Granville Native Establishes VGCC Scholarship In Memory Of Father, ‘Neighborhood Barnabus’
The Right Rev. Clarence E. Hobgood, a retired Episcopal Church bishop and Granville County native, wanted to honor the memory of his parents with a gift that would have provided a scholarship for five people.
With the assistance of Vance-Granville Community College, Rev. Hobgood’s $5,000 gift will provide a scholarship each year to a student “as long as there is a Vance-Granville Community College,” according to President Robert A. Miller.
Rev. Hobgood started planning the memorial to his parents, Willie and Julia Hobgood, several years ago. It was his original intent to have Hester Baptist Church of Granville County administer the gift. His parents were lifelong, devoted members of the church.
A neighbor and friend of the Hobgood family had said that “Willie Hobgood was a Barnabas in our neighborhood.” Barnabas means “son of encouragement” in Greek, and the Bible describes Barnabas as an enthusiastic follower of Jesus who “… was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith” … “and the hand of God was upon him.”
As a result of this praise for his father and because he wanted to encourage the students who would receive the scholarship, Rev. Hobgood said he wanted to call his memorial the Barnabas Fund.
Rev. Hobgood originally wanted one Hester Baptist Church member a year for five years to receive $1,000 to attend Vance-Granville. He prefers the scholarship be awarded to older students looking for a career advancement or who need to start over. While the Barnabas Fund scholarship is targeted to members of the Hester Baptist Church, it may be given to non-members if they are eligible and church members are not available.
Church scholarship committee members contacted Vance-Granville Community College to discuss how best to administer the Barnabas Fund. President Miller explained that if Rev. Hobgood’s gift were made part of the VGCC Endowment Fund and Scholarship Program, it would be invested with the rest of the fund, which is nearly $5 million. That way, an Academic Achievement Scholarship can be awarded to a student every year from interest earned on the fund, and Rev. Hobgood’s memorial to his parents will be a perpetual one.
Betty Barker of Oxford, a Radiography student, received the first Barnabas Fund Academic Achievement Scholarship in September 2001, and the award will be given each fall.
Any individual, family, business or organization interested in starting a scholarship may contact the president’s office at Vance-Granville Community College.
BARNABAS SCHOLARSHIP – Members of Hester Baptist Church present $5,000 to Vance-Granville Community College President Robert A. Miller to establish the Barnabas Fund Academic Achievement Scholarship in memory of Willie and Julia Hobgood. Pictured, from left, are: Mary Frances Brooks, Anne C. Currin, chairwoman of the church Scholarship Committee, The Rev. Karen Sherin, associate pastor, Bettie Williams, Miller, The Rev. Kenny Sherin, pastor, Mary Lou Rice, Susan Corbitt and Linda Tingen.
