Communication Major

Dr. Marquita Smith worked in various newsrooms before joining the faculty at John Brown University in 2010. Most recently she served as Virginia Beach city editor at The Virginian-Pilot. She joined the Pilot as a local government editor in 2001, and began teaching part-time at Hampton and Norfolk State universities. In 2008, she went on leave from The Pilot to complete a Knight International Journalism Fellowship in Liberia. During her year in West Africa, she created a judicial and justice reporting network and is helping journalists develop skills to cover the post-war nation's poverty reduction efforts. Ghanaians elected a new president in 2008, and she created several training models to help reporters and editors prepare for covering the event. 

Dr. Smith, a Tennessee native, can take Siloam Springs’ U.S. Highway 412 directly to her mom’s house in Jackson, Tenn. She enjoys being closer to home.

Besides teaching responsibilities in the Communication department, Dr. Smith serves as department head and is involved with advising the student newspaper. She leads a new multi-cultural student organization on campus. New to Christian higher education, she is committed to the mission of the University and researching ways to promote more diversity within the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities.

Mrs. Candy Gregor, a native of North Carolina and longtime journalist, came to JBU in 2017.  She spent decades in journalism, writing and editing for newspapers in North Carolina, Florida, Seattle, Chicago and Virginia. In 2016, she won first place in Virginia in editorial writing. She previously taught journalism classes at Palm Beach Atlantic College and Virginia Wesleyan College. 

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