Barbaree Estate Supports Jackson and Clarke County Students

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Posted on January 8, 2016

Bob Lowry

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Thanks to a generous gift from a Clarke County couple, seniors graduating from Jackson High School and other Clarke County high schools could get financial help if they enroll at the University of South Alabama beginning this fall. 

The Frank and Warrene Bolen Barbaree Scholarship Fund has been created from a $260,000 estate gift to support qualifying Jackson High School graduates enrolling at South Alabama each fall as new freshmen students.  If no Jackson High School graduates are eligible for the Barbaree Scholarship, then it will be awarded to qualifying graduates from other high schools in Clarke County.

“The University is grateful to Frank and Warrene Barbaree for their generous estate gift of an undergraduate endowed scholarship,” said Dr. Joseph F. Busta Jr., vice president for development and alumni relations at USA.  “Their gift speaks to the importance they placed on higher education.  It is also important to note their gift will have double the impact, as it is matched through the Mitchell-Moulton Scholarship Initiative, a matching program for scholarship endowments of the University of South Alabama.

“Estate gifts are a popular means to support students and the mission of the University of South Alabama,” Busta added.  “The University, and especially the young men and women of Clarke County, is indebted to Frank and Warrene Barbaree for their commitment to the students of the University.”

Jackson physician Dr. Steve Furr, who is also chairman of the University of South Alabama board of trustees, said this is a “wonderful” gift.  “I’m excited because of personally having had the opportunity of seeing the impact of these two people and their influence on young people throughout our area,” said Furr.  “During the years my wife, Lisa, was in high school, Frank Barbaree served as the Jackson High School principal.  Now the Barbaree legacy will live on in generations to come.”

With the matching funds from the Mitchell-Moulton Scholarship Initiative, Furr said this will be an endowment that will meet the needs of students for many, many decades.  “For those who knew the Barbarees, the gift does not come as a surprise.  They were committed to education and making a difference in the lives of others,” Furr said.  “The core purpose of the University of South Alabama is all about making a difference.  With the help of the Frank and Warrene Bolen Barbaree Scholarship, students from our area will now have the opportunity of advancing their education and skills while participating in undergraduate life at the University of South Alabama.”

Family friend Jimmy Allen of Jackson said the Barbarees “were firm believers in education.  Frank devoted his entire life to education and retired as a principal.  The couple lived very conservatively, which enabled them to make such a generous gift to USA.” 

Allen said Frank Barbaree was a World War II veteran who came to Jackson for his first job as a teacher and never left.  He was very active in the community, especially at the First Baptist Church of Jackson, and was named Jackson Citizen of the Year.  Warrene Bolen Barbaree was a Jackson native and Jackson High School graduate who was also active in the community and was a state officer of the Alabama Garden Club.  “But their heart was Jackson High School and the Aggies,” Allen said. 

Graduating high school seniors must have a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.0 and an ACT score of at least 23 to be considered for a Barbaree Scholarship at South Alabama.  The first Barbaree Scholarship recipients will be eligible to enroll at USA in the 2016 fall semester.  Scholarship funds will be used to support Presidential Scholarships for qualifying students, according to Christopher Lynch, executive director for enrollment services at South Alabama.  “So, the Barbaree Scholarship Fund will actually help them for four years, not just their freshman year,” said Lynch.

Persons wanting additional information on the Frank and Warrene Bolen Barbaree Scholarship Fund at the University of South Alabama are urged to contact USA’s Enrollment Services office at (251) 460-6494 or email enrollmentservices@southalabama.edu.

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