Board of Trustees Welcomes Five New Members Five new members joined the Louisburg College Board of Trustees, effective September 2015. The new members include: SENATOR CHAD BAREFOOT Representing the 18th District, which includes Wake and Franklin Counties, Barefoot is one of the youngest members of the North Carolina Senate. Prior to his legislative service, he served as a policy advisor to the North Carolina House Majority Leader. Senator Barefoot earned a Master of Arts in Christian Ethics from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest and a Bachelor of Science in Public Management from Appalachian State University. Barefoot and his wife, Paige, have a son, Franklin, and a daughter, Louisa. They are active members of Capital Community Church. SHARON H. BRYSON Bryson has served as chief operating officer of the North Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants, becoming the organization’s chief executive officer in May 2016. An active volunteer, she has focused her work on adoption. She is an Advisory Committee member for the Noah Z. M. Goetz Foundation, a nonprofit that provides grant funding and education about the adoption process. Bryson received undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She and her husband, Keith, have one son, Matthew, who is a student at Louisburg College. COUNTY COMMISSIONER SIDNEY DUNSTON Dunston is serving his third term as chairman of the Franklin County Board of Commissioners, where he has served since 2004. He is pastor of God’s Vision Missionary Baptist Church and CEO of God’s Vision Ministries, Inc., a nonprofit that operates a food pantry, feeding more than 12,000 people each year.
6
Senator Richard Burr Delivers 2015 Commencement Address
New Trustees (clockwise from top left): Sen. Chad Barefoot, Peggy Winstead, Rev. Leonard Fairley, Com. Sidney Dunston, and Sharon H. Bryson
United States Senator Richard Burr addressed graduates during Louisburg College’s Commencement ceremony on May 8, 2015. Of the 126 students who received their Associate of Arts or Associate of Science degrees, five graduated summa cum laude; nine, magna cum laude; and eleven, cum laude.
A US Air Force veteran, Dunston earned a bachelor’s degree from Shaw University and a Master of Divinity from Shaw Divinity School. He is the proud father of four children and six grandchildren.
As part of the annual ceremony, awards were given in the following categories: Faculty Emeritus status was awarded to 2014-2015 Faculty Senate Chair, Business and Social Sciences Division Chair, and long-serving Professor of CIS and Engineering Graphics Matt Brown. Staff Emeritus status was awarded to Assistant Registrar Sandra Beasley. Emeritus status is an honor and distinction conferred by the Board of Trustees.
REVEREND LEONARD FAIRLEY Fairley was named Capital District Superintendent of the North Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church in 2015. He served several churches in North Carolina before becoming superintendent of the Rockingham District in 2005. His church service extends to numerous boards and agencies of the Conference, as well as mission work.
The Naomi Dickens Shaw Award for Faculty Teaching Excellence was given to Kris Hoffler, assistant professor of English. This award is given each year to a member of the faculty who demonstrates teaching excellence.
Fairley earned degrees from Pfeiffer College and the Duke University School of Divinity. He and his late wife, Priscilla Ann Russell, have two children and two grandchildren.
The 2015 Brantley Award winners were Samantha Mikaela Calvery, Jocelyn Jaimes, Deshaun Markiss Faltz, Ty Alexander Kobylinski, and Frank Douglas Sturek. The Brantley Award is presented to the male and female candidates for graduation with the highest fulltime, two-year scholastic average. This exemplary group of students graduated summa cum laude with a perfect 4.0 grade point average. Deneysha Goods and Nicholas Skerpon received the Isaac D. Moon award, which is given to the most outstanding male and female candidates for graduation in the fields of leadership, scholarship, and citizenship. Natalie Manning, Cassidy Osgood, and Jacob Proulx were recipients of the 2015 Alumni Appreciation Scholarship award.
PEGGY WINSTEAD Winstead is a career educator who retired after thirty-one years of service in the Nash-Rocky Mount Schools. She earned bachelors degrees from Atlantic Christian College and East Carolina University, and she also holds a master’s degree from ECU. The Winsteads were major supporters of Louisburg College’s softball training facility, which bears their name. She and her husband, Thomas, have a son, John Thomas, and a daughter, Brandy, who is a Louisburg College alumna.
Provost Eck Receives Presidential Medal
Megan Ryals ’15 celebrates after the 2015 Commencement ceremony.
During the College’s annual Christmas luncheon this past December, President La Branche presented a surprised Provost Eck with the Presidential Medal—an honor bestowed upon very few in the 229-year history of the institution. Eck, who is celebrating his sixth year at Louisburg, has dedicated his energy and passion to the College’s academic success. “His tireless work on our ten-year reaffirmation of accreditation with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges led to a finding of no recommendations,” La Branche said, “clearing the way for reaffirmation in June 2016.”
a native of Clayton, NC, she was a member of the volleyball team and a scholar-athlete. She is continuing her studies at UNC Wilmington.
COLUMNS / SPRING 201 6
SPRING 2016 / COLUMNS
7