SPCC Names Boardroom in Honor of Longtime Trustee Chair

The South Piedmont Community College Board of Trustees honored longtime chairman E. Lynn Raye and his wife Sharon by naming the boardroom on the L.L. Polk Campus in their honor. A bronze plaque for the Raye Boardroom in the Cyber Center was unveiled Oct. 10 during dinner in the Conference Center on SPCC’s Old Charlotte Highway Campus in Monroe.

Lynn Raye has served as chairman of the SPCC Board of Trustees since the college was established in 1999. He previously served as chairman of the Anson Community College Board of Trustees. Raye is a graduate of the American Leadership Forum.

Raye initiated the New Century Scholars program in Anson and Union counties to provide selected students a two-year scholarship to SPCC. Each year the partnership between SPCC, Union County Public Schools, Anson County Schools and the JobReady Partnership provides 10 seventh graders at every public middle school a scholarship to use when they graduate from high school. When this year’s seventh graders join the program, there will be more than 450 New Century Scholars in the two counties.
Raye has long been active with the Union County Chamber of Commerce, serving for years on the board of directors. As owner of Commercial Piping and Fabricating, Raye has been honored as Union County Entrepreneur of the Year.

The chamber is one of many organizations Lynn Raye serves. He has served on the boards of the Union County Community Arts Council, the Union County JobReady Partnership, the Carolinas Medical Center-Union Foundation and Branch Banking & Trust. Raye was named Union County Man of the Year in 2004.

The Rayes live on Twin Oaks Farm south of Marshville, and regularly entertain guests on behalf of the SPCC Board. Soon after SPCC was established, the Rayes hosted SPCC faculty and staff for a barbecue at their home. A small herd of Santa Gertrudis cattle graze the pastures around the Raye home, and Lynn Raye is active in Santa Gertrudis Breeders International and Santa Gertrudis Breeders of the Carolinas.

Sharon and Lynn Raye are the parents of three grown children. They are active members of Deep Springs Baptist Church in Peachland.