A member of the Class of 2007 at Elon who died earlier this year was honored in September with a Special Award for Lifetime Achievement by The Knowledge Trust, a program headed by the School of Information and Library Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
He also provided similar advocacy at Elon, reminding the university of its responsibility to make the campus accessible to everyone. An Honors Fellow and Presidential Scholar, Barnett was awarded the Elon Medallion in May, making him the first student ever to receive the award. The medallion is given at the discretion of the president to members of the university community who have rendered loyal and meritorious service to Elon. Barnett died less than three weeks later.
The Knowledge Trust recognized Barnett on Sept. 20 at its 2nd Annual Knowledge Trust Honors award program. Seven other honorees received awards, from the director of the National Security Archive at George Washington University, to the director of Google Earth and Maps with the popular Internet search engine corporation.
At Elon, a new elevator in the Alamance building was dedicated Oct. 24 in Barnett’s memory. His self portrait hangs together with a plaque that reads, “This elevator was dedicated in memory of Thomas C. Barnett, student, artist, advocate, leader in the campaign for public accessibility awareness.”
According to a news release published on The Knowledge Trust web site, the honors program “is designed to encourage students and other knowledge professionals already working in information and library science and information technology to look to those models as they plan their own careers.”
The Knowledge Trust formed in October 2005.