June 26, 1998

Rocky Mount, NC -- Guy Barnes, one of North Carolina Wesleyan College's founders, and his wife have established the Alice A. and Guy E. Barnes Scholarship Fund. Barnes was instrumental in getting Wesleyan College located in Rocky Mount, and served on the College's Board of Trustees from 1968-1986, in the positions of vice-chairman of the Board, chairman of the education committee, and as a member of the Executive Committee. He was a recipient of the Algernon Sydney Sullivan award, presented to him in 1979. He also received a President's Medal of Honor in 1986.

The Barnes stipulated that the endowment is to provide scholarships to give students an opportunity to earn undergraduate degrees at the College. Students must be residents of either Nash or Edgecombe counties. Preference is given to students who have attended either Nash or Edgecombe Community College, but any student in good standing can use the fund if a qualified student from the community colleges is not identified. North Carolina Wesleyan can award the scholarships to deserving students who would otherwise not be able to attend college because of financial need.

Students must meet the average requirements to remain in school as are currently in effect for the student body in general. Barnes scholarship awardees are eligible to receive financial assistance in any academic year providing they have demonstrated motivation and potential, but do not have the financial resources to attend North Carolina Wesleyan College without financial assistance.

In an innovative move, the Barnes have stipulated that the endowment will be distributed in its entirety in 2056 to celebrate Founders' Day on the 100th birthday of the College, which was founded in 1956. At that time the president and the trustees can determine an appropriate operating or capital project, program or facility at the College to receive the funds from the term endowment in memory of Alice A. and Guy E. Barnes.

A South Carolina native, Guy Barnes came to Rocky Mount in 1930 mid-way through college to work at Watson-Easley tobacco warehouse to earn money to pay for his college education. He graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1932 with a bachelor's degree in education. (He said he worked during the summer and fall tobacco season, so he had four second semesters after he began working. In his college career he had two semesters of football and six semesters of basketball!) He moved to Rocky Mount in 1933 and married Alice Diehl Abernathy of Vidalia, Ga. They have three children, Marion Barnes and Alice Barnes Knight, both of Rocky Mount, and Judy Barnes Agnew, who lives in Durham.

The tobacco market was to become Barnes' profession. Barnes continued with Watson-Easley and the successor to Easley Warehouse Co. until he and two partners started Peoples Warehouse in 1964. He retired from Peoples in 1978 after the tobacco season. In 1990 he sold the business and the building.

Although he made the tobacco business his career, Barnes has always been a strong supporter of education and the community. In addition to his role in founding North Carolina Wesleyan, he is a charter member of the Edgecombe Community College Board of Trustees, and helped ECC establish its Rocky Mount center. Active in numerous civic organizations, he also served for 18 years on the Rocky Mount City School Board, the last several years as chairman. He was also a commissioner for Edgecombe County and served on the Edgecombe County Mental Health Board. He was chairman of the Board of Stewards for the First United Methodist Church, and president of the Tobacco Board of Trade. Other organizations to which he volunteered his leadership include the YMCA, Kiwanis Club, Elks Club, the East Carolina Warehouse Association and the Methodist Home for Children.

North Carolina Wesleyan is an independent, four-year liberal arts college affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The College offers bachelor's degrees in 22 majors to traditional-aged students on the Rocky Mount campus. Wesleyan also offers an adult degree program geared to working adults, with classes in Rocky Mount, and at additional teaching sites in Raleigh, Goldsboro, and Durham.

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