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Above: Roger Plemens (right) signs an agreement establishing the Michael Morgan Memorial Scholarship Fund, which honors the late Michael Morgan, first vice president and chief lending officer of Macon Bank and WCU alum. Pictured from left are Morgan’s daughters, Kelly and Lori, his wife Jane and WCU Provost Kyle Carter.
Macon Bank and The Western Carolina University Foundation recently renamed a scholarship fund that provides financial assistance to junior- and senior-level banking majors at Western.
The Michael Morgan Memorial Scholarship, previously called the Macon Bank Scholarship, honors the late Michael Morgan, former first vice president and chief lending officer, who passed away in January. Morgan was a 1984 finance graduate of WCU.
“Mike was a big part of the bank. With the establishment of the new banking concentration at Western, it all seemed to fit,” said Roger Plemens, president and chief executive officer of Macon Bank, who also was a longtime friend of Morgan’s.
Using the fund’s previous balance of $19,000, in addition to a gift of $25,000 from Macon Bank, the scholarship will serve students from Western North Carolina with an annual award of $5,000 beginning the 2007-08 academic year. Annual earnings of the fund will contribute to half of the scholarship amount, and Macon Bank will donate $2,500 annually to assure that the full $5,000 is awarded every year.
Founded in Franklin in 1922, Macon Bank has grown to 12 branches and more than 200 employees over the course of the 11 years Morgan worked there.
“We appreciate Macon Bank’s leadership in recognizing the importance of the corporate-educational partnership,” said Kyle Carter, provost of WCU. “Western Carolina University is honored to remember Mike Morgan through this important scholarship fund.”
The contributions from Macon Bank come as Western is in the midst of The Campaign for Western, a three-year effort to raise $40 million in private support for scholarships, professorships and programmatic resources. The first comprehensive fundraising campaign in university history was officially launched in February after an initial “silent phase.”
For more information about the memorial fund or the campaign, contact the Office of Development at (828) 227-7164.