Glen Raven and VGCC Announce Six New Scholarships, Other Initiatives

Glen Raven Inc. of Norlina has agreed to create six new endowed scholarships through the Vance-Granville Community College Endowment Fund and to support other college initiatives. VGCC President Randy Parker and Todd Wemyss, Norlina site manager for Glen Raven and a member of VGCC’s Endowment Board, announced the agreement on June 29.“We are proud to continue our tradition of working with Vance-Granville to improve our communities through education,” Wemyss said. “Glen Raven is a firm believer in the community college’s importance to our economy.” Headquartered in Glen Raven, North Carolina, the company has grown from a small cotton mill into a global leader in performance fabrics. Founded in 1880 by John Q. Gant, Glen Raven is still owned and managed by his descendants.Glen Raven is the largest corporate donor in the history of the college’s Endowment, having donated more than $260,500. Starting this year, Glen Raven’s gifts will provide a total of 11 scholarships — five Glen Raven Presidential Scholar Awards, three Glen Raven Presidential Merit Awards and three Glen Raven Academic Achievement scholarships — to help deserving Vance-Granville students pay for tuition and fees. Two of the Academic Achievement scholarships will be given to students enrolled on a part-time basis.“Vance-Granville is fortunate to have Glen Raven as a partner,” Parker said. “Contributions from individuals and businesses in our communities such as these make it possible for many of our students to continue their education or upgrade their skills, so that they can compete in the global economy.” Parker noted that the college’s long-lasting relationship with Glen Raven included the first-ever scholarship at the Presidential Scholar Award level (the highest awarded), established in 1999. Thanks to Glen Raven and other Endowment supporters, at least 15 such scholarships will be awarded in 2007.In addition to endowed scholarships, Glen Raven’s contributions will establish the Glen Raven Faculty and Staff Excellence and Leadership Award program, to sponsor annual stipends to outstanding instructors and staff members for excellence in teaching and leadership. The company will also become the first corporate sponsor of a large clock, which will be erected in the courtyard on the college’s main campus in Vance County. Finally, Glen Raven will help fund an Endowment Fund expansion and new donor program.Endowed scholarships are funded by interest earned on the Endowment Fund and Scholarship Program. With assets of more than $5 million, Vance-Granville’s is one of the largest community college endowment funds in the state. Scholarships have been established by industries, businesses, individuals, civic groups, churches and the college’s faculty and staff to assist deserving VGCC students in their academic endeavors. The college’s Endowment Fund Corporation invests the funds, and interest from these investments has allowed the college to award more than 5,000 scholarships to deserving students since 1982. The principal donations to the fund are not spent. In Fall 2006, Vance-Granville awarded scholarships to a record 307 full-time students and to 125 students who are enrolled on a part-time basis.Donations to the VGCC Endowment Fund are tax deductible and they provide a lasting way to honor or remember a person, group, business or industry with a lifelong gift to education, President Parker added. Contributions to the Endowment Fund can be made by gifts of cash, real or personal property, or securities, provision of a will or insurance policies, or establishment of trusts.Above: From left, Vance-Granville Community College President Randy Parker, Glen Raven site manager Todd Wemyss and Jo Anna Jones, the college’s Vice President of Institutional Advancement and director of the Endowment Fund, celebrate the agreement at Glen Raven’s Norlina site. (VGCC Photo)