Marcus and Dorothy Smith of Salisbury have endowed a journalism scholarship at Lenoir-Rhyne College in Hickory. Their gift of $25,000 will generate income to provide a scholarship for a student on the staff of the college’s yearbook, the Hacawa.
Marcus Smith, a 1952 graduate of the college, served on the Hacawa business staff while a student. He earned a degree in business administration and business education. He was also a member of the A Cappella Choir and Gamma Beta Chi.
He started his career in education as a high school business teacher in the Lenoir City Schools and later was superintendent of Salisbury City Schools. In the early years, he taught journalism and advised school newspaper and yearbook staffs.
At Lenoir-Rhyne, he was a member of the Iota Epsilon Omega journalism honor society, which paid for a yearly journalism award. When he graduated, the society could not afford to pay for the award, so he began personally paying for it, a practice he has continued ever since.
Now, he said he hopes to do more to encourage student journalism. “I have a feeling we need strong leadership in these publications (the yearbook and school newspaper),” he said. “I feel these people should be rewarded for their efforts. It’s very time consuming.”
Dorothy Smith graduated from Lenoir-Rhyne in 1953 with a degree in primary education. She was a student member of the N.C. Association of Educators and a member of the Philia sorority, now known as Kappa Delta. After graduation, she taught in Caldwell County Schools and in Kannapolis and Salisbury. The Smiths are members of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Salisbury.
They have three adult children, two of whom graduated from Lenoir-Rhyne. They also have three grandchildren, Sara Beaver, Matthew Marcus Smith and Isaac Smith, who are current Lenoir-Rhyne students.
Daughter Carol Smith Beaver, a 1978 Lenoir-Rhyne graduate, is an oncology nurse. Son Tim Smith, a 1982 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is a minister. And daughter Melanie Smith Sigmon, a 1984 Lenoir-Rhyne graduate, is a school counselor.