A White Coat Ceremony for 64 students enrolled in the Methodist University Cape Fear Valley Health School of Medicine held at Huff Concert Hall on September 11 was not lost on Hershey Bell, the medical school’s founding dean.
“These are the first students who will live this mission the way we had envisioned it for years and years,” Bell said in a news release. “To see them enter the profession really says to me, as the founding dean, the moment has arrived. The mission is real now. We are going to be socially accountable, community engaged and equity focused. These students are going to demonstrate to the entire community that it’s more than words.” The class of 2030, according to the release, includes 31 students from North Carolina and 33 representing 15 other states.
Pankaj Vyas has some more good news for the School of Medicine with his commitment of $1 million. “My gift to the Methodist University Cape Fear Valley Health School of Medicine is an investment in the future of the communities that have given me so much throughout my life,” Vyas, who is an internal medicine physician and founder, chief executive officer, and medical director of Eastern Carolina Medical Center, said in a news release. “By supporting the education and training of future physicians, I hope to encourage students to build their careers here, providing compassionate, high-quality care to the people and places I love. It is my wish that this gift helps strengthen our local healthcare workforce and ensures these communities continue to thrive for generations to come.”
Half of the endowment supports start-up operations for the school, which opened in June, with two learning centers named as the Harnett County Room and the Sampson County Room in honor of patients Vyas has cared for throughout his career. The other $500,000 establishes the Dr. Pankaj K. Vyas Scholarship, an endowed academic grant that will provide financial assistance to students enrolled in the medical school, with eligible students receiving up to $5,000 annually for four years.
Odis Norris, 70, died from a gunshot wound after Fayetteville Police officers responded around 7:49 p.m. on September 11 for a welfare check around Pelt Drive and Carlyle Drive near Murchison Road. A 38-year-old man was arrested and charged with first degree murder, robbery with a dangerous weapon and possession of a firearm by a felon. It is the 18th city homicide of 2026.
Stopped by my vehicle fueling station this week, where regular gasoline had jumped to $4.19 per gallon. Holy moly! This ongoing war with Iran and major supply disruptions in the Middle East are taking a toll, and I’m hearing things may get worse through early November. May have to fetch my bicycle out of the shed.
“Great job covering Emily Schaefer,” Mary Holmes writes in an email about my September 13 CityView column on Schaefer and her scheduled October 31 induction into the Guilford College Athletics Hall of Fame for her tennis and volleyball accolades from 1988-1992. “She is a very special person. Emily makes every organization better with a smile and lots of hard work, whether a nonprofit board, St. John’s Episcopal Church, a school committee or a simple supper club. Dickson (husband) and Emily are very generous with their beautiful family home and frequent hosts for many community occasions. Good folks.”
Jennifer Newman, Jimmy Rustenhaven and Scott Willis lead a splendid cast of stage actors in the Cape Fear Regional Theatre musical production of Bright Star, which is currently underway at 1707 Owen Drive. What it is, is a showcase of stage talent one after another directed by the equally talented director and choreographer Antoinette DiPietropolo. It’s a powerful and poignant production running through September 27. It’s not just Newman, Rustenhaven and Willis, it’s every actor gracing the stage including David Eldridge, Emily Stober, Chad Barnes, J.R. Rodriguez, and Lynda Clark. This one is a hit for our hometown theatre (circa 1962).
Coming Sunday: “Let me make sure I heard what I heard.” You heard right, commissioner.
Bill Kirby Jr. can be reached at billkirby49@gmail.com or 910-624-1961.
