McGhee honored with UNC’s Diversity Award

April 29, 2019

OJ McGhee

OJ McGhee, MA, manager of Instructional Media Services at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, has been awarded a 2019 Diversity Award.

These annual awards recognize individuals and groups who have made significant contributions toward advancing an inclusive climate at the University. McGhee is the single awardee in the staff category this year.

“Anytime you’re fortunate enough to be recognized by a group of your peers is a tremendous honor,” he said. “To be recognized as an advocate for diversity in our campus community is extremely humbling.”

McGhee has had an extensive career in distance education and holds a master’s degree in telecommunications management. He has worked in Instructional Media Services at the Gillings School since 2001, where he is responsible for classroom technology, video production and videoconferencing support.

“Congratulations, OJ, on an eminently appropriate recognition,” said Victor J. Schoenbach, PhD, associate professor emeritus in the Gillings School’s epidemiology department. “Since 2002, OJ has been the mastermind behind the production of the National Health Education Research Webcast (and its forerunner, the Annual Summer Health Research Videoconference on Minority Health), and the annual broadcast of the William T. Small, Jr. Keynote Lecture.”

In 2015, McGhee stepped forward to serve as chair of the Carolina Black Caucus, an organization formed in 1974 with the goal to promote affirmative actions, recruitment and hiring of African-Americans, racial justice and awareness, and equal opportunities for all minority members of the UNC community.

“I can’t really remember a time in my life when I wasn’t involved in some way in the advancement of African-Americans,” McGhee said.

He remembers his father recounting experiences of police brutality during the civil rights protests of the 1960s and accompanying his mother to marches and rallies as members of a church in Washington, D.C., that believed in the empowerment of African-American people. McGhee went on to attend Clark Atlanta University, a historically black university where the nurturing community made a lasting impact on him. He credits these experiences with motivating his work to champion a diverse and inclusive environment at UNC.

McGhee served in the Carolina Black Caucus during a time of intensified conversations about race on campuses throughout the country. In the wake of an August 2017 rally of white nationalists at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, the discussion in Chapel Hill focused on renewed efforts of students and community activists to remove the confederate statue known as “Silent Sam” from McCorkle Place. McGhee led the caucus in petitioning for the removal of the statue.

Moving forward, McGhee would like to see Carolina lead the nation in progressive efforts to recruit and retain African-American students, faculty and staff. A few initiatives he has advocated for in pursuit of that goal are: an expanded emphasis to build a pipeline of underrepresented tenured faculty, an increase in implicit bias training and a centralized exit interview process.

In February 2018, McGhee was featured in UNC’s University Gazette for his leadership contributions through the caucus.

“OJ has worked tirelessly to advocate for Black faculty, staff and students at UNC and has modeled for us moral courage and commitment to social justice,” said Dawna Jones, current chair of the Carolina Black Caucus. “I cannot think of a person more deserving of this award.”

Contact the Gillings School of Global Public Health communications team at sphcomm@listserv.unc.edu.