Farrington Foundation gifts create new VGCC Scholarships
The Farrington Foundation, based in Warrenton, N.C. and Delray Beach, Florida, recently endowed two new scholarships for students at Vance-Granville Community College.
In August, VGCC President Dr. Stelfanie Williams formally accepted the contributions establishing the scholarships from the foundation’s trustee, Nick Bagshawe, an attorney with the Warrenton law firm of Williams & Bagshawe. The foundation was established by Bagshawe’s grandmother, the late Ethel Farrington. Bagshawe recalled that in the 1920s, when very few women earned college degrees, Mrs. Farrington graduated from Smith College with a bachelor’s degree and from Columbia University with a master’s degree. She worked for many years as a public health nurse. Considering the importance of education and health to Mrs. Farrington, it is fitting that in awarding both Farrington Foundation scholarships, preference will be given to students studying Nursing at VGCC. Recipients of the scholarship must have a grade-point average of 3.0, and preference will also be given to students from Warren County.
The Farrington Foundation makes grants to educational and community organizations in the Warren County area, including the local animal shelter, rural volunteer fire departments and Lakeland Theatre. The foundation also supported the VGCC Endowment Fund Golf Tournament earlier this year.
The Farrington Foundation scholarships will be awarded each year at the Presidential Merit Award level and will join more than 300 endowed scholarships for full-time students at the college. VGCC has awarded more than 6,500 scholarships to students since 1982. Scholarships have been endowed by numerous individuals, industries, businesses, civic groups, churches and the college’s faculty and staff. Tax-deductible donations to the VGCC Endowment Fund have often been used to honor or remember a person, group, business or industry with a lasting gift to education.
Above: From left, Farrington Foundation trustee Nick Bagshawe and his daughter, Callie Bagshawe, present contributions creating the new scholarships to (in back) VGCC President Stelfanie Williams and (kneeling in front) Director of Nursing Programs Erica Jastrow, at the Warren County Courthouse in Warrenton. (VGCC photo)
