Paul Rutter named United Way Committee Member of the Year

March 2, 2023

Contact: Rhonda Jessup, Director of Public Relations

MOUNT OLIVE – Congratulations to Dr. Paul Rutter, who was awarded the United Way Committee Member of the Year Award. This award is given to the volunteer committee member who displays exceptional leadership, organization, and communication while serving the United Way mission. “It’s never easy picking a recipient for this award because we are blessed with so many wonderful committee members and couldn’t do our work without them, but the choice had to be made.” Sherry Archibald, Executive Director.  Rutter not only leads the community investment, and education subcommittee, but he also picks up whenever needed to support others and he is the first to leave a message or note of encouragement to our staff.

Rutter has worked in several roles at the University since 2011.  His most current position is Executive Director for Strategic Partnerships.  Rutter is an advocate for adult education and he loves talking about UMO.

“The United Way is silently in the background doing so much for those with so little,” Rutter said.  “I saw it during the scary height of Covid: the UW staff and volunteers came together with donor support and grants to get resources to the needy places. For instance to keep child care centers open for the children of our county’s first responders, the United Way worked with getting much needed, yet hard to find, cleaning materials to the centers who work with the Partnership for Children of Wayne County.

The University of Mount Olive is a private institution rooted in the liberal arts tradition with defining Christian values. The University is sponsored by the Convention of Original Free Will Baptists. For more information, visit www.umo.edu.