Pardon Ndhlovu honoured in US

UNC Pembroke has appointed six new members to its Board of Visitors —Dr. Adell Baldwin, Zimbabwean Olympian Pardon Ndhlovu, Avery Locklear, Lydia Locklear, Mark Ward, and Madison Wilcox. They are all UNCP alumni.

The Board of Visitors, appointed by Chancellor Robin Gary Cummings, comprises alumni and non-alumni members from across the region and state, representing major stakeholders in education, legal, health services, industry, and the public sector.

The board assists in communicating the university’s message, increasing community and corporate engagement, providing philanthropic support, and recruiting high-caliber students.

Dr. Baldwin, a two-time UNCP graduate, is the superintendent of Scotland County Schools. He assumed the role in 2023 after serving more than 25 years in various roles in public education in North and South Carolina. Baldwin previously served as a principal in the Marion County School District.

Before that, he served as the chief operations officer for the Centre for Responsive Schools in Massachusetts, the chief operations officer for Scotland County Schools, a CTE director, principal, assistant principal, and dropout prevention counsellor for Hoke County Schools, and as a principal for Bladen County Schools.

Ndhlovu, a 2013 graduate and a professional long-distance runner, is among the most decorated athletes in UNCP cross-country history.

He was a four-time all-American cross country and track and field performer. A four-time All-Peach Belt Conference stand-out, he won the 2011 and 2012 Peach Belt Conference Men’s Cross-Country Championship and was named the PBC Runner of the Year both seasons.

He also competed in track and field in his senior season and was named the PBC Men’s Track Athlete of the Year, winning the 1,500-, 5 000 — and 10 000-meter runs. Ndhovu was inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame in 2023. Still, the highlight of his career came seven years earlier when he finished 41st in the marathon event for his home country, Zimbabwe, at the Summer Olympics in Rio.

He continues to give back to his alma mater, most recently participating in a student-alumni panel during Braves Kick-off — an annual event marking the beginning of the new academic year.

Like Ndhlovu, Avery Locklear was a stand-out athlete and previously served as a moderator at Braves Kick-off. After graduating with honours in 2019, she earned her juris doctorate from UNC-Chapel Hill and now practices law as a labour and employment attorney in Wilmington — Agencies/Sports Reporter.