The story below describes two initiatives of which Charles and Adrena are leaders. Information on the Ole School Scholarship Fund and Elevate U can be found below.
Ole School Scholarship Fund: http://www.oleschoolalumni.com/mission.html
Elevate U: http://www.elevateullc.com
A desire to help others is at the core of the May family. Service, to Charles and Adrena May, is not just an action, but a way of life.
Charles, a 1983 graduate of James Madison University with a degree in communications, joined the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) shortly after his graduation from JMU and retired from NCIS in 2018 after 35 years of service. May served as the Executive Assistant Director for Atlantic Operations for the NCIS.
May is the proud husband to Tamara May. He has three daughters, Verdonda, Adrena and Ariel, and a young grandson named Gavin.
For Charles’ daughter, Adrena, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. Adrena currently serves as a Special Agent in the NCIS and is a 2012 graduate of JMU, also with a degree in communications.
Both Mays experienced success as student-athletes during their time at JMU. Charles played football for JMU's first head coach, Challace McMillin, while Adrena was a star on the track and field team. Charles remembers the effect Coach McMillin had on him and why he considers him a second father. Coming from an African American background and ending up at a predominantly white university at JMU, May recalls how McMillin helped him make that transition.
"I was very ill prepared, mentally, emotionally, and psychologically," Charles said. "I don't know if I could have actually made it and believed in that acclimation, because my parents couldn't teach me because they weren't exposed either."
"But Coach McMillin, I tell you, he was a hero to me."
Charles also credits JMU for "the guidance and open mindedness, not only to accept an African American misguided, often disruptive athlete into the university, but help transform him into a productive citizen."
Adrena faced her own struggle when she started at JMU. A basketball player from Chesapeake, Va., Adrena tried out for former JMU head coach Kenny Brooks' team, but didn't make the cut. She wouldn't let that setback deter her, and she tried out for the track & field team. Ta' Frias, the current Director of Track & Field and Cross Country for the Dukes, had recently begun her tenure in December of 2009 and gave Adrena a shot. However, it wasn't in the role Adrena had been expecting.
"Not only did I not run, which was the thing I wanted to do since I was a runner in high school, she made me into a thrower."
Adrena faced early obstacles towards her goals at JMU, but instead of letting her circumstances control her, she took control of them.
After not making the basketball team but before joining the track team, Adrena spent two years in the Air Force ROTC program to fill the void. When faced with the choice between ROTC and track, she chose track and went on to have a successful career at JMU. During her senior season, she broke the JMU school record in the hammer throw with a toss of 50.52 meters. Her record was only recently broken during the 2019 season by Sidra Morris with a throw of 54.12 meters.
On top of being a student-athlete, Adrena engaged with her university as an event coordinator for the Black Student Alliance and the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. She also worked at creating leadership programs for student-athletes, helping create programming that would morph into what is today the JMU Student-Athlete Leadership Development Program.
"I had the luxury of being one of the first student-athletes in helping to create something consistent for student athletes. It was something that came naturally to me."
Adrena was also involved with her sorority, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., which served to add to her background of service and leadership.
"That was my life at JMU. Being a student, student-athlete, an advocate, and being someone that helped in the community through my sorority."
JMU had such a positive impact on each of them that they now help lead the Ole School Scholarship Fund, of which Charles was a founding member back in 2003. The fund’s mission is to “serve as a continuing instrument to promote the positive diversity profile of JMU through aggressive recruitment and retention of qualified African American students, to ensure appropriate University representation, which includes students of all races and nationalities.”
The group also serves to provide mentor support and networking opportunities to the JMU student community.
Charles was inspired to initiate the fund after getting involved with JMU again between 2000 and 2003. While he respected JMU for all it gave him during his time, he felt as though there was not the level of African American representation he would have expected after 17 years. May spoke with leaders at JMU about his concerns and found out that the state of Virginia did not allow universities to recruit specific groups of people for scholarships.
Charles wouldn't let that deter him from starting something that would benefit the recruitment of African American students to JMU. He went back to his colleagues from his time in school and asked them if they would be interested in donating money to help JMU recruit and retain African American students.
"To my surprise, just about every African American that went to JMU during those times was on board. Seventeen years later, we're still giving those scholarships to the university."
"Everybody wants to do a lot of things and they promise and they over-promise and under deliver. I think that because we had a plan, a commitment and a group of professionals that were serious about what they were doing, the university embraced us to the greatest extent. They supported our external efforts, all in support of JMU."
The Ole School Scholarship Fund has awarded 39 scholarships over 16 years. The group has $30,000 toward its $100,000 endowment goal, and Charles hopes the group, which started as a grassroots project, continues to gain momentum as more student-athletes give back.
The Ole School Scholarship Fund's officers and mentors, of which Charles and Adrena are a part, serve as leaders in diverse fields, providing a strong networking base for current student-athletes.
"We're lawyers, we're doctors, we're professionals, we're law enforcement, we're teachers. We are all of that. JMU realized what a gold mine they have in 125 professional African Americans willing to give back like we do to a predominantly white institution in the name of recruiting and retaining not just African Americans, but for all causes. The broad spectrum of what we support is diversity overall. Diversity kind of opens your aperture to the way that you think and the way that you solve problems, all of which is inclusive by nature, because you've got more people involved."
Adrena has helped the group update its web and social media presence and is the main point of contact for past scholarship awardees.
"I'm pretty much all things new school," Adrena said. "This is the first year we're really starting to get more past awardees on board as we become a larger group and one that's working even more closely with JMU. We're getting a lot of excitement right now. And we're just trying to continue to grow it with this excitement."
Outside of their careers and the Ole School Scholarship Fund, the Mays have continued to give back in other ways. Charles manages properties in Norfolk, Va. to provide those with lower incomes with access to opportunities they may not have had otherwise. Adrena runs Elevate U, LLC and recently co-founded CommUNITY ServeUS, which is a group of young, black professionals and friends who operate as a collective resource for professional and education services.
Charles began buying properties in midtown Norfolk with his father and uncle once his father retired from the military. The area they chose was downtrodden at the time, but Charles and his father knew the properties would appreciate over time as the city started to recognize the value of the area.
"Sure enough, Old Dominion and the regional medical facility are in close proximity to this area, and they're doing their part to buy up a lot of the area. Fortunately, we're able to house a great many people here and not have them have to move out because the area is becoming so productive."
Put simply, Charles' investment in property in Norfolk has limited the impact of gentrification and has allowed individuals to benefit from the positive changes in the area without having to move out due to higher housing costs.
"I'm managing my properties with a group of friends who also have properties and it has all worked to keep the area the way it has been with a diverse group of people, with the majority being African Americans in this particular community."
Though Charles' career in the Army and NCIS was full of rewarding and challenging experiences, his lifetime goal was always to do what he is doing now. His work keeps him busy, so much so that he reckons he is working harder now in retirement than he did before.
"But it's a labor of love, and I really enjoy it."
Charles' actions have inspired his community, and he says it's clear that having access to a higher quality of life and opportunity can help someone turn their life around.
"The people that we are helping and trying to keep in the community are people that have made mistakes and people that are finding it difficult to re-integrate themselves into society in a way that they're looked at it as equal and probably community serving."
"A lot of them clean themselves up, a lot of them have decided to go back to school or at least support their kids going to school. A lot of them have become wage earners, taxpayers, you know, things that they just never did before, not because they didn't want to, but because the opportunity just didn't afford them that opportunity."
Just as her father is doing for his community, Adrena runs Elevate U to consult and educate young and transitioning communities for success. She travels to universities and youth programs to speak to students and athletes about leadership and practicing excellence to motivate young people for the next level.
The guiding principle of Elevate U is simple: "One Mind At A Time."
Adrena draws from her own experience to inspire the young minds of tomorrow and show them that anything is possible with a little hard work.
"When you set your mind to certain things, and you begin crafting out your goals in life and your plans, these are the things that show where you can get to."
For the Mays, service and giving back is something they come by honestly. Adrena is following an example set by her parents, and Charles is inspired by the actions of his father when he was younger.
Charles' parents and his grandparents were "small town country folk" who grew up on a farm in Georgia. His father, Charles recalls, grew up with a lot of the racial problems we still see today and knew he wanted to get out of there. Charles' father joined the Navy and traveled the world but would take his family back to Georgia for a specific reason.
"He would take us back to the place that he tried to escape so desperately from, not so much because he loved it so much, but because there were so many people that remain there that were born and dying within a 10-mile radius. He just wanted to be an example of how you can get out of your situation. He used his experience and he used himself as an example of how you can get out."
Charles' father inspired people with his stories of how the world was different outside of Georgia and the benefits of self-employment.
While Charles was growing up, his parents would host a family member or friend from Georgia with them in Norfolk for six months to help bring them into a new environment and "become citizens in this new world."
"They were very inspirational, and I'll give out a credit to them for helping me understand that your life, son, is better than the life that I had, but we want your life to be better. And so, we'll challenge you. If you want to do what we did, that's fine, but take it to the next level."
It is safe to say that Charles and Adrena have taken their service to the next level. The guidance each of them has received and passed on shows that it doesn't take much to give back and make your community a better place. Sometimes, all it takes is focusing on being the best version of yourself and committing to helping others.
Charles' view of himself, despite all of his accomplishments, is simple.
"I'm strong in my faith, I love my family and I cherish my friends."
And when asked what's the one piece of advice that his parents gave him that guides him?
"If you happen to be blessed with some level of success, make sure you give back. That was always the message."