Legislative Update: July 2020

Dave Craven: Newest Niner in the North Carolina General Assembly

Dave Craven ’12, former UNC Charlotte Student Body President and current senior vice president at Fidelity Bank in Asheboro, was recently appointed to fill the District 26 Senate seat left open following the retirement of long-serving North Carolina Sen. Jerry Tillman.

At 30 years old, Craven is the youngest member in the Senate. He will run for the seat in November.

Craven is active in his community, as well as statewide. He was appointed by House Speaker Tim Moore to serve on the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina and is vice chairman of the Randolph County Economic Development Corporation. He also serves on the board of directors for the Asheboro/Randolph Chamber of Commerce and is immediate past president of the Asheboro Rotary Club.

Craven earned bachelor’s degrees in political science, business administration and accounting from UNC Charlotte. He served as Student Body President from 2011-12. Noting that UNC Charlotte had the least amount of fitness space per student in the UNC System, Craven championed the building of the new University Recreation Center feasibility committee.

Craven joins a distinguished group of fellow 49ers serving in the state legislature: Rep. Dean Arp ’99, Rep. Kelly Hastings ’09, Rep. Mary Belk ’06, Rep. Jason Saine ’95, Rep. Cecil Brockman ’06, Sen. Joyce Waddell ’73, Sen. Vickie Sawyer ’97, Sen. Ted Alexander ’82, Sen. Mujtaba Mohammed ’08 and Rep. Jake Johnson ’16.

Sen. Mohammed appointed to racial equity task force

UNC Charlotte alumnus and North Carolina Sen. Mujtaba Mohammed ’08 was recently appointed by Gov. Roy Cooper to the North Carolina Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice.

The task force will recommend solutions to stop discriminatory law enforcement and criminal justice practices, and hold public safety officers accountable. Mohammed is an assistant public defender in Charlotte and previously worked as a child advocate at the Council for Children’s Rights.

“I am excited to join public servants and community leaders across North Carolina as we seek to restore equity throughout our justice system,” said Mohammed. “I remain grateful to Gov. Cooper for his leadership and to our Senate district and my extended family at UNC Charlotte for giving me the solid foundation to lead and serve in this capacity.”