Wayne Community College receives $17 million from N.C. General Assembly

North Carolina State Representative John Bell, Representative Jimmy Dixon and Senator Buck Newton attended WCC’s campus for a special check presentation.

Representative Dixon explained the General Assembly’s process of distributing these funds. “Each budget season, we get to turn in what we would like to see going to some of our districts. We get some, and we don’t get some,” he said. “But we’re interested in donating money that is put toward real needs.”

The funds will go toward enhancements that will impact programs in the College’s Allied Health, Public Safety and Business and Computer Technologies divisions.

Senator Newton said that WCC President Patty Pfeiffer’s leadership helped the legislators explain to others why this was a critical investment, and he thanked her for the “cogent information and clear-eyed vision” of where the College is going and what it needs.

“When the three of us are able to speak in one voice for something like this, it makes it a lot easier for us to justify how we’re going to make these investments,” Newton said.

“You’ve got a president here who’s not afraid to ask but is also willing to partner with us on projects and lets us know the needs of the community college,” Bell said to WCC employees. “If we don’t know the needs, it’s hard to put money toward the needs.”

Representative Bell said that he is able to see the impact WCC has on the general public through his representation of the area. “Thank you for what you do day in and day out,” he told employees of the College.

Pfeiffer expressed her gratitude to the legislators for listening to the needs of those they serve. “I can’t thank you enough for being champions for not only Wayne Community College but also the community college system,” she said. “We have the opportunity to change the life of every student who walks in the door because of the support that you provide to make that happen.”