Romey McCoy ’80 finds silver linings in grey skies. When his elderly parents and older brother recently passed away, he began to reflect on the enduring joy they gave him. “You start to think after you’ve lost the most important things in your life,” says McCoy, 63.
That’s why he created the Romey L. McCoy Endowed Scholarship. Business administration majors are eligible, and the scholarship has a preference for students minoring in accounting.
“This scholarship is the only legacy I will leave behind; you could call it my child,” says the longtime Raleigh resident who has also included Barton in his estate plan. Now retired, he worked for 31 years as a tax auditor and audit manager with the N.C. Department of Revenue.”
His parents instilled in him the importance of earning a college degree. “My father’s philosophy was that he didn’t want his children to have to work as hard as he had had to, and my mother taught elementary school and was a principal. She was all about education,” says McCoy.
“My parents were very proud that they paid cash for my entire college education,” he adds.
Numbers fascinated him when he was growing up on his parents’ tobacco farm in Cove City, near New Bern. His love of math led him first to Mount Olive College where he completed a two-year associate’s degree program and then to Barton.
McCoy and his roommate both majored in accounting. “Our heads were always in the books,” he recalls. McCoy was a member of the Accounting Club, and, today, he is a longtime member of the Bell Society, which honors alumni who donate to Barton in consecutive years.
He is grateful that business professors Ashton Wiggs and Tommy Stanton mentored him. McCoy credits Stanton (“a great man,” according to him) with helping launch his North Carolina Department of Revenue career. After interviewing there as a senior, he asked Stanton’s advice on next steps.
“We need to get a letter out to the recruiter,” Stanton told him. Then Stanton helped him draft his ‘thank-you’ note. “He knew all the right words and sweet things to say,” McCoy recalls.
The job offer came the day after graduation, and McCoy’s 31-year career had him auditing Fortune 500 companies and traveling extensively to their headquarters around the U.S.
“I feel very good about this scholarship,” he says. “Sometimes you question yourself, but this felt very good from the get-go. It’s the right thing to do.”
Philanthropic gifts to Barton’s endowment can be made outright or as planned gifts. These contributions play an increasingly critical role to ensure the College’s financial stability. They provide both annual and future support to a range of programs that include scholarships, faculty professorships, academic programs, faculty and staff development, athletics, the performing arts, capital enhancements, and general operations.
To learn more about how you can make a difference with Barton College by supporting the endowment, contact Tom Maze, Assistant Vice President for Leadership Giving, at (252) 399-6533 or tmaze@barton.edu.
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