CONTENTS T M of E | W
20 A LEARNING CONTINUUM BY ROSELEE PAPANDREA TAYLOR
Area retirees have found more than a lifelong learning community in LIFE@Elon.
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COVER STORY
RAISING THE IQ BY KEREN RIVAS ’04
Introducing the Innovation Quad at Elon University — a place that seamlessly blends science and technology studies with the arts and humanities.
30 INTO THE WOODS BY ALEXA BOSCHINI ’10
Ben Hanna ’07 helps people disconnect from the pressures of work and technology and reconnect with the people around them.
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FROM THE ARCHIVES
A PRESIDENTIAL TRADITION BY PATRICK WRIGHT
How a class gift 50 years ago gave way to the creation of the Presidential Medallion, a tradition that continues to this day.
36 THE CONSUMMATE STORYTELLER BY OWEN COVINGTON
Remembering George Troxler, who served Elon for more than 40 years as a professor, dean of cultural and special programs, and university historian.
39 A FRIENDSHIP HONORED BY MADISON TAYLOR
The legacy and indomitable spirit of Mark Foley ’94, a walk-on member of the football team, live on thanks to a scholarship endowed by his Elon classmates and friends.
2 Under the Oaks
42 Point of View
12 Phoenix Sports
43 Alumni Action
14 Elon LEADS
47 Class Notes
COVER ILLUSTRATION: GARRY GRAHAM
I AM ELON BY KIM WALKER
Brian Rea ’21 was an 8-year-old with some impressive foresight. He dressed as his local sports reporter for career day at school, certain that he wanted to be a TV news anchor. Fast-forward 12 years to the summer of 2019, and Brian is interning at that same Boston station. He met the inspiration behind that fateful costume, Mike Lynch, who encouraged Brian to continue to follow his dream. A Communications Fellow and anchor for Elon Local News’ evening news show, Brian joined student media his first week on campus. While sharpening his reporting skills, he has also experienced mentoring from both sides. Last year he worked on the morning show with an upperclassman who challenged him to be more conversational on camera. Now he’s mentoring co-anchor Maeve Ashbrook ’22, sharing what he was taught. A few days each week Brian works the information desk at Moseley Center, a position he pursued to gain insight into how Elon works and to interact with new people. He says he loves the campus job, even with its challenges. “I’ve met so many great people, but I’ve also had some hard phone calls. I’ve learned to do my best to make people happy. Interestingly, my job involves a lot of thinking on your feet, which has helped me a lot in journalism, too,” he says. Brian credits his background in competitive gymnastics for teaching him persistence and in theater arts for lessons in empathy — two other skills he relies on as a reporter. Those skills came in handy when he told the story of an Elon professor’s battle with cancer. “I felt a great responsibility to tell it in a way that reflected her best but also made her feel good,” he says. “I’m 20 years old and this woman is entrusting me, letting me show the most vulnerable parts of her life. It’s important to remember what a story means to someone else.” Brian is Elon. Visit elon.edu/magazine to see more stories that are part of our “I Am Elon” series.
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▶ From the PRESIDENT
Embracing the energy of discovery, opportunity and hope
D facebook.com/ElonConnieBook twitter.com/ElonConnieBook
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uring a recent poster session of research projects by students and their faculty mentors at Elon, you could feel energy in the conversations and the observations. “How will that work?” — I asked biomedical engineering students who were developing a wearable device to assist during nicotine withdrawal. “What happens next?” — I asked a student who is using bioinformatics, the blending of biology, computer science and mathematics, to discover new viruses. The energy in that learning is discovery, opportunity and hope. In my experience, it is most palpable when it lives at the intersections of disciplines, the intersections of our lives. Elon is staging its next campus transformation through unprecedented investment in creating spaces to support student and faculty engagement in science, technology, engineering and math and where those disciplines intersect with the search for solutions to the world’s pressing challenges. We know those challenges mainly focus on health, sustainability, security and what the National Academy of Engineering calls the “joy of living.” In the pages of this edition of The Magazine of Elon, you will find the story of how the construction of the McMichael Science Center in 1998 began a new era of science and discovery at Elon. Twenty years later, we have seen a 400 percent growth in student enrollment, particularly in the fields of
{ Senior Matt Foster is one of two engineering students working on developing a new way to control and deliver nicotine through the skin. }
chemistry/biochemistry, math and computer science. Curricular innovation in the sciences over the past two decades has been unprecedented and led to sought-after majors and minors, such as environmental studies, exercise science, biophysics, game design and neuroscience. The intersection of STEM is also found in other programs, including public health and media analytics. Faculty mentoring the discovery process through undergraduate research has led to students earning prestigious fellowships, admission to the nation’s finest graduate programs and to employment and entrepreneurial efforts that are advancing global efforts to connect science with a better quality of life. Elon’s investment in faculty, curriculum and facilities to advance student learning and engagement in the STEM fields 20 years ago has powerfully staged our next strategic transformation — the Innovation Quad. The IQ, as it is affectionately called by our community, will be a new and transformative quad dedicated to learning that drives discovery, opportunity and hope. Our bold investment in the first two buildings of the IQ signals our commitment to the students who will arrive at Elon in the next decade, ready to work with faculty and staff in an inspired setting. Those
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A roundup of Elon University’s latest rankings and accolades • Elon ranks No. 1 among the nation’s doctoral universities in the percentage of students who study abroad, according to the Open Doors 2019 report by the Institute of International Education. Seventy-eight percent of Elon graduates have at least one study abroad experience, and annually more than 1,400 students spend a semester or Winter Term studying in more than 110 programs in more than 50 countries.
students will immerse themselves in foundational learning that will produce new understandings, new solutions to the challenges the world faces. Elon’s mission to nurture a rich intellectual environment that is characterized by student and faculty engagement is at the center of the design of these new facilities, which will include multiple spaces for team design and prototype development. After the new buildings are completed, we will renovate McMichael Science Center and additional spaces on campus to provide continued advancement and support for students engaging in STEM through multiple approaches. Whether policy, art or education, these curricular intersections are powerful learning zones that will inspire Elon graduates to leverage their education as they work on behalf of the common good on complex and global issues. Join me as we begin this exciting investment in our collective future by embracing the energy of discovery, opportunity and hope in the construction of Elon’s Innovation Quad. Connie Ledoux Book PRESIDENT
• The undergraduate business degree program of Elon’s Martha and Spencer Love School of Business ranks No. 56 in the country, according to new rankings from business education news outlet Poets & Quants. The ranking includes private and public institutions of all sizes and focuses on three main components — school admissions standards, alumni perspectives on the academic experience and employment outcomes data. • For the 10th consecutive year, The Princeton Review’s 2019 “Guide to Green Colleges” ranks Elon as one of the nation’s most environmentally responsible colleges and universities. The ranking profiles colleges with the most exceptional commitments to sustainability based on their academic offerings and career preparation for students, campus policies, initiatives and activities. Elon earned a “green rating” of 90 out of a possible 99.
LAW Princeton Review
• The 2020 edition of Princeton Review’s “The Best 167 Law Schools” guidebook recognizes Elon University School of Law for the fifth consecutive year as one of the best law schools in the nation, with students lauding faculty who “take time to listen to the students and want them to have a successful law career” and a highly experiential accelerated program that saves time and money. • Hillel International’s annual College Guide ranks Elon No. 32 on the list of “Top 60 Private Schools Jews Choose.” The college guide is an essential resource for Jewish students choosing higher education options. Elon Hillel was also honored by the international organization with the Great Place to Work Award and the Award for Excellence in Breadth for student engagement.
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The Magazine of Elon | . , . The Magazine of Elon is published quarterly for alumni, parents and friends by the Office of University Communications. © , Elon University EDITOR
Keren Rivas ’ DESIGNERS
Garry Graham Billie Wagner Ben Watters PHOTOGRAPHY
Andrew Krech ’ Kim Walker E D I T O R I A L S TA F F
Alexa Boschini ’ Owen Covington Roselee Papandrea Taylor Patrick Wright CONTRIBUTORS
Belk Library Archives and Special Collections Sonya Walker ’ Leila Jackson ’ V I C E P R E S I D E N T, U N I V E R S I T Y C O M M U N I C AT I O N S
Daniel J. Anderson EDITORIAL OFFICES
The Magazine of Elon Campus Box Elon, NC - -- elon.edu/magazine BOARD OF TRUSTEES, CHAIR
Edward W. Doherty ’ Saddle River, New Jersey ELON ALUMNI BOARD, PRESIDENT
Kyriakos Pagonis ’ Arlington, Virginia YO U N G A LU M N I C O U N C I L , P R E S I D E N T
David Campbell ’ Charlotte, North Carolina PAR E NT S CO U N C I L , CO PR E S I D E NT S
Toni & Michael Brown ’ Mount Laurel, New Jersey SC H O O L O F CO M M U N I C ATI O N S ADV I SO RY B OAR D, C H AI R
Roger Bolton New Canaan, Connecticut SC H O O L O F L AW ADV I SO RY B OAR D, C H AI R
David Gergen Cambridge, Massachusetts MARTHA AND SPENCER LOVE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS BOARD OF ADVISORS, CHAIR
Patricia Chadwick ’ Old Greenwich, Connecticut PHOENIX CLUB ADVISORY BOARD, CHAIR
Mike Cross Burlington, North Carolina
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eople looking for a unique lodging and dining experience in Alamance County can look no further than The Inn at Elon. The four-star hotel and conference facility on the Elon University campus opened to the public and hosted its first guests on Jan. 11. The $31-million facility fulfills a longstanding goal of having an on-campus hotel to host visitors to the university and the surrounding region. The Inn at Elon is operated by Charlestowne Hotels, one of the nation’s leading hospitality management firms. Financing for The Inn at Elon includes a plan to directly benefit students. All revenue beyond operating costs will be directed to fund scholarships, making guests’ visits to The Inn at Elon a stay with purpose. “The Inn at Elon is an exciting new asset on campus, and an innovative way to raise revenue for scholarships,” said Elon University President Connie Ledoux Book. “Guests at the inn will not only experience a best-in-class stay, but simultaneously support Elon’s distinctive mission.” The inn is set at the main north entrance to Elon University’s campus, which is consistently recognized as one of the nation’s most beautiful collegiate environments. Located next to the Ernest A. Koury, Sr. Business Center at 605 North O’Kelly Ave., the inn features 10 suites along with 70 rooms featuring king-sized and queen-sized beds. Among the inn amenities is a 5,200-square-foot multipurpose ballroom that accommodates up to 340 people, with the outdoor lawn providing space for 440. All facilities are open to the public and available for business meetings and retreats as well as family celebrations such as weddings, reunions and holiday parties. The Mark at Elon, the hotel’s on-site restaurant, has diningroom and private-room seating for 72 patrons and a lounge
{ President Connie Ledoux Book checking into The Inn at Elon } with a capacity for 41 guests. The restaurant offers an American menu including Southern favorites using locally sourced ingredients. The university was able to build The Inn at Elon thanks to the vision of the Elon University Board of Trustees, which approved the project in spring 2018, and the philanthropy of Elon alumni, parents and friends. Generous funding for the project included a lead gift of $2.5 million by trustee Mark Mahaffey and his wife, Marianne, who are parents of two Elon alumni. “We wanted to have a gathering spot to strengthen the alumni and community engagement but also benefit our students,” said trustee Kerrii Brown Anderson ’79, past chair of the board of trustees, who made a naming gift for a suite at the inn. “Therefore, the board designated that the income from the inn is to be utilized to provide additional student scholarships. I am very proud that The Inn at Elon will contribute to our student-focused mission.”
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The Inn at Elon, a new 80-room boutique hotel located on the Elon University campus, is now open to the public. Learn more at theinnatelon.com.
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“I’m optimistic about your generation’s ability to do the right thing, to be advocates for the rights we have, not by virtue of what country you were born in, but by virtue of our humanity. … We must always strive to be a better people.”
“Not seeing yourself reflected in the media has a stunningly adverse effect on you. It makes you think you are invisible. It makes you think society doesn’t see you and it makes you wonder what you could possibly contribute to a society that doesn’t see you.”
— N.C. Chief Supreme Court Justice Cheri L. Beasley delivering the Elon Law Commencement address on Dec. 14
— Television pioneer Sonia Manzano delivering the Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Address on Jan. 14
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{ Elon students and staff volunteer during this year’s Day of Sevice Project as part of the month-long Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration. } 6
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bout a dozen Elon students and staff installed roof trusses on a house Jan. 10 as part of this year’s Day of Service Project and the university’s month-long Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration. The event was a collaboration between Elon Volunteers!, the campus service organization housed in the Kernodle Center for Service Learning and Community Engagement, and Habitat for Humanity of Alamance County. The Elon volunteers worked alongside a lead construction supervisor and other Habitat crew members in Apple Tree Village, an affordable new home community in nearby Burlington that currently includes 10 Habitat houses. Students also had the opportunity to work side-by-side with the future homeowners, creating memorable experiences for volunteers and local families alike. “With everything going on in the world, it’s really easy to be worried and not know what to do about it,” said Lydia Masri ’20, a computer science major who has participated in three different builds so far. “I think small ways like this of getting out there and really doing something is empowering.”
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The recipient of the 2018 Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences Excellence in Mentoring Award, Associate Professor of Psychology Buffie Longmire-Avital consistently applies her expertise to mentor students in deep and meaningful ways. As a 2018–20 Center for Engaged Learning Scholar and coordinator of the African & African-American Studies Program, she focuses on the inclusion of historically underrepresented students in undergraduate research.
Buffie Longmire-Avital BY BRENDA REAVIS ’15
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ne often hears stories about mentors who shifted the direction of someone’s life and shaped who they are today. Professor and researcher extraordinaire Dr. Buffie Longmire-Avital is that mentor for me. For three years, Dr. Longmire-Avital worked with me on my Honors thesis project, which involved an in-depth look at what black women are searching for in a partner, and the ways societal barriers specific to the black experience influence that search. I was new to research of this extent, and, as a black woman myself, I was nervous to take on a topic with such important implications. Dr. Longmire-Avital was knowledgeable, patient and encouraging as we gathered, analyzed and coded data, mapped our findings onto past research and carved out new insights. Our research went on to be published in the Journal of Black Psychology shortly after I graduated from Elon and remains one of my greatest accomplishments to date. Dr. Longmire-Avital taught me that when working with people and their stories, it is our duty to produce high quality, ethical results. She promised me our project would be difficult but rewarding. Throughout the thesis process, she made time for me while balancing countless other responsibilities. Watching her strive for greatness provided a model of the kind of woman I wanted to be. Under her guidance and encouragement, my confidence in my abilities as a researcher, student and black woman grew exponentially. During my senior year, Dr. Longmire-Avital was integral in my decision to pursue graduate school. She regularly met with me as I pieced together what I wanted the next step of my life to look like. From reviewing my personal statements to offering feedback on programs I was interested in, I genuinely felt there was nothing she wouldn’t do to make sure I was happy with my choice. Because of her, I felt confident enough to apply to the top social work schools in the nation and got into the University of Chicago. Quite simply, Dr. Longmire-Avital inspired me to be my whole self at all times, equipped me with the skills I needed to confidently explore all of my interests and grounded me in the meaning of the work I do today as a licensed clinical social worker. She never allowed me to consider that I wouldn’t be successful, a mentality that has opened doors I feel humbled to walk through. Not a day goes by that I am not grateful for the time she spent mentoring me. Even now, her influence lives on in how I approach each client and handle the stories they share.
After graduating from Elon in 2015 with a psychology degree, Brenda Reavis obtained a master’s degree in clinical social work from the University of Chicago, where she works as a staff therapist in its Student Health & Counseling Services.
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STUDENT SPOTLIGHT completed by undergraduate students as part of an education abroad program. She was selected for her ongoing work on her Honors Fellow research that is focused on comparing women’s memories of political violence in Argentina and Palestine. Connor Jenkins ’22 received the Community Impact Award from North Carolina Campus Compact, a statewide network of colleges and universities that are committed to community engagement. The award recognizes students with a deep commitment to community involvement and the ability to inspire peers. Taylor Garner ’20 has been recognized by The Forum on Education Abroad with its 2019 Award for Academic Achievement Abroad, which recognizes excellence in academic work
Four Elon University students have been accepted into the University Innovation Fellows program run by Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, known as the d.school. Samuel Gans ’22, a finance major; Julia Perline ’22, an applied mathematics and computer engineering double major; Lilly Rothschild ’22, a finance and international business double major; and Alaa Suleiman ’22, a computer science and computer engineering double major, are among 330 Fellows selected from 90 higher education institutions in 13 countries.
Elon News Network, the student-run news organization, won a national Newspaper Pacemaker Award, an Online Pacemaker Award and a 4-Year TV Station Pinnacle Award from the Associated Collegiate Press and College Media Association. The Pacemaker award is the highest honor awarded by ACP for excellence in student journalism. Marielle Abrahamson ’19, Alex Hager ’19, Emmanuel Morgan ’19, Lane Pritchard ’19, Anton Delgado ’20, Meghan Kimberling ’21, Grace Terry ’21 and Sam Porozok ’22 also earned individual awards.
ART 273: Art as Therapeutic Process
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une into the emotions you’re experiencing at this moment. Do you feel anxiety? Loneliness? Boredom? Anger? Joy? How might you convey those feelings visually? What could you learn about yourself and your emotions from that creative representation? Those questions are at the heart of ART 273: Art as Therapeutic Process, a new Winter Term course that explores the relationship between artistic expression and individual wellness. Taught by Associate Professor of Art and Environmental Studies Samantha DiRosa, the course delves into the many ways art can promote healing, and its potential to cultivate resilience, personal growth and self- and societal-awareness. DiRosa emphasizes the class is not therapy, but it is therapeutic, offering students the opportunity to examine grief, loss, suffering and other personal struggles through a creative lens. Students can create using a variety of expressive arts practices, from painting, photography, collage and sculpture to writing, dance, music and drama. The course offers DiRosa an opportunity to address mental and emotional health issues head-on in the classroom using the creative process as a healing practice. The course attracts a variety of majors, including art, psychology, human service studies, business and communications. Students create artwork in class each day connecting their personal experiences to a theme, like vulnerability, or a prompt, such as an excerpt from literature. The class then provides feedback, but the discussion always centers on what arose during the creative process rather than an evaluation
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BY ALEXA BOSCHINI ’10
of the artwork made. “We’re working through layers of self-judgment — ‘I don’t know how to do this,’ those kinds of things,” DiRosa says. “It doesn’t matter; you just start where you are and see what comes up, and tune into the intuitive process overriding the judgmental mind.” Outside of class, students write reflections on the work they produced during class and create one additional artwork per day. DiRosa encourages her students to pay attention to any shifting feelings and use them as a point of inquiry, even if it’s uncomfortable. “When we’re uncomfortable, our m.o. is often ‘how can I numb myself and check out,’” DiRosa says. “Now they’re not just sitting there thinking, ‘this is uncomfortable,’ but they’re doing something more productive with it.” DiRosa hopes students leave the class with some tools that benefit their emotional well-being and cultivate their imagination, helping them become more empowered and creative people. “I hope it’s a springboard into getting to know themselves better,” DiRosa says. “I hope they come away a little more self-aware, and maybe even wanting to do more art.” ABOUT THE PROFESSOR Samantha DiRosa joined Elon’s art faculty in 2007. She is also a faculty member in the environmental studies department and serves as Elon’s Faculty Fellow for Sustainability. RECOMMENDED MATERIALS • “Art as Medicine” by Shaun McNiff • “The Creative Connection: Expressive Arts as Healing” by Natalie Rogers • “Principles and Practice of Expressive Arts Therapy: Toward a Therapeutic Aesthetics” by Paolo Knill, Stephen Levine and Ellen Levine
LEARNING FOR LIFE Elon supports learning at different life stages. Take the LIFE@Elon program, which is designed to offer noncredit learning opportunities to people 50 and older. Now in its ninth year, the program features weekly presentations led by current and retired Elon faculty and staff members, as well as other area experts. Below are some figures from the past year. You can also read more about the program on page 20.
More than a gathering space
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tudents, faculty and staff in the Historic Neighborhood now have a space to gather, study and socialize thanks to the generosity and vision of Gail H. LaRose ’64 and her daughter, Elon trustee Michelle LaRose. Named in their honor, the LaRose Student Commons was formally dedicated on Nov. 2 during Homecoming & Reunion Weekend. The 10,000-square-foot, two-story building adjacent to Long and Mooney buildings is located near where Gail LaRose met her future husband, the late Bob LaRose ’66, who served as chair of the Elon University Board of Trustees, was named Distinguished Alumnus of the Year and was elected Elon’s first Life Trustee in 2006. Walking in the front door, visitors are greeted by a painted portrait of Gail LaRose. “This building represents nearly 60 years of passion that my mom has for this institution,” Michelle LaRose said. “It just feels so right to have her portrait hanging here and watching over students that will come here in the future and hopefully enjoy it as much as she did.” { A Nov. 2 ribbon cutting marked the official dedication of the new The building includes LaRose Student Commons. } a 1,200-square-foot activity room on the first floor with comfortable seating; a game room with table-tennis and pool tables, and an area for videogaming; a 3,000-square-foot event space with catering kitchen on the second floor as well as a kitchen for students to prepare food; and office space for the Historic Neighborhood faculty director and Residence Life staff. “Each time I walk by, I smile because it is fully in use,” said President Connie Ledoux Book. “Students on the rocking chairs, studying at the oak tables that were built from the felled trees on this spot, making meals in the kitchen or playing my favorite game, table tennis. This is what this space was designed for — community engagement — and it’s quickly become a favorite spot for students in the Historic Neighborhood.”
500
The total number of members who have participated in life@Elon. Of this number, roughly a fi h had a previous affiliation with Elon (i.e. retired faculty/ staff, past parent, alumni, etc.)
62%
The percentage of members who live in Burlington. Other cities and towns represented include Elon, Graham, Gibsonville, Mebane, Greensboro and Chapel Hill.
58
The number of members who have volunteered in roles including executive or curriculum commi ee members, greeters or co-leaders of special interest groups.
48
The number of topics covered during 2019, ranging from media and politics to stem cell research, the history of jazz and po ery.
37%
The percentage of life@Elon members who are generous Elon supporters. Source: Life@Elon
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For a complete list of events, visit elon.edu/culturalcalendar.
UPCOMING PERFORMANCES
THURSDAY-SUNDAY, APRIL 2-5
Department of Performing Arts presents “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare McCrary Theatre, Center for the Arts, April 2-3 at 7:30 p.m.; April 4 at 2 and 7:30 p.m.; April 5 at 2 p.m. Directed by Kevin Otos “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” depicts Prince Hamlet and his revenge against his uncle, Claudius, who has murdered Hamlet’s father in order to seize his throne and marry Hamlet’s mother. Hamlet is considered among the most powerful and influential works of world literature. Admission: $15 or Elon ID. Tickets available beginning March 12 at the Center for the Arts Box Office. For ticket information, call (336) 278-5610.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22
Elon Jazz
Festival Concert featuring Andy Page, guitar; Phillip Whack, saxophone; and the Brubeck Brothers Quartet McCrary Theatre, Center for the Arts, 7:30 p.m.
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Phillip Whack, Eastman Winds performing and recording artist, and jazz guitarist Andy Page, currently on the music faculty at Appalachian State University, will serve as guest clinicians throughout this year’s festival. The concert will combine the Elon Jazz Ensemble with the guest clinicians and a special appearance by the Brubeck Brothers Quartet. Chris and Dan Brubeck have been making music together for more than a half century, playing a variety of styles with a number of different groups, including with their father, jazz giant Dave Brubeck. Guitarist Mike DeMicco and pianist Chuck Lamb complete the dynamic quartet.
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Leonard Dick P’20 to deliver Elon’s 2020 commencement address
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lon parent Leonard Dick, an Emmy Award-winning television writer and producer who has written for several groundbreaking series, including “Lost,”“House” and “The Good Wife,” will deliver the undergraduate commencement address to the Class of 2020. Elon’s 130th commencement ceremony is on May 22. A native of Toronto, Dick began his Hollywood career as a finance executive at Walt Disney Studios after graduating from Harvard University with a bachelor’s degree and later an MBA. He then shed his suits and ties to pursue a career as a television writer. He has written for a variety of genres – sitcom, drama, sketch-comedy, animation – and in 2005 he won an Emmy for Best Drama as part of the producing and writing team of the hit ABC drama “Lost.” He has been nominated for an Emmy as a producer in the Best Drama category five times and was also nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for an episode of “House” he co-wrote.
More recently, Dick has served as a writer and executive producer on the Apple TV+ drama series “Truth Be Told” starring Octavia Spencer and Aaron Paul. He is currently a writer and executive producer on the new HBO Max drama series “Crime Farm.” Dick and his wife, Lisa, have been dedicated supporters of the university during the time their daughter, Julia, has been a student at Elon. In 2019 the couple, along with Elon grandparents Richard and Marcia Schulman, provided a gift to establish the Dick/Schulman Hillel Engagement Intern Scholarship. The gift is in recognition of the impact that a Hillel engagement internship had on Julia, a member of the Class of 2020 who has assisted other students as a Hillel intern while at Elon. The couple has also contributed to support the Sklut Hillel Center and the Parents and Grandparents Fund.
Deandra Little, professor of English, assistant provost and director of the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning, received the 2019 Bob Pierleoni Spirit of POD Award in honor of her work in educational development and contributions to the Professional & Organizational Development Network in Higher Education. The POD Network is a professional society for people who work in faculty and educational development in the United States.
Sandy Marshall, assistant professor of geography, has been named the 2020–22 Center for the Study of Religion, Culture and Society Scholar, the first Elon faculty member to be selected for this position. During his term, Marshall will develop a statement of best practices for community-based research and learning in multifaith settings and pilot a storytelling project.
Jessie Moore, director of the Center for Engaged Learning and professor of English, received the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning’s Distinguished Service Award. The society is a global organization for faculty, students and staff that supports scholarly work regarding teaching and learning.
Don A. Grady, associate dean of the School of Communications and associate professor of cinema and television arts, served as editor for “The Golden Age of Data: Media Analytics in Study & Practice.” The 278-page book offers insights from top analytics practitioners examining the current state of legacy media analysis and social media analytics. It was released by Routledge.
Assistant Professor of Anthropology Jennifer Carroll has been awarded the Society for Medical Anthropology’s Rudolf Virchow Professional Prize for her article “Sovereign Rules and Rearrangements: Banning Methadone in Occupied Crimea,” which was published in the journal Medical Anthropology in November 2018. The annual award recognizes a scholar whose research best combines a critical anthropology focus with rich ethnographic data and advances critical perspectives in medical anthropological questions in the general area of global public health.
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PHOENIX SPORTS
▶ elonphoenix.com
A CHAMPION FOR SOCCER BY SONYA WALKER ’20
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uke Matthews ’20 is no stranger to the Burlington soccer scene. You can even say the Elon men’s soccer team defender and England native is a champion for the sport in the community, particularly among those who are part of Burlington Recreation and Parks’ TOPSoccer program. For the past three years, Matthews and his teammates have been volunteering with the community outreach program designed to help children with special needs work on their soccer skills. Every spring the team gets together weekly to play, mentor and coach participants who range from 3 to 17 years old. Last year, Matthews served as captain and directed the program and events. He remembers one of his favorite
moments being the party the team threw at the end of the program. “Everyone came together. We had food and drinks, and we gave out awards,” he says. “That was quite the memorable moment — just to spend it with them and see how happy they were.” Mark Geiger, athletics supervisor of Burlington Recreation and Parks, has noticed Matthews’ ability to lead and work with the participants. “Once we got out to the fields, it was evident how much he cared,” Geiger says. “What I appreciated most was his leadership among the group.” Matthews developed a special relationship with the program’s most challenging participants, which made it clear they could count on him. “We had kids coming back specifically to spend time with Luke,” Geiger says. Not only has Matthews been instrumental in the success of TOPSoccer, but he also excels on the field and in the classroom. He was selected All-CAA First Team in 2018 and third team All-CAA honoree in 2019. He was a 2019 recipient of the Robert C. Browne Memorial Sportsmanship Award, which is presented annually to Elon athletes who have best displayed exemplary qualities of sportsmanship. In the fall, Matthews was a semifinalist for the Senior CLASS Award, which recognizes an outstanding senior NCAA Division I student-athlete each year who has notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. The nomination was a moment of pride for Matthews, who is closing his senior year with gratitude for his family, team, coaches and Elon. “I couldn’t lead the sessions, do TOPSoccer or be nominated for the CLASS Award without the team,” he says. “The support of Elon as a whole, the coaches, the professors, the athletics department — everyone supports you in any way they can, and they have played a major role in everything I’ve been a part of.”
{ Members of the Elon men’s soccer team volunteer with the TOPSoccer program in Burlington, N.C. Above: Luke Matthews ’20 with one of the program participants. } 12
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FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT SCOLASTICAH KEMEI ’20
BY KEREN RIVAS ’04
Since joining Elon’s track and field team last spring, SCOLASTICAH KEMEI ’20 has become an unstoppable force. The Kenya native was named the 2019 Colonial Athletic Association Women’s Cross Country Runner of the Year and the Women’s National Runner of the Week by the U.S. Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association. She won the individual title at the caa Championships and the Elon Opener in the 4K and has twice set the school record in the 6K, including her season-best time of 20:25.0. She recently took some time to share with The Magazine of Elon details about her journey.
She loves to run. While she was born in a community that saw running as a way of escaping poverty, she fell in love with running and saw it as a way to advance her education. “Being born in poverty doesn’t mean you are poor,” she says. “All dreams are valid and reachable.”
She is a survivor. “My dad was once told that I will not live past the age of 18,” Scolasticah says. She spent most of her childhood in and out of hospitals and even missed school for two years, but she persisted. “Being in the United States and playing college sports is an unusual accomplishment. I consider it a miracle.”
Her pre-race ritual involves dancing. The night before a race, she takes time to roll, stretch and dance to Solid Base’s “This is How We Do It” while wearing her full racing gear. “It helps me release the tension and connect me back to a sense of trust and self-belief,” she says, adding she also likes to watch a short clip of an Olympic race before calling it a night.
She takes pleasure in the little things. During her free time, Scolasticah enjoys strolling through campus taking in the beauty of it all. “Being here at Elon University is a dream come true,” she says. She also enjoys traveling and discovering new places to visit.
She wants to serve her country. In addition to becoming a professional runner, Scolasticah wants to join Kenya’s armed forces and become a high-ranking member of its military. “This is a dream I have had since childhood,” she says.
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O U R U N I V E R S I T Y C A M PA I G N
Paying it forward BY JALEH HAGIGH
ABOUT YOUR GIFT All gifts to the university for any purpose count as part of the Elon LEADS Campaign. To learn how you can make an impact through your gifts, visit elonleads.com.
P
resident connie ledoux book led six ELON LEADS CAMPAIGN launch events last fall, wrapping up in December with a record crowd of 420 guests at The Pavilion at The Angus Barn in Raleigh, North Carolina. The event followed successful launches in New York, Washington, D.C., Boston, Charlotte and San Francisco. “Now is the time to write the next chapter in our unending story and to make new investments in the hope of scholarships, in the impact of our engaged learning programs, in the inspiration of needed faculty and staff mentors whose relationships are so vital to our mission, and in the power of our iconic learning environment,” Book told the crowd in Raleigh, sharing the campaign’s top funding priorities. Book encouraged all alumni to join the campaign by supporting what they cherish most about Elon. “Numbers are important in this campaign,” she said. “Yet what’s most important are the people whose lives will be transformed as a result of our collective efforts.” To date, donors have contributed $181 million toward the $250 million goal. Guests also heard from Elon alumna and trustee Kebbler M. Williams ’98, who shared her inspiration for contributing to Elon LEADS. “I partner with Elon because the world needs Elon graduates,” Williams said. “I advocate for Elon because at Elon, there is no fear of dreaming big dreams. I invest in Elon because it takes money to maintain a low student-faculty ratio, to enable 100 percent of undergraduates to study abroad, to recruit and retain a world-class faculty, to provide a wide range of scholarships and to provide excellent upkeep for state-of-the-art facilities.” President Book will be back on the road this spring with additional campaign events (see opposite page for details).
{ President Connie Ledoux Book at the Raleigh, N.C., event. } 14 of
ELON LEADS ON THE ROAD
Raleigh, North Carolina “I am grateful to the donors who make scholarships possible. You are the reason why students like me are able to look forward to a bright future.” —Jada Graves ’20, Ann Marie Lashley Scholarship recipient
Upcoming Elon LEADS events
MARCH 23
Baltimore
American Visionary Art Museum
MARCH 31
Tampa
Armature Works
APRIL 29
Burlington & Triad The Inn at Elon
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O U R U N I V E R S I T Y C A M PA I G N
A job well done
Volunteers play a critical role in the success of Elon LEADS. Elon thanks campaign chairs Dave Porter p’11 p’19, Chris Martin ’78 p’13, Maity Interiano ’07, Garrett Turner ’08 and Parker Turner ’06, as well as the following volunteers for their service to the campaign:
New York Regional Campaign Committee Erica Ayala ’08 Mindee Blanco p’19 Dave Brown ’13 Stacey Crutchfield ’14 Michael DeStefano p’21 Heather Middleton Ellersick ’99 (co-chair) Shawn Ellsworth p’20
Audrey Engelman ’17 Peter Fox ’14 Doug Gatlin ’08 Molly Heffernan ’11 Mark Horsburgh ’07 Alex Jakaitis ’16 Bryan Kozin ’16 Carly Ledbetter ’13
Nick Margherita ’14 g’15 Mac McCann ’16 Jack McMackin ’08 (co-chair) Stef Meyers ’09 Justin Morin ’17 Charles North ’96 Alex Northcutt ’17
Ben Pascale ’12 Felicia Maffucci Pascale ’12 Shane Powers ’99 Tyler Riccio ’16 Katie Robinson p’21 Rebecca Smith ’12 Catherine Valero ’13 Vaughn Vreeland ’15
Kirsten Ferreira Flowers ’13 Jennifer Hiltwine ’09 Rich Johnson ’87 (co-chair) Michael Long ’04 Warren Lutz p’20 Deanne McGranahan p’19 p’21 John McGranahan p’19 p’21 Bud Morrissette p’19 Mandy Nelson p’20
Thomas Snow ’08 Nick Suarez ’17 Michael Sutterlin ’96 Kaitlin Szulik-Wicker ’08 Claire Thiedke ’16 Mark Van Kirk ’83 Steve Walker ’93
Mike Nowak ’11 Morgan O’Brien ’16 Kyle Porro ’17 Meredith Starr p’23 Matt Stoeckle ’05
Ralph Tedeschi ’18 Sean White ’06
Nick Ochsner ’11 Anne Pipkin p’15 p’16 Mark Richter ’99 Nick Roby ’07 Charlie Sistare ’92 Sallie Hutton Sistare ’92 Eric Sklut p’14 (chair)
Kristin Smith ’07 g’12 Lee Thomas ’91 Sam Upton ’12 Akilah Weaver ’00 Jamie Grauel Yearwood ’07 JD Yearwood ’07
K-Dee Conner Leith ’88 p’14 Caitlin Leith ’14 Martha Browning Midgette ’10 Chris Morse ’05 Mike Murren p’19 Mary Kay Murren p’19 Jenn Nowalk ’99 (co-chair) Rich Nowalk ’97 (co-chair) Luke O’Rourke ’11
Gina Giuricich O’Rourke ’11 Mital Patel l’09 Ricky Rosati ’14 L.A. Sarmiere ’93 Matt Smith ’11 Lisa Johnston Smithdeal ’83 p’12 Cam Tims ’00
Washington, D.C. Regional Campaign Committee Steve Anderson p’16 (co-chair) Lindsey Goodman Baker ’04 Hunter Benson ’15 Glen Bolger p’19 Michael Bumbry ’07 Jane Caldeira p’21 Steve Caldeira p’21 Juliana Cochnar ’95
Coop Cooper ’05 Laura Cranston p’20 Rob Cranston p’20 John Denning ’93 Jane Marie Dunigan ’87 p’22 Stephen Ellick p’18 p’20 p’23 Deborah Ellick p’18 p’20 p’23 Carol Farquhar p’19 Darien Flowers ’13
Boston Regional Campaign Committee Shea Coakley ’07 (chair) Kathleen Niple Donohue ’05 Ben Driscoll ’18 Joe Duncan ’15 Jennifer Herndon p’17 p’22
Russ Herndon p’17 p’22 Jennifer Hildebrand ’04 Joe Incorvia ’15 Kristin Marken p’17 p’22 Tony Marken p’17 p’22
Charlotte Regional Campaign Committee Sean Burke ’14 Rachel Southmayd Campbell ’13 David Campbell ’13 Danielle Deavens ’16 Allison Fox ’15 Cobi Jones ’06
Garrett Kachellek ’07 Joe Keener ’02 Lee Leckie ’98 Sarah Graves Lunka ’12 Krista Horton Mooney ’94 Mike Mooney ’93 Meaghan Moriarty ’15
Raleigh Regional Campaign Committee Jeremy Allen ’07 Priscilla Awkard ’95 Chris Bell ’92 Matthias Bouska ’16 Lars Bredahl ’10 g’11 Meghan Gargan Bredahl g’11 Paul Breeding ’99 Allison Dillard Breeding ’99 Joe Caprio ’97 Jonathan Citty ’10 16 of
Jill Dykes ’97 David Dykes ’98 Nolan Elingburg ’11 g’12 Fred Hathaway g’12 Amy Hendrickson ’69 (co-chair) Devin Kelley ’08 D.J. Ketchabaw ’98 Stacy Laue ’09 Marcus Lockamy ’10
ELONLEADS.COM
O U R U N I V E R S I T Y C A M PA I G N
Strengthening seeds of education BY MADISON TAYLOR
A
S BOB AND BARBARA BYRD started to think about their estate planning, it soon became clear Elon University would be a part of it. Bob, a retired hospital administrator and civic and political leader, has a front-row view of how much Elon has impacted Alamance County. Barbara, an Alamance County native, musician and music teacher, has a long association with Elon and its Department of Music. “I want to see our assets go to organizations and activities that have been part of our lives in a meaningful way,” says Bob, a former member of the Alamance County Board of Commissioners who has served with multiple community organizations. He also plays the saxophone and co-founded the Alamance Jazz Band. Barbara, a piano teacher for nearly 50 years and music director at Graham Presbyterian Church, agrees. “I want to see music perpetuated,” she says. “But I also want to encourage students and be helpful to the community.” By including Elon in their estate plan, the Byrds of Burlington, North Carolina, are accomplishing those goals. Future proceeds from their planned gift will support three areas of the university: the Department of Music, Elon Academy and the “It Takes a Village” Project. Elon Academy and the Village Project are part of Elon’s Center for Access and Success. Both programs help students in Alamance County find a pathway to a college education or greater success in secondary education. “I wanted a lot of our assets to go to organizations that make a difference in our community. In my role as a commissioner and on other boards, two of those programs are the Village Project and Elon Academy,” Bob says. “Elon is in our community. It’s part of my past. I didn’t go to school there, but I lived here,” Barbara says. “As a piano teacher, I took part in many activities in the music department. I knew a lot of the professors and students. I feel close to that department. And I’m particularly impressed by Elon Academy.” Bob is a first-generation college student who graduated from Penn State University. Barbara graduated from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. They are strong advocates for education who have a history of giving to music and Elon Academy. Their planned gift ensures their generosity will be a part of Elon’s future as it is counted as part of the $250 million Elon LEADS fundraising campaign.
{ Bob & Barbara Byrd are including Elon in their estate plans. }
Learn how you can make a difference through an estate gift by contacting Elizabeth Read, assistant director of planned giving, at 336-278-7474 or eread@elon.edu.
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O U R U N I V E R S I T Y C A M PA I G N
Leading through you Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Elon, NC Permit # 1
AL
L IN FOR
ELON
Highlighting the impact of donor support. Read more about these and other gifts at elonleads.com.
Elon parents Rob and Martha Park p’20 of Fort Worth, Texas, and grandparents Judy and Major Park GP’20 of Mission Woods, Kansas, made a leadership gift to endow the Park Family Teaching Fellows Scholarship, which will help recruit outstanding future teachers to Elon’s School of Education.
More than 40 alumni, parents and friends made recent gifts to name rooms and other spaces at The Inn at Elon, a new boutique hotel located on Elon’s campus that opened in January (read more on page 4). The Inn was built by the university, with all profits supporting student scholarships. Donors were excited to name rooms to honor their families, students or beloved professors, administrators or coaches.
DID YOU KNOW? 18 of
elon.edu/elonday
ELON DAY IS THURSDAY, MARCH 5!
Office of University Advancement PO Box 398 Elon, NC 27244
03|05|20
When it comes to Elon Day, we’re all in this together! On Thursday, March 5, this annual day of giving will bring the Elon family together to support students. Since 2014, Elon Day donors have contributed 23,000+ gifts and more than $7 million for scholarships, academic schools, athletics and more. Imagine the impact we’ll make when we go all in together for Elon this year.
Your Elon Day gift of any size also counts for the Elon LEADS Campaign. Visit elon.edu/elonday to read more about how your gift can make a difference.
ELONLEADS.COM
O U R U N I V E R S I T Y C A M PA I G N
Sold on the
Elon life BY MEGAN MCCLURE
D
OING THINGS HALFWAY doesn’t really appeal to Lawrence “L.A.” Sarmiere ’93. Instead, he devotes himself to his wife, Theresa, and their two daughters, his work colleagues who have become like family, and the lifelong friendships that he built through Elon. Case in point: He’s only missed one Homecoming Weekend at Elon in more than 25 years, and he constantly rallies his Sigma Pi fraternity brothers and other friends to join him back on campus. Because of his expansive collection of Elon gear, he’s also been called a walking Elon billboard. “But,” he says, “I’m just really sold on the Elon life.” That feeling extends to Sarmiere’s financial support of his alma mater. Not long after graduating in 1993, he started a tradition of giving back to Elon each year. Now, he sees the Elon LEADS Campaign as an opportunity to grow his philanthropic impact at Elon. He’s done that by making a five-year commitment to support the Elon Alumni Board Elon Engagement Scholarship. The award provides students with annual scholarship assistance, plus a one-time grant for an Elon Experience. That can include study abroad, undergraduate research, service learning, an internship or a leadership experience. “Over the past few years, I’ve gotten more involved by joining the Elon Alumni Board. I’ve also been able to meet students who benefited from scholarships,” says Sarmiere, who served on the Raleigh Elon LEADS Committee. “I want to help provide those same opportunities for future generations of students. The campaign was the right time for me to step up my support.”
LEARN MORE The Elon Society honors leadership annual giving donors who make a gift of $1,500 or more each year, for any purpose. Through their support, these donors sustain the Elon experience for all students. For more information, please visit elon.edu/ElonSociety.
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A LEARNING
{ Scenes from a recent LIFE@Elon presentation on pottery. }
BY ROSELEE PAPANDREA TAYLOR
Area retirees have found more than a lifelong learning community in LIFE@Elon.
I’ve never been involved in anything that had such an array of people who are so proficient and experts in so many different things. — Ken Mink
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T
CONTINUUM
HE OPPORTUNITY TO CONTINUE LEARNING was at the top of Luigi and Linda Orlando’s list when they moved from the North Carolina coast to a retirement community near Elon. It was so important to the couple that they put their names on the LIFE@Elon waiting list before they made the move from Wilmington in 2019. “We would not be here if LIFE@Elon was not here,” Luigi Orlando says of the move they made six months ago. “That’s how important this is to us.” When LIFE@Elon started in fall 2011, the goal was simple: create a lifelong learning community for retired faculty, staff, alumni and friends of the university. The initiative was spearheaded by Alison Morrison-Shetlar, then-dean of Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences. “We know there is a strong demand for engaging academic experiences by adults in our area who want to continue learning and expanding their horizons,” she said at the time. “Elon is a natural place for that to happen, a tremendous educational resource for our community.” Initially, the plan was to offer 12 sessions in the fall and 12 in the spring featuring lecturers presenting on topics chosen by participants through a curriculum committee. The weekly program would take place from 10 a.m. to noon on Tuesdays. Kathryn Bennett, program coordinator for LIFE@Elon, booked the meeting room in Johnston Hall and details about the program ran in the local newspaper. “My phone rang off the hook,” Bennett recalls. There were so many people in the surrounding community who wanted to participate and 200 signed up. Before the first class even started, a second session was added on Tuesday afternoons to accommodate the swell of interest. The Orlandos spent the past 15 years engaged in the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, so their expectations for LIFE@Elon, like that of other participants, were high. “Folks aren’t just sitting back, waiting for something to do in retirement,” says Karen Linehan Mroz, chair of the LIFE@Elon executive committee. “We have a
A LEARNING CONTINUUM
number of folks from various fields and leadership positions, alumni and professors who all share a hunger for learning and have a busy life. It’s a membership that is very keen on staying up on the learning process.” Lecture topics are wide-ranging and diverse, including nuclear technology in a modern society, the Christmas tree industry in North Carolina, the legacy of Louis Armstrong, modern pottery studios and social media’s influence on political discourse. Even when topics didn’t necessarily seem appealing on paper, the sessions have been worth attending, says Wendy McBride, who serves as secretary on the LIFE@Elon executive committee. “Every time there is a class that I’m not real excited about and I think that maybe I don’t want to go, it turns out to be very interesting.” A recent lecture about female pilots from World War II really piqued McBride’s interest. Librarians from Elon’s Belk Library also shared books on the topic with the group. “The speaker talked about Night Witches and the Russian female pilots that flew at night,” says McBride, who is now reading a book on the subject. “It’s an amazing book, and I would never have picked that book up if it hadn’t been for the class.” Wendy and husband Richard McBride, Elon’s chaplain emeritus, have been attending LIFE@Elon from the beginning. Richard chaired the first curriculum committee and John Sullivan, Elon’s Powell Professor of Philosophy Emeritus, chaired the executive board. “We leaned on a lot of Elon folks in that first year,” Richard says. “Over time, it’s been wonderful to see how community members have taken ownership of this.” The program continues to grow. In 2013 the waiting list had grown so much that a Wednesday morning class was added, followed by a Wednesday afternoon class in 2016. Last year membership grew to 500 and there are still people on a waiting list. “Originally, we were hoping for 50 back in 2011,” Bennett says. “The program grew by word of mouth. No additional advertising was ever done.” In 2017, Peter Dahl, a participant since 2013 and past executive board member, launched a special interest group, otherwise known as a SIG, for those interested in wine tasting. “I went over to the Oak House and spoke with the owner, and we planned wine tastings for Friday nights when school was out of session,” Dahl says. About 60 people have since expressed interest in the group and now they do tastings four times a year. Other SIGs include a non-fiction book club, a traveling group named the “No Boat Yacht Club” and the newest group, a fiction book club. Last spring, LIFE@Elon began a partnership with Collette Travel, an international family-owned travel business that specializes in educational partnerships for travel. Seven participants went on a trip to Switzerland, Austria and Bavaria in May 2019. Fourteen are signed up to go to Iceland in February. When
participants book a trip with Collette Travel, a percentage of those proceeds go back to LIFE@Elon, which is self-sustaining. LIFE@Elon participants pay membership dues each academic year that pay for the entire program. Over the years, members of the executive committee have attended lifelong learning conferences to learn about what other organizations are doing. They have held strategic planning meetings, always looking for opportunities for qualitative improvement. “This is a group that wants to be in top-quality programs that offer them the opportunity to continue to grow,” Mroz says. LIFE@Elon members have access to Elon’s Belk Library. They attend cultural and sporting events and movies at Turner Theatre. They are some of Elon’s most generous donors and are often the first to volunteer to be research subjects for students studying physical therapy, exercise science or human service studies. “Some people love all the extra opportunities and want to do all of it,” says Joan Ruelle, dean of Belk Library and the provost’s liaison to LIFE@ Elon. “Others just want to come to their morning or afternoon session once a week.” Retired doctors, lawyers, preachers, authors and professors, to name a few, are among the LIFE@Elon members, many of whom have relocated to the area from other parts of the country. “I’ve never been involved in anything that had such an array of people who are so proficient and experts in so many different things,” says former executive chair Ken Mink. He has attended sessions with wife Marilyn for the past seven years. “The demographic slice is remarkable.” While the learning component is key, participants also forge friendships, build connections and get to know the university and surrounding area as a result of the program. This past fall Elon 411 was added. Those sessions, held on Thursday mornings, provide interested LIFE@Elon members with information about Elon’s priorities and operations. “You definitely develop fellowship among the people who attend,” says Dahl, who spent his career living in Baltimore. “We have gotten to know quite a few people in town through the program. We are very grateful that Elon is committed to the community the way that it is.” For more information about the program, contact Kathryn Bennett, LIFE@Elon program coordinator, at 336-278-7431 or visit elon.edu/lifeatelon.
Every time there is a class that I’m not real excited about and I think that maybe I don’t want to go, it turns out to be very interesting. — Wendy McBride
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COVER STORY
RAISING THE Introducing the Innovation Quad at Elon University — a place that seamlessly blends science and technology studies with the arts and humanities.
RAISING THE IQ
BY KEREN RIVAS ’04
magine an academic quad where students and mentors collaborate on cutting-edge thinking, science, design and technology. A flexible space where students apply entrepreneurial thinking, develop innovative designs and seek solutions to real-world problems. Soon this place will become a reality as Elon prepares to break ground on a new building complex, the Innovation Quad, a unique center for learning, creativity, research, discovery and design that will fuel big ideas needed to answer the extraordinary challenges facing our world. Construction of the first two buildings in the complex on North O’Kelly Avenue is scheduled to begin in the fall. The joined buildings will be located between Dalton L. McMichael Science Center and Richard W. Sankey Hall, drawing a line from Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences, to the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business. The IQ, as it’s called for short, will also serve as the home for Elon’s growing engineering program, as well as the Department of Physics and other programs. It’s not a coincidence that the announcement of the project came as the university prepared to launch a new strategic plan that will guide Elon’s growth in the next decade. “As we seek to continue to advance Elon’s leadership in the arts and sciences, it is only natural to invest in advancing a mission-centered approach to engineering education,” says President Connie Ledoux Book. “This priority is part of the university’s next strategic plan and reflects an even deeper investment in preparing our graduates to successfully navigate and address complex global issues for the common good.” { A rendering of the Innovation Quad, which will be located between Dalton L. McMichael Science Center & Richard W. Sankey Hall. } 23
{ A rendering of the Innovation Quad, seen from North O’Kelly Avenue. }
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A natural next step hile elon has offered foundational science and math courses since its founding in 1889, it wasn’t until McMichael Science Center opened in 1998 that science-related undergraduate research exponentially grew on campus, placing the institution on the path toward becoming a national university. In the latest U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Colleges” list of national universities, Elon ranks No. 84 among the nation’s most prestigious universities, with special recognition for undergraduate teaching, undergraduate research and innovation, to name a few. The Innovation Quad aims to take these experiential learning practices to a new level. “We know employers are looking for problem solvers,” says John Ring, director of engineering outreach at Elon. He adds research shows corporate leaders across sectors increasingly emphasize the need for workers who can navigate unpredictable and ambiguous challenges that require critical thinking skills, which are the foundation of a
liberal arts education. “Given Elon’s mission to provide a transformative undergraduate experience, we have an incredible opportunity to exceed past achievements and take our engineering program even further.” Since McMichael Science Center opened, 10 new degree programs have been created, including six dualdegree options in engineering. In addition to growth in new degree programs over the past two decades, enrollment in STEM-related fields — science, technology, engineering, mathematics — has also increased. With the launch of Elon’s four-year degree program in engineering in fall 2018, Elon welcomed an incoming cohort double the size of those in the past, and the momentum continues to build. This growth has put a strain on McMichael, which is operating over capacity and is no longer able to keep pace with current needs or any future growth. With a combined 60,000 square feet, the first two buildings in the complex — IQ One and IQ Two — are the heart of the complex and lay the foundation for a more robust STEM presence on campus. They also make room for much needed renovations to McMichael
RAISING THE IQ
IQ One: Prefabrication,
IQ Two: Classrooms
This 20,000-square-foot building will face the Koenigsberger Learning Center. It is designed to make engineering principles visible, where students and faculty transform big ideas into prototypes. This two-story workshop, prefabrication and design hub will be essential to the development of Elon’s engineering curriculum, featuring large and open workspaces. It will include:
This 40,000-square-foot, three-story facility will be the home for cutting-edge, cross-disciplinary studies, equipment and research in biomedicine, computer science, physics and robotics. It will allow engineering and physics to relocate from the Dalton L. McMichael Science Center, which will then undergo extensive renovations. It will face McMichael Science Center on one side and Richard W. Sankey Hall on the other, solidifying the connection of arts and science to entrepreneurship, sales, design thinking and analytics. It will feature classroom and laboratory spaces, including:
workshops and design and learning spaces
• A working environment where students will have access to advanced engineering equipment
• A design lab for upper-level engineering courses • Dynamic space for prototyping and testing • Advanced prototyping • Astrophysics lab • Virtual reality classroom • Prefabrication labs outfitted with the tools for students to turn designs into wood, metal or plastic prototypes
• A first-floor design lab, mechatronics classroom and
two-story assembly space emphasizing project-based, hands-on learning and building
• Student engagement spaces, where innovation starts • LEED certification with a green roof and water reclamation area
and labs focusing on discovery and design
• Open lab for core engineering coursework • A senior design lab for physics • Biomedical and environmental engineering labs • Physics classrooms/labs • Biomedical engineering/biophysics classroom • Materials engineering lab • Conference area for larger meetings • Student engagement spaces • Group study rooms • Accessible faculty office suites with collaboration areas on all three floors
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work that models the work of practicing engineers will be important as the program develops and enrollment expands.”
A place for everyone
{ The first two buildings in the IQ will lay the foundation for a more robust STEM presence on campus. }
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Science Center and the development of new cross-disciplinary programs. Efforts are already underway to gain accreditation from ABET, the agency that accredits programs in applied and natural science, computing, engineering and engineering technology. The goal is to establish a School of Engineering as part of the new strategic plan. The buildings include space for classrooms, labs, offices, engagement spaces and workshops built to generate learning, research, invention and collaboration, while also allowing for assembling and testing prototypes outdoors. These flexible spaces are perfect for students taking courses designed around the National Academy of Engineering’s Grand Challenges. Elon’s engineering program uses these 14 challenges as springboards for yearly project-based design courses built on team problem-solving and a series of projects that develop the tangible and intangible skills engineers need in today’s world. “We are very intentional about having design experiences for engineering students every year,” says Associate Professor of Engineering Sirena Hargrove-Leak, who directs the four-year engineering program. “Many other programs have an entry-level course and a senior-year capstone. We keep design front and center.” Take the Engineering Design for Service course, which Hargrove-Leak teaches. The course provides second-year students the chance to tackle real-world design challenges and produce solutions that can have a positive impact on the broader community by partnering with organizations in the region. “Engineers inherently serve people,” Hargrove-Leak says. “Having a specially designed facility for students to do hands-on-
hile IQ One and IQ Two will enhance experiences for students in STEM fields, the complex will also create many opportunities for interdisciplinary work. Ring points to the existing biomedical and computing concentrations within the engineering program and their potential for undergraduate research and collaborations with other science fields, along with medical and business applications. “There is space for the whole university to develop in this quad,” says Gabie Smith, dean of Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences. The Innovation Quad, she adds, will provide opportunities for new cross-disciplinary centers and ongoing projects and partnerships that address a variety of topics. It will provide space for faculty across the institution to collaborate on inquiry-based research and teaching. For example, Smith points to work related to access to clean water around the world, which is one of the Grand Challenges. Addressing this challenge, and many others facing humanity, transcends STEM fields. Other disciplines can bring important perspectives and questions. “Think about the cultural and religious meanings of water,” she says. “We’ll have the opportunity to pull together faculty to tackle complex problems. At the same time, we’re modeling the power of collaboration for students. So, it’s a faculty development space as well as a learning space.” For Eduardo Gonzalez ’21, an engineering major minoring in entrepreneurship, spaces that encourage collaboration, design and creativity offer the perfect scenario for success. “It’s one thing to learn in a classroom and another to design and create in an incubator,” he says. “It’s a more effective way to become an engineer.” Martin Kamela, associate professor of physics and chair of the physics department, agrees. “There is great synergy when parallel ideas of innovation come together — innovations from business, marketing and entrepreneurship; innovations from the arts and sciences; innovation from makers and thinkers,” he says. “Bringing those players from across disciplines to create something greater than the sum of the individuals — that’s what successful startups have in common.”
RAISING THE IQ
{ A vision of the assembly and design space inside IQ One }
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{ A proposed schematic view of the lobby inside IQ Two }
A look ahead
A
s excited as Smith is for the first phase of the Innovation Quad, she is already envisioning the impact the whole complex will have on the entire campus. “Geographically, the IQ re-centers energy on campus,” she says. “While extending the liberal arts’ footprint on campus, the Innovation Quad becomes an inner campus that draws all community members into the center.” Future phases of the IQ are to include student housing, entrepreneurial incubators and sites for cross-disciplinary instruction and learning that will include all disciplines. The complex will also offer new space for community gatherings and allow Elon to invite the broader community into the heart of campus. “It will spark creative synergy and collaboration, and offer ways to extend collaboration,” Smith says. “I have a vision of it: I see these sparks, these relationships that can develop, and that’s really powerful.”
The scope of the complex is ambitious and will require a multifaceted and entrepreneurial approach to fundraising. The cost of building IQ One and IQ Two is estimated to be $50 million. “The IQ is a key priority of our Elon LEADS Campaign,” says Jim Piatt, vice president for advancement. “It represents a major commitment to Elon’s students and faculty while lifting the university’s profile as a guiding light in science and technology studies blended with the arts and humanities. In order to make this vision a reality, we will need philanthropic partnerships with inspired donors.” The investment will be worth it. “The Innovation Quad is the entry point to the future of Elon,” says Smith. “This is the beginning of the next Elon. And that’s not just my Elon: It’s the Elon for future students and future faculty and staff.” Madison Taylor and Michael Abernethy contributed to this story.
To learn more about philanthropic support for the Innovation Quad, contact Brian Baker, associate vice president and director of principal gifts, at 336-278-7453 or bbaker7@elon.edu.
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RAISING THE IQ
is space for the whole university “to There develop in this quad. ... It will spark creative synergy and collaboration, and offer ways to extend collaboration.
”
— Gabie Smith, dean of Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences
THE INN AT ELON
koury business center
Clohan Hall
future development area (former elon elementary school site)
inman Admissions welcome center
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Sankey hall
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av
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E. Ha belk library/ Koenigsberger Learning Center
martin alumni center
McMichael Science Center
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BY ALEXA BOSCHINI ‘10
Ben Hanna ’07 helps people disconnect from the pressures of work and technology and reconnect with the people around them.
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n the tranquility of the woods, disconnected from screens and the constant ping of messages and notifications, the campers start their day with games, a nature walk or a yoga practice. Next, they might opt for some physical activity like rock climbing, kickball or archery. If they want to exercise their creativity, there’s always woodworking, string art or origami. The day winds down with live music and roasting s’mores under the stars. But these campers are not kids away on a summer excursion. They’re professionals from Fortune 500 companies. Ben Hanna ’07 is the co-founder and CEO of Custom Camps, which organizes camp-style off-site retreats for companies where their employees can create and innovate through play in a relaxed atmosphere. “It’s an opportunity to take your team out of the office for a memorable team-building experience that has none of the old stodgy trust falls,” Hanna says. As the name implies, Custom Camps creates day, overnight or weeklong retreats to suit each company’s specific needs, whether that’s a day off with fun and games or a chance for new team members to connect after a merger. Since launching in 2017, Custom Camps has organized retreats in California, New York, Texas and North Carolina for groups as small as 45 and as large as 1,500. The average retreat hosts 200 to 300 people, which amounts to a medium to large team at a big tech company or the full staff at a small- to medium-sized business. The Custom Camps team handles all of the logistics — securing lodging, coordinating meals, booking musicians and creating a wide range of activities to facilitate personal development and team building. “It’s everything you would expect from a tech conference but out in the woods followed by happy hour next to the river,” Hanna says. Campers can drop into hour-anda-half-long “playshops” that match their interests, from candle making and
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INTO THE WOODS
{ Ben Hanna ’07, co-founder & CEO of Custom Camps }
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coffee roasting to axe throwing and stilt walking. They can compete in a “Color Olympics” in which they divide into teams with colorful headbands and engage in funny competitions like three-legged racing or eating a Fruit by the Foot without using their hands. Away from the daily grind of the office and unplugged from technology, campers connect with their colleagues in new ways that strengthen their relationships when they return to work. Custom Camps strives to help people grow into more effective problem-solvers and more empathetic co-workers, to stimulate their creativity, encourage them to try new things and embrace learning from mistakes. “Our experiences are play-based, which means employees can make real-life connections that they can lean on when going through problems at work. To find solutions, they know how each other function in real-life experiences,” Hanna says. “They get to reconnect with themselves, reconnect with nature and play like a child again.”
{ Custom Camps organizes campstyle off-site retreats for companies where their employees can create and innovate through play in a relaxed atmosphere. }
* * * Camp experiences have been integral in Hanna’s life from a young age. The Atlanta native grew up spending his summers at Camp Rockmont in Black Mountain, North Carolina, where his mother was a nurse. In high school he started taking classes of fifth and sixth graders on rock climbing campouts in Tennessee, which he continued with his first-year roommate, Jason King ’07. After his sophomore year at Elon, he and some of his fraternity brothers worked as sea kayak guides on the South Carolina coast. “I got really into teaching people how to be outdoors and how to camp, taking people out into nature, explaining the biodiversity to them, getting people to connect with where they were as opposed to just being on vacation,” he says. Along the way, Hanna forged a unique path while at Elon, double majoring in journalism and philosophy with a minor in digital art. He developed a passion for philosophy under the mentorship of Associate Professor of Philosophy Nim Batchelor, who taught a pre-law critical thinking class that Hanna took during his 32 of
INTO THE WOODS
{ Campers connect with their colleagues in new ways that strengthen their relationships when they return to work. }
first year at Elon. “We had to write a 28-page appellate brief, which I thought was insane at the time, but I really enjoyed it,” Hanna says. He initially planned on going to law school before shifting his focus to the tech sector. He also credits Professor of Journalism Janna Anderson and Associate Professor of Art L.M. Wood, who passed away last March, as significant influences during his time at Elon. Anderson’s class about the future of the internet ignited Hanna’s interest in the technology world. “It has been exciting to see him explore careers that tap into the future of humanity and digital life,” Anderson says. “He has built upon his Elon experiences as a philosophy and journalism major to build a rewarding life in which he helps others find the answers they seek to the big questions they are asking.” Before giving professionals a break from technology through Custom Camps, Hanna’s career focused on driving people to the web. During the eight months he spent backpacking through Southeast Asia after graduating from Elon, he built websites for local restaurants and hotels in exchange for meals and
room and board. While in Thailand, he met some of the core team from CouchSurfing. com, a service that connects travelers with hosts willing to share their spare rooms, and went to work for the company when it relocated to Alaska in 2008. “I worked with them for five years and spent half a year consecutively in different places,” Hanna says. “I lived in Costa Rica, Thailand, Istanbul, Alaska, New Zealand, Mexico and Italy. I traveled the world working for them.” The company ultimately relocated to San Francisco, where Hanna was thrown into the world of venture capital and tech funding. He helped CouchSurfing.com raise $25 million over two funding rounds before moving on to other projects. One was Camp Grounded, a summer camp for adults. “We thought people were spending way too much time on technology, so we started this offline experience,” Hanna says. “When people got there, we took away their phones, watches and laptops, literally sealed them in biohazard bags and locked them away in a vault. People had four days offline in the redwoods in California.” After helping to launch Camp Grounded, Hanna returned to the tech world. He started an online auction platform that sold web domains and managed over $1 billion in escrow. He later served as vice president of operations at Long Game Savings, a personal finance app that helps people save money through games with cash prizes. But when Camp Grounded’s co-founder, Levi Felix, died of a brain tumor at age 32, Hanna and Camp Director Brady Gill decided to keep his mission going yearround, and Custom Camps was born.
“People really connect with the humans that are around them and the experience they are having as opposed to things that are going on out of their control elsewhere. The shift is slow, but it happens and it’s very noticeable.” — Ben Hanna ’07
{ Hanna & his team strive to create activities to help people grow into more effective problem-solvers and more empathetic co-workers, to stimulate their creativity, encourage them to try new things and embrace learning from mistakes. }
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INTO THE WOODS
* * * Hanna and Gill leveraged their connections to grow Custom Camps into a commercially viable business. They knew people in the tech industry who were looking to improve employee retention amid the stiff competition in Silicon Valley and pitched Custom Camps as a unique way for teams to forge stronger relationships outside the confines of corporate culture. They connected with networking groups and hosted events in the Bay Area, and the business began to grow through word of mouth. One of their early retreats was for executive assistants at Google. “The 40 people we took out for that one represented 10,000 people at the company,” Hanna says. “By showing them the experience we could offer, that was our way to get in there at first.” Custom Camps now hosts five to 10 retreats every month for a wide variety of clientele, from Tazo Tea to the Internet Archive’s Decentralized Web Summit. Though the retreats attract a lot of tech companies, Custom Camps retains Camp Grounded’s philosophy of taking a break from the pressures of technology. The retreats are typically held in venues with no cell service, and the Wi-Fi is turned off or limited. “By the second day, nobody has their phones out,” Hanna says. “People really connect with the humans that are around them and the experience they are having as opposed to things that are going on out of their control elsewhere. The shift is slow, but it happens and it’s very noticeable.”
Now, Custom Camps is starting to expand its reach beyond the technology and business sectors. Stanford University and some Bay Area public schools have approached Hanna and Gill about hosting retreats for faculty. Custom Camps plans to start taking its 50-foot tea tent on the festival circuit, where attendees at events like climbing festivals and music festivals can decompress and drink tea while listening to ambient music and engaging in intimate conversation. It also tested a retreat at the University of Nevada, Reno campus, and hopes to bring its playshops and tea lounge to colleges during orientations and exam weeks as a way for students to meet each other in a lowstress environment. “In school, the focus is often on ‘how is this applicable to my job when I get out?’ We forget that a large part of life is enjoying what you’re doing for the simple sake of doing it,” Hanna says. “We’re trying to teach people that they can appreciate their work and their environment a lot more once they bring play into that. That’s the biggest point of what we’re doing. Don’t forget how to play just because you also have to work.”
{ Since launching in 2017, Custom Camps has organized retreats in California, New York, Texas and North Carolina for groups as small as 45 and as large as 1,500. }
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From
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A Presidential Tradition
How a class gift 50 years ago gave way to the creation of the Presidential Medallion, a tradition that continues to this day. BY PATRICK WRIGHT
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ore than 50 years ago, as the Class of 1969 was preparing to graduate, senior class president George “Wendy” Scott ’69 was looking for a way to leave a mark. He wanted something tangible, something his class could proudly call its own. The idea finally came to him over a drink with a professor. “I was really good friends with Professor James Elder,” Scott says. “I was having a libation with Jim one night, and I said, ‘I just don’t know what we’re going to do for a class gift.’ Jim told me at most colleges the president has a medallion that he wears in academic regalia, and he said, ‘we don’t have one.’” With a few hundred dollars left in the senior class’s operating budget, Scott looked for a way to change that. He took the idea to Elon administrators as well as his roommate, John Papa ’69, although researching presidential medallions was no simple task at the time. “Of course, back then, we didn’t have computers, we didn’t have Google, we didn’t have smartphones, so he researched it somehow,” Papa says. Eventually, Scott found L.G. Balfour Company, maker of commemorative rings, yearbooks, caps and gowns. He wanted to know if purchasing a medallion would be possible with the money left in the senior class budget. As it turned out, the price was right — about $600, according to Scott and Papa. The senior class presented the official Elon College Presidential Medallion to then-President J. Earl Danieley ’46 at the 1969 Commencement ceremony. The jewel-encrusted medallion would be worn by future Elon presidents at the most esteemed university events.
{ George “Wendy” Scott ‘69, center, gifting the Elon Presidential Medallion to President J. Earl Danieley ’46 prior to the 1969 Commencement ceremony. Left: The original presidential medallion. Right: The new presidential medallion crafted for President Connie Ledoux Book’s inauguration in 2018. }
This past Homecoming & Reunion Weekend, the Class of 1969 gathered for a special reunion dinner where classmates celebrated their role in such a special Elon tradition while swapping stories and photos that reminded them of their time on campus. For Scott, the dinner was his first time seeing the medallion he helped create since he last returned to campus in 1995. That year, he saw former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher speak at Honors Convocation and recalls seeing the medallion being worn. “It was kind of cool to see,” he says. “I thought, ‘this is something that’s going to be around, and it’s going to be taken care of, and it will be here for a long time.’” Indeed, that class gift from 50 years ago has remained an important part of Elon’s history. The original medallion is still on display in the Office of the President today. It was worn for decades by Elon presidents Danieley, J. Fred Young and Leo M. Lambert. With the 2018 inauguration of Connie Ledoux Book, the first woman to lead the university, came a new Presidential Medallion. The revised version of the traditional piece was crafted specifically for President Book. It includes the university’s seal, maroon jewels, gold acorns and other symbols of the university, as well as a chain with plates featuring the names of Elon’s nine presidents. 35
{ George Troxler signing copies of his book, “From a Grove of Oaks: The History of Elon University.” Opposite: Troxler during his earlier years at Elon. }
The consummate storyteller Remembering George Troxler, who served Elon for more than 40 years as a professor, dean of cultural and special programs, and university historian. BY OWEN COVINGTON
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President Emeritus Leo M. Lambert has a favorite photograph of the late George Troxler, who served Elon for more than 40 years as a professor, dean of cultural and special programs, and university historian. Displayed across two pages in the center of the book, “Elon Under the Oaks,” the photo shows Troxler greeting a few last guests as they arrive for an evening concert at Whitley Auditorium. “He’s standing like a sentinel, and saying, ‘welcome to the concert,’” Lambert says. “If you know this central character to Elon’s history, standing almost in the shadows, this photograph has so much more meaning. It’s a story of the hundreds and thousands of hours he spent at Elon, making sure events were going well, making sure the very last guest to enter the auditorium was going to be greeted and welcomed. That’s the quintessential story of George Troxler.” Troxler passed away Oct. 27, 2019, at the age of 77, surrounded by his family. In the decades he was involved with Elon, Troxler mentored generations of students, oversaw scores of perfor-
THE CONSUMMATE STORYTELLER
mances, commencements and high-profile speakers, and headed the university’s 125th anniversary Founders Day commemoration. His celebrated book, “From a Grove of Oaks: The Story of Elon University,” stands as a testament to his dedication to preserving Elon’s history. “George Troxler lived the values of Elon University, through his devotion to his students, his commitment to expanding the horizons of the campus community and his dedication to documenting the history of an institution he loved,” says President Connie Ledoux Book. “Throughout his career, he worked to move Elon forward and the impression he has left on this university is a deep one.”
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roxler arrived at Elon in 1969 after receiving his master’s degree and doctorate in history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. During three decades in the classroom at Elon, Troxler taught courses in American history, North Carolina history, U.S. diplomatic history and in his field of American colonial and revolutionary history. “History is nothing more than a story, and I enjoy telling the story,” Troxler told The Magazine of Elon in 2004. Among his scores of students was Raymond Beck ’75, who recalls Troxler being “a pretty tough customer” in the classroom, with high standards for his students and an insistence on attention to detail. He was explicit about what he expected and demanded of his students. “He never raised his voice, he would never get angry, but he would give you a look or a word,” Beck recalls. “He expressed his disappointment much more subtly than most professors at Elon did.” Troxler was named director of cultural programs in 1985 and led Elon’s efforts to bring internationally acclaimed speakers and performers in music, dance and drama to the campus for more than two decades. He elevated the caliber and breadth of cultural events that took place on Elon’s growing campus. “I think it was a big moment for Elon under President Emeritus Fred Young when Margaret Thatcher made a visit to campus [in 1995],” Lambert says. “That made such an impact, putting Elon in a more high-profile position beyond the borders of the university.” Among the notable speakers Troxler had a hand in bringing to campus were Archbishop Desmond Tutu; former U.S. presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush; and Queen Noor of Jordan. “To weave together a cultural calendar that celebrated the best of what we were doing internally but supplementing that with speakers that offered mind-expanding viewpoints — that doesn’t just happen,” Lambert says. “I think George deserves enormous credit for helping to shape the intellectual transformation of the university as it became a more academically rigorous institution.” Troxler began serving in the early 1990s as chief graduation marshal, bringing a commitment to excellence to managing commencement, convocations and other major campus events. Each
spring, Troxler oversaw the placement of 10,000 chairs Under the Oaks for the undergraduate commencement exercises he ran with military precision and attention to detail.
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s a historian, Troxler was instrumental in researching the history of two of Elon’s most important artifacts: the bell that hung in the Main Administration Building, which was destroyed during the 1923 campus fire, and the bell from Graham College, the predecessor institution to Elon, which is kept in the university’s archives and rung at the opening of the school year each August. Troxler partnered on the effort to restore and display the famous bells with Beck, his former student whose passion for history was stoked by Troxler and who would go on to serve as North Carolina State Capitol historian and site manager. The two collaborated again to research and restore a chandelier that had hung in Old Main before the fire, and later ended up in a church in Whynot, North Carolina. In October 2017, the restored chandelier was returned to campus and now hangs in the Archives Room in Belk Library, thanks to the work of the pair. 37
THE CONSUMMATE STORYTELLER
“George really did a lot to preserve Elon’s history, and especially the early history before the 1923 fire,” Beck says. “That was what was driving George and me during these projects — to get some of these artifacts back, and in public view.” During his meticulous research for “From a Grove of Oaks,” Troxler pored through primary source materials in the university’s archives, part{ “From a Grove of Oaks” book cover. Below: nering with many on campus George and Carole Troxler being honored by President Emeritus Leo M. Lambert. } but most often with Katie Nash, who was then serving as archivist. Nash remembers first meeting Troxler when they served on the Founders Day committee and thinking, “Boy, this person really understands the world of archives. He’s going to be a champion and an advocate.” Nash, who joined Elon in 2005, was still relatively new at the university when Troxler became a mentor to her, helping her get established at Elon. “He understood the importance of building relationships in this field, and he jumped right in and introduced me to people,” says Nash, now university archivist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “That’s a lesson I learned that has stuck with me throughout my career.” “From a Grove of Oaks” provides thorough documentation and outstanding analysis of the daily operations and milestones in the university’s 125-year history, including the first comprehensive record of Elon’s growth under the leadership of presidents Young and Lambert. Troxler worked with Nash to review the visual history of Elon and choose photos for the richly illustrated volume. “He was just such a part of the fabric of this institution that he cared so much about,” Lambert says. “I think it was really meaningful to him to tell the story of the history of this place.”
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roxler was also part of the institution’s most significant programmatic changes, providing leadership three times across three decades for the institution’s major, and successful, reaccreditation visits by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. He and his wife, Carole Watterson Troxler, an accomplished scholar and professor emerita of history at Elon, were philanthropic supporters of the university, establishing the Troxler-Watterson Endowed History Scholarship and the Watterson-Troxler Scholarship to assist students studying history. The Department of History seminar room on the first floor of Lindner Hall was named and dedicated in honor of George and Carole Troxler in 2014. Beyond academia, Troxler was actively involved with the Boy Scouts of America throughout his life. A scout himself, he started as a cub master for the local Pack 51 in 1975 and his work resulted
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“George Troxler lived the values of Elon University, through his devotion to his students, his commitment to expanding the horizons of the campus community and his dedication to documenting the history of an institution he loved.”
in leadership positions, recognitions and awards at the local, regional and national levels throughout his decades of service. For his service to the Boy Scouts as well as with local historical organizations, Troxler received the Periclean Award for Civic Engagement and Social Responsibility from Elon in 2005. Two years after his retirement from the university in 2010, Troxler was awarded Elon’s highest honor, the Elon Medallion, for his meritorious service to the institution. In 2014, Troxler was named Elon’s first University Historian and was charged with leading efforts to document and interpret the evolution of the university for future generations. He and Carole were also honored with the Christopher Crittenden Memorial Award from the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association and the Federation of North Carolina Historical Societies for lifetime contributions to the advancement of North Carolina history. Charles Irons, professor and chair of the Department of History and Geography, was occasionally able to see Troxler engage alumni and friends of the university as they inquired about minute details of Elon’s history, which Troxler always handled with aplomb. Irons would also turn to Troxler as he fielded questions about Elon’s history. “I really appreciated the seriousness and the kindness and attention to detail that George demonstrated with the scores of inquiries he fielded,” Irons says. Troxler would often work on special university historical requests with Chrystal Carpenter, now serving as Elon’s university archivist. Carpenter came to Elon in 2015 as an archivist from the West Coast with little knowledge of Elon, and always found Troxler supportive of her development and her role as they worked together. “It was really wonderful to have him as an advocate,” Carpenter says. “He was just a big steward of the archives.” Carpenter like others saw the imprint that Elon had made upon Troxler. “George could have gone anywhere he wanted with his research and his passion and his interests,” she says. “Somewhere along the line, Elon captured him because it is unique and special.”
the legacy and indomitable spirit of mark foley ’94, a walk-on member of the football team, live on thanks to a scholarship endowed by his elon classmates and friends. BY MADISON TAYLOR
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yan Whitehead ’20 emerges from the locker room at Alumni Field House after a grueling five-overtime Homecoming loss to the College of William & Mary. He joins other members of the football team who are meeting family and friends on the terrace overlooking Rhodes Stadium. He finds his mother and father, Mary Beth and David Whitehead, who traveled from Virginia to watch him and his twin brother, Eric, play one of their final games before graduation. Then Ryan turns to another couple. He extends his hand to Floyd and Phyllis Foley, the parents of former Elon football player Mark Foley ’94, and then the two families pose for a photograph. That moment captures a link that will forever unite Ryan Whitehead and the Foley family, thanks to the collective efforts of a group of teammates, fraternity brothers, classmates and friends of Mark Foley, who died May 31, 2015, at age 44. 39
{ Ryan Whitehead ’2o, seated, with some members of The Duffers & other friends who endowed the Mark Foley Memorial Scholarship. Below: Ryan poses with his parents, Mary Beth & David, and Mark Foley’s parents, Floyd & Phyllis. }
Together they joined to endow the Mark Foley Memorial Scholarship, which goes to a walk-on member of the Elon football team. Whitehead is the first recipient, earning the scholarship in 2017. He was the perfect choice. “No one epitomizes what Mark was like more than Ryan’s character, his desire to play and just everything about him,” Floyd says. “Mark and I have such a similar story,” Whitehead says. “We’re both walk-ons from Virginia. We’re both linebackers. We were both able to find some success. We both have a passion for the game.” Mark Foley’s dedication, toughness, loyalty and humor define him to a group of Elon alumni and friends who will never forget him. “Mark was undersized; he battled. His former teammates will tell you he was as hard a player as anyone on the team,” says Garrett McKnight ’94, a Kappa Sigma fraternity brother who helped lead the effort to endow the scholarship. After graduating from Elon, the two remained close through their association with The Duffers, a group of Kappa Sigma alumni who enjoy golf, Elon athletics and camaraderie. “We have the ability now through Ryan and the rest of the recipients going forward to keep Mark’s memory alive. It gives all of us a great sense of pride.”
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— Thad Gulliford ’94
a friend to all
he never quit
For Floyd Foley the memory is so strong, one can visualize it just by listening to him. It’s a fall afternoon at Burlington Memorial Stadium at nearby Williams High School, where Elon played its home football games until 2001. Mark Foley, a junior walk-on who made the roster without a scholarship, is finally getting his chance. At 5 feet 9 inches tall and just 160 pounds, he was considered too small and slow to play for a college football team. Discouraged and nearly at the point of quitting, Mark talked to then-coach Leon Hart about letting him perform on a special team. Hart put him on the kickoff unit, setting the stage for a story Floyd, a former football coach himself, will tell often. “Mark was lined up right beside the kicker. Down the field they go. Mark is by no means the fastest guy, but I see him wide open running down the field and he’s five yards ahead of everyone else. He never had that much speed in his life. I’m thinking they’re going to knock him down and create a hole for the runner,” he recalls. “Well, the guy catches the ball at the one- or two-yard line, takes a few steps and Mark hits him wide open. The player goes flying, the ball goes flying and Elon recovers it at the four-yard line. Elon quickly scores a touchdown.”
When Elon kicks off again, Mark is five yards ahead of everybody, again. “This time the guy catches the ball at the eightyard line and Mark levels the guy, pulverizes him,” Floyd says. “The ball goes flying in the air and Elon recovers and scores. Elon is up 14-0 about two minutes into the game.” The story sums up Mark Foley. “Mark was the one guy I experienced in my life who would never, ever quit,” says Thad Gulliford ’94, a teammate at Elon and a fraternity brother. Gulliford, a defensive end, met Mark Foley at training camp their first year. They became close friends through Kappa Sigma. After that game, Mark became a regular on special teams and sometimes entered games at outside linebacker on defense. When a starting linebacker was injured, he played more regularly. Just before entering his senior year, Mark earned a scholarship, a coup for any walk-on. Mark’s high football IQ as the son of a coach and his ability to make plays kept him on the field. “Mark recognized that players on scholarship get to play, and then he got a scholarship. That recognized his contribution,” Floyd says. “Mark was beside himself to earn a scholarship as a walk-on.” It was inspiring for his teammates, too. “Him starting off not having a scholarship and then being awarded a scholarship says a lot about a guy persevering through the hardships of sports even though he was undersized and a little slower than the next guy,” Gulliford says. “It says a lot about who he was and who his parents are. They raised a fantastic, special son.” Mark Foley made a lot of friends and he shared good times with nearly all of them at Elon and after. He liked few things more than a round of golf, a great steak and a hand of poker. He loved family, friends, Elon and especially Elon football. “Everybody on the team loved him,” Gulliford says. “Well, just about everybody who met him loved Mark.”
A FRIENDSHIP HONORED
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ark moved to Ashburn, Virginia, and began a career in banking. He got serious about golf and became one of The Duffers, an Elon alumni golfing group created in 1993. The Duffers hold an annual four-day tournament at different locations, including sites in Ireland and Scotland. Mark returned often to Elon to attend football games or Kappa Sigma events. He played annually in the Duffers Cup and visited his buddies. Gulliford says his children called him Uncle Foley. “They just adored him.” In late 2013 or early 2014 Mark noticed a spot on his throat underneath his chin that wouldn’t heal. After some tests, doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital found a tumor in his back. It was removed but the disease had spread to his lymph nodes. “It ballooned from there,” Floyd says. In early 2015 he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He died four months and 13 days after the tumor was removed. “When Mark was in the hospital, just before we brought him home for the last time, his friends showed up at his hospital room. We walked in and there were 17 people in that room. All those guys, they called each other and came,” Floyd says. “They were all in there telling stories and laughing with Mark. It was a short time but a good time for Mark to see those guys.”
establishing a legacy
The Mark Foley Memorial Scholarship was created in 2015 by the friends of Mark Foley. The endowment specifies the scholarship is designated for a deserving member of the football team, with first preference being a player who entered the program as a walk-on and worked his way to a scholarship, particularly if the student was from the Northern Virginia/Maryland/D.C. area. To date, 60 individuals have contributed a total of 266 gifts to the fund. “Having this scholarship gives us the opportunity to reward a player who has had a similar experience to Mark’s experience at Elon, to come into the program as a walk-on player and earn a scholarship,” says Elon head football coach Tony Trisciani. “I know that Ryan Whitehead is very grateful for this opportunity to be the first recipient of the Mark Foley Memorial Scholarship.” The idea for a memorial scholarship came about after McKnight, Gulliford and other friends approached Elon and asked how they could pay tribute to Mark. An endowment as a memorial was among the recommendations. While teammates, Kappa Sigma alumni and
The Duffers led the fundraising, McKnight is quick to point out many donors have played major roles. “When I look at the list of donors, it makes me smile,” McKnight says. “This scholarship doesn’t belong to one group of guys. It may have been driven by one group, but it belongs to us all. There are a lot of people who really care about Elon and about seeing Mark’s legacy go forward.” Creating the scholarship has generated stronger relationships between Mark’s friends and his parents. For the Foleys, it’s an important connection. Floyd calls Mark’s years at Elon the best time they had as a family. They attended every game at home and on the road. “The fact that all these people would get together and sponsor a scholarship for Mark has been one of the most rewarding things that has ever happened to us,” Floyd says. “We can’t tell you how much it means.” The scholarship has also cemented the legacy of Mark Foley, not only for his friends and family but for Ryan Whitehead and players who will receive it in the future. Whitehead calls earning the Mark Foley Memorial Scholarship “a huge honor.” His first reaction was to learn more about Mark Foley. “First I met one of his old teammates and he walked me around campus. Later at Homecoming, I met all The Duffers and Mr. and Mrs. Foley,” he says. “It was awesome. They told me some amazing stories about him. The Foleys are such good people. I just hope I can honor their son in any way I can. I want to make them proud the way I want to make my own parents proud. I want to continue the tradition that Mark left behind.” Trisciani believes the Mark Foley Memorial Scholarship will have a long-lasting impact on Whitehead and future recipients. The rewards extend beyond football and their time as students. “The scholarship has given Ryan a great opportunity to connect with this group of alumni and the people who have contributed to the scholarship. It creates a lasting relationship that will benefit him personally and professionally,” he says. “It is important for Ryan to develop this relationship with the alumni and the Foley family.” McKnight and the friends of Mark Foley hope that happens. “This is what the Elon community is all about. Our guys all know who Ryan is. As it continues to go forward it will create a fraternity of people, of football players who embrace what we feel is important and fill out that bond for the next person,” McKnight says. “Mark loved football. He loved Elon football. Those things will resonate into the future.”
contribute to the
mark foley memorial scholarship online at
elon.edu/investor
(write Mark Foley Memorial Scholarship in the comments box) or call the Phoenix Club at 336-278-6503.
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POINT of VIEW
Unfinished business BY NY WHITAKER ’97
Increasing leadership opportunities for women can change the trajectory of our democracy.
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hen I first visited Elon College as a high school senior, it was the women I met in the admissions office and on campus who helped me make the life-changing decision to leave my home in Harlem, New York, to attend a small private college in the South. One woman in particular, Priscilla Awkard ’95 — now a member of the Elon Hall of Fame, a cofounder of the Elon Black Alumni Network and notable alumna — was my tour guide and remains a dear friend to this day. I recently had the opportunity to speak at an event in honor of the fourth annual Women’s March in Washington, D.C. Watching the snow quietly fall upon thousands of women of all ages, ethnicities, religions and socioeconomic backgrounds while singing songs of solidarity, I thought about how far we have come as women in this country in the 100 years since the passing of the 19th Amendment. I have made it my life’s mission to champion the needs of women, families and the underserved. As the former executive director of a national organization that recruited and trained women to run for office and in my current role as a vice chair for the Manhattan County Democratic Party, I have traveled the country to meet amazing women who are stepping up, raising their voices and daring to run. I have run for office three times, and each time, I was moved by the sisterhood of women who have surrounded me with their wisdom, their time and their generosity. I’ve come to realize that women who represent us in leadership often face great personal and professional challenges in their efforts to transform hearts and minds, increase opportunities for women and girls to follow in their footsteps, and implement legislation to expand access to quality health care, education and equal rights for all. Increasing leadership opportunities for women is needed now more than ever to change the trajectory of our democracy and our world. Our country needs to elevate the voices of women and girls. But that’s no easy task. A study by the Brookings Institute found women often have to be asked to run for office while their male counterparts simply self-identify as candidates. Once they run, 44 percent of women non-incumbent candidates outperform their male
counterparts by winning their first-time primaries. And, when they win, women leaders are innately more collaborative, have more success and sponsor or co-sponsor legislation five times more than their male colleagues. Though women are 51 percent of the population, they only hold 20 percent of the elected offices nationally and those numbers are even less for women of color and mothers, according to research by the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. Yes, we have seen great strides — from the first African American woman elected as mayor of San Francisco (London Breed) and the first Native American women elected to Congress (Deb Haaland and Sharice Davids), to the first transgender representative in Virginia (Danica Roem) and the first Latina/Puerto Rican supreme court justice (Sonia Sotomayor). And yet, we still have a long way to go. Mothers, for instance, have even more obstacles to overcome as they attempt to balance family responsibilities from the campaign trails. A recent Federal Elections Commission win by Liuba Gretchen Shirley spearheaded the first law to allow mothers to use a portion of their campaign funds to pay for babysitting during their run for office. Through her votemama.org campaign, she is creating new pathways for the voice of mothers to be present in the chambers of our democracy. Entering 2020, we are faced with a Census count that will reallocate resources and electoral representation, tense local and national elections, and multi-million-dollar campaigns aimed at dismantling or protecting the ideals we value most. We must all take a pause and do our part to level the playing field by remembering that Elon prepared us to be global citizens and informed leaders motivated by concern for the common good. In this new decade, I urge all members of the Elon community to make a commitment to support women in leadership, from our new university president to the local women business owners in our communities. Let’s encourage women artists, teachers, scientists, nurses, mothers and entrepreneurs to consider running for elected office, and support women candidates up and down the ballot. Not just because they are women, but because they are the most qualified for the job.
Ny Whitaker ’97 is a mother, political strategist, educator, small business owner and county committee woman in New York’s Assembly District 68. She lives in Harlem with son Taj.
ALUMNI ACTION
Here is to another successful decade Dear alumni,
A
s we close out an incredible decade of growth for our alma mater and our alumni network, I find myself looking forward to our next 10 years with a newfound sense of hope. Now, more than ever, our world needs Elon graduates. Together, we can lift Elon to new heights. During the past 10 years, we have laid a solid foundation for the future. So what could be next? When the future president of the Elon Alumni Board rings in the New Year in 2030, perhaps our generous alumni body will have reached 35 percent giving participation, helping to secure Elon’s place as a top-50 nationally ranked university. We may honor fellow alumni who have received accolades including Tony Awards, Emmys and Oscars for their work on the stage, on screen and
in print. I like to imagine that by 2030, a graduate from Elon’s engineering program will help to lead a space mission to Mars. One thing is certain: As the alumni body continues to grow and expand, so does the Elon network. By 2030, our alumni body will be 45,000 strong. Elon will lead the way in continuing education and extended learning programs. Expanding the network is not enough, however. What will make Elon stand out most is strengthening our connections and equipping alumni with the skills and knowledge they need to be successful. And I look forward to working toward these goals together. Kyriakos Pagonis ’99 President, Elon Alumni Board
HOMECOMING: A TIME TO RECONNECT
omecoming & Reunion Weekend 2019 was one for the books. Alumni, faculty, staff and students cheered on the Elon Phoenix football team, caught up with old friends and made new ones throughout the three-day
H
weekend, Nov. 1–3. It was also a chance to reconnect with class and affinity groups, to explore Elon’s ever-changing campus and to feel the energy of thousands of alumni who returned for one of the fall’s biggest weekends. The festivities kicked off Friday with Rock the Block, the annual community block party that features food, games, live music and a fireworks display in the heart of campus. During the event, reunion volunteers presented $1,172,052.74 they had raised as part of their reunion giving efforts to the Elon LEADS Campaign. Friday also featured special celebrations for several alumni groups. The Class of 1969 was officially inducted as Golden Alumni, with each class member receiving a medallion and pin during an annual luncheon.
Saurday’s tailgate and football game were part of a long list of Homecoming events, including the dedication of LaRose Student Commons (see page 9), awards ceremonies (see page 46), open houses and other celebrations that offered alumni opportunities to enjoy fellowship with their Elon family. See more photos from the events in this issue’s inside back cover and save the date for Homecoming & Reunion Weekend 2020, Oct. 16–18! 43
ALUMNI ACTION
Get ready to be all in for Elon! An Elon Day Party is coming to a city near you. We look forward to celebrating with you at one of our regional celebrations on March 5. Keep an eye out for more information on these events via email and social media soon. elon.edu/elonday
» The Richmond alumni chapter came together
on Sept. 18 to participate in the 7th Annual Hardywood Alumni Charity Challenge. The Elon group came in second place for its size category by donating 1,395 pounds of food to the cause.
» On Oct. 13, Elon alumni in Charlotte made their
way to Bank of America Stadium for an Elon tailgate before the Panthers vs. Buccaneers football game. The gathering was an exciting fan fest with food, games and special Elon giveaways.
{ Richmond }
{ Charlotte }
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ALUMNI ACTION
KEEP ELON IN THE KNOW If you have recently moved or changed jobs, make sure to update your information at elon.edu/alumniupdate to receive details about upcoming events in your area.
ELON.EDU/ALUMNIUPDATE HRE5RL { Los Angeles } { Seattle }
» On Nov. 20, Elon alumni, friends and families
enjoyed a pre-game social in Chapel Hill before the Elon men’s basketball team took on the UNC Tar Heels.
{ Baltimore } { Dallas }
» The Dallas alumni chapter served with the Food
Pantry at CitySquare Opportunity Center for their annual Thanksgiving turkey distribution on Nov. 23. Collectively the volunteers at this service event gave out more than 400 turkey dinners to families in Dallas.
» On Nov. 23, Elon alumni in Baltimore came together
for a special Elon tailgate before the Phoenix took on the Towson Tigers in the final football game of the season.
» Throughout the holiday season, alumni chapters in
Richmond, Charlotte, Washington, D.C., New York City, Los Angeles and Atlanta hosted festive holiday parties for Elon alumni in their communities. Thank you to all who came out to celebrate at these joyful events! 45
ALUMNI ACTION
The Elon Black Alumni Network honored the accomplishments of five members of the Elon community on Nov. 2: ✪
✪
✪
✪
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Awards Recognition
The School of Communications presented Brad Holloman ’09, center, with its Outstanding Alumnus Award on Nov. 1. The corporate partnership account manager for the NBA’s Orlando Magic was recognized for his work as an undergraduate as well as his continued excellence as a professional in the sports industry.
Heights Movement: Community Engagement and Development Group – EBAN Distinguished Young Alumnus Award Neima Abdulahi ’13, reporter for 11Alive NBC station in Atlanta – EBAN Distinguished Young Alumna Award Damon Ogburn ’07 , epidemiologist at the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – Eugene Perry ’69 Distinguished Alumnus Award Sandra Reid ’85, human service studies lecturer at Elon University – K. Wilhelmina Boyd Outstanding Service to Students Award Akilah Weaver ’00, senior benefits consultant with Bank of America – Gail Fonville Parker ’70 Distinguished Alumna Award
Several alumni, faculty and community members were recognized during Homecoming & Reunion Weekend 2019 for their contributions to Elon and their community.
The Elon LGBTQIA Alumni Network recognized four outstanding community members during a Nov. 2 event for their support of the LGBTQIA communities: ✪
✪
✪
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Daronce Malik Daniels ’09, co-founder of The
Erin Krupa ’02, assistant professor of mathematics and statistics education at North
Carolina State University – Elon LGBTQIA Community Enrichment Award Jay Tiemann ’21, human service studies major with minors in women’s, gender and sexualities studies and poverty and social justice – Matthew Antonio Bosch Student Community Engagement Award Don Chaplin, co-founder of Alamance Cares, and Andy Hunt, retired financial consultant, Burlington, N.C. – Elon LGBTQIA Community Enrichment Award
CLASS NOTES
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After a 50-year career in journalism, Nancy Butler Smith retired in November. She spent the past 10 years serving as executive editor of Sunshine State News in Tallahassee, Fla. She now lives in Stuart and is collaborating on a book about water quality in the Sunshine State.
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Mary Coolidge Ruth and Bill Ruth raised $6,115
elon.edu/classnotes
for the 7th Annual Walk to End Hydrocephalus, which took place in Charlotte, N.C., in October. The Ruths’ 15-year-old granddaughter, Ashley, suffers from the disease. Ashley’s parents, David Ruth and Christy Chappell Ruth ’95, are among the founders of the annual event. All funds raised go toward supporting research to find a cure and providing support for families with members living with a hydrocephalus condition. Mary and Bill live in Pleasant Hill, Tenn.
TURN YOURSELF IN! Help us keep you in touch with your Elon classmates.
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Lee Johnson remembers
his days at Elon fondly, particularly his time as part of the football team. He served as captain in 1967 and has never forgotten standout player Emery Moore, the first black football player at Elon who rushed more than 2,100 yards during his career. Lee lives in Asheboro, N.C.
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Henry “Bubba” Ayer, managing partner of the Pomoco Auto Group in Hampton Roads, Hampton, Va., is proud to announce his business has
In the fall, U.S. Navy Reserve Lt. Cmdr. Steven Harrell ’01 received the Defense Logistics Agency Joint Reserve Force Officer Leadership Achievement Award. As a reservist, Steven has been deployed six times in the past 12 years, serving in a variety of roles. He served as officer-in-charge of DLA Disposition Services in Afghanistan during his latest deployment. He is the chief operations officer for the Housing Authority in Lumberton, N.C. He and wife SunSarae live in Pembroke with daughter Pyper.
received numerous customer service awards and recognitions during 2019. The dealership has won the Coastal Virginia Magazine’s “Best of Reader’s Choice Awards” for the “Best Place to Buy a New Car” (Peninsula Gold). The business also earned a top-100 dealer on the East Coast in Newsweek magazine’s “America’s Best Car Dealers” ranking and won Nissan’s highest honor, the Nissan Award of Excellence, given to a car dealership with excellent customer satisfaction in sales and service. A third-generation car dealer, Henry is a retired schoolteacher. He lives with wife Karen Parks Ayer ’82 in Poquoson. • Robert Wagner was happy to connect with Charles Briggs, Mark Evelsizer and Bob Page during Homecoming & Reunion Weekend
in November. The friends, who refer to each other as “the family,” were able to reminisce about their time living in Hook Hall their senior year.
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Jonathan Hoover was
selected to be an official for the first round of the 2019 NCAA Division III football playoffs, as well as the 2019 North Carolina High School Football Regional Finals. Jonathan is a project manager in global learning delivery for Accenture and lives in Charlotte, N.C., with wife Tracy and daughters Kayla and Lindsey.
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In November, Wade Schoeneweis competed in his fifth World’s Toughest Mudder race in Fairburn, Ga. He completed 65 miles and more ALUMNI ALBUM
Bill Ruth ’66, Ashley Ruth & Mary Coolidge Ruth ’66
Henry “Bubba” Ayer ’84 (center) 47
CLASS NOTES
CELEBRATING Chelsea BY KIM WALKER
{ Glenn, Liza & Chelsea ‘07 Detrick }
T
he landmarks and hairstyles vary, but Chelsea Detrick’s smile stays the same. The images, part of a memorial slideshow made by her family after cancer took her life, show Chelsea in New York City, by the Eiffel Tower, floating on a river in Thailand. Exploring the world with her father, Glenn, was a huge part of her life and now, 10 years after her death, Glenn is making sure that the world continues to celebrate Chelsea. Glenn fondly remembers the first international trip he took with Chelsea, then 14, and her little sister, Liza. When they arrived in Paris, he handed Chelsea the subway map and asked her to figure out how to get to the hotel. Although she was initially baffled, after a few days in Paris she would maneuver around the city easily. “Travel is both interesting and developmental. My daughters have traveled to learn and experience other cultures but also to help them get a sense of what they can handle,” Glenn says. A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Chelsea came to Elon in 2003 and earned a degree in psychology. While at Elon, she continued to embrace traveling and spent a semester abroad in London. Glenn reflects on her independence and fearlessness with pride. “Although she was introverted, she still went to London on her own and loved the experience,” he says. “I felt good about that because I know it was challenging. She easily could have chosen not to go. But she did it.” After her graduation in 2007, Glenn and Chelsea drove cross country from Elon to Seattle, her new home. Neither would’ve guessed at the time, but it was the final trip the longtime travel partners took together. Chelsea was diagnosed with cancer the following year and passed away in April of 2009. “As I was dealing with the grief,” Glenn says, “I felt that I could be depressed, or I could work to guide the future in a positive way. I wanted to create something constructive and useful in her memory.” Chelsea loved her time at Webster Groves High School, so Glenn’s first project in her honor was creating an experiential learning center there. Through the school’s Chelsea Detrick Experiential Learning
than 250 obstacles in 24 hours, finishing 79th out of 788 contestants and qualifying for the 2020 Obstacle Course Racing World Championships in Stratton, Vt. Wade is senior vice president of operations at Azcon Metals. He lives in Glen Carbon, Ill.
02|
Michael Jefferson was one
of 25 national semifinalists for the Recording Academy and GRAMMY Museum’s 2020 Music Educator Award. The annual competition recognizes significant
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Center, students get academic credit and support for programming like job shadowing, travel, service and internships. The center also offers scholarships for a graduating senior heading to college. Nine years ago, the scholarship program awarded its first scholarship to Melissa Bodkin, who teaches art at a St. Louis middle school. Although the funding was certainly helpful, Melissa appreciates the recognition the most. She was planning to attend art school and felt the scholarship helped confirm her choice. The Chelsea Scholarship is awarded to a female student who is a high achiever and respected by her teachers and peers but who may be overlooked for other scholarships. Melissa and Glenn remain connected, and Glenn recently attended an art show featuring her students’ work. “He’s always been very supportive and interested in what I’m doing, wanting to help out any way he can,” she says. There’s a second Chelsea Center in Kathmandu, Nepal, housed within the Nepal Orphans Home. It opened in 2013 and was expanded into a separate building and renamed the Chelsea Education and Community Center in 2017. The center is an important community resource, offering training for the children who live there as well as free language, computer and math courses for local women. Glenn participated in an awards ceremony at the school and presented a 72-year-old woman with the inspiration award. She takes a variety of classes at the center six days a week, embracing the opportunity to grow and learn. “Our tagline is ‘Educate, Engage and Empower,’ and it was amazing to see all of the energy and enthusiasm for learning in these women, from 25 years old to 72. It’s quite a place,” he adds. Chelsea’s legacy also reaches to Burkina Faso, where Glenn sponsors the Chelsea Scholarship. It covers the school fees for nine rural children, who would be unable to attend school otherwise. It’s just the sort of thing Chelsea would have loved. “Chelsea didn’t get to live a long life,” Glenn says. “But because she lived, there are people on three continents getting opportunities that they wouldn’t have had. I think she’d be happy that there is good being done in her name.”
contributions to the field of music education and commitment to maintaining music education in schools. Michael is the director of bands at Western Alamance High School, where he directs the AllAmerican Brigade Marching Band, the Western Express Jazz Big Band and the Symphonic Band. He was the only North Carolina educator among the semifinalists. • Joshua Phoebus and Rachel Hull were married 9/7/19. Alumni in attendance included
Matt Ritchie ’01, Joey Santorum ’01, Mike D’Angelo and Christian Wiggins ’03. Joshua is director of
performance and transformation for Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf. They live in Dillsburg.
04|
In December, Daniel Hampton was hired as a senior vice president, commercial market executive to build Summit Community Bank’s government contractor lending division. In this role, Dan will be
CLASS NOTES responsible for creating new products and policies while growing a client portfolio in the bank’s Northern Virginia market. He lives in Leesburg.
05|
ALUMNI ALBUM
Shawn Howard and
James Brown were engaged 10/18/19. They first met while working at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando, Fla., in 2013. Fittingly, James proposed while the pair was visiting Edinburg Castle in Scotland, which served as the inspiration for Hogwarts in the Harry Potter movies. Shawn is an inflight services supervisor for Frontier Airlines. They live in Orlando.
06|
Ryan Conboy and Kelli Keating Conboy ’07
welcomed twins Carson and Claire on 12/27/18. They join older brother Camden. The family lives in Greensboro, N.C.
09|
Bob Page ’84, Charles Briggs ’84, Robert Wagner & Mark Evelsizer ’84
Jonathan Hoover ’92
Wade Schoeneweis ’97
Kelsey Robinette and Paul Robinette welcomed
daughter Elinor “Ellie” Rae on 10/13/19. Kelsey is an outreach assistant with The Get In Touch Foundation. The family lives in Milford, Conn.
10|
Stefanie Richards and Richard Johns ’11 were married in Tuscany, Italy, on 6/8/19. Alumni in attendance included Kelly Richards Lestrange ’08, Stephanie Hicks, Brian Mackey, Thompson Mackey, Patrick Minnock, Lindsay Molin, Lindsay Stone Pons, Philip Pons, Wyatt Scott, Sadie Stafford, Kevin Swett, Justin Hall and Fritz Pugsley ’12. Stefanie is a physical therapist at Nicholas Institute of Sports Medicine and Athletic Trauma and Richard is an airline manager with JetBlue Airlines. They live in New York City.
11|
Michael Jefferson ’02
Joshua Phoebus ’02, Rachel Hull & friends
Manisha P. Patel {Law} has
been elected to serve a second term as president of the North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys. The association promotes the participation of women in the legal profession and advances the rights and welfare of women under the law. In 2018, Manisha opened the Law Office of Manisha P. Patel, PLLC in Greensboro, where she focuses on domestic and family law.
13|
Ronda Ataalla and William McPherson ’14 were married
10/25/19 surrounded by many of their Elon friends. They
Shawn Howard ’05 & James Brown
Ryan Conboy ’06, Kelli Keating Conboy ’07 & children 49
CLASS NOTES
Translating to
success BY PATRICK WRIGHT
J
ust a few hours south on I-85 from Elon, you’ll find one of Major League Soccer’s most exciting young clubs. Atlanta United FC — “The Five Stripes” — has already hosted, and won, an MLS Cup, hosted an MLS All-Star Game and won a U.S. Open Cup in just three seasons as an organization. Elon alumnus Justin Veldhuis ’12 has been along for the ride since the beginning. “Part of what drew me to this club was the ambition,” says Veldhuis, who has been a communications coordinator for the team since its inaugural 2017 season. “I think Atlanta United has become a club with very high aspirations, and they’re a top MLS club in every way you measure.” As a member of Atlanta United’s communications team, Veldhuis produces press releases and announcements, and serves as a liaison between the team and the media — local, national and international. But his job description includes another role that has made him a familiar face among Atlanta United supporters. Fans might have seen Veldhuis on Fox Sports or other broadcasts following Atlanta United matches, serving as interpreter for players and coaches. He has interpreted for current and former MLS stars such as Josef Martínez, Ezequiel Barco and Miguel Almirón, but admits the responsibility was especially intimidating at first. “I showed up, and within the first couple of days, I was already having to interpret for our head coach, Tata Martino, at a press conference,” Veldhuis says. “So that was kind of like my ‘welcome to the job’ moment.” With three years of practice, Veldhuis is now comfortable in
{ Justin Veldhuis '12, right, serves as interpreter for Atlanta United FC striker Josef Martinez during a press conference. }
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{ Justin Veldhuis '12 } his role and sees each opportunity to interpret as an exciting challenge. “The hardest part is trying to be as accurate as I can whenever players and coaches are speaking because I know that whatever I say is probably what they’re going to be quoted for, so there’s a little extra pressure.”
Veldhuis says he’s grateful for his time at Elon and the study abroad experience that opened doors he’d never considered entering before. Given his role with the team, some might be surprised to find that Veldhuis is not a native Spanish speaker. In fact, he only began learning the language in middle school and didn’t truly grasp it until his time at Elon. “I’d say I learned the most the semester I was abroad in Madrid when I was a junior at Elon. That’s when I was immersed in it for the first time and forced to speak it,” he says. That study abroad experience left such a mark, the journalism and international studies double major packed his bags and returned to Madrid post-graduation. Veldhuis spent two years teaching English at a secondary school in Spain. “Those two and a half years that I lived there were the most impactful in terms of learning the language,” he says. Veldhuis would later supplement those experiences with an MBA and master’s degree in sports business management from the University of Central Florida. Following internships with MLS’s Orlando City and the Copa América tournament in 2016, Veldhuis landed his current role with Atlanta United, as the club looked to expand its footprint beyond U.S. borders. “The coolest part for me has been being at a club with such global aspirations,” he says. “And when I think about all the experiences and all the different competitions that I’ve had the chance to be part of in just three years, I think about how fortunate I am.” Veldhuis says he’s grateful for his time at Elon and the study abroad experience that opened doors he’d never considered entering before. “That was the start to this path that I’ve been on ever since,” he says.
CLASS NOTES live in Cary, N.C. • Tara Corbett and David Middleton were married 11/6/19. Alumni in the bridal party included Eryn Gorang ’14 and Katie Hadobas Arms ’14. After obtaining a master’s degree in social work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Tara received her master’s in theology studies from Duke University in 2019. She is a social worker at InterAct. They live in Durham, N.C., with their dog, Carly. • Michael Gallagher and Elyse Yoder ’14 were married 6/8/19. Michael is a marketing campaign manager for IBM and Elyse is a teacher at New York’s The Browning School. They live in Greenwich, Conn. • Elise Noyes received the KCF Culture Award, which is given to someone who embodies KCF Technologies’ values of smarts, grit and drive despite challenges and with a positive attitude. As executive assistant at KCF, Elise focuses on helping other people, whether it be coworkers or customers. The Pennsylvaniabased company’s mission is to optimize American manufacturing by monitoring industrial machines and eliminating factory unplanned downtime.
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In December, John Somers finished fifth in the annual Shell Championship in Florida organized by PGA TOUR Latinoamérica. The top placement qualified him for the Korn Ferry Tour in 2020, which is the tournament responsible for awarding membership cards to players who wish to compete in the PGA TOUR.
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This past summer, Joseph Incorvia and Audrey Engelman ’17 went on a gorilla trek in Africa. Joseph, who made sure to wear Elon gear while visiting the continent, is a research assistant at Harvard Medical School in Boston and Audrey is supervisor of media and partnerships at Showtime Networks in New York. • Caroline Medley and Stephen Freeman were married 10/12/19. Alumni in attendance included Ned Dibner ’12, Claire Mauro ’14, Kaitlinn Dibner, Amber Hawes ’17 and Chuckie Hawes ’17. They live in Orlando, Fla.
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Amber Adams-Kuebler and Charles “Chuckie” Hawes
were married 4/28/19. Amber is a third-grade teacher at Oakhurst STEAM Academy and Chuckie is a technical writer for HVACi. They live in Charlotte, N.C.
Stefanie Meyers ’09, (second from the left), a top executive with the cable and satellite television network STARZ, has been named one of the “New Leaders in TV” by top industry publication Variety. As senior vice president for distribution, Stephanie negotiates and executes distribution and device deals for STARZ and oversees its digital distribution partner marketing. She was one of eight named to the list by Variety, which says it seeks to identify the next generation of leaders in the entertainment business each year. She lives in New York.
Charitable Gift Annuities CAN PROVIDE INCOME FOR LIFE
a charitable gift annuity of $10,000 or more to Elon will guarantee a fixed income for the rest of your life. With market interest rates near historic lows, a gift annuity is an attractive way to increase your income and make a gift to Elon at the same time. You will receive immediate tax benefits and can defer capital gains. The payment rate of a charitable gift annuity depends on your age at the time of the gift—the older you are, the higher the rate.
NEW RATES ONE BENEFICIARY
TWO BENEFICIARIES
AGE
ANNUIT Y R ATE
AGE
ANNUIT Y R ATE
60
4.3%
60/65
4.0%
65
4.7%
67/67
4.4%
70
5.1%
71/73
4.7%
Annuity rates are subject to change. The annuity rate remains fixed once your gift is made.
To explore a gift annuity for you, your spouse or a family member, visit elonlegacy.org. Talk with us today about how you may benefit from a life income gift to Elon and other gift-planning opportunities. please contact: Elizabeth Read, assistant director of planned giving 336-278-7474 ■ eread@elon.edu ■ elonlegacy.org
{ Students sitting by the iconic senior oak tree, which was struck by lightning in 1981. }
51
CLASS NOTES ALUMNI ALBUM
Kelsey Robinette ’09, Paul Robinette ’09 & children
Ronda Ataalla ’13, William McPherson ’14 & friends
Elise Noyes ’13 52 of
Stefanie Richards '10, Richard Johns ’11 & friends
Tara Corbett ’13, David Middleton & Carly
John Somers ’14 (far right)
Manisha P. Patel G’11
Michael Gallagher ’13 & Elyse Yoder ’14
CLASS NOTES
All in the family
BY LEILA JACKSON ’22
E
Every pair of our socks is made in North Carolina and that’s really what we’re all about — supporting the local economy and local jobs here.
ven before he became a businessman, Nathan James ’14 had an entrepreneurial spirit. At 8 years old, he was growing tomatoes in his backyard and selling them door-to-door to his neighbors. While at Elon, he launched a business buying and selling textbooks. Now, he is the president of the family business, Boardroom Socks, which manufactures premium men’s dress socks. Located in Charlotte, the small business was co-founded by James’ parents. While the family has been involved in the textile industry since 1837, when their first fabric mill opened in North Carolina, the idea for Boardroom Socks came about by happenstance. After the closure of a knitting mill that produced some of James’ father’s favorite socks, Mike James decided to start manufacturing socks for family and friends. The venture eventually became a business in 2010. What started out as a pastime eventually became a business in 2010 when the Jameses officially launched Boardroom Socks. Their products are now sold on the company website and at independent retailers. “Growing up watching my dad working in textiles — and the more I learned about how far back that tradition went in our family — it felt like something I should do,” Nathan James says. “Once the business continued to grow, it seemed like a great manifestation of all those things in one. I could work for myself and carry on some of these traditions, so it was a natural fit.” After graduating from Elon with degrees in marketing and finance in 2014, James helped his parents on the side while working full time at UPS. After four years, he decided it was time to commit entirely to the family business, taking the helm in May 2018. As president of a small business, James has many roles, which range from coming up with a marketing strategy to forming partnerships or ordering more labels. “You kind of wake up in the morning and never really know what the day is going to throw at you,” he says. “It’s what keeps it fun and interesting.” James says one of Boardroom Socks’ main goals is to stay local, since outsourcing has heavily impacted textile manufacturers in the state. “Every pair of our socks is made in North Carolina and that’s really what we’re all about — supporting the local economy and local jobs here,” he adds. “So much textile and hosiery manufacturing has moved to Southeast Asia, and we’re just passionate about doing what we can to carry on local traditions.” As president, he wants to continue growing the business while staying true to this core goal. “I think some of the most rewarding parts about what we do are working with local people and knowing that we’re helping to carry on North Carolina’s textile tradition.”
Forbes has recognized the award-winning work of investigative journalist and Elon alumnus Joe Bruno ’14 by naming him to its 2020 30 Under 30 list for media. A journalist for WSOC-TV in Charlotte, N.C., Joe has received national recognition for his work uncovering ballot fraud in North Carolina’s Bladen County during the controversial 9th Congressional District race in 2018. His reporting contributed to an investigation that led to the indictment of Republican political consultant McCrae Dowless and four others and a special election that was held in September. His work also earned him and the WSOC-TV team a 2020 Alfred I. duPontColumbia University Award, which is given annually by the Columbia Journalism School to celebrate the highest standards in journalism.
53
CLASS NOTES ALUMNI ALBUM
Joseph Incorvia ’15 & Audrey Engelman ’17
Caroline Medley Freeman ’15 & Stephen Freeman
Amber K. Hawes ’17 & Charles “Chuckie” Hawes ’17
Accounting (M.S.)
Business (MBA)
Education
AMPLIFY YOUR CAREER
(M.Ed.)
Higher Education (M.H.E.)
with an Elon graduate degree
Interactive Media
“The Interactive Media program was completely transformative, and I gained extremely valuable front-end development and interactive design skills. I remember browsing jobs and naming this exact position as my dream job. It never would have been possible without the skills I gained in iMedia.”
Law
GRACE KRAFTE INTERACTIVE MEDIA CLASS OF 2014
Interactive Designer, Google New York, New York
(M.A.)
(J.D.)
Management (M.S.)
Physician Assistant Studies (M.S.)
Physical Therapy (D.P.T.)
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CLASS NOTES
Jack O. White: 1927–2019
Mourning the loss of an Elon legend
J
ack O. White, the beloved band director who helped gain international acclaim for Elon’s music program, died Dec. 15 in Jacksonville, Florida. He was 92. White’s legacy at Elon traces back to 1962, when thenPresident J. Earl Danieley ’49 hired him to join the music department after observing White in action during an event in Raleigh, North Carolina. At the time, White, a West Virginia native, was the band and choral director at Cary High School. It didn’t take long for White’s presence to be felt at Elon. He devoted significant resources to developing Elon’s marching band, “The Showband of the Carolinas,” which under his baton achieved a reputation for creative and entertaining football halftime shows featuring such creations as the “Flying E Formation” and the snappy “Thank You Maneuver.” In addition to the band, White also organized The Emanons, Elon’s jazz ensemble, just one year after he arrived on campus. The group quickly gained international recognition as they played the 1964 New York World’s Fair and later, the 1972 Grand Ball for the Duke and Duchess of Luxembourg. In all, the group completed 23 tours under White’s direction. Then-North Carolina Gov. Robert Scott named the members of The Emanons as Goodwill Ambassadors in 1972. Throughout his career, White arranged music for numerous musical groups and was in demand as an adjudicator and clinician, judging marching bands and music festivals throughout the
{ Jack O. White directing the Showband of the Carolinas marching band during the 1970s. }
Southeast. He was a member of the College Band Directors Association, the National Band Association and the American Federation of Musicians, New York City, Local 802. Well known in the music world, White worked with industry giants, including Vincent Bach, Maynard Ferguson, Dizzy Gillespie, Wynton Marsalis and Doc Severinsen. White was recognized as Elon’s Outstanding Professor in 1968 and upon his retirement in 1986 was named Professor Emeritus of Music. In 1995 he received the prestigious Elon Medallion, and in 2012 he was named Band Director Emeritus. The bands’ current facility in the Center for the Arts was named in his honor in 2012. White was predeceased by his wife of 62 years, JoAnne O’Dell White. He is survived by his sons, Jon Frederick White II ’72 (Cheryl) and Reginald Fox White ’77 (Arleene), along with six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
IN MEMORIAM Burlington, N.C., 9/19/19
Geraldine “Jerry” Mangum Horton ’38,
James Fred Bowman ’51, Burlington, N.C., 10/31/19
Dr. Harold E. Maxwell ’41,
Ronald Ewart Black ’54,
Fayetteville, N.C., 9/18/19
The Rev. Mark Winston Andes ’44,
Burlington, N.C., 11/11/19
Rising Sun, Md., 9/29/19 James Lewis Winston ’55, Glen Allen, Va., 10/30/19 Joyce Perry Clark ’57,
Diana Lewis Lee ’68, Burlington, N.C., 9/1/19
Bobby Dean Atkins ’71,
Mt. Airy, N.C., 2/12/19
Greensboro, N.C., 11/30/19
Michael John Reid ’71, High Point, N.C, 11/18/19
J. Thomas Lindley, Sr. ’48,
Ann Clifford Langston ’57, Timmonsville, S.C., 11/26/19
Greensboro, N.C., 10/6/19
Erna Carter Bailess ’49, Greensboro, N.C., 11/11/19
Claude Franklin Dover ’60,
Myra Cates ’79,
Helen Jones Daniel ’50,
Ronald Dean “Bob” Sharpe ’62,
William Robertson Hanckel II ’92,
Jane Transou Fowler ’50 p’77 p’79 gp’02,
Patricia Anne Crews Nelson ’63,
Burlington, N.C., 9/2/19
Winston-Salem, N.C., 11/27/19
Clarksville, Va., 9/4/19 Aiken, S.C., 10/2/19
Winston-Salem, N.C., 10/31/19
Ames, Iowa, 11/3/19
Robert Lee “Bob” Johnson ’70,
Kilmarnock, Va., 11/24/19
Lewis Nance ’47, Stone Mountain, Ga., 10/29/19
Burlington, N.C., 10/23/19
Daniel J. Cavarretta ’19,
Charles Edward Connelly ’73,
Mebane, N.C., 7/21/17 Raleigh, N.C., 10/18/19
Sarah Dale Lackey Finley ’94,
The Rev. Ann Calvin “Cally” Rogers-Witte,
who served on the Elon University Board of Trustees from 1999 to 2009, passed away 11/12/19. A trustee emerita, she was the mother of Elon alumna Mary Ann Rogers-Witte ’99 and delivered Elon’s Baccalaureate address in May 1998.
Burlington, N.C., 11/14/19
55
A Weekend to Remember With sunny skies, beautiful weather and one of the largest crowds in recent years, Homecoming & Reunion Weekend 2019 provided a chance to rekindle friendships, relive cherished memories and experience the feeling of coming home once again.
Office of Alumni Engagement PO Box 398 Elon, NC 27244 Toll Free: (877) 784-3566 elon.edu/alumni
Jean Ross ’, a biology major and Elon College Fellow, spent Winter Term at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute at Barro Colorado Island in Panama working with her mentor, Assistant Professor of Biology Jen Hamel. The pair is studying how and why katydids use multiple kinds of communication like chirps and vibrations. They monitor katydids’ responses as they vibrate leaves. Ross received a Glen Raven Endowed Grant and a Center for Research on Global Engagement Undergraduate Research Grant to support this trip, and she will present her findings in the spring. “During a trial, I saw Jean’s expression as she watched an animal do something that we did not know they did,” said Hamel. “It was a magical moment: Nature showed us a secret, and we were the only ones who knew it.”
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