DR. LORI J. DEWITT MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP
Dr. Lori J, DeWitt, 57, of Hebron passed away on June 22, 2021 from complications of esophageal cancer. Her two-year battle with cancer was filled with strength, courage, and faith as she knew, in the end, she would be going home. Lori was born in Fontana, California and lived in California, Minnesota, North Dakota and, for the past fourteen years, Maryland.
Lori graduated from Norte Vista High School in Riverside, California in 1982. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Speech Communication from California State University, San Bernardino, her Master’s in English Education from Loma Linda University (Now La Sierra University), and her Ph.D. in Communication from North Dakota State University in 2007.
Lori was an accomplished public speaker and had qualified for the national speech and debate tournament in both high school and college.
Being the daughter of two career educators, her career path inevitably took her into education. She began her career as a high school teacher in Southern California where she taught English, speech and debate, and coached the high school speech and debate team. She also taught Special Education and loved working with students with special needs. Lori briefly worked in the television media industry hosting a local cable home improvement show. Ultimately, Lori decided on a career in higher education and moved with her family to Salisbury University in 2007 where she joined the department of Communication. She served on various department, school, and university committees and, at the time of her death, had just transitioned out as the Chair of the department.
Lori had a passion for travel. She spent important years of her life living on the West Coast, in the Midwest, and on the East Coast. She traveled with her family extensively throughout the USA. While serving on the faculty at Salisbury University, she led multiple study abroad trips to both Guatemala and Scotland. Additionally, she and her husband presented at international professional conferences in The People’s Republic of China and explored setting up study abroad programs in England and Northern Ireland. Lori was very involved in her church and traveled on numerous mission trips to Peru and Macedonia.
The memorial scholarship has been created in Lori’s name to support Salisbury University Communication majors with high financial need to embed an academic exchange or travel program either abroad or in the USA as part of their college career. Lori knew the educational benefit of travel and wanted as many students as possible to participate in these programs.