Rocky Mount, N.C.— People in the Rocky Mount area stepped up to support North Carolina Wesleyan College in their city in a record-setting way on Tuesday, September 18. The College’s 26th annual Day for Wesleyan raised a record $552,940 from the community.

 

Day for Wesleyan helps support ongoing needs of the College, such as academic programs, athletics, technology, teaching materials, and especially scholarships for deserving students who otherwise could not attend Wesleyan.

Each year the annual event attracts more than 100 local volunteers who call on more than 500 area businesses and individuals to ask for gifts and pledges of support for the College.

At a kick-off breakfast for the volunteer fundraisers, held at Wesleyan’s Dunn Center for the Performing Arts, Rocky Mount Mayor Fred Turnage proclaimed Tuesday as Official Day for Wesleyan across the city. “Wesleyan is a corporate entity that gives back—and not only in dollars and cents,” Turnage said. “I like to think of it as a partnership that has grown stronger and mutually beneficial.”

Turnage noted that Wesleyan helps to educate the people of the area, offers quality entertainment and art exhibits at the Dunn Center, and attracts quality faculty and staff who serve as leaders throughout the community. “Private colleges face many challenges. Wesleyan has to find ways to fund itself. Tuition doesn’t cover the entire cost of a Wesleyan education, and Day for Wesleyan helps to make up the difference and helps students realize their potential.” Turnage said.

This year’s community chair of the fundraiser was W. Douglas Starr, of Rocky Mount, senior vice president of Wachovia Securities in Rocky Mount. Working with Starr as chair of the alumni component of the fundraiser was R. Bruce Sharer, a 1968 Wesleyan graduate, past president of Wesleyan’s Alumni Association, and a retired business executive from Raleigh. Sharer is also the son of the late Wesleyan professor emeritus of biology Dr. Arch W. Sharer.

On campus, Dorothy Grant, supervisor of office services, headed the staff campaign. Leading the faculty effort was husband-wife team Carl R. and Jackie L. Lewis, both Wesleyan graduates who are now instructors of justice studies and accounting, respectively.

Day for Wesleyan continues the tradition of community support that originally helped establish the College. Wesleyan was chartered on October 25, 1956, with financial assistance from the United Methodist Church, and a great effort by many citizens in the Rocky Mount area who recognized a need for a four-year liberal arts college in the region. As a result of generous community support, North Carolina Wesleyan College opened its doors to the first class of students in the fall of 1960. The first graduation was held four years later.

Wesleyan’s financial effect on the community continues to increase with growth of the College. The economic impact of Wesleyan on the Twin County area is estimated at $31.2 million in annual expenditures, with $47.5 million in annual expenditures to all of Eastern North Carolina, and an estimated 665 jobs. Wesleyan itself employs 174 full-time and 100 part-time employees.

Most of Wesleyan’s approximately 800 students come from North Carolina and many are from the Rocky Mount area. The average high school grade point average (GPA) of students entering Wesleyan this year is a 3.0 (“B”). Again this fall, Wesleyan has continued its full-tuition scholarship program for high school valedictorians, which has attracted top students to the College.

Wesleyan also enrolls about 1,000 students in its Adult Degree Program (ADP), which offers classes on the Rocky Mount campus and at sites in Goldsboro and the Raleigh area. The ADP makes it possible for adults with responsibilities of work and family to begin or complete a bachelor’s degree through evening, weekend, and accelerated courses.

This year’s Day for Wesleyan total was announced at a celebration for volunteers at the home of Wesleyan’s president, Dr. Ian Newbould, and Carla Newbould. Last year’s Day for Wesleyan generated $510,560, also a record.