North Greenville University announced the addition of five new Board of Trustee members. The university’s trustees are appointed by the South Carolina Baptist Convention to serve a five-year term (2011-2015). These five include:
Mrs. Rebecca Freel, of Dillon, was asked to serve a two-year term in 2008 to carry out an unexpired term. This will begin her first full term on the NGU board.
Freel is a graduate of St. Petersburg Junior College with an associate of arts degree and Mt. Vernon Nazarene College with a bachelor of science in biology. She has also received her degree in Medical Technology from Duke University.
Even though Freel’s profession is in medical technology, she is currently a homemaker.
She and her husband Dr. Paul Freel have three children: Katie, Garrett, and Holden.
Mr. Michael D. Hamrick, of Cowpens, is an attorney with Palmetto Bank in Spartanburg. He begins his second term on the NGU board.
He received his Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor degrees from the University of South Carolina.
He is a member of the South Carolina Bar Association, American Bar Association, and Mayor of Cowpens. He is a former member of the Salvation Army Board, Executive Board of the Broad River Baptist Association and Cherokee County Children’s Home Board.
He is a member of the Oakdale Baptist Church in Cowpens where he serves as youth leader, Brotherhood Director, Sunday school teacher, Trustee, and a member of the nominating committee.
Hamrick and his wife Karen have one daughter, Sarah.
Dr. Joe F. Hayes, Sr., of Travelers Rest, is former owner and chairman of the board of Hayes Food Products, a company he founded in 1958.
Hayes, a native of Starr, is serving in his seventh term as an NGC trustee and has served on the board under every North Greenville president.
Because of his continued dedicated service to the college, he was named an Honorary Lifetime Member of the NGU board of trustees in 1992. He has served as president of the Greenville Civitans, chairman of the Salvation Army Advisory Board, chairman of the Boys Home of the South, member of the Advisory Board of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and member and founder of North Greenville’s Council of Advisors. He is a member of Locust Hill Baptist Church, where he has been an ordained deacon for over fifty years.
Married to the former Eleanor Smith; they have five children: Rev. Joe Hayes, Jr., Nancy H. Holcombe, Katina H. Riley, Thomas Hayes and Rev. David Hayes; fifteen grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
Rev. David Kite, of Chesnee, is pastor of Cooley Springs Baptist Church and works with the South Carolina Baptist Convention as a church planter with Cross Gate Cowboy Church. He begins his first term on the Board.
Kite graduated from Forsyth Technical College, received his Bachelor of Arts degree from North Greenville University, and his Master of Divinity degree from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.
He has served on the Board of Directors for the Hope Remains Youth Ranch, moderator for the North Spartan Baptist Association, and President of North Spartan Baptist Association Pastor’s Conference.
David and his wife Sue, a member of NGU’s Women’s Auxiliary Board, has one adult daughter, Molly.
Mr. Eugene Merritt, of Easley, is president of Merritt Brothers, Inc. and also begins his first term on the NGU Board.
Merritt is a 1962 graduate of Wren High School and a 1966 graduate of Clemson University.
He is a member of the Palmetto Agribusiness Council, South Carolina Farm Bureau, and South Carolina Nurserymen’s Association. He has served on the boards of Peoples Bancorp, AgSouth Farm Credit, and People’s National Bank.
He and his wife Lynn are members of Mount Moriah Baptist Church in Easley where Merritt serves as Elder and Sunday school teacher. They have three adult children.
North Greenville University, located in Tigerville at the foothills of Glassy Mountain, is a co-educational liberal arts institution which provides opportunities for higher education in a biblically sound, Christ-centered environment and is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor and graduate degrees in 40 degree programs.
