Black History Committee establishes JCC scholarship

The Black History Committee at Johnston Community College has established an annual scholarship to help students further their education at the College.

Named the JCC Black History Committee Scholarship, the scholarship will be administered by the College Foundation and awarded annually in honor of a local distinguished citizen. The inaugural scholarship is named in honor of Lloyd Barnes Jr. of Wilson’s Mills. A member of the Black History Committee, Barnes volunteers many hours on campus with the Minority Male Mentoring program, which teaches leadership skills and strives to increase graduation rates of minority male students. A retired firefighter with the City of Raleigh, Barnes has served the community through various organizations. He is a member of the Wilson’s Mills Planning Board and the Smithfield-Selma Area Chamber of Commerce and holds leadership positions in Union Hill AME Church.

Barnes said he was humbled by the honor. “Children are my passion,” Barnes said. “They give me incentive to move forward and do for others. What I receive in my life (through mentoring) is much greater than the time that I give.”

Dawn Dixon, chair of the scholarship subcommittee, said committee members used a cash award they received for last year’s Black History Month activities as seed money for the scholarship.

“We have tried to expand our programming at JCC, and when some additional outside funds became available to use the committee decided it would be a wonderful opportunity to expand our outreach to students and provide them an opportunity to further their education by providing a scholarship,” Dixon said.

“I think this allows the committee to have its arm in a lot of different directions,” she added. “We already do a lot of things for the community, with the Black History Month events, which are supported by faculty, staff, and our local citizens, but the new scholarship allows us to impact the student population.”

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