Awaiting their graduation ceremony are, from left, Nancy King from Youngsville, N.C.; Ashley King from Greer; Sarah Woodley from North Myrtle Beach; and Brett Seay from Spartanburg.Thomas Haggai encouraged 250 North Greenville University graduates not to live in the past but to allow the past to live in them during the school’s commencement ceremony May 7.
Thomas Haggai, left, with NGU president Jimmy Epting.Haggai, a 1949 North Greenville alumnus and chairman/CEO of IGA Global supermarket chain, was the keynote speaker.
To illustrate his point, Haggai mentioned three people he encountered while attending North Greenville who still live in him.
First was I.W. Wingo, the “house mom” for the boys’ dormitory. “Mrs. Wingo didn’t show her religion; she lived it. She encouraged me to read the Bible in the morning, because there is no use to sharpen your sword after the battle has already been fought,” Haggai said.
Elsie Tuttle taught sociology and led student orientation. “Mrs. Tuttle taught me how to study, how not to procrastinate, and how to take the toughest subjects first,” said Haggai.
Haggai said M.C. Donnan, the first president of North Greenville, believed the school could send out more ministers and missionaries than any other Baptist school in the state. He believed people should be able to obtain an education even if they couldn’t afford it, and made a way financially for hundreds of students.
At the conclusion of his address, Haggai was presented with an honorary doctorate in Christian leadership by NGU president Jimmy Epting and Arnold Emery, vice chairman of the board of trustees. – NGU