Society Dinner honors accomplished alumni and generous donors

By Chuck Gordon

All three prongs of Wingate's motto - Faith, Knowledge, Service - took center stage at the annual Society Dinner last night.

Alumni were honored for living out that creed in their personal and professional lives; current students discussed the role faith, knowledge and service have played in their academic careers; and generous donors were lauded for putting all three into action via their time and treasure.

"These words are not three departments of a university," said Dr. Rhett Brown, University president. "They are three dimensions of a human life: the head, the heart and the hands."

Brown was speaking to some of Wingate University's most loyal and generous donors at Carmel Country Club in Charlotte on Wednesday before introducing two longtime trustees and their wives as Philanthropists of the Year. Ed and Millie West and Bill and Pam Crowder received the awards. Both couples are members of the Wellspring Society, which honors those with at least $1 million in lifetime giving to Wingate.

The winners of the Alumni Awards described how faith, knowledge and service have influenced their lives. Marc and Kim Wyatt, 1986 graduates who received the Excellence in Service Award, have worked in missions for 40 years, each in different capacities for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. They have devoted much of their careers to serving refugees.

"Our season at Wingate deepened our commitment to missions, as our two separate calls merged into a call as a couple," Kim Wyatt said. "Our professors in the religion and math and education departments, alongside the Christian mentorship from then-campus minister Jim McCoy, grounded us in a life of service."

Sherri Barham '84, who received the Distinguished Alumna Award, says that her decision to enroll at Wingate in 1980 was "provident." She and her husband, Joel Barham '84, have built SellEthics into a successful food-brokerage company over the past quarter century.

She says that Wingate's small size and nurturing environment set her up for success.

"I know now that if I'd accepted any of the offers from the large state universities, my life would never have been the same," she said. "I thrived as an individual on the small, friendly campus. I met my husband of almost 41 years on campus. I have friendships that have lasted a lifetime. And in 1980 at a Baptist college my faith grew."

Mycah Gaylord '15 rose quickly through the ranks at the State Employees' Credit Union and is now a vice president city executive. He has put his faith and knowledge into serviceable action by establishing, alongside a colleague, a free financial-literacy initiative in Guilford County, N.C.

"Wingate University has played such a special and important role in shaping the person that I am today," he says. "I will forever be grateful for this lab of difference-making, rooted in its faith, its knowledge, and its service."

Gaile Greenhoot '94 was a nurse and hospital executive for four decades. Among her proudest accomplishments, however, is establishing, alongside her husband, Dr. Jerry Greenhoot, a scholarship and "art of nursing" workshop for Wingate's nursing program.

Every year, the workshop teaches students how to better care for patients by taking a holistic approach.

"The most important thing we've done is establish this scholarship," Greenhoot said. "We have been very proud every year to meet with the students and the faculty and enjoy the fact that we have an excellent nursing program."

Jan Beatty-Hendley was named an honorary alumna. A trustee since 2020, Beatty-Hendley said she took her first tour of the Wingate campus 20 years ago and fell in love with it immediately. She increased her involvement with the University incrementally, eventually becoming a member of the Board of Visitors (now the Alumni Advisory Board) before joining the Board of Trustees in 2020.

"Like most of you, once you see the campus and meet the staff, it's easy to see why students, and parents, choose Wingate," said Beatty-Hendley, a successful banker. "It's been an honor to support the school, personally and professionally."

In addition to the award presentations, guests heard from a panel of students, who discussed how Wingate has transformed their lives. Alexander Gyekye, a senior math major from Ghana, said that what has most surprised him about his Wingate education is how invested his professors are in his success.

He came to Wingate intending to become a software engineer but has since decided to become an actuary.

"Professors know me by name," he said. "It's very easy for a professor to say, 'Hey. See me after class and let's talk about your career.' That kind of personalization at Wingate was really surprising."

Another senior math major, Kathryn McCabe, a Georgia native who plays on the women's lacrosse team, said she has found a welcoming community at Wingate.

"I, of course, wanted strong academics, but it went farther beyond that," she said. "I was looking for belonging and meaningful relationships, and I've definitely found that with my teammates, my coaches, professors. All those people have really helped me build a strong sense of purpose in my life. They guide me more than just as a student and an athlete; they guide me as a person."

That was music to Brown's ears.

"In my doctoral studies, a professor once said that the purpose of higher education was the creation and dissemination of knowledge," he said. "I remember thinking, Necessary, yes, but not sufficient for Wingate. What we learn must also be measured by who we become and what we do with our lives."

Nov. 12, 2026