Rhodes scholarship is a family affair

Nick and Deloris Rhodes enjoy tailgating before an Aggie football game recently. Rhodes is the driving force behind the Rhodes Family Scholarship, which provides undergraduate funds for students from counties in southeastern N.C. where need is high. “Aggie Pride is more than a slogan,” he said.

As a high school student growing up in Bladen County, Nick Rhodes ’65 only applied to one college.

He knew that there were other choices, but he had taken vocational agriculture at East Arcadia High School in Riegelwood, NC, and the teacher, his mentor, was an Aggie graduate. Some of Rhodes’s other family members had gone to N.C. A&T, also.

“I just knew that I wanted to go to A&T. It never crossed my mind, and no one ever mentioned, that I might not get accepted,” Rhodes said. “Then what would have happened!”

Rhodes was accepted, and graduated with a degree in agricultural economics. His cousin James Rhodes ’68, who lived next door growing up in Bladen County, enrolled right behind him, and graduated with a degree in economics.

Nearly 40 years later, in 2005, the Rhodes cousins’ shared love of N.C. A&T and economics prompted James Rhodes to start a scholarship fund with a personal donation. To boost the amount to $25,000, he reached out to other family members, and the Rhodes Family Endowed Scholarship was begun.

“I picked up the mantle in 2016, after James passed away,” said Nick Rhodes, who retired from the Air Force as a Lt. Col after a successful 21-year career, followed by a long second career at the international accounting and management consulting firm Coopers and Lybrand, now PriceWaterhouseCoopers. “We wanted to be able to benefit undergraduate students in both the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences and the College of Business and Economics because our hearts are in two places.”

The scholarship gives preference to undergraduate students in Columbus, Pender, Brunswick, New Hanover and Bladen Counties in the state’s southeast, where the need is significant, Rhodes said.

“That’s where our roots are,” said Rhodes, who now lives in Wilmington in New Hanover County. “There is a tremendous need for support for students in this area. Some of the counties surrounding New Hanover are low wealth counties, so we have concentrated our focus in those areas. The scholarship is open to anyone within these counties who has a need.”

As a student on campus, Nick Rhodes had a small tuition scholarship, joined ROTC and worked in the dairy processing building, now the campus police station in Ward Hall.

“The milk came in from A&T’s farm each day and was processed in the dairy processing facility.  We wore the white coveralls and used the green panel truck to deliver milk and ice cream to the dining halls on campus,” he said.  “Milk in those days was delivered in reusable bottles, so we had to retrieve the empty bottles every day to take them back to the dairy processing facility for washing and refilling. I made about $50 a month working between classes and on Saturday mornings. I enjoyed it – I learned a lot about how milk products are safely processed.”

Rhodes also took a course in agricultural economics, and was impressed by his professor, Howard (Doc) Robinson, Ph.D.  “Although he was a demanding professor, he had a lot of rapport with students, and really drew students to him,” Rhodes said. “He made me fall in love with economics.”

After graduation, Rhodes entered the U.S. Air Force as a second lieutenant and spent 21 years in the service, including duty stations throughout the U.S., Asia and the Middle East, including positions at the Pentagon before retiring in 1987.  During his Air force career Rhodes managed to earn a Masters Degree in Education from Pepperdine University and a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Western New England University.  After the Air Force Rhodes worked as a management consultant in business process improvement for consulting firms, including PriceWaterhouseCoopers in the Washington, D.C. area before retiring to Wilmington with his wife.

James Rhodes

James Rhodes, a freshman at A&T when Nick was a senior, followed his cousin’s footsteps into economics and the military, earning his bachelor’s degree in economics in 1968, and serving in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. He received an honorable discharge, earned a master’s of business administration from Governors State University, and worked in sales and marketing with the DuPont Corporation for more than 37 years before retiring in 2004.

Active in the Veterans of Foreign Wars organization, he also remained a devoted Aggie, serving as Baltimore chapter president, Northeast regional director, and national vice president of the N.C. A&T alumni association.

Nick Rhodes has also followed A&T very closely since graduation, coming back to campus as a season football ticket-holder and staying in touch with his classmates and CAES activities.

“The campus has changed like you would not believe, but I’m very impressed with it,” he said. “That’s why I give, and encourage others in my family to do so, too. A&T has always been very near and dear to me; Aggie Pride is more than a slogan.”

After moving to Wilmington, Rhodes got involved with education again as a member of the New Hanover County Board of Education. He has also worked as a guest lecturer at UNC Wilmington’s Cameron School off Business, mentoring students and giving lectures in management, marketing and supply chain management.  He is also a member of the 100 Black Men of Coastal North Carolina, a mentorship organization whose mission is to improve the education and economic opportunities for African American youth, some of whom are currently attending or planning to attend A&T.  He is currently serving as a member of the New Hanover County Airport Authority for the Wilmington International Airport.

His path returned to agriculture recently when he was asked to serve as a board member of the Agriculture Foundation at NC State University from New Hanover County.

“There are tremendous opportunities in the field of agriculture – I didn’t realize how many,” Rhodes said. “I’d like to help a student, who otherwise couldn’t, to take advantage of them.”

Rhodes also plans to continue to grow the scholarship.

“Young people need support to go to college, particularly in this area,” he said. “When I think back on my time at A&T, I know what a difficult challenge it is sometimes to get through school when your resources are limited. I know there are very good students who would like to attend A&T but otherwise might not because of limited resources. These are the students my family and I want to help.”