The Carter Center for Academic Success and the Panther Academic Den (PAD) recently awarded the inaugural Bob Davis Academic Grit Award to Jaylyn Gray-Palmore, a rising senior majoring in Health and Human Performance, from Charlotte, NC.

Gray-Palmore is an outside linebacker for the Ferrum College football team and has been selected as a 2022 team captain. He earned 2021-22 ODAC All-Academic Team honors and has earned Dean’s List recognition. Gray-Palmore is also a member of Ferrum’s Brother4Brother peer mentor program.

Gray-Palmore is a 20-year cancer survivor. His positive and effervescent personality has led to teammates referring to him as a “hype guy”.  He shared that he has fully enjoyed his Ferrum experience. “Jaylan wants to be remembered as ‘a good, smiling person who shows love to everybody’. This young man is the embodiment of the true meaning of student-athlete,” said Director of the PAD Tom Steele.

The award, named in memory of Coach Bob Davis, was made possible through a memorial gift from the Davis family following Coach Davis’ passing in May of 2021. The father-in-law of former head football coach Rob Grande, Coach Davis was an assistant defensive coach for the Panthers. He also served student-athletes as an academic tutor in the PAD. Coach Davis was loved and appreciated by all students with whom he interacted.

Steele shared, “Bob was one-of-a-kind, just a really fine individual. He was one of the most intelligent individuals I’ve known and possessed a gift of helping students process information. He was a dear friend and is sorely missed by his students and by all of us in the PAD.”

The Bob Davis Academic Grit award is given to the Ferrum football player who made the most improvement in GPA. Gray-Palmore was selected for the award due to his consistent work with Coach Davis in the PAD, which led to improving his semester GPA from 2.15 to 3.60. Coach Davis always referred to Gray-Palmore as “Dean’s List Gray-Palmore” and was extremely proud of this young man.

Ferrum College congratulates Jaylyn Gray-Palmore and extends sincere appreciation to the family of Bob Davis for keeping Coach’s legacy alive.

On July 11, 2022, Ferrum College alumna Tracy Holley ’96 will transition from her current role as director of Alumni and Family Programs to become the inaugural director of the First-Year Experience and First@Ferrum Programs in the Carter Center for Academic Success (CCAS). In her new role, Tracy will work with Dean of Academic Success Dave Wiggins, CCAS team members, faculty, and staff to create and provide programming for all first-year and first-generation college students to promote retention and success.

Holley’s new position is supported in part by the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, which recently awarded Ferrum College a $143,000 grant to support the CCAS in expanding and initiating academic support programs. This grant will help bolster Ferrum College’s efforts to ensure equity in student outcomes and increase the academic performance, persistence, and graduation of first-generation students, low income students, and students with disabilities who demonstrate an academic need for support.

Holley is uniquely qualified to step into this role, and she is excited to begin a new chapter in her career at Ferrum College. “For over twenty years, I have had the pleasure of working with successful Ferrum College graduates once they leave our campus as alumni. In my new role, I look forward to supporting our first-year and first-generation students by personally working with them face-to-face on a daily basis. I will now have the opportunity to support future generations of graduates by creating programs for success and retention,” said Holley.

Holley’s new office will be located in the Michael T. Christian ’63 Center for First-Year Experience, made possible by a generous contribution from alumnus Michael Christian, and located in Stanley Library. Part of the CCAS, the Michael T. Christian ’63 Center serves all incoming freshmen, including those who are the first in their families to attend college. Its goal is to integrate first-year students into college life by connecting them to an academic and social network of professors, mentors, and classmates, as well as to other resources at Ferrum College such as clubs, campus engagement, and career services, to help them have a successful college experience.

Wiggins looks forward to welcoming Holley to his team. “Tracy’s work will be instrumental in helping our students to be successful at Ferrum and beyond. She brings a vast array of experience to this important position and will provide outstanding services to our students.  We are fortunate to have her,” said Wiggins.

Ferrum College was recently awarded $143,000 in grant funding by the Jessie Ball duPont Fund to support the Carter Center for Academic Success (CCAS) in expanding and initiating programs intended to ensure equity in student outcomes, student academic success, and persistence.

The Jessie Ball duPont Fund is a charitable foundation based in Jacksonville, Florida that strives to lift up members of society who have historically been prevented from accessing basic opportunities, and operates within communities with which Jessie Ball duPont had a personal connection. The duPont Fund is committed to eliminating structural and systemic barriers that stand in the way of their vision of “a world in which every member of those communities feels they belong.” 

For educational institutions, the Jessie Ball duPont Fund focuses on increasing retention and/or graduation rates of first-generation, low-income, and underserved students at private and public universities.  The $143,000 grant award will support Ferrum College’s academic support services to increase the academic performance, persistence, and graduation of first-generation students, low income students, and students with disabilities who demonstrate an academic need for support. 

Ferrum College has a long history of serving students from underserved backgrounds, including those who have academic, financial, or personal challenges.  The vast majority of Ferrum College students come from low income families and many are the first in their families to attend college.  Sixty-three percent of students are Pell Grant-eligible and ninety-nine percent receive some form of financial aid. Approximately forty-three percent of Ferrum College students come from high schools in rural areas and the transition to academic coursework comes with additional hurdles in navigating unfamiliar academic processes, loss of social support networks, difficulty connecting with professors and classmates, and the realization of knowledge gaps in foundational areas like math and writing.

To remedy this, the staff of the CCAS has formulated ten initiatives for success which include Foundations, First Generation Student Program, Gateway First-Year Seminar, Financial Literacy/Scholarship Program, First@Ferrum Scholarship Program, Opportunity Fund, First-Year Academic Advising Program, Early Assessment Program, Weekly Academic Coaching/Counseling Program, Onboarding Program, and the Student Life/Carter Center Student In Need Committee.

Ferrum College President David Johns, who worked collaboratively with campus partners in preparing the grant request, was honored to learn Ferrum College received the grant award. “Our goal is to provide the support necessary for students to succeed, and we are grateful to the Jessie Ball duPont Fund for their commitment to help us do just that,” stated Johns.

Dean of Academic Success Dave Wiggins is excited about the opportunities this grant will afford to Ferrum College students and believes it would not have been possible without a collaborative effort college-wide to write and execute the grant application. “This grant will provide resources and personnel to help our most needy students.  We will not just be focusing on academics and careers, but also helping our students to be more healthy and well-rounded people,” said Wiggins. 

Wilson Paine, vice president of Institutional Advancement & External Relations, noted that receiving the Jessie Ball duPont Fund grant is a significant benefit to both Ferrum College and the College’s students. “This grant is instrumental in funding a variety of initiatives for first-generation and low-income students. Through hands-on support from members of the Carter Center for Academic Success staff, Ferrum College is committed to increasing both retention and graduation rates for students who have historically faced serious challenges in attaining higher education.”

The Jessie Ball duPont Fund grant will be funded for two years.  Upon completion of the second year, progress and outcomes will be reviewed to potentially fund a third year.

The newly renovated Carter Center for Academic Success includes a space for the PRIDE program, which focuses on academic & personal excellence for student-athletes. Donna Winge photo.

In the summer of 2020, the Carter Center for Academic Success, formerly known as the Academic Resources Center, received a facelift thanks to alumnus Maury Carter ’53 and his family.

“Seven siblings from my generation were Ferrum scholars,” said Carter. “Ferrum College provided more than a college textbook education. Taught there was an outstanding education, but equally important: compassion.”

“It is an exciting time for those of us who work in the Carter Center for Academic Success,” said Dean of Student Success and Assistant Professor David Wiggins. “Now the Carter Center is even more beautiful and functional. The students are thankful for a place where they can study individually or collectively, get peer-assisted tutoring, and learn new skills to help them with their academic success. We are very grateful to the Carter family for their gift.” 

Located on the lower level of Ferrum College’s library, the newly renovated Carter Center is open 24 hours a day and boasts all new furniture, paint, carpeting, and ceiling tiles, plus a new camera and monitoring system. It provides resources and services to help students achieve their greatest academic potential, including one-on-one tutoring support, individual advising sessions, study groups for first-year students and military veterans, and support for students with learning differences.

Carter’s family was not financially secure during the College’s early days. “A family of ten. Mom and Dad and eight siblings,” remembered Carter. “A poor family a bit different from the students from more populated areas. Our parents could not have afforded to send any of us to college. Ferrum College made the dream of attending college possible for our family. The professors understood us and taught us well.” 

After graduating from Ferrum, Carter went on to enjoy a successful career in real estate investment, primarily in Virginia and central Florida. Based in Orlando, Maury L. Carter & Associates has closed approximately $1,500,000,000 in real estate transactions on over 200,000 acres of land since the 1990s.

“The Carter family moved to Ferrum in 1914, one year after the College opened, and have been part of the Ferrum story ever since,” explained Vice President for Institutional Advancement Wilson Paine ’07. “This gift represents over one hundred years of support from the Carter family, and is a testament to their commitment to our students, the College, and the region.”

“I love the people there,” said Carter. “I love the town and Ferrum College. When I am on the College’s campus, I have a special feeling: a feeling of being at home.”

Learn more about the Carter Center for Academic Success by visiting here.

Read 1953 alumnus Maury Carter’s full thoughts below:

“‘Not Self, But Others.’ Ferrum College provided more than a college textbook education. Taught there was an outstanding education, but equally important: compassion. ‘Not Self, But Others.’

“There in them hills was a family called Carter. A family of ten. Mom and Dad and eight siblings. Seven siblings from my generation were Ferrum scholars. A poor family a bit different from the students from more populated areas. Our parents could not have afforded to send any of us to college. Ferrum College made the dream of attending college possible for our family. The professors understood us and taught us well. 

“I believe my brother began attending Ferrum around 1920. Many of our family members have attended during our 100 year relationship with Ferrum College. 

“On a personal note, I say that Ferrum College kept me out of tanks in Korea. I graduated in 1953 and entered the U.S. Army. After the rigorous basic training, we were being assigned locations, most to Korea. Out of a group of several hundred, I was selected to serve as a personnel specialist. This assignment taught me how to perform in an office environment and it prepared me for a position in aerospace. 

“I love the people there. I love the mountains. I love the town and Ferrum College. When I am on the college campus, I have a special feeling: a feeling of being at home.”

For an in-depth account of Carter’s early life and achievements, please visit the Maury L. Carter & Associates, Inc. website.