Two Presbyterian College alumni will forever share an ironic connection from their alma mater’s 141stCommencement.
At age 19, Xiomora Lindsay ‘24 is one of the youngest people to ever graduate from PC. At age 97, Jerry Smith is certainly the oldest to walk across the same iconic stage on the Vance Plaza.
A mere 74 years apart, Lindsay and Smith have a few things in common. Both wore caps and gowns and had their names called out to the joy of family and friends. Both graduated in only three years with degrees in business – but under widely different sets of circumstances. Both obviously are Blue Hose.
But that’s likely where their stories diverge in interesting ways unique to them both.
Lindsay graduated from Greenwood High School at age 16, where she took advantage of every opportunity to take college-level courses and entered her first year at PC with enough college credits to skip many of her general education requirements. Years earlier, at Northside Middle School in Greenwood, Lindsay excelled in the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program and blazed her own path to college success.
Smith made his way to college after serving in the military during the late stages of World War II and discovering he did not want to follow in his father’s footsteps in automobile sales and service. The Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 – most commonly known at the G.I. Bill – gave him and many other U.S. soldiers education benefits to go to college and earn their degrees.
For Lindsay, earning an accelerated college degree saved her a year of tuition, for certain. But it was also a testament to her drive and will to get on with life and always move forward. In a meeting with her advisor, associate professor of economics and business administration Karen Mattison, Lindsay learned she had enough hours to graduate from PC in three years, as well, and was encouraged to do so in order to save money for graduate school.
“It worked out and I got a lot of encouragement from my support group,” she said. “Basically, they said I should move on if I want to.”
For Smith, there was only enough funding from the G.I. Bill to support three years of tuition at PC, so he worked extra hard to complete his studies and graduate in 1950 ahead of his classmates.
You might argue that both Blue Hose sacrificed some social capital by not graduating with their peers. But if you know them both well, you would lose that argument. Smith is as gregarious as they come, with an infectious smile and an exuberant air that belies his 97 years. Lindsay, too, is a self-described “social person” determined to fit in with any crowd.
“It doesn’t matter what age group there is, I’m going to talk to people,” she said. “I’ve always been a social kid. I’m not shy. I always walk up and introduce myself. I never worry about being around people who are older than me. In a way it’s an advantage because I have a lot of older friends and they share their life lessons – their trials and errors.”
Smith may have sacrificed some good times with his college buddies, but he gained the love of his life, Lillis, who he married before graduating in 1950, and recently lost a few years ago. It is safe to say that most of his friends today – unlike Lindsay’s – are younger, but it is obvious they keep him young at heart. Smith often drives down from Greenville to see the Blue Hose in action and was moved by the Class of 2024’s standing ovation when he “graduated” on May 11.
“It was exhilarating,” Smith said. “I just couldn’t believe that it would happen in my lifetime. The students stood up for me and I really felt loved.”
Smith admits he is not 100 percent certain how he managed to secure the invitation to walk in the graduation line this spring. He suspects it is when he told his son, Chip, and his grandson at his graduation from Clemson that he was not able to participate in his commencement ceremonies decades ago.
“It wasn’t too crushing at the time,” Smith said. “I was married and started working for my father and I was busy starting a family. But it must have bugged my son by telling that story and I think when we were at the William Plumer Jacobs Society dinner in March, he put the bug in (PC president) Dr. Anita Gustafson’s ear,” he said.
Regardless of how Lindsay and Smith arrived at their big moment, they both have things to look forward to. Smith has great-grandkids he still wants to recruit to PC. Lindsay has a master’s degree in accounting to pursue this fall at the University of South Carolina and a future as a public accountant.
Neither, of course, will ever forget their beloved Presbyterian College.
