Dr. John Idol, Alumni Professor Emeritus of English, retired in 1995. After his retirement, he continued teaching in North Carolina at Duke University’s program for learning in retirement and at the Chapel Hill Senior Citizen’s Center. In 2017, he created two scholarship endowments creating new opportunities for aspiring students in English and creative writing. The John and Marjorie South Idol Endowed Scholarship in English will provide one need-based or merit-based scholarship to a Clemson student majoring in English, and the John and Marjorie South Idol Creative Writing Scholarship Endowment will provide scholarships to Clemson English students who excel in creative writing. Dr. Idol also pledged gifts to the previously established Idol-South Endowment, which supports faculty research and writing, and to theSouth Carolina Review, Clemson’s literary journal.
