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Can one university have a global impact?

Our show wants to find an answer to this question.

So we're spending the next six episodes at the American University of Nigeria and Africa.

Tonight, our episode starts with looking closely at the leadership behind the university's global initiative.

I'm so happy you're joining us.

I'm from Los Angeles.

This is KLCS PBS.

Welcome to everybody with Angela Williamson and innovation, Arts, education and Public affairs program.

Everybody with Angela Williamson is made possible by viewers like you.

Thank you.

And now your host, doctor Angela Williamson.

I'm at the American University of Nigeria, and we are going to have a wonderful time here.

But before we start and get into why we're here, we want to meet the person behind this university.

So today I'm talking to President Frazier.

President Frazier, thank you so much for welcoming our show to not only this university but to Nigeria.

Well, it is an absolute pleasure for us to have.

I've watched your show for years, and you are certainly a glass ceiling breaker for so many people, and we're very proud of you.

So to have you on this campus to a school that changes things a lot.

It's a perfect fit.

So we love the synergy.

So thank you for being here.

You're welcome.

And you are not supposed to make me cry.

Before we start our episode.

But but before we talk about the American University of Nigeria, you have this incredible story.

And I want to spend a little bit of time talking about that.

So let's just talk about you and your journey to how you get here today.

No, I appreciate that.

And, you know, it's interesting, Angela, because the story of my life is one that, I was embarrassed about, that I didn't talk about for many years because for so many people in the United States and around the world, if you're born poor, you feel like you've done something wrong and you feel like maybe it was my fault or this or that, and then you have some sense of insecurity.

So, as you know, I was born in one of the poorest parts of the United States called Appalachia for those that might not understand that accent, Appalachia, but Appalachia.

So, know I'm from Kentucky.

I grew up in a family.

my mother was 15 when I was born, and my father was 17, and, they weren't ready for the responsibilities of being parents.

So I actually ended up being raised, by my grandmother and so it's interesting because growing up in Appalachia, many times we grow up in smaller places, like I grew up in, a trailer.

And so but at any given time, there was 12 to 15 people in that trailer.

But what my mama, as we say, our grandmother used to invest in me was if you get an education, that's something nobody can ever take away from you.

So my grandmother was only second grade educated, but I've traveled the world and I've worked with professors and people everywhere, and I've never met a person more intelligent and more smart than my mama.

So second grade educated, but put in me the values and systems that put me where I'm standing today.

And one of the best schools, not just in Nigeria, but the world.

Well, and I'm seeing that because we've been here for a few days.

But before we go back to that, I want to go back to just your upbringing.

It's wonderful to hear because you always find with people who have not only succeeded like yourself, but the humility behind it.

You always find that there's that one person that was constantly behind them, rooting them on, telling them this is a way that you can go.

It doesn't matter what your current circumstances.

How important do you think that that is for anybody living through that experience?

Because, you know, it really is true that in life nobody really cares how much you know until they know that you care.

And when you find people that will invest in your life and really care about you as who you are, like my grandmother, I could have messed up a million times and I'm far, far from perfect.

Just ask my kids, Angela.

They'll they'll tell you too.

But it's interesting because, no matter what I did, she was always behind me, telling me, you know, you're going to do this, you're going to do this.

And, and, I'll never forget that, you know, that she would always say you're going to be the president someday.

Now, she didn't know would be the president of the American University of Nigeria.

But I'll take that over the job in Washington, D.C. any time.

No, Joe, this one's a lot better.

People I get to work with every day.

It's not a government.

Well, and the most beautiful people, too.

And I can't wait for our audience to get to know everyone that's here and that surrounds the university and the community.

But I want to talk about you talked about the education and you talked about your grandmother pushing you to do that and saying you can be president one day.

So do you think that all of what she was telling you and pouring into you, is that the reason why, when you had the opportunity to go to college, you decided to major in education?

Was that just something that you just knew that you wanted to do?

So it's fascinating what happened to me.

So I came from and it's it's a joke now, but it is so true.

I actually came from a place where diversity is.

When you had someone with a different last name, because on that street was all my relatives.

So where, as we say, our kin.

And so everybody, had some kind of relationship to each other.

And so it was fascinating because God had a different plan.

I went off to college at Campbellsville University, and, I had so much support from our local church, Church Street right there at First Baptist Church.

And it was interesting because I went off to the Baptist school and God had this huge sense of humor.

I'd never been around people that ever even look like you, my sister.

I'd not been around any international people, any people of different ethnicities.

And God gave me an international remain.

And look, here we are like 30 something years later where I'm standing today.

you know, it was amazing.

And it doesn't happen by accident, but you end up having an international roommate.

And it made me think differently.

And it was difficult.

It wasn't easy, but it was a way of preparing me for the future.

And, you know, Campbellsville University is a place where I can truly say I found my calling because another time there are people like Frank Cheatham, all these individuals, my academic advisor to this day still writes me and texts me almost every day, about something or writes me on Facebook.

Because when people see something in you and they believe in you, it'll make you.

I mean, I just don't want to let them down, but at the same time, it empowers you.

And so that's what I hope I'm able to do for others and future generations, is to be that light, that people feel empowered and feel like they can do more than they ever thought they could do because someone believes in them.

Because that's why I'm even sitting here today.

Because you felt empowered.

And let's talk about empowerment.

In your career, you have created international studies programs.

But there are different.

You have stepped outside the box to create these programs to bring in more diversity into communities that have never seen it before.

So I want to talk about that transition, because I want to talk about our other friends in the United States in Mount Pleasant.

So let's talk about Iowa Wesleyan University and how that shaped the type of president you are today.

So how do you get there?

And tell us a little bit about that.

So I was heavily involved in international education because not only did I have the international roommate, as a student, I actually had the chance to study abroad.

Now, it was funny because I thought, well, I'm going to Great Britain and they're going to speak the same language.

Oh my gosh, the words they kept saying from a lift.

I couldn't find the elevator anywhere.

They kept talking about the boot and they're talking about their cleats as boots.

They were saying football and they were talking about a sport with another ball.

They really kick with their foot.

I mean, so I prepared me well for coming here, but I was at Imperial College, there.

And so it was fascinating because as my career progressed at the University of Louisville, University of Kentucky, any place that I was and then ultimately Iowa Wesleyan, we built some international programs that actually affected the communities.

So at Iowa Wesleyan, at any given time, we had the most diverse campus in all of the Midwest.

We had at one time 38 different countries represented, and there were students from Nigeria to Democratic Republic of the Congo to Western European students, to Japanese students, to Chinese students, to students in Latin America.

So building that diversity, people would come to me all the time and say, thank you for giving me the chance to meet people from other countries.

It's helped me understand how small the world really is, because the truth is, we all have the same types of hopes, dreams, we care about our families.

And when we can bring the world just a little bit closer, it makes the world a better place.

Through a safer place, a more comfortable place that we know and understand.

I could tell you, I Facebook is the funny thing here because on Facebook, when it's my birthday, it's so funny.

It'll start in Australia with my students from Australia starting to wish me happy birthday.

And then Japan.

It'll go through China, it'll go all the way across West Africa, Europe, all the way to the United States.

So when I wake up, I already have like 200 messages of happy birthday from people on the other side of the world.

So those days always remind me how small the world really is, and how blessed I've been to be able to be in this type of position.

I hear a little boy who grew up with much love in his home, serious circumstances, circumstances that could have stopped you from being where you are today.

But because of the love and the empowerment, then you were able to move to the university and study yourself.

But then you, because of your background, understand the importance of building community and building community with someone that's not quite like you.

So you take that into your career.

And so my question is, as you have taken that into your career, how many countries do you think that you've touched with what you've done over that career because you already listed a few, but I know you have to have a number.

Sure.

43 so if I was counting.

See, I knew it and we didn't even talk about this.

But I knew you knew that number.

So how how does that actually make Dwayne into the person?

President Frazier?

Sorry, girls.

When I'm 20.

Yes.

How does that make that into who you are today and your outlook as we sit here in Nigeria.

So, you know, sometimes in cultures and it depends on where you go and around the world, someone might be in a position of authority and they'll be like, oh, this person, I don't want to talk to them.

I'm nervous about talking to them or this or that.

And so one of the things that people laugh about me here, they're like, you talk to the students all the time.

Well, yes, I talk to everybody and I love my students.

I'm here because of my students, but I'm also here because of the faculty and staff that deserve someone to care about them.

because through the Covid era, it's been difficult across the world.

And so some of the people I've become closest with are the blue collar workers.

So people know I care about my cooks, I care about my security, my cleaner as much as I care about the vice president and the truth.

And all of that is by building those relationships.

The school was not built on a president or a vice president.

You know this school and our dear founder, Atiku Abubakar.

This school was built because of the foundation of wonderful people that clean these buildings, that drive these vehicles, that make food for my students every single day.

And then the wonderful students that come here, that, that, that experience.

So to ever think that it's only people in these positions that matter the most?

I tell people every day, no, for me, I'm here for everybody.

And I want to be a part of their life, and I want them just to know that someone does care about them.

Because the truth is, in jobs, it's never ultimately about money.

It's about relationships.

And if you think your supervisor cares about you, which I feel like I really do, and if you feel like others care about you, students don't stay because of just academics.

I love academics, but they stay if they feel like they are cared for.

If they are more than a number and they're worthwhile.

And I hope and I'll continue to work towards this every day, that every student here feels like this is a home to them, and they're a part of a family and are not just a number like it may be a big university in America or Nigeria.

If you could in one sentence give us this philosophy so that I could use it, the viewer can use it.

Anybody that hears this philosophy, because obviously it makes a difference.

What would that be?

Well, the students will probably know what I'm going to say because I say it in speeches all the time.

Said, in a world where you can be everything, be kind.

And that's a perfect way to end this segment.

Come back to hear about this story and how President Frazier is making a difference.

At the American University of Nigeria.

I never graduated, and from high school, I realized I wanted to go back to school because I didn't want to work these backbreaking jobs the rest of my life.

With the help of my father and having my son, that was all the motivation that I needed to come back to school.

I felt accomplished, made me feel that I could take on whatever challenges life throws at you.

Find free adult education classes near you at finish your diploma.

Talk.

We're back at the American University of Nigeria.

President Frazier, that was a wonderful first segment.

So now we want our audience to know about how you got here.

About ten years ago, I was serving as the provost, and I did for a while at Iowa Wesleyan University.

So one day I get this email, and then we started getting phone calls from a person in Nigeria.

Now, let's just be honest, we're Americans.

We know that.

We're like, oh my goodness, why did you have a prince that died or a princess and you want to give me money?

And our students, we joke about it all the time because of scammers.

So I kept thinking the person was basically scamming me.

What they were asking me was about a person, an individual that they thought maybe had graduated from Iowa Wesleyan.

His name was Doctor Clement Isong so I start going into the records and I love history and loving connections.

So I started finding out.

I'm like, wait a minute, this guy did study here.

He graduated in 1954 and so this group was a foundation that was actually trying to study and write a book about this guy.

The guy was one of the first governors of the central Bank of Nigeria, and he ended up actually being on the currency of the country.

So a student from Little Iowa Wesleyan in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, was on the currency of the thousand naira note.

Doctor Clement Isong.

And I thought, well, that's interesting.

So I help them with the book.

Three years later, the book is in my office now.

They dedicated a part to me and then a part of it to a friend of mine, a dear friend who passed away, Joy Cornwell at Iowa Wesleyan.

And what we ended up doing is a whole chapter is about his time in Iowa.

So people, it saw that, read a little bit and knew a little bit about me through the Nigeria connection.

But also I'd always studied, British, style governments and parliamentary of parties, my master's degree.

And so fascinating enough years later, because about ten years ago, just before I came to Iowa Wesleyan, I actually looked at a job here to be the provost of American University of Nigeria.

So they knew my name from that.

Then they saw this.

And sometimes with age, and these type of cultures, depending on where it is a little bit older is better and it shows a little bit more seniority.

So I had to season a few more years, and at that chance I actually was able to interview and become ultimately, the vice chancellor or president, as we say.

How does your family tie into your work here in Africa?

When you start talking about family, too, you're going to get me excited to talk about my kids because one of the really cool things is that my children are, the oldest ones are the same age as the college students here.

So I feel like I have now a thousand babies that are all mind and kids, and I absolutely love it.

And so it is wonderful because, I have six children, three birth children and three adopted kiddos, that have been in America now for over 12 years.

So they know nothing but America.

they laugh and make fun of me when I want to show them something about Africa.

And they'll say, But I'm American.

I'm, you know.

So my kids, the three adopted kiddos were actually born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

For some of our listeners that used to be called Zaire.

so you'll have heard of that in history.

But fascinating enough, the kids were born in a place called North Kivu and South Kivu.

It is, one of the most dangerous places in the world for humans, but also just in general for women.

statistics show that you're more likely to be raped than to be able to read, in, South Kivu, in North Kivu.

So I always tell people that things don't happen for accident.

This job wasn't an accident.

my life and my children were I wasn't raised by my parents.

And being able to give back to kids is always been something.

So in this community, the people know, for example, I'm the kid, the guy that goes out and sees children.

I give lollipops to kids.

We say suckers, but they'll say lollipops here and we'll go around, see children and do that.

But it's embedded in me because of, my children and the life that was there.

So even me getting a little emotional to tell you that, one little example of how things didn't happen by accident.

My baby, his name is, John Moses Mappin Z. Frazier.

So he's the youngest.

So you get all the paperwork.

And we adopted three children at one time from an orphanage that we had been working with through some organizations.

And it was interesting because the baby, I got his paperwork and documents, and I look at it and I'm like, this can't be right.

This because he was born in a hospital.

and in that hospital he was born was called pin zero was called, the hospital there, is amazing because he was actually delivered in Panzi Hospital by Doctor Denis Mukwege, Doctor Denis Mukwege.

He would go on to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

My son was delivered by Nobel Peace Prize doctor who works with women that are victims of violence in a war that the world has forgotten, where seven and 8 million people have died.

But here's the kicker of everything.

The day he was born was my birthday.

So I tell people all the time that we were meant to be together from the beginning.

So, but I have, six kids.

My oldest is Blane.

He's at Indiana University, and I'm a big wrestling fan because he wrestles there at Indiana.

And then Zachary, is my second oldest, and he's been here to visit and people have loved seeing him.

He has the long hair and the beard, and people are like, this guy looks like Jesus.

I try to tell him Jesus wasn't really white, but that's okay.

They still loved to laugh, so I wanted to put a white caftan on him so that we could say, it's time to go home to scare the Christians.

But I didn't, but now we have, Zach, and then we have Kiara, Safari, Sandrine, and then the baby Moses.

So those six are the pride of my life.

And, the the.

Whenever you go in my office, you'll see behind me is a picture of all the kids.

And, knowing their support and love makes it a lot better for me to be able to be here.

So I always felt a connection with the African continent, with my children.

And whenever you have children from an African country like the Congo, they consider me an African dad.

So I was, like, pretty prideful of that.

When you heard about this opportunity, you didn't even have to think twice, right?

No, I would say think twice on one thing, but not because of the, the job.

But it's it's a commitment to move to another side of the world.

I have worked in Malaysia, I've worked in Hong Kong, I've worked in Singapore, I've worked in Belize, I've lived in London, I've been in all these different British commonwealths, but I've never lived permanently like this.

I'd spend three months, come home, spend two months, come home, but now it's a permanent stay and I'll stay for, you know, as many years as they'll have me.

So, it's fascinating because, this school, the reputation of what they've been able to do here, really precedes it.

I mean, I've heard about the American University through conferences, and the American University is is truly a system.

There is many of us.

There's American University of Kurdistan, American University of Beirut, American University of Lebanon, American University of Paris of Rome, all these different schools and the affiliation is that we all have a relationship in our foundation from American University in Washington, DC.

So 20 years ago this year, we were doing some work with, the individuals at American University.

And that's how we came about when our founder, Mr. Atiku, had the dream of being able to form this university.

And I may have never told you, but the story that that catches me on this and touches my life is that our founder was also from a poor family.

He did not come from, you know, riches and glory and everything.

He was raised in this state of Adamawa and a little place called Jeddah.

And what touches me about this was his father passed away and he just had a mother trying to raise him.

His father died and I believe a fishing accident.

So he's this poor kid growing up here in Adamawa State, one of the poorer areas of Nigeria.

And it was some young teachers that invested in his life.

Those young teachers invested in him and those teachers just so happened to come from America.

They were the American Peace Corps.

He fell in love with the teaching style and how they wouldn't give up on him, and how they kept working with him and trying to get him to believe in his dreams that he would become the vice president of the country, and maybe someday, the president.

But start this university here.

He could have made riches and put it in Lagos.

He could have put it in Abuja, made money, poured a court.

But it was never about money.

It was about putting it right back here in Yola, in the capital of his state, very close to where he was born and raised.

And, it is his prize and his commitment to this community and region was this university.

So I thought if I could be a part of something like that and, you know, the what he's been able to do to touch so many lives, I can't tell you how many scholarships that students even the price that we are today here at the school, is vastly subsidized by his giving.

Over the years, he's given millions and millions of US dollars to do this, institution here.

And it's touching lives every single day because of a Peace Corps volunteers that invested in his life.

And by the way, he's still today is the largest one time personal giver to Peace Corps in the history of the Peace Corps.

He just gave a personal gift one time, and it was the largest any private citizen had ever given.

So he never forgets where he comes from.

I never forget where I come from, so it's a great synergy there.

Great synergy.

But we also talked about empowerment in the first segment, and now we're talking about humility here.

And how do you take that humility and bring the American University of Nigeria into another 20, 30, 40, 50 years?

So I've been really happy with the students here because what we see is we don't really build a class system, which you'll see in many countries in the world and even at points in Nigeria.

Oh this person's from here.

So I might not, you know, associate with them.

We do it in America too, you know.

Oh, they're from Appalachia or they're from the West Coast or.

Oh, they're from Tennessee, you know, or something like that.

So no offense, Tennessee, but you know, just.

You know, my mom's from Tennessee.

That's why you said that.

Us Kentucky people, you know, I know so but it is true that, you know, the humility in the students here, like, it doesn't matter if you're you're to, if you're teve, if you're Fulani, if your house or whatever tribe you come from, Igbo, the people here work together.

They don't even ask that question.

They get to know each other.

They work together.

What we're building here can change a country can change a region.

The students here are the future leaders.

And I keep telling people about that humility.

If we're not careful, they're going to beat America in having the first female president.

And it will be a student that comes from you in, mark my words, I'll be an old man sitting back going, that was one of my students.

Maybe you'll get an invitation made.

Maybe.

So.

This actually is perfect for this transition.

What is the American University of Nigeria is global impact.

That's the question I want to answer in the next five episodes.

How do we answer that?

Oh my goodness.

You know, we are the very first development university in the continent.

And at this point, I believe the only development.

Now, if I was a listener, I'd be like, well, what's the development University?

What does that even mean?

Well, we think of it as a university that works with USAID, USAID aid works with projects of that, the US embassy.

We work with the German Embassy, we work with Unesco, Unicef, we work with the many organizations to also get our students involved in projects that touch lives.

People want a U.N. students all the time in their communities.

I can't tell you how many governors and leaders have said we want, because when our students go into communities, they bring their community service acumen and they start doing things that are absolutely unheard of.

They are volunteering in orphanages.

They're starting foundations.

These are the best of the best because it's not just about classroom knowledge.

It's about those that are humble, that care about others that are less fortunate, and the kids here and the students here that graduate there around the world.

Right now, they're in America.

They're in places like Silicon Valley, they're in Washington, DC.

They're all over.

They're in Europe.

They're right here, they're in India.

They're making a difference in their little part of the world, and they're touching lives.

And to think that passion, I hope, was sparked by their community service work here, because we'll have a chance to see programs like feed and read programs like Jeep, where we work with little girls in education, or you'll see a program that we do like, wealth, riches and everything that we're doing that just waste of wealth is an amazing program.

And the women and how they use that money to pay for their little girls to go to school, and the students here get to be involved in that.

It's going to last with them more than whatever they hear in a classroom.

It's going to last with them for a lifetime, because they know they can use that education to make the world a better place.

And how great is that?

It's wonderful.

And in fact, when we meet again in our next episode, you will talk about a UN's legacy and your legacy.

So stay right there.

You're coming back for another episode.

Thank you for a great first episode.

Thank you guys.

And thank you for joining us at the American University of Nigeria and Africa.

Viewers like you make this show possible.

Join us on social media to continue this conversation.

Good night and stay well.

Hi, I'm Angela Williamson, host of Everybody with Angela Williamson.

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