Posted on: November 13, 2023; Updated on: November 13, 2023By
Thom Harman, [email protected]
We’ve heard this acquainted storyline: Someone is conscious of the University of South Carolina
as a result of of household ties, involves USC and loves it, then influences different relations
or their youngsters to be Gamecocks as nicely. But when an individual will get to USC that manner after which goes out and helps recruit not simply
relations however potential college students from a whole metropolis and past … now we’re
speaking a couple of cycle of influence with a a lot bigger ripple impact. That’s the place Roger Barnette, ’92, is available in. “I get such pleasure and satisfaction from
something I can do to assist this program and its college students and employees,” he says. Barnette was born in North Carolina and grew up there and in New York. His father
graduated from South Carolina’s College of Business Administration (now the Moore
School) within the mid Nineteen Sixties, so Barnette was all the time nicely-acquainted with the Gamecocks. He already knew in highschool that he needed to be an entrepreneur with a give attention to
engineering and computer systems. Once he was accepted into the South Carolina Honors College
and gained some scholarship cash, “it made my determination straightforward,” Barnette says. “I used to be
very comfy with the campus, the faculty and town, and I used to be excited to go.” Barnette’s time at South Carolina proved to be all the things he’d hoped. “Ages 18 to
21 are such youth in each individual’s life, and the University of South Carolina,
and the Honors College specifically, is such an extremely nurturing setting,”
he says. He credit small class sizes, engaged professors and the SCHC’s employees as
all being extremely vital throughout his school years. After graduating from USC, Barnette went on to earn a grasp’s diploma from Emory University
and start his profession. He truly began his first enterprise, an web firm
referred to as eTour.com, whereas nonetheless in school. By 1999, eTour.com was one of the 20 most-trafficked
websites on the earth. In spring 2001, amid the .com crash, eTour.com was offered to Ask
Jeeves. Next, he began an organization referred to as Search Ignite, “a software program software for enterprises
seeking to purchase internet marketing,” Barnette says. “It began with a search engine
and expanded into show promoting, internet affiliate marketing and different channels as nicely.
I left the corporate about seven years in the past, and once I left, it had grown to a 500-individual
enterprise doing over $100 million yearly in income.” He quickly landed at MessageGears, just lately named one of Atlanta’s finest locations to work
— becoming a member of the corporate when it had about 10 staff. MessageGears is a buyer engagement
platform helps giant manufacturers market to tens of millions of prospects extra effectively. One
of his first steps was to codify the corporate’s tradition. When corporations are younger,
“We can let that occur by itself and hope that it finally ends up being good, or we will
be purposeful concerning the sort of firm we wish to work at,” he says. So they got here
up with 9 core values, like innovation, assuming goodwill, celebrating achievements
and working with optimistic power. “When I take into consideration how the Honors College operates,” he says, “it’s in a really comparable
manner. It has the identical varieties of values — treating others with empathy, transparency,
celebrating achievement — and does all this whereas being a completely world-class
tutorial establishment.” “And,” he says concerning the SCHC, “I believe that’s the place I first noticed that you are able to do all
of these issues.” Those shared values, together with offering the wonderful basis upon which Barnette
constructed his profession, are why he has been so fast to assist the Honors College for extra
than a decade. Through his involvement with the faculty’s partnership board, Barnette
helps recruit the following technology of profitable SCHC graduates. And it hasn’t gone
unnoticed. “Roger was one of the primary individuals on the board to welcome me in and was prepared to
provide his time, expertise and treasure for the betterment of the Honors College,” says
Marcus Fogle, lead senior director of improvement for the faculty. “His affinity for
the Honors College shines brightly.”
Marcus Fogle (proper), lead senior director of improvement for the Honors College,
makes the rounds on the 2023 alumni reception in Atlanta, which Roger Barnette hosts
and helps to sponsor.
One of the methods Barnette helps the following technology of Gamecocks is by internet hosting
an annual potential pupil/alumni reception on the Capital City Club, the place he
is a member. He can also be a paid sponsor of the occasion, together with a number of different alumni. While they might seem to be a small piece of the puzzle, these occasions fill an actual want
and are fairly memorable for many who attend. Prospective college students and their households
who attend be taught extra concerning the SCHC from present college students, improvement employees members
and alumni. Current SCHC pupil Ashutosh Arora is an envoy for the faculty and has attended
receptions in Charlotte and Atlanta. “I wish to assist potential college students in any manner
I can once they’re making their determination as a result of I keep in mind how complicated it was for
me,” Arora says. “The Atlanta occasion does a very good job of ensuring we’re fostering connections
with alumni,” Arora says. “At the identical time, we’re in a position to attain out to new potential
college students. They may not have the ability to come to Columbia, so this occasion does a superb job
of ensuring we’re in a position to assist these potential college students who could also be confused or
have questions however aren’t in a position to get them answered on campus.” Despite the occasion’s success and all he does for the Honors College, Barnette stays
humble. “What I do for the Honors College offers way more to me than it appears like
I give to the college,” he says. The Atlanta reception took place after Barnette discovered of an identical occasion in Greenville.
“I simply instantly mentioned, ‘We ought to do this in Atlanta. That could be superb,’”
Barnette says. “And the event staff on the Honors College has been extraordinarily
supportive. They do, by the way in which, all of the work. I don’t wish to take credit score for any
of the legwork that they put into making it profitable.” Barnette’s help has enabled this reception to flourish, and it’s only one of the
methods by which Barnette offers again to his alma mater and the Honors College. Thanks
to his generosity, and help from members of the Honors College, the cycle of influence
that began with Roger Barnette’s father a long time in the past is producing a ripple impact
that will increase its attain yearly.
https://www.sc.edu/uofsc/posts/2023/11/aha-roger-barnette-2023.php
