The Standard Group Plc is a multi-media organization with investments in media
platforms spanning newspaper print
operations, television, radio broadcasting, digital and online services. The
Standard Group is recognized as a
leading multi-media house in Kenya with a key influence in matters of national and
international interest.
You may have not heard of Donald Smith, but you have definitely heard of Daystar, Kenya’s first private university. Well, it was founded by Smith and his wife, Faye, with the idea hitting them as they lounged on their verandah in their home in Bulawayo in the land of ‘Uncle Bob.’ Daystar, whose name was fleshed from 2 Peter 1:19, now has three campuses offering 58 degree programmes with over 5,000 bragging as alumni since the Smiths moved to Kenya over 40 years ago.
Dr Donald Smith: He was teaching students in his home in Bulawayo as he pursued a second MA (in journalism) and PhD (in foundations of education communication) at the University of Oregon, where he earned his Bsc and Msc. But as the clamour for independence heated up in Zimbabwe, the Smiths moved to Kenya. While the family relocated to America in 1979, and left Daystar in the hands of Vice Chancellor Stephen Talitwala, the Smiths have since returned to Daystar... after 30 years!
Faye Smith: Accompanied his hubby to South Africa after deciding to become missionary teachers in 1952, when the State of Emergency was declared in Kenya. But the ignoble apartheid regime in South Africa took over missionary schools - they moved out three years later. From running the Rhodesian Christian Press, then Daystar Communications in Zimbabwe, the holder of bachelor’s and masters degrees oversaw her husband’s home tutoring of students expand to an international media training institute in 1966. Five years later, ‘Dayo,’ as students call it here, was born as Daystar Communication College, with Dr Pheko Motsoko, a refugee South African journalist, on board.
Dr Julisa Rowe: Is the their daughter, and a lecturer in music and drama at Daystar. The wife of Bill Rowe schooled in Kenya, where she pens scripts for Briefcase, a local television drama. Julisa, the mother of Kendall and Nathaniel is an alumnus of Westmont College (which his paternal grandmother attended and grandpa taught education) in Portland, Oregon, USA ( where she graduated with a BA in theatre arts and English); and Western Seminary (where she got her MA in intercultural ministries and PhD in missiology).
Prof Vance Smith: Their son, an alumnus of Lenana School (Changes), Westmont College (where he met his wife Lucia Wallis Smith) and University of Virginia (PhD, English) lectures in medieval literature at Princeton University. The author of two ethnographies on South Sudan is concerned with the anthropology and philosophy in medieval literature.
