Around the World and Investing in NCCU

DAVID AND TINA SCHMOOCK have had the world as their backdrop throughout their 36 years together. Tina, a native of Louisville, Kentucky, and David, who grew up in San Jose, California, have lived in Singapore, France and major U.S. cities, including New York and Austin.

“We’ve had the opportunity to travel worldwide as a military family and expose our two children to different cultures and have been living a blessed life,” said Tina. Their time in the Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill) was where they connected to North Carolina Central University (NCCU) through their children’s high school assistant principal, James Hopkins.

Hopkins, an NCCU graduate, was then working in Chapel Hill-Carrboro Public Schools and is now the principal of Lyons Park Elementary School in Durham.

“We worked with Mr. Hopkins on initiatives that helped get Lyons Park from an F to a C grade while focusing on literacy and math,” David said. “Tina and I are passionate about helping the next generation and investing in underserved communities.

Hopkins believed that some of NCCU’s work would complement the work we had collaborated on at the primary and secondary school levels.”

The rest, as they say, is history.

The couple is intentional with their giving and have invested more than $1.03 million in NCCU during fiscal year 2023. Their generosity includes gifts to the School of Education, including the Curriculum Materials Center Library and the naming of a classroom, the School of Business and NCCU Sound Machine.

“We discussed initiatives to support at NCCU and saw the Marathon Teaching Institute program that focuses on attracting minority males to teach at the elementary school level,” the Schmoocks said.

They met with Audrey Beard, Ph.D., dean of the School of Education, and Latasha Hicks Becton, Ph.D., assistant professor of Counselor Education Programs, and started a scholarship program to facilitate such outcomes.

“There are very few minority males that enter the elementary teaching profession, and we believe that the K-5 age is when you mold young people to have success as they must graduate from elementary school with a solid foundation to build off,” they said.

The Schmoocks’ giving is grounded in a belief that they want to see “how you can be excellent in what you do. We put the seeds and groundwork in place along with the university that allows the tree to grow.

[The question is] how you foster it so you can look back and say, ‘we’ve made a difference.’”

Their investment in the Marathon Teaching Institute was just the beginning. The couple was introduced to Anthony Nelson, Ph.D., dean of the School of Business, and started the Tina Schmoock Opportunity Scholarship. The program focused on providing aid, mentorship, internship and other non-academic activities to set the students up for success when they graduate.

Giving to NCCU was a unique experience for the Schmoocks, who are not alumni of the institution but believe in its students, mission and administration.

“We have found willing and collaborative partners at NCCU that enable us to find areas we are passionate about and work on developing programs that we believe will make a difference long term,” they said.

“One thing that stands out to us is that NCCU is a leader among first-generation college graduates. We believe that this step makes a generational difference in the future of families."

Investing In Athletic Success

The success of North Carolina Central University (NCCU) Athletics is undisputed in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and Division I Athletics.

HARRY STAFFORD, M.D., CSCS, MBA , has been on the frontlines and sidelines for Eagle athletics teams since 2002, when he graduated from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. He began at NCCU as an intern in sports medicine and worked in the training room and on the sidelines during games.

A high school athlete, Stafford earned his undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a member of the track team. Along with athletics, he developed a passion to serve early in life.

“It all starts with my upbringing: my mom was a schoolteacher, and my dad was a funeral director,” Stafford said. “I grew up helping people, whether spending time in church or volunteering in shelters.” associate director of the Duke Sports Medicine Institute and holds an appointment in the department of orthopedics and family medicine.

In high school, Stafford realized that he liked medicine and believed he would be a cardiothoracic surgeon until he took a course in medical school and was required to stand on his feet for hours. When the assignment ended, his limbs were numb, and he quickly changed his specialty.

Currently, Stafford serves as the head team physician and director of sports performance for NCCU and chief medical officer for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. Additionally, he is the