Katherine H. “Kack” Harris, a 2021 graduate of Lee County High School, is the 2021-22 recipient of the Hinton James Masonic Scholarship. The $1,000 scholarship is awarded by Lux Libertas Lodge #772 to high school seniors accepted by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The Hinton James Masonic Scholarship rewards high school seniors with a record of academic achievement and community service. The award is funded by an endowment created by the lodge and invested in the N.C. Masonic Foundation.
She is the daughter of Will and Rebecca Harris. Will Harris is vice president of Harris & Company insurance in Pittsboro.
In high school, Harris was an “A” honor roll student, a Morehead-Cain Scholarship nominee, captain of the varsity volleyball team with MVP and all-conference honors, and a member of the National Honor Society, DECA and the National Technical Honor Society. She served as vice president of student government.
Harris has been active in the community through her involvement with the Youth Leadership Team at St. Luke United Methodist Church, Blessed to be a Blessing Outreach Mission, the Salvation Army and Meals on Wheels. She has served as a Downtown Sanford Holiday Ambassador, a YMCA and neighborhood pool lifeguard and a volunteer at YMCA Camp Cheerio.
Harris, who plans to major in biology, is from a Carolina family. Her father, brother and both grandfathers are graduates of the university.
The scholarship honors Hinton James, UNC’s first student, who walked from Wilmington to Chapel Hill and enrolled on Feb. 12, 1795. On July 4, 1798, as one of seven members of the first graduating class, he received a bachelor’s degree in engineering. James became a civil engineer and prominent Freemason in the Wilmington area. In 1807 he was elected to the state legislature and served three terms. He also served as clerk, treasurer and mayor of Wilmington and as magistrate for New Hanover County.
William Charles Barrett IV, an officer in Lux Libertas and James’ great-great-great-great-great grandson, presented the scholarship to Harris at the school’s awards ceremony in May.