Just call Opp’s Heath Barton Mr. Troy University.

Barton, who is a 2012 graduate of OHS, is currently the SGA president at Troy and was elected as the chairman for the state University Student Presidents Council.

As part of his duties as the president, he spoke on behalf of all 180,000 public university students at the 14 public universities at Higher Education Day in February.

Barton said he talked to those on Goat Hill about how important higher education is.

Barton said has spent his entire time at Troy in the SGA.

He was part of Freshman Forum and has held other offices as well. He is a brother of Farmhouse fraternity.

“My story is I came to Troy not really having a passion or love for Troy,” he said. “I became an Impact leader and got more involved in SGA and my fraternity throughout my sophomore, junior and senior years. I wanted to help others have as much passion as I do.”

Through his work at USPC, Barton said the chairman gets to choose a philanthropic cause for the group.

Barton recognized the need to promote literacy in the state.

“I knew that Alabama wasn’t where it needs to be in rankings for literacy,” he said. “We have to figure out ways to boost our numbers. We decided to have book drives. Every university would have books drives. They each took some of the books to their local communities and then sent the rest to Hale County because the Black Belt’s literacy numbers are lower.”

They partnered with an organization called Hero, which has a pop-up bookstore.

Barton said they were able to give 10,000 books to that one organization.

In May, he will bid adieu to Troy and will head to Auburn University to pursue his second bachelor’s degree.

He will earn a degree in risk management and insurance from Troy and will pursue another in mechanical engineering, which was his original goal.

“I had so many opportunities at Troy,” he said. “And I fell in love with Troy, but I still have a passion for engineering.”

He is the son of Tim and Freda Barton. He is the maternal grandson of Eleanor Burdick, and the late Fred Burdick. His paternal grandparents are Evelyn Elder, and the late John D. Elder and the late Jim Barton.