On March 23, Beaufort County Community College welcomed Dr. David Loope as its sixth president. Loope has served since June 2017, when Dr. Barbara Tansey retired.

The installation ceremony featured the Rev. Scott Wilkinson, Washington High School Junior ROTC, Rebecca Adams, Justin Casey and Chris Furlough of the Beaufort County Traditional Music Association and Betty Randolph, chaplain for the college’s Board of Trustees.

Loope was greeted by Jenny Futrell of the Student Government Association, Brandon Bunch of the college’s Staff Association and Brian Miller of the Faculty Senate. Ron Buzzeo of the Washington Noon Rotary presented Loope with an award from the organization.

Jennifer Haygood, acting president of the North Carolina Community College System, Scott Shook, chair of the State Board of Community Colleges, and Dr. Laura Staton, previous chair of the college’s Board of Trustees, all celebrated the arrival of Loope at the college. Col. Kathleen Simpson, vice chair of the Beaufort County Community College’s Board of Trustees, led the ceremony. She presented Loope with a medallion engraved with the logo of the college.

“It is important we remember that every student on this campus is a human being, with hopes, dreams, fears and needs,” said Loope in his comments. “We must connect with the individual behind the student, something we can do in a familial place like Beaufort. That’s why you cannot replace a college like Beaufort with a large, impersonal and distant institution.”

Present in the audience were local elected leaders and administrators from county commissions, sheriff’s offices, school systems and colleges. Betty Jo Shepheard was there representing Senator Richard Burr; Adam Caldwell was there on behalf of Senator Thom Tillis; and William Moore was there on behalf of Congressman Walter Jones.

Most recently, Loope served as vice president of academic affairs/chief academic officer and professor at Reynolds Community College in Richmond, Va. During his seven years at Reynolds CC, Loope oversaw all academic programs across four schools and three campuses. He developed the college’s first Center for Faculty Engagement and restructured the Center for Distance Learning. He established Reynold’s first Developmental Education Advisory Committee and integrated developmental reading instruction into college-level curriculum.

In 2017, Beaufort County Community College celebrated its 50th anniversary, having started out as classrooms above the fire station in Washington in 1967. Today, the college serves a four-county area that includes Beaufort, Hyde, Tyrrell and Washington counties – geographically the largest service areas of any community college in the state.