CFCC student first in state to graduate barber school online

Marvin Ashley’s 1,528 state-mandated hours to graduate from Cape Fear Community College Barber School didn’t come easy.

Last April, he was injured badly after a drunk driver struck the Uber in which he was riding and a window busted into his face.

Deginald King, the barber program’s lead instructor, remembers sending Ashley home shortly after the accident because he was in so much pain.

Nearly a year later, CFCC was forced to switch to online instruction due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. Ashley, a Wilmington native who graduated from homeschooling in 2013, was close to finishing his course work. When he did, he became the first in the state to graduate barber school online.

All that is left for Ashley to do is sit for the state exam, which has been postponed. But once the stay-at-home order is lifted and barber shops reopen, he’ll have a chair waiting for him at Midtown Barber Shop on College Road.

“I’m truly blessed,” Ashley said Thursday.

Whenever a student graduates, King has a tradition of taking a photo with them, along with their certificate. This time, he emailed Ashley his certificate and took a selfie of them together during a virtual classroom session.

“I am super proud of Marvin and how he persevered. He faced some challenges,” King said. “I think he is going to do well.”

Both Ashley and King, who owned a barber shop for several years before selling it and becoming an instructor, understand the social significance of barber shops closing.

“For me getting a haircut is almost like a relaxation thing,” Ashley said. “Sometimes you talk to your barber about a lot of stuff you don’t even talk about to your friends or anything.”

King said a trip to the barber shop is a lifestyle for many, like going to the gym, and they get their hair cut every week.

The barber shop is a social establishment and safe haven -- one of many comforts that have been taken away during the pandemic. In all of his years in the profession, even through the stormy weather, King said he has never seen anything of this magnitude impact the barber industry.

“It’s a place where people gather and have conversations on many different topics and I think that is a part that is missing,” King said.

Ashley said he is excited to take his state exam and begin his career. And his best advice for those at home missing the barber shop until then?

“Don’t shave your head,” he said, laughing.