New Scholarship Endowment Supports Rural Students

Students from Yadkin and surrounding North Carolina counties have a new opportunity to attend the NC State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, thanks to the Sam and Stacy Pardue CALS Scholarship Endowment honoring Lloyd and Joan Pardue.

Created by Sam Pardue, former CALS associate dean and director of academic programs, and his wife, Stacy, the $25,000 endowment will be used to provide scholarships for undergraduate students from Yadkin County.

If no eligible students from Yadkin County are available, the fund may be used to provide scholarships for students from rural counties surrounding Yadkin (Davie, Iredell, Stokes, Surry or Wilkes). Students in two-year and four-year programs will be eligible for the merit-based awards.

The Pardues established the endowment in honor of Sam’s parents, Lloyd and Joan Pardue.

“Both of my parents were lifelong educators … so education was an important part of their lives,” said Sam Pardue at the endowment-signing ceremony. “They were the first in their families to have the opportunity to go to college. I believe that education impacts not only the life of the individual but also their families and the communities in which they live.”

CALS Dean Richard Linton presided over the event.

“Sam is one of the best and finest souls I’ve ever met,” Linton said. “We are very appreciative for the time that he was here, and we’re also very appreciative of this scholarship.”

John Dole, CALS interim associate dean and director of academic programs, said, “This scholarship will help us with one of the big issues we’ve been working on: access, especially from rural areas, for students into the college. This is an issue Sam worked on for years as department head in poultry science and as associate dean … I think this is a perfect extension of that work.”

Lloyd Pardue, who had recently celebrated his 90th birthday, said, “This is something I never hoped for or thought about, and I appreciate it.”

Joan Pardue added, “I was just thinking as everything was being said … this is really better than Christmas.”

Also in attendance at the ceremony were other members of the Pardue family, friends and colleagues.

“We’ve been wanting to do something like this for a long time,” Sam Pardue said. “We are so pleased to be able to create this opportunity for a new generation of students who will come to this campus, then go out into North Carolina and the rest of the world and really make a difference.”