Depending on the topic of conversation, Dr. Lloyd V. Hackley sports multiple hats.  He switches back and forth, sometimes wearing two or more, simultaneously. Historian, storyteller, educator, counselor, comedian, and patriarch. Seemingly, he owns one for every occasion, and after an extended amount of time in his presence, he may pull out chancellor.”  But for the most part, that’s a badge of honor he displays only if needed. Non-intimidating and easy-going in demeanor, he takes a sincere interest in those in his company even more than he does in discussions about himself.

A native of Roanoke, Virginia, Dr. Hackley reminisces about his early years with nostalgia and an authentic appreciation of his humble beginnings.  Listing all of his teachers by name from Kindergarten through 6th grade he explained, “My K-12 teachers are responsible for my Ph.D. There’s not a professor I encountered that could even come close.” In fact, the twice retiree, attributes a large part of his successful career to the entire village that reared him.

Dr. Hackley, a retired U.S. Air Force officer, earned his undergraduate degree in political science from Michigan State University and went on to receive his doctorate in international relations from UNC-Chapel Hill. Following his retirement from the Air Force, Dr. Hackley accepted a position as assistant vice president with the University of North Carolina General Administration. Later, he served in a different capacity as associate vice president of academic affairs. In 1981, he relocated to serve as a tenured professor and chancellor of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. In 1985, he was recruited back to UNC General Administration to become vice president for Student Services and Special Programs.
It was not until 1988, when his history with Fayetteville State University would begin, for it was this year when the UNC Board of Governors called on Hackley to serve as chancellor of one of the five public HBCU’s in the state.

“In 1988, FSU had serious problems with academics and enrollment.  From 1987-1988, the university had lost about 47-48% of its freshman students after their first year. We transformed the institution from a level of mediocrity to the institution of choice in Cumberland County,” recalled Dr. Hackley.

Claiming only partial credit, he continued, “The students got caught up in their own academic enhancement and turned this institution around. The success rate for freshmen increased to 75 percent.  The SAT scores went up 200 points within two to three years. The greatest change was in black male students, and we were absolutely fascinated by that. Again, it was the students.”

A doctoral program in educational leadership was also added during Dr. Hackley’s tenure. He remembered, “I had to fight for that program to be offered here. We found that we had a huge population of K-12 educators who were forced to commute to other institutions. In the end, I was able to justify the program on the basis of the number of people that needed their advanced degrees.”

Dr. Hackley made FSU his home for six years until he stepped down as chancellor in 1995 to serve as president of the North Carolina Community College System. After two years, he resigned and later founded Hackley & Associates of North Carolina, which focuses on ethics, leadership, community and character development.

High moral character is a must for Dr. Hackley, and when he was appointed interim chancellor at North Carolina A&T State University in June of 2006, he made this no secret. In just one year he attempted to clear up any questionable activities that could be deemed unethical at the UNC institution which produces more African American engineers than any other. 

“We held fifty-two ethics workshops and everybody had to attend,” he said.
When Dr. Hackley prepared to leave A&T and pass the torch to Dr. Stanley Battle, the former chancellor of Coppin State, he says his agenda was already filled with items he had neglected for far too long.  But the phone rang—literally!

“I had taken with me to A&T my FSU chancellor’s medallion and placed it on the shelf with my regalia.  When I got ready to leave, I left A&T’s chancellor’s medallion, which belongs to the university, for Dr. Battle.  When Dr.Battle told me I had forgotten my medallion, I told him that it was his to keep, and he said, ‘No, this one has your name on it.’ Then I realized he was talking about my FSU medallion, so I went back to get it. Right afterwards, the phone rang and it was Erskine Bowles.”

Unbeknownst to Dr. Hackley, he was needed one more time at FSU.  Of Mr. Bowles’s request to come back he responded, “There was slight hesitation at first, and it wasn’t about the circumstances that opened up the seat, it was because I had retired. I had events already on the calendar. In fact, I had a trip planned to visit a circuit of family members.”

Dr. Hackley jokes that he had “48 hours of retirement” before his first week back at work, which he said was “interesting and different from what I expected.”

“The closer I got to Fayetteville, the more apprehensive I became.  But then Monday came, and I was fine.  Not much has changed. I saw people that I knew from when I was here before.”

One significant change he noticed was the keeping of the campus grounds.  He noted, “It was like two different worlds…The campus looks absolutely outstanding, and it is clear that it is not just the maintenance staff, but it is also the students, faculty and staff who are taking care of it.”

As far as his journey ahead, Dr. Hackley will not be taking any short cuts in his final stint in administration. He expressed, “I’m looking forward to getting involved with the students. This institution is a whole lot better than it has been portrayed.  I am going to do the same thing that needs to be done as if I were the permanent chancellor.  There are things that need to be fixed at every institution, and I’m not going to focus solely on what’s broken. I’m going to make sure that the positive story is told about FSU inside and outside this institution, and as far as I’m concerned, FSU is in good shape.”  

When his helm at FSU comes to an end, Dr. Hackley will really retire—at least on paper.  He plans to pick up where he left off, and travel nationwide facilitating his ethics and character development workshops.

Looking forward to that day, he said, “If I can finish the projects that I started and stay attached to the people, I don’t think I will feel as though I’m missing anything.”