University of Mount Olive President Dr. Edward Croom, left, makes opening comments before introducing state legislators representing the area who worked to secure $3.2 million in state funding for the university. From left are Croom, Rep. Jimmy Dixon, Rep. Larry Strickland and Rep. John Bell. (Steve Herring|mountolivetribune.com)
Three local legislators were at the University of Mount Olive Thursday, Feb. 15, to present a ceremonial check representing the $3.2 million the 2023 state budget earmarked for the university. From left are UMO President Dr. Edward Croom, Rep. Larry Strickland, Rep. Jimmy Dixon, Rep. John Bell and Donnie Lassiter, a member of the UMO board of trustees. (Steve Herring|mountolivetribune.com)
The 2023 N.C. state budget approved by the General Assembly last September includes $3.2 million for the University of Mount Olive.
On Thursday morning, Feb. 15, Rep. Larry Strickland (R-D28, Johnson County), Rep. Jimmy Dixon (R-D4, Duplin County) and Rep. John Bell (R-D10, Wayne County), who worked to secure the funding, were at the university to present a ceremonial check for $3.2 million.
They used the occasion before a small audience of UMO’s leadership team and invited guests gathered in the Murphy Center’s Hennessee Room to praise the university for being an integral part of the future success of eastern North Carolina.
And they pledged their continued support for the university.
A large part of the appropriation was for UMO’s agricultural program with a big chunk for nursing and for the business school, said UMO Dr. President Edward Croom.
Aviation was a big part of it through the business school as well, he added.
“Several years ago we reached out to Rep. Strickland, Rep. Dixon, Rep. John Bell, obviously the whole group, and shared our story with them,” Croom said. “Rep. Dixon, I don’t know if you remember that time we sat around the table and you just sort of shook your head (about) where we had been.
“But this group has really come to bat for the University of Mount Olive. I am going to say something, and they’ll to have to say I am wrong once they get up to speak, but I believe with all of my heart that they believe the University of Mount Olive will be an integral player in the success of eastern North Carolina.”
UMO will be a leader in agriculture, rural development, business and all of the pieces that play into it, Croom continued.
The university president said he believes UMO is positioned to do “some really great” things moving forward in this part of the state.
UMO reaches students from all across North Carolina and South Carolina and points beyond — even other countries, he added.
“I don’t know if I tricked them, or they just believed in us, but they went out on a limb for us several years ago and have been an integral player with the last several years,” Croom said. “I can’t express enough my appreciation for what you have done for us over the last few years.”
With all of that said, Croom added that he was going to keep on asking them.
“We want you to be a player with us for a long time,” he said.
Dixon, who lives just south of Mount Olive in Duplin County, represents House District 4 that includes Mount Olive.
Dixon, who called Bell and Strickland to join him at the podium, said Croom had understated their interest in the university if it were possible to measure that interest and the opportunities that exist to improve life experiences in eastern N.C.
For some the word rural is used in a disparaging way to describe the area, Dixon said, adding he prefers the term non-urban.
When some urban people use the word rural it connotes something backward, Dixon added.
“Well, we certainly aren’t backward,” he said.
Dixon praised Bell for his interest since he is a Mount Olive native.
Bell, as the House Majority Leader, has done a “tremendously good job” in securing funds for the area, Dixon said.
“A little explanation about this money — it doesn’t fall out of the sky, and sometimes it is a challenge to get it,” he said.
Most the agencies that provide the funding are under the executive branch, Dixon continued.
However, over the years the three legislators have been able to access with direct appropriations funds for various causes, he said.
That cuts out a lot of the bureaucracy since some of the grants and grants development take a long time to get, Dixon said.
By having the trust of state leadership, and since local legislators know best where to spend the money, the three have been able to bring some of these dollars to eastern N.C, he said.
Dixon called on Strickland for comment.
Growing up in a Free Will Baptist Church in Pine Level, Strickland said he had seen the history of the university.
That includes knowing Croom and UMO board member Donnie Lassiter for several decades.
Strickland noted that he and Croom worked together on the Johnston County Board of Education where they started the Ag Academy at South Johnston High School.
“When he was named president here I was very excited — I knew ag would become more important than maybe it had in the past,” Strickland said. “Majority Leader Bell and Ag Committee Chair Dixon have been very instrumental working, trying to work the budget to get this money appropriated in the last two budgets.
“We look at the University of Mount Olive as a beacon in eastern N.C. for the ag community. Eastern N.C. needs help. We are a rural population, and I am just delighted to have worked with these two gentlemen to secure this money.”
Strickland, who called the funding a great day for UMO and eastern N.C., added that he is hopeful other appropriations can be secured for the university.
Bell said being at UMO was home for him.
However, he added that Dixon and Strickland were being very humble.
“Let me tell you the real story,” he continued. “You see your Agricultural (Committee) chair (Dixon) and head of ag appropriations — that is a big deal.
“And it sure helps a lot to have one of the chief budget writers (Strickland) as an advocate for what you do. So, you have the man who advocates and the man who has the checkbook, and I just do what they tell me to do.”
Dixon and Strickland have fought tirelessly for the university that plays a major role not only in the local community, but in the region and state, Bell said.
The university is educating a workforce and turning out talent and talent is coming to it instead of going to other universities, he continued.
Bell also praised the work the university has done to plant its flag as one of the agriculture hubs not only in eastern N.C., but across the state.
The university needs to be proud of that accomplishment, he added.
“This check presentation today represents your money,” he said. “This is your tax dollars. This is what you worked for.
“When the government receives your money, it is our job to fight to make sure that it comes back to investments that are important to you.”
