Donor Jack Webster visits campus
Jun 11, 2025Jack Webster, a Rockingham Community College supporter from before the college even existed, visited campus on Tuesday, June 10 to see for himself how much progress RCC has made.
“I was one of the first people they employed here,” Webster said.
A Madison attorney, he was tasked in the mid-1960s with handling the title and deed work for the land on which the college was built.
“It was just when the legislature created the community college system,” he said. “My feet are on firm ground here.”
Webster went on to serve on the RCC Foundation Board – and is now a director emeritus – and the RCC Board of Trustees.
“I enjoyed my years with the college,” he said.
“When I was on the Board of Trustees, one thing that stood out was that so many people had already graduated from four-year schools but couldn’t find jobs. They had to come to the community college to gain skills and find employment,” he said. “What RCC is doing is very important to me; it’s exactly what I thought RCC needed to do, to get the right courses for the right people. This community college system is extremely important. You are training people to get employment.”
Webster is a trustee of the Ben R. and Lemma M. Apple Foundation, which in 2003 established one of the largest scholarships at RCC.
In addition, Webster established a scholarship in memory of his wife, Shirley.
While on campus, Webster met with RCC President Dr. Sylvia Cox and several staff members, and toured the Center for Workforce Development.
~Photo and story by Gerri Hunt, director of Public Information
