-and-sour soup, we discussed the Civil Rights Museum. He was upbeat, despite the remaining fund-raising challenges.

We discussed the Greensboro Partnership. He still wonders whether they should have named it something else. There's already a Piedmont Triad Partnership. Why risk confusion?

We disccussed former Police Chief David Wray. Renick was still having as much of a problem figuring that one out as anyone else.

We talked about the struggling A&T athletics program, but Renick felt confident thenew athletics director, Dee Todd, will turn things around.

And, oh yeah, by the way, he was leaving A&T and Greensboro in June.

Why was Renick stepping down after such a successful run in a job he obviously loves?

Because he is "a change agent," he said, whose biggest strength and greatest satisfaction lie in creating, not maintaining. And because it's time to do something else.

He also noted that he worked his previous job, as chancellor of the University of Michigan-Dearborn, for seven years, just as he'd spent seven years at A&T.

Renick also looked forward to more private time in his new job as a senior vice president for the American Council on Education in Washington.

In Greensboro, he said, he is almost always defined by his job, wherever he goes. In D.C., he'll blend in.

He said he'll miss Greensboro. This is a good city, he said, that is far too hard on itself.

He said he had never considered going to another school after A&T. This was his dream college presidency, he said. A perfect fit for him.

But now it's time to go.