Former BRCC head honored

WEYERS CAVE — For 20 years, Jim Perkins not only started new programs as Blue Ridge Community College’s president, but exhaustively raised money to build an endowment the community college lacked.

So members of the school’s educational foundation labored like Perkins over the past six months to solicit donations for a fund to honor the just-retired president.

The result, announced Saturday night, was nearly 200 donors and more than $153,000 raised for the Dr. James R. Perkins Fund for Academic Excellence.

Cheri Moran, chairwoman of the Blue Ridge Educational Foundation, said Perkins has left a permanent footprint on the community college.

She said the foundation struggled but decided to set a goal of 200 donors and $100,000, knowing it would be difficult to achieve in the current cash-strapped economy.

Members of the educational foundation and Blue Ridge’s local board say the legacy of Perkins will live on with the fund in the way of scholarships, teacher grants and perhaps equipment purchases.

They say Perkins achieved so much because he listened, persuaded and had a vision.

“It is impossible to say no to him. He persuades by his example and he does his homework,” said Pam Huggins, of Staunton, a member of Blue Ridge’s local board.

Huggins said of the fund, “We gave him something that will continue to give to others.”

Twice during Perkins’ 20-year reign as Blue Ridge president, the college exceeded endowment goals, one of $2 million in 1997 and another of $5.7 million in 2006. Quietly, Perkins made many of the contacts and secured many of the promised donations.

Despite the tough economic times, soliciting money for a fund to honor Perkins was not difficult “because he has a great and loyal following,” said Carl Rosberg, of Waynesboro, a director emeritus of the foundation board and member of Blue Ridge’s local board.

Perkins, who is staying busy by working on boards in Waynesboro such as the local YMCA and Economic Development Authority, described his 20 years as “a good ride and a lot of fun.”

John Downey, the successor to Perkins, said heroes can be distant but important to people.

He said of Perkins, “How privileged we are to celebrate a hero who has been among us; a man who believed in the great cause of community colleges” by offering a community college education.

Storied career

* supported Blue Ridge’s veterinary technology program, turning the program into a leading one of its type. He worked with brothers Bruce and Ken Bowman so the program could expand its large animal services. The result was the Bowman Large Animal Teaching facility.