By Kaci Jones
There’s a push to bring one of the oldest Historically Black Colleges in North Carolina back to a thriving state as the enrollment is flirting with single-digits.
Barber-Scotia College is dealing with academic, structural and financial issues, but the new President Chris Rey says he has a plan to push the institution forward. Barber-Scotia has been in the Concord community since 1867 and is celebrating 157 years of operation in 2024.
“It was really the first institution founded in the South for Black women to be educated. So before there was a Spelman, there was a Barber-Scotia College,” Rey said. “When you understand how important HBCUs have been to our culture, and for our people, but then also what it just means for the world why not take the job and figure out how to be a part of the transformation.”
Rey was hired in July 2023 as the 20th leader of Barber-Scotia College. The institution lost accreditation back in 2004. At its height, Barber Scotia had more than 1,100 students, but now enrollment is down to 10 who all take classes online.
“I cannot allow for a Historically Black College to close on my generation’s watch,” Rey said. “To be able to sit in the seat as the chief executive officer means that you bring, hopefully a skill set that’s going to address the needs of today to be able to lead the institution out of the challenges that they face.”
On top of declining enrollment, the school is in debt for close to $2 million to the City of Concord, the state, and federal government. The campus occupies about half of the 30 acres the school owns on Cabarrus Avenue, but the majority of the buildings are considered unsafe for use.
“We have buildings that have not had the ability to have regular maintenance, which created the hole that we have in one of our oldest buildings Grace Hall,” Rey said. “That started off as a leak that has not been able to be addressed for 20 years.”
Rey says the COVID-19 pandemic created a unique opportunity for the college to accept students online which opens the door for students all over the world to study at Barber-Scotia. The college offers an affordable option for education with tuition at $1,500 per semester.
“We’re going to create a hybrid model, where we’ll have students on campus when the time is right and we’re going have students that will be online for Barber-Scotia,” Rey said. “I want people to get out of your mind, what you think the traditional education institution should look like and recognize that we’re doing something new here where we’re going to rebuild the institution to meet those challenges from an education standpoint.”
Rey believes the future is bright. He’s outlining a plan to regain accreditation by 2026, bring in more funding and increase the student population.
“If God has given absolutely me this amazing vision, I know that he will give the provision for us to support those students,” Rey said. “We’ve got investors that are reaching out that want to figure out how they can help, corporations are now reaching out, nonprofit organizations are reaching out. I am seeing the fruits of the work that we’ve done over the last seven months come to fruition and I’m just waiting for it to all just explode.”
Barber-Scotia will celebrate 157 years at the Founders Day event Saturday Feb. 24, at 9:30 a.m. at the campus chapel. The first part of the program will include a prayer, which Rey says is so important because it touches on the foundation of faith that built the school. He’s asking community supporters and alumni to donate $157 to the school to celebrate the big anniversary.
“We want to make sure that we recommit ourselves to sending the message that we still believe in what is possible and that we know that it will be our faith that’s going to get us out of this wilderness that we find ourselves in,” Rey said. “I’m proud of the fact that we have begun finding the resources and having the resources to do that, but I think the biggest win has been watching the folks begin to rally back around Barbara Scotia and believing just believing in what is possible.”