Raleigh couple endows third VGCC Scholarship
Raleigh residents Smith Doss and his wife, Claude Genevieve Monnier, have endowed their third scholarship at Vance-Granville Community College, continuing a practice that started when they wanted to give back to an area in which they often ride their bikes as part of a cycling group. The territory is also the area served by the community college: Vance, Granville, Franklin and Warren counties.
Doss and Monnier learned of the economic challenges in the area and wanted to help hard-working people who are trying to gain education and training. They contacted VGCC and established the Smith Doss and Claude Monnier Academic Achievement scholarship. The first scholarship was awarded to a VGCC student in 2010, and they added another scholarship which will be awarded for the first time in February 2011. Now, this third scholarship will join the others in being awarded year after year, starting in 2012. For all three, preferences are given to students who are single parents and to those who are working on improving their math skills or studying in a math-intensive program. “Since my wife and I work in technical fields, we know how important math is to succeeding in various occupations and industries,” Doss said. VGCC President Randy Parker thanked Doss and Monnier for their continuing commitment, both because more and more students are experiencing financial need, and because the college shares the couple’s emphasis on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education.
“Since we first started working with VGCC, many people have been hit by job losses in our current economy, while we have been fortunate,” Monnier added. “That gives us even more of a sense of duty to do more. We wanted to create another scholarship so that others may have a chance to make their lives better.” She and her husband promote philanthropy to their fellow cyclists and other friends who have learned of their gifts to VGCC and asked for advice on how they might make similar contributions to educational institutions. The pair are firm believers in the power of education. The descendants of farmers and coal miners, Doss and Monnier said that later generations of their families were able to climb up the social ladder because of the availability of affordable education, and their own hard work. Doss, a software engineer for IBM, earned degrees at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington and the University of South Carolina. Monnier, a Client Partner Manager for the e-Procurement software company SciQuest, is a graduate of the Lycee du Parc Imperial in Nice, France, the Institut Universitaire de Technologie de Nice and the Universite de Nice. “Our country’s future lies in part in the educational opportunities afforded to young people today,” Doss said.
In addition to VGCC, Doss and Monnier have established scholarships at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington and at Berry College in Georgia. They have another education connection, because Monnier’s sister teaches at one of the nation’s largest community colleges, the College of DuPage in Illinois.
Above: From left, Smith Doss and Claude Monnier present their gift to VGCC President Randy Parker and Vice President of Institutional Advancement/ Endowment Director Jo Anna Jones. (VGCC photo)
