Keesee Foundation to award grants to Campbell divinity students

     The Charles B. Keesee Educational Fund, Inc., announced recently that it will partner with Campbell University to provide grants for worthy students enrolled in the Divinity School. The foundation will provide a maximum of $4,000 annually per student in a series of renewable grants awarded to qualified students from Virginia and North Carolina. The fund is also adding Gardner-Webb University’s Divinity School to its list of partners. Members of the Charles B. Keesee Educational Fund Board of Directors were on the Campbell campus to make the announcement.
     “Charles B. Keesee was a man way ahead of his time who loved those involved in God’s work and God’s ministry,” said board member Dr. Frank Campbell. “Congratulations on preparing yourselves at this wonderful Divinity School. We look forward to partnering with you.”
     The Charles B. Keesee Educational Fund was established in 1941 by entrepreneur Charles B. Keesee and his wife. The fund is administered by a board of trustees who considers requests for aid and determines the eligibility of each applicant. More than $2,000,000 annually is distributed in the form of loans and grants.
     Campbell President Jerry M. Wallace, himself a beneficiary of a Keesee Foundation grant, thanked the foundation for their support. “It is a time that the Lord has provided in a very critical juncture in the Divinity School,” he said. “This is just one more example of how the Lord provides.”
     To Campbell divinity student, Laura Roach, the announcement meant the possibility of eliminating a major worry. She and husband Tyler are both divinity students who would eventually like to establish a counseling ministry together. Laura is a day care instructor and Tyler is youth pastor at Grove Park Baptist Church in Clinton.
     “It would be a huge burden lifted from our shoulders with both of us having to find money to come to Campbell,” Laura said. “It would free our minds for other ministry.”
     Dr. Michael Cogdill, dean of the Campbell Divinity School, called the announcement a celebration.
     “It is worth a life to be a Christian minister, to have the opportunity that we have to preach and teach the good news of the Gospel,” he said. “That’s what we celebrate today.”
     The Campbell Divinity School has a total enrollment of 208 students. Of these, five students are residents of Virginia and 191 students are residents of North Carolina.
     The school offers the Master of Divinity and Master of Arts in Christian education and the Doctor of Ministry degree. The Divinity School is committed to providing Christ-centered, Bible-based, and ministry-focused theological education for Christian ministry. More information about the Divinity School is available on the Campbell website, www.campbell.edu, or you may call (910) 893-1849 or (800) 760-9827.


Photo Copy: Members of the board of trustees and officers of the Charles B. Keesee Educational Fund were at Campbell recently to announce the selection of the Campbell Divinity School for a series of student grants. From left, Trustees Martha W. Medley, Dr. Frank R. Campbell, Rev. Douglas T. Ramsey (board vice president), Dr. Michael Cogdill, dean of the Campbell Divinity School, Trustee G. Paul Fletcher and Vernie W. Lewis, secretary-treasurer of the board.