T H E
M A G A Z I N E
S P R I N G
O F
2 0 0 9
TRAILBLAZERS Elon Law charter class graduates
President Leo M. Lambert sounded the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange March 9 on a day when Wall Street celebrated Elon’s academic achievements. Joining Lambert on the platform were Elon students, alumni, parents and Mary Gowan, dean of the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business. They visited the city as part of the regional kickoff of the Ever Elon Campaign, and their NYSE appearance marked a historic milestone for the market. The next day, stocks began a major turnaround following months of declining values (see story on page 9).
The Magazine of Elon Spring 2009, Vol. 71, No. 2
T H E
Editor Jaleh Hagigh
M A G A Z I N E
O F
Designers Christopher Eyl Carolyn Nelson News Editor Eric Townsend Photographer Grant Halverson Copy Editor Kristin Simonetti ’05
Features
Class Notes Holley Berry Student Writers Robert Hoppey ’09 Bethany Swanson ’09 Director of University Relations Daniel J. Anderson The Magazine of Elon is published quarterly for alumni, parents and friends by the Office of University Relations. 336-278-7415 Editorial offices The Magazine of Elon 2030 Campus Box Elon, NC 27244-2020 Class Notes Elon Office of University Relations 2030 Campus Box Elon, NC 27244 E-mail: alumniclassnotes@elon.edu Elon Web site www.elon.edu
12 14 18
Magazine Web site www.elon.edu/magazine
Board of Trustees, Chair Allen E. Gant Jr., Burlington, N.C. Elon Alumni Board, President Bill Coffman ’86, G’88, Greenville, N.C. Young Alumni Council, President Caroline Sage ’02, Atlanta, Ga. Parents Council, Co-Presidents Dave & Ellen Kay P’10, P’12, Oakton, Va. Board of Visitors, Chair Alva S. McGovern ’72, Atlanta, Ga.
20 24
School of Law Advisory Board, Chair David Gergen, Cambridge, Mass.
Faculty Profile: Unlocking the Secrets of Memory B Y D AV E H A RT
More of us are living longer, which makes Amy Overman’s research on aging and memory more important than ever.
Alumni Profile: Serving the Common Good Inspired in part by their Elon experiences, many alumni have made a career of helping people in need. Read their essays to learn more.
Honoring the Sacred B Y R E V. R I C H A R D M C B R I D E
After serving for 25 years as Elon’s chaplain, Richard McBride retires this spring and reflects on his career in campus ministry.
Cover Story: Setting a Precedent BY DANIEL J. ANDERSON AND PHILIP CRAFT
The charter class of Elon University School of Law writes a new chapter in the university’s history.
Celebrating a Century of Hoops BY KRISTIN SIMONETTI ’05
Elon marks 100 seasons of men’s basketball by retiring the jerseys of Jesse Branson ’65 and Tommy Cole ’72.
Love School of Business Advisory Board, Chair Peter Tourtellot, Greensboro, N.C. School of Communications Advisory Board, Chair Don Bolden, Burlington, N.C. Phoenix Club Advisory Board, Chair Amy Thomas Hendrickson ’69, Raleigh, N.C. Director of Alumni Relations Sallie Hutton ’92 Director of Parent Programs Maggie Byerly
Departments 2 10 26
ELON News
30 CLASS Notes
PHOENIX Sports
40 MAKING A Difference
ALUMNI Action
ELON News
Who is an A student today? Leo M. Lambert
T
he issue of college grade inflation made its way back into the news recently, spurred by former Duke University professor Stuart Rojstaczer who has charted grade inflation for 20 years. His figures show the national grade point average is between 3.0 and 3.1, and predicts that will rise to 3.6 or higher within 30 years, if current trends hold. Elon fall 2008 grade distribution
A A B+ B B C+ C C D+ D D F OTHER
Elon faculty members have also been expressing concern about grades at the university, where the average grade point average for the fall 2008 semester was 3.16. Moreover, 40 percent of the grades assigned last fall were A’s. Faculty prepared for our April faculty meeting by holding a series of small group discussions about the pattern of rising grades. There is a growing concern about the trend and an increasing awareness of the complexity of the issues.
2
MAGAZINE OF ELON
SOURCE: ELON UNIVERSITY REGISTRAR’S OFFICE
The grade inflation discussion at Elon coincides with other campus initiatives to increase academic challenge to keep pace with the rising quality of the student body. Addressing the grading issue is a natural outgrowth of those efforts. Of course, the assignment of grades is a faculty prerogative. Some faculty members believe standards are completely out of whack with what is published in the university catalog, where a C is defined as “average performance in which a basic understanding of the subject has been demonstrated.” They question whether the “distinguished” meaning of A grades has been diluted. One tongue-in-cheek idea floated on campus is that the photo of senior Breanna Detwiler, national Truman, Mitchell and Udall scholarship winner, should flash on the computer screen every time a faculty member enters a grade of A, prompting a not-so-subtle comparison to everyone’s ideal of a great student! For other faculty members, today’s higher grades reflect a university culture of engaged learning and increasing qualifications of entering students. The Class of 2013 entering this fall is projected to have an average high school grade point average in core subjects above a 4.0. Clearly, Elon students do not have a lot of experience earning grades below B in high school. There is no doubt that this generation of students is grade conscious, with students highly aware of faculty grading standards and how to go about meeting them. They also are aware that their academic records will have a very real impact on their applications for graduate or professional school or their
ability to compete for work in a tough job market. Many faculty members argue convincingly that Elon’s learning-centered culture leads to higher grades overall. For example, many faculty members react to draft after draft of their students’ major papers, helping them to understand in a specific academic context what the standards for distinguished work are and how the current drafts might fall short. This is how learning to do excellent work is taught in many settings — not only academic ones — where critical feedback, revision and reworking leads to better results. In my view, this represents an important shift in the conversation, placing a premium on student learning. It is no wonder that the faculty at Elon, and at colleges and universities across the nation, are conflicted on the topic of grade inflation. Clearly, we must remain committed to maintaining standards of excellence. At Elon, we also will keep the primary campus conversations focused on promoting academic rigor, because the college experiences that have the greatest lasting impact and value are those in which we were most challenged and taught important lessons of perseverance and resilience. Leo M. Lambert President Go to www.elon.edu/magazine to see animated motion graphs of grade distributions at Elon over the past three decades. Anthony Crider, associate professor of physics, created the graphs.
ELON News
BUSINESS SCHOOL EARNS RE-ACCREDITATION
Elon’s Martha and Spencer Love School of Business has been re-accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International), the worldwide accrediting agency of collegiate business schools and accounting programs. AACSB International accreditation is the hallmark of excellence in business education and has been earned by less than 5 percent of the world’s business schools. The Love School initially was accredited in 2004. Since that time, the Love School of Business has moved into the 60,000-square-foot Ernest A. Koury, Sr. Business Center; established the Doherty Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership and professorship following a $1 million endowment gift from Ed and Joan Doherty, of Saddle River, N.J.; created the Wesley R. Elingburg Professorship following a $1 million endowment gift from Wes and Cathy Elingburg, of Greensboro, N.C.; and established the Chandler Family Center for Professional Sales through a $500,000 endowment gift from Thomas E. and Lynn B. Chandler, of Burlington, N.C. In addition, the MBA program has been named the top part-time program in North Carolina, #2 in the South and #12 in the nation (BusinessWeek magazine 2008). The MBA program also has been recognized as one of “The Best 290 Business Schools” (2008 Princeton Review).
Johnson named dean of Elon Law George R. Johnson Jr., a distinguished lawyer with more than 30 years of experience in government service and education, has been named the second dean of Elon University School of Law. Johnson had served as interim dean of the school since August 2008, when founding dean Leary Davis stepped down because of health issues. Johnson also served as the school’s associate dean of academic affairs and was instrumental in helping Elon Law become one of 200 law schools approved by the American Bar Association. “As we conducted our national search for Elon George R. Johnson Jr. Law’s next dean, it became apparent that George Johnson provided the perfect combination of experience, skill and vision,” says President Leo M. Lambert. Johnson, a faculty member with Elon Law since it opened in 2006, said he is honored to provide the next stage of leadership for the law school. “Our approach to legal education is breaking new ground, helping students understand the important roles they will play as society’s leaders,” Johnson says. After earning his law degree from Columbia University in 1976, Johnson began his public service career as assistant counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs. He joined the Carter administration in 1979 in the Executive Office of the President, serving as assistant general counsel for the White House Council on Wage and Price Stability. Johnson’s teaching career began in 1981 when he joined the George Mason University law school. He joined the Howard University School of Law as visiting professor in 1988, was named full professor there in 1989 and was promoted to associate dean for academic affairs in 1992. From 1996 to 2002, Johnson served as president of LeMoyne-Owen College in Memphis, Tenn. He entered private practice in 2003 and served three years at Saint Louis & Johnson law firm in Washington, D.C.
COOPER NAMED EDUCATION DEAN
David H. Cooper, a respected educator who specializes in early childhood learning, has been named dean of the School of Education. Cooper, associate dean for undergraduate programs and school partnerships in the College of Education at the University of Maryland, begins his duties June 1 and succeeds David H. Cooper Gerald Dillashaw, who stepped down as dean last spring after serving for 16 years. During his career, Cooper has focused on
early childhood education with an emphasis on preschool and primary-grade students with learning and behavioral disabilities. His research interests include student achievement in professional development schools, as well as disorders of literacy development. He is cofounder of Camp Attaway, a Maryland therapeutic day camp for children with emotional or behavioral disorders. GRANT FUNDS DNA EQUIPMENT
An $84,000 grant from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center will fund the purchase of two pieces of scientific equipment for processing DNA samples.
The DNA sequencer and a Real-Time PCR thermal cycler will be installed in McMichael Science Center. The DNA sequencer allows for highly detailed analysis of DNA fragment size and composition. Its primary purpose is to obtain genetic sequences of samples. Previously, students and faculty have sent samples off campus for sequencing. The RealTime PCR thermal cycler allows researchers to target, amplify and quantify specific genes in a sample. The equipment, scheduled to be available this summer, will accelerate and expand undergraduate research in the sciences, says Antonio Izzo, assistant professor of biology and director of the grant application.
MAGAZINE OF ELON
3
ELON News
ELON REMEMBERS FACULTY MEMBER
The campus community mourned the loss of longtime chemistry professor Eugene Gooch, 57, who was killed April 3 while riding his bicycle near campus. A motorist who failed to see Gooch struck the avid cyclist on University Drive in Elon. Gooch joined the Elon faculty in 1988 and was an active scholar and mentor to
his students. He specialized in chemical education and organic chemistry, and was an authority on nuclear magnetic resonance, natural products, organic synthesis and molecular modeling. His colleagues describe him as a bright scholar who had a passion for organic chemistry and
Eugene Gooch
was committed to sharing that passion with his students. Students, faculty, staff and friends gathered April 7 for a memorial service at Elon Community Church. Gooch’s wife, Marcia, has requested that memorials be made to the American Heart Association or a charity of choice in Gooch’s honor. Condolences may be sent to the Gooch family at 2015 Westover Dr., Burlington, NC, 27215. STUDENT WINS FULBRIGHT FELLOWSHIP
Steven Friedland
Brooke Barnett
Anthony Weston
Jeffrey C. Pugh
Faculty author new books Four faculty members have authored books exploring constitutional law, media coverage of terrorism, the ethics of environmental activism and the writings of a German theologian executed by the Nazis. Steven Friedland, professor of law, co-authored Inside Constitutional Law: What Matters and Why. The book is a guide for law students to supplement and enrich casebook reading and classroom experience in the study of constitutional law. In Brooke Barnett’s new co-authored book, Terrorism and the Press: An Uneasy Relationship, the associate professor of communications examines the consequences of the way American media report on terrorist acts. Anthony Weston, professor of philosophy, wrote The Incompleat Eco-Philosopher, a collection of essays chronicling his experiences and research over the past 15 years. In his book, Weston explores topics such as evolution, teaching principles and ethics. Jeffrey C. Pugh, the Maude Sharpe Powell Professor of Religious Studies, interprets the thoughts of a German theologian involved in plots to kill Hitler in Religionless Christianity: Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Troubled Times. The book puts into contemporary context ideas Bonhoeffer contemplated regarding Christianity and its relationship with governments.
4
MAGAZINE OF ELON
Senior Victoria “Tori” Davis has received a 2009 Fulbright U.S. Student Grant, which will support her graduate studies in Japan this fall. Davis will research modern Japanese diplomacy and study whether efforts to address terrorism are undermining the government’s professed support for “universal values” and human rights. The Fulbright Grant will fund Davis’ full tuition, as well as research costs, a living stipend and health insurance during her studies. The native of Victoria “Tori” Davis ’09 Fripp Island, S.C., double-majored in political science and international studies. Her research on American anti-human trafficking policies has been published in Virginia Policy Review. Last fall, she presented her honors thesis research on terrorism and diplomacy at the International Studies Association Conference. Davis is the second Elon student or graduate who has been named a Fulbright recipient since 2007. NEWHALL JOINS BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Ashton Newhall ’98, of Owings Mills, Md., was inducted this spring as a member of the board of trustees. Newhall is co-founder of Montagu Newhall Associates, a venture
ELON News
“The United States has to do a better job of explaining itself to the world and also of learning from it. If not, our actions will continue to be misunderstood and our leaders will continue to be surprised by the attitudes of people overseas.… Our ability to prevail in these struggles must begin with a desire to learn.” Former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright delivered the keynote address March 31 at A Convocation for Honors. She discussed the role of education in the world, the importance of international learning and the process of “connecting what we know to what we do.”
capital firm based in Owings Mills. Newhall’s firm manages multiple funds with a combined total of more than $1.5 billion in committed capital invested by corpoAshton Newhall ’98 rate pension funds, endowments, foundations, superannuation funds and family offices. He serves on the boards of Domain Associates, the limited partners board for Frazier Healthcare Ventures, QuestMark Partners and the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association Selection Committee. Newhall was appointed in 2003 to the advisory board of the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business and in 2007 was recognized as Elon’s Young Alumnus of the Year. As a student, he served as president of the Student Government Association, and was a member of the Alpha Kappa Psi professional business fraternity and Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. HENDRICKSONS RECEIVE SOCON AWARD
Trustee Jay Hendrickson ’71 and his wife, Amy ’69, of Raleigh, N.C., are among the 12 recipients of the 2009 Southern Conference Distinguished Service Award. The SoCon award recognizes individuals from its member institutions who have contributed to all aspects of the university. The Hendricksons have served their alma
mater with distinction. As charter members of the Phoenix Club IMPACT Circle, they are among the most generous supporters of Elon athletics. In 2007, the couple made a $1 million commitment to the Ever Elon Campaign to name the Hendrickson Football Center, planned for Elon’s North Athletics Complex, in honor of Jay’s father, Horace J. Hendrickson, one of Elon’s all-time greatest coaches.
Amy ’69 and Jay Hendrickson ’71
Amy Hendrickson serves as chair of the Phoenix Club advisory board and is a member of the university’s board of visitors. Jay Hendrickson served on the board of visitors before being named to the board of trustees and to the board’s athletic policy committee. As devoted alumni, the couple have served on the Elon Alumni Board and Elon Society Executive Committee. They have generously supported athletics scholarships through annual gifts to the Phoenix Club and in 2000 endowed the James A. and Amy T. Hendrickson Engineering Scholarship. They are members of The Elon Society President’s
Circle, Palladian Society and Order of the Oak, the university’s planned giving society. KISER HONORED FOR SERVICE LEARNING WORK
A coalition of colleges and universities has honored professor Pam Kiser with its annual award for dedication to connecting service with learning in higher education. Kiser received the 2009 Robert L. Sigmon Service-Learning Award from North Carolina Campus Compact during its statewide conference held on campus on Feb. 11. The coalition of schools seeks to increase campuswide participation in community and public service. Kiser is one of the faculty leaders in incorporating service initiatives into aca- Pam Kiser demic courses. “As educators, we have a responsibility to prepare our students to tackle the difficult issues of their time,” says Kiser, WattsThompson Professor in human services. “As part of this preparation, I consider it wise to provide our students with firsthand opportunities to grapple with the issues concretely as well as intellectually and to wrestle with their own understandings, values and motivations related to pursuing ‘the common good.’” Kiser will begin serving as interim dean of Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences, on June 1.
MAGAZINE OF ELON
5
ELON News
ALLEN RECEIVES HONORARY DEGREE
Trustee Noel L. Allen ’69, whose distinguished legal career has won international accolades, received an honorary doctor of humane letters degree March 31 during A Convocation for Honors. Allen has been a member of Elon’s Board of Trustees since 1985 and served as the board’s chair from 2001 to 2003. He chaired the three strategic planning committees that for two decades Noel Allen ’69 guided Elon’s unprecedented growth, and he chaired the 1998 presidential search committee that brought President Leo M. Lambert to the university. Last fall, he received the Distinguished Alumnus of the Year award. Allen played a pivotal role in establishing the Elon University School of Law and is a member of the law school’s advisory board. Allen is president and founding and managing partner of Allen & Pinnix law firm in Raleigh, N.C. A respected author and practicing attorney, Allen has received recognition as one of Business North Carolina magazine’s “Legal Elite” and a “North Carolina Super Lawyer.” Allen serves as legal counsel for the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy and several North Carolina professional licensing boards, including the Board of CPA Examiners and the Board of Architecture. He also has served as chair of the Antitrust Section and the International Law Section of the North Carolina Bar Association. He is the author of North Carolina Unfair Business Practice and Antitrust Law in North Carolina and serves as U.S. editor of the multi-volume treatise Competition Law of Western Europe and The United States. He also has published articles on ethics, the use of expert witnesses and legal challenges for regulating Internet practice. Allen and his wife, Sandra Robinson Allen ’72, have generously supported their alma mater, and are members of Elon’s Order of the Oak and the School of Law’s Founders’ Society. The couple are the parents of Brenner and Jeremy, a 2007 Elon alumnus. To watch a video clip of Noel Allen’s remarks, go to www.elon.edu/magazine. 6
MAGAZINE OF ELON
“You should never underestimate the value of working harder than anybody else around you … and you’re best able to do that if you figure out what you’re passionate about. If you’re able to somehow harness that passion and pursue that passion in whatever you’re doing, that’s going to allow you to work longer than everybody else because it’s not going to feel like work.” During an April 7 visit to campus, CNN news anchor Anderson Cooper spoke with students in the School of Communications before delivering a lecture to more than 2,400 people in Alumni Gym. He shared stories from his career and gave students advice on how to succeed in any profession.
GOODNIGHT AWARDED ENTREPRENEURIAL MEDAL
Jim Goodnight, co-founder and CEO of the Cary, N.C.-based software giant SAS, received the first Elon University Medal for Entrepreneurial Leadership on April 9. The medal was created to recognize leading entrepreneurs who exemplify Elon’s values of integrity, innovation and creativity, as well as
a passion for lifelong learning and a commitment to building a dynamic community. President Leo M. Lambert presented the inaugural medal to Goodnight, saying, “Jim and his wife, Ann, are leading citizens of North Carolina. They have done so much to transform education around the state and around the world.” Goodnight cofounded the privately held SAS in 1976 and Jim Goodnight since then has served as the company’s chief executive officer. A global leader in business analytics, SAS has more than 11,000 employees in 54 countries. In 2008, the company posted revenues of $2.2 billion, its 33rd consecutive year of growth and profitability. Before receiving his award, Goodnight shared with students some of the factors that have led to his success. “I’ve never been a really hands-on, topdown manager,” Goodnight said. “I don’t really believe in it. What I like to do is find really good people, give them the ball and let them run with it.” Entrepreneurial education is the focus of the Doherty Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership in Elon’s Martha and Spencer Love School of Business. TROXLER HONORED FOR SERVICE TO ELON
George Troxler, a longtime professor of history, was honored March 31 at A Convocation for Honors for guiding the Office of Cultural and Special Programs for the past 23 years. Troxler is George Troxler stepping down this spring as dean of cultural and special programs. Normally working behind the scenes at Convocation, Troxler was invited to sit on the platform in recognition of his extraordinary service to Elon. In addition to bringing excellent cultural programs and performances to
ELON News
Periclean Scholars travel to Ghana for health clinic opening When torrential rains make the roads “It was a wonderful and moving The students’ fundraising efforts from your village impassable for half the experience to be in Kpoeta with several sped up construction of the 10-room year and the nearest medical facility is Periclean Scholars for the clinic’s grand clinic, while the Ghanaian government miles away, the only way to ensure full opening,” Frontani said. agreed to post a full-time nurse and a access to healthcare is to open your The Kpoeta project was launched midwife in the clinic to provide basic own clinic. That’s just what residents of in 2007 when visiting Fulbright Scholar medical care to the people of Kpoeta. one village in Ghana did in The next phase of the January with help from Elon’s project will focus on keeping Periclean Scholars Class of medical professionals in the 2010. peasant farming community, Four Periclean Scholars including building a duplex to and faculty member Heidi house them. Frontani traveled to Ghana for The Periclean Scholars the Jan. 10 opening of the program is the centerpiece of Kpoeta Community Clinic. Elon’s Project Pericles, which is Another eight scholars plan to part of a national initiative to visit Kpoeta when they study raise the level of civic in the West African nation engagement and social later this year. responsibility among college The 32 members of the and university students. Periclean Scholars Class of Periclean Scholars take special 2010 raised more than $43,000 (l-r) Periclean Scholars Tracey Evans, Mica McCullough, Briana O’Neil and Megan Prilutski in Ghana courses during the three-year with Francis Amedahe, former Visiting Fulbright Scholar at Elon. for development projects, program and select one or including more than $20,000 more class projects that for construction and furnishing of the Francis Amedahe proposed that the address global or local social change. clinic in Kpoeta. In recognition of their 2010 Periclean Scholars partner with the For more information on the clinic efforts, villagers presented students people in his village to build a and other Class of 2010 Periclean with strips of kente cloth while Frontani, community clinic. Amedahe explained Scholars projects, go to org.elon.edu/ professor of geography and mentor to to students that the 10,000 people of pericleanscholars2010. To learn more the scholars, was installed as Kpoeta lacked regular access to about Project Pericles, go to www.elon. Development Queen Mother of Kpoeta. healthcare. edu/pericles.
Elon, Troxler has led the planning for major campus events, including Commencement and fall and spring convocations. President Leo M. Lambert praised Troxler for the thousands of life-enriching speakers and performances he helped bring to Elon, calling his life and career “living testimony” to the university’s mission. “Hundreds of thousands of people have encountered art, music and theatre, and been introduced to great artists and great minds because of George’s discerning judgment, his planning, organization and his flawless attention to detail,” Lambert said. Troxler came to Elon 40 years ago with his wife, Carole, who retired from the Elon
faculty in 2003. He said he never expected to stay so long. “Elon very much became my institution, my university, my home,” he said. “This school became the place where I wanted to be and have been blessed to share. It has been wonderful.” ELON NAMED TO PRESIDENTIAL SERVICE HONOR ROLL
The Corporation for National & Community Service has named Elon to its 2008 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll With Distinction, the third time in as many years that the university has been
recognized by the federal government for its commitment to service learning and civic engagement. Launched in 2006, the Honor Roll is the highest federal recognition a school can achieve. Sixty percent of Elon students participated in service and civic activities within the past year, contributing more than 90,000 hours to community causes, the equivalent of 43 fulltime employees working 365 days per year. Elon was one of three institutions recognized by President George W. Bush when the university received an inaugural Presidential Award in 2006. The university made the Honor Roll With Distinction in 2007.
MAGAZINE OF ELON
7
Update
Ever Elon donors support scholarships, athletics facilities
�
Major gift boosts athletics project
Enabling Elon to provide outstanding facilities for students was the motivation behind a $500,000 gift to the new athletics field house, which will serve teams that compete in the north athletics complex. Dave Blank, director of athletics, thanked the donor, who asked to remain anonymous, for helping Elon be more competitive in its 16 men’s and women’s sports teams. “We are very grateful for this generous gift to our field house project,” Blank says. “Gifts that enhance our facilities are critical from a recruiting standpoint, but most important, these gifts allow us to ensure that our student athletes enjoy first-rate facilities during their Elon careers.”
Patrick family expands service opportunities Bob and Kathleen Patrick, of Naples, Fla., were so impressed with the service experiences their children have had at Elon that they gave $250,000 to establish the Patrick Family Endowment For Service Learning Travel. The couple want to expand the number of service trips the university offers and deepen students’ learning experiences. Funds from the endowment will provide travel grants to more students participating in service trips. 8
MAGAZINE OF ELON
Photo J McMerty
The university’s generous benefactors continue to respond enthusiastically to the Ever Elon Campaign to build the endowment, increase annual and planned gifts, and preserve and build the campus. Recent major gifts from parents and friends will endow scholarships to enable additional students to participate in service and study abroad programs, as well as support enhanced athletics facilities. As of late April, donors had contributed more than $62 million in gifts and pledges toward the $100 million comprehensive campaign goal.
The Patricks say serving overseas made their children think more globally. Their son, Michael, an Elon senior, participated in a service trip to Brazil, while daughter Melissa, a freshman, spent January’s Winter Term serving in Honduras. “Bob and I feel like you learn the most about yourself when you help others, and we try to instill that philosophy in our children,” says Kathleen Patrick. “You can study forever and not learn as much as when you step outside your comfort zone and help others. Bob and I want to do whatever we can to provide that opportunity to students who want to participate in service but cannot afford to.”
Hunts assist students with need and talent Making an Elon education possible for additional students with financial need and special talents inspired trustee Vicky Hunt and her husband, Sam, of Burlington, N.C., Vicky and Sam Hunt to make a $250,000 gift to endow a scholarship in their names. Funds from the endowment will provide need- or talent-based scholarships, including athletics scholarships, for deserving students. The Hunts say it was important to them that their gift helps as many students as possible.
“Sam and I believe that the endowment campaign is very important,” Vicky Hunt says. “We know that Elon’s endowment needs to be increased and that we need to make the Elon experience available to as many students as possible. Everyone gains from an endowment gift — the student, the donor, the university and hopefully the world.” Hunt says scholarship support is even more critical during challenging economic times. “I do feel that this campaign is even more timely now than when it began. That is what the endowment is all about, making this Elon experience available to more students. I think we are such a great value for an independent university.” Vicky Hunt is CEO of Hunt Electric Supply Co. and a former member of Elon’s Martha and Spencer Love School of Business Advisory Board. Sam Hunt is chairman of Hunt Electric Supply Co. He served four terms in the North Carolina House of Representatives and as the state’s transportation secretary from 1993 to 1995.
Edwards family funds study abroad scholarships Bruce and Susan Edwards, of Columbus, Ohio, know the power of studying abroad to enhance students’ education. That is why they made a gift to establish the Emily M. Edwards and Kelsey A. Edwards Scholarship for International Study. The endowment, named in honor of the couple’s daughters, will enable more students with financial need to study abroad during Winter Term. Susan Edwards says it was important to Kelsey, an Elon senior, and Emily ’08 that the scholarships assist students with significant financial need. “The girls had a fabulous experience at Elon, and we just wanted to give back,” Susan Edwards says. “Both our girls were able to study abroad, which was priceless, and we felt it was important to help other students have the same experiences.” Edwards says she and her husband look forward to watching their scholarship grow.
“There are so many students out there who need help,” she says. “Hopefully, we can keep adding to the scholarship.”
Record crowd attends Ever Elon in New York More than 280 alumni, parents and friends gathered March 9 for the New York launch of the Ever Elon Campaign. President Leo M. Lambert discussed the goals and progress of the campaign, and several guests shared stories of how their lives have been transformed by Elon. Following those testimonials, performing arts alumni Rob Marnell ’06, Lindsay Northen ’03 and Connie Renda ’03, who have appeared on Broadway and at other venues, performed vocal selections for the audience. The Ever Elon launch was made possible by generous gifts from parents Ed and Joan Doherty, Charles and Diana Revson, Frode and Katherine Jensen, Arne and Bonnie Arnesen, and Christopher Martin ’78. Following the launch, young alumni gathered for an IGNITE NITE to educate alums about the new giving program for graduates of the past decade. Earlier that day, Lambert led an Elon Lindsay Northen ’03, left, and Connie Renda ’03 group to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange (see inside front cover). On the bell platform were senior business majors Kyle McGrath, Jessica Connelly, Will Taylor, Amelia Henderson and Rachael Graham. Elon parent Peter Murphy, president of the former Bear Wagner Specialists, now Barclays Capital, sponsored Elon’s opening-bell ceremony. Joining the group were Christopher Martin ’78, president and chief operating officer of Provident Financial Services, Sam Burke ’89, partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, and parent Kevin Kelly, former managing partner at Bear Stearns.
Donors join Order of the Oak Order of the Oak, Elon’s planned giving recognition society, welcomes the following new members: Elon parents A. Roger Gibbs ’52 and his wife, Betty, of Greensboro, N.C.; Luther R. Conger ’55 and his wife, Louise, of Kernersville, N.C.; and parents John Bowie Gray V and his wife, Adele. For more information on Ever Elon, go to www.everelon.org.
MAGAZINE OF ELON
9
Tennis teams continue winning ways F BY MATT EVISTON
or the third consecutive year, the men’s tennis team has been ranked among the top-75 teams in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s NCAA Division I rankings. Senior Damon Gooch peaked at No. 6 in the regional and No. 56 in the national singles rankings — both program records. Sophomore Oscar Podlewski cracked the top-125 national singles rankings, while Gooch and sophomore Philip Nemec reached a program-record No. 20 in the national doubles rankings. One of the most decorated tennis players in Phoenix history, Gooch is a two-time team MVP, a three-time First Team All-Southern Conference singles and doubles player, a five-time SoCon Player of the Week and a three-time SoCon Athlete of the Month. Gooch, who anchored the Phoenix at No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles throughout his career, earned SoCon Freshman of the Year accolades in 2006 and led his team to a pair of SoCon regular-season championships as well as a SoCon tournament title and an NCAA tournament appearance. Last fall, he advanced to the 2008 ITA Mideast Regional Championship semifinals, marking the best finish in the tournament by Damon Gooch ’09 an Elon player. He also has been named to the Academic All-Southern Conference and ITA Scholar-Athlete teams. Coach Michael Leonard ’91, a two-time SoCon Coach of the Year, entered his fifth season at Elon this spring with eight of 10 players returning from the 2008 SoCon regular season and tournament runner-up squad. By late April, the squad was 19–5 overall (9–1 in SoCon). Gooch, Nemec, Podlewski, senior Kevin Beard, junior Clark Howell, sophomores Chase Helpingstine and Alberto Rojas, and freshman Carlin Murray tallied winning singles
10
MAGAZINE OF ELON
Anna Milian ’10
records in dual-match action this spring. The men’s team has amassed a 70–21 (28–3 SoCon) record during the past four years. The women’s team began its fifth year under coach Elizabeth Anderson by returning only one senior to the squad. By late April, the team had tallied a 13–11 overall record (5–5 in the SoCon). Senior Whitney Butcher, junior team co-captains Laura Graybill and Paige Kensrue, sophomore Jessica Margolis, juniors Anna Milian and Hayley Wahl, and freshmen Lauren Sessoms and Elisa Simonetti led the Phoenix. Last fall, Kensrue and Milian advanced to the 2008 Intercollegiate Tennis Association Southeast Regional in singles and doubles. Butcher, Milian, Sessoms and Simonetti posted perfect singles records at the Elon Invitational last October. This spring, Milian earned SoCon Player of the Week status once while Kensrue was named SoCon Student-Athlete of the Week once. In 2008, Milian earned First Team All-SoCon distinction in singles and doubles on her way to collecting team MVP accolades. Anderson guided the Phoenix to strong seasons in 2008 (15–10 overall, 5–4 SoCon) and 2007 (13–10 overall, 6–3 SoCon) after five consecutive losing seasons. In 2008, the women’s team advanced to the semifinals of the SoCon tournament for the first time.
PHOENIX Sports
Matt Matheny named new men’s basketball coach
Bennett Davis ’09
BASEBALL SQUAD STARTS SEASON STRONG BY CHRIS RASH
The Phoenix baseball team sat atop the Southern Conference standings in mid-April with a 14–4 conference record despite inconsistent play early in the season. The season began with the Phoenix taking two games of a three-game series on the road against the Auburn Tigers of the SEC. Elon then battled conference foe Appalachian State, winning two games in a series shortened by bad weather. The Phoenix next headed to Charleston, S.C., for a three-game series against The Citadel. After dropping the opener, the Phoenix rallied to a 17–5 victory over the Bulldogs in game two, handing head coach Mike Kennedy ’91 his 400th career victory — the most wins of any coach in the program’s history. Kennedy’s squad also claimed a three-game SoCon series sweep of College of Charleston, the first series win for the Phoenix over the Cougars. As in past years, the 2009 Phoenix season includes matchups against top teams in the ACC, SEC and Conference USA. By early April, Elon had tallied four wins against teams in those leagues. The SoCon recognized three Phoenix players for their performances in the first three months of the season. Junior outfielder Justin Hilt was named SoCon player of the week after hitting .583, and junior catcher Mike Melillo received the same honor after hitting .474 with three homers and nine RBI. Sophomore left-handed pitcher Jimmy Reyes was named the league’s pitcher of the week after throwing a career-long 8.0 innings and striking out a career-best 11 hitters in the conference win over UNC-Greensboro.
Matt Matheny, a 16-year assistant basketball coach at Davidson College, has been selected to lead Elon’s men’s basketball program. Matheny, 39, says his goals are to ensure the academic success of the players and propel Elon to a spot in the NCAA Division I tournament. At Davidson, Matheny served as an assistant coach for 10 seasons (1993–2003) Matt Matheny and the associate head coach for the past six years under head coach Bob McKillop. Matheny will lead the Phoenix into the program’s 101st season this fall. “Our mission is to give our student athletes a wonderful college experience,” says Matheny, a former Wildcats football and basketball team captain. “We are going to prepare these young men for life after Elon. That being said, we want to go to the NCAA tournament.” After Matheny joined the Davidson staff in 1993, the Wildcats amassed 310 victories with 10 SoCon division titles, five SoCon tournament championships, five NCAA tournament appearances and four postseason NIT trips. During that time, Davidson had 10 seasons of 20 or more victories and three undefeated SoCon regular seasons.
By early April, seniors Bennett Davis and Pat Irvine had climbed into the program’s alltime top 10 in career home runs this season. By late April, the team was 25–13, including 14–4 in the conference. BASKETBALL TEAMS CONCLUDE CHALLENGING SEASON BY JEN BLACKWELL
The men’s and women’s basketball squads struggled during the 2008–2009 season, tallying overall records of 11–20 and 5–26, respectively. Seeded fifth in the North Division, the men’s team advanced to the second round of the SoCon tournament before losing 79–78 to eventual tournament champion Chattanooga. For the second consecutive season, Elon’s Ola Atoyebi was named to the third-team allconference squad for his efforts throughout the season. The senior forward concluded the regular season leading the Phoenix in scoring
and rebounding, averaging 14 points and six rebounds per game. He also ranked among the top 10 in the SoCon and among the national leaders with a 57.3 field goal percentage. The women’s team scored an upset win over Georgia Southern in the opening round of the SoCon tournament before losing to Western Carolina in the second round. Tiara Gause earned SoCon Freshman of the Year honors, marking the first time an Elon player has earned the award since joining the conference. Gause also was named to the SoCon All-Freshman team along with Courtney Medley. Medley was named to the All-Tournament team after averaging 19.5 points per game and scoring a career-high 25 points against Georgia Southern in the opening round of the tournament.
For game schedules and the latest Phoenix news, go to www.elonphoenix.com
MAGAZINE OF ELON
11
Unlock ing the
Amy Overman, at right, works with junior Kimberly Duggins and senior Brian Smith in Elon’s Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, which Overman helped set up. The electrode cap Smith is wearing captures the responses from his brain to various stimuli, which are then analyzed.
As many people know firsthand, when
you reach a certain age, you begin to notice that some of the bits of information stored in your brain — names, events, where you put the car keys — become more difficult to retrieve. The deterioration of memory with age is such a familiar phenomenon that it serves as fodder for comedians, sitcoms and dinner table stories about the time grandpa forgot that grandma was still in the shoe department when he drove home from the mall. Funny stories notwithstanding, the effect of aging on memory is a serious issue, with damaging and potentially dangerous consequences for many people. That is why Amy Overman and her students are determined to unlock memory’s secrets. Overman, assistant professor of psychology, specializes in the study of memory and aging, particularly the neurological aspects of that relationship. “What I’ve been fascinated with for a long time is how the brain works,” Overman says. “There has been a lot of work looking at how memory works from a behavioral standpoint — how do people act, what do they do? What I’m most interested in is looking at how memory works from a neurological standpoint. What is going on inside the brain when people do what they do?” Overman’s research has never been more relevant — or important. The nation’s population is aging, and people are living longer thanks to advances in medical science. We can keep the body functioning until an advanced age, but can we improve the longevity of memory and other mental abilities as well? Overman’s research might reveal clues to help do just that.
12
MAGAZINE OF ELON
“It’s a very important field,” says Maurice Levesque, professor of psychology and associate dean of Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences. “The work she is doing offers a lot of insights into the basic cognitive processes of memory and aging. “She fills an important gap here in terms of her primary research,” Levesque adds. “We’ve had pockets of faculty who have had some interest in aging, but she brings a real focus on that. In a short time, she has managed to get a very active lab going, with a lot of student interest and participation in doing scholarly work.” Overman discovered and fell in love with her field almost by accident. A native of northwest Pennsylvania, she became the first person in her family to earn a college degree when she graduated from Allegheny College. Until her sophomore year, she had no firm idea what she wanted to study until a psychology class introduced her to the concept of neuroscience, the study of the brain and nervous system. She was hooked. “Like a lot of people, I had the idea that psychology was all about therapy,” Overman says. “We got a handout about neuroscience, and I thought, ‘What’s that?’ I’ve always loved science, and the more I learned about neuroscience, the more interested I became. I thought, ‘Learning the secrets of the mind? How cool is that?’” Pretty cool, it turns out. Overman did her undergraduate thesis in neuroscience on the different ways the brains of expert musicians and non-musicians respond to music. She earned her master’s and doctoral degrees at the University of Pittsburgh and the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, where she first began exploring the mysteries of memory. For her master’s work, she studied memory
secre t s o f BY DAVE HART
memory
in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, which was challenging. For “Dr. Overman not only treats you like an adult and a researcher her doctoral work, she switched to studying memory in healthy but expects you to act and perform like one as well,” says senior Brian aging adults. Smith. “She knows that we are capable and puts a lot of responsibility “It was emotionally draining to work with Alzheimer’s patients,” in our hands, which is exactly what someone who is looking to do Overman concedes. “They were so generous with their time and research would hope to have. Doing research with her has helped me so gracious, and it was hard for me to do that and not be able to become a better researcher. The hands-on experience I have gotten offer them any immediate help. So I said, ‘Let me with writing proposals, going to conferences and switch over to study healthy individuals.’ If we can using real-world technologies is invaluable.” understand how the brain works when it works Much of Overman’s research focuses on right, we can better understand what’s happening “The more I learned the specific mechanisms we use to remember when it doesn’t.” things and how age affects those mechanisms. Overman pursued those questions during about neuroscience, Memory isn’t just one process; it’s a complex her doctoral research and in her previous teaching network of processes. Remembering who the posts at Pitt and Denison University. She happened the more interested first president was is a very different process than upon Elon in much the same way she discovered remembering your last birthday party, and those her academic discipline — by chance. I became. I thought, differences show up in your neural activity. By “I was in the job market, but I wasn’t really measuring brain activity while subjects try to looking beyond the Ohio-Pennsylvania area,” she ‘Learning the secrets recall particular bits of information, Overman says. “Then I saw an ad for a biological psychologist and her students learn important things about at Elon, and I thought, ‘Wow, this job is made for of the mind? How how memory works. me.’ Thank goodness they thought it was made One of the areas she has been exploring for me, too.” cool is that?’” for some time is “binding,” or linking dispaOverman joined the Elon faculty in 2007. rate things together in the mind. Binding is She had never been to North Carolina, but after a Amy Overman an important facet of memory, according to quick visit — while seven months pregnant — she Assistant Professor of Psychology Overman, and her research indicates that it is made her decision. one of the elements of the memory process that “It was a little scary to move so fast, but I loved is especially hindered by aging. the university,” she says. “I gave a teaching demon“You might look at that blue chair, for exstration, and the students were so interested and asked such great ample, and associate it with this coffee shop,” she says, sitting in questions. I liked the collegiality in the department and the richness a Panera Bread restaurant in Burlington, N.C. “If I ask you later of the research being done. It was just a really vibrant place.” where you saw the blue chair, you can probably tell me. But as we Overman wasted no time once she arrived on campus. Young age, binding becomes more difficult. It gets harder to make those and energetic, she radiates a contagious enthusiasm for her teach- connections. You might remember seeing a blue chair, but you ing and research. Students respond to that energy and eagerly have can’t remember where you saw it.” signed on to be part of her classes and research projects. The results of the research Overman and her students have “She has brought in a tremendous amount of energy and ex- been conducting on binding could have important practical citement,” says Chris Leupold, associate professor and chair of the consequences. psychology department. “She’s doing a great job of nurturing and “If we know how binding takes place, if we know how the mentoring the next generation of neuroscientists.” brain binds things together, maybe we can come up with methods Overman and her students have visited retirement homes near to improve memory,” Overman says. campus to work with residents. She also has outfitted a research Her students are eager to join her in the quest for answers. lab so more detailed experiments can be conducted. Her students “It’s very hands-on stuff,” Overman says. “We talk a lot at Elon are deeply involved in the nuts and bolts of the research and in about how important it is for students to be actively engaged in preparing findings; already some students have co-authored papers their education and to take responsibility for their work. Here, they and presented their work at conferences. do, and we’re on the threshold of a lot of exciting things.” MAGAZINE OF ELON
13
Common
From providing meals to the elderly and homeless to fighting for the rights of children, Elon alumni have pursued careers that enable them to serve some of society’s most vulnerable populations.
SERVING THE
In the following essays, Holly Soderquist Johnson ’93, Kevin Gilmore ’96, Tony Roper ’90, and Deana Joy ’00 reflect on their careers for the common good and how their Elon experiences inspired them to serve their communities. Becky Handforth ’05 and Andrea Sjogren ’06 discuss their careers in essays at www.elon.edu/ magazine.
I ALWAYS KNEW that I wanted to help people. I was 5 years
at the airport and later helped Veton get a maintenance job at a local Catholic school. It was the start of a wonderful friendship. old when I saw my first homeless person on the streets of Washington, D.C., and asked my parents for a dollar so the man could get someThe day Veton became an American citizen was emotional for thing to eat. both of us. Students and teachers from the Catholic school attended When applying for jobs after graduate school, I the ceremony to support a man they had grown to found myself only interested in those that offered an love. I was incredibly humbled that this man would opportunity to help someone in need. I guess this choose to revoke the citizenship of the country he work has always been in my blood. knew and loved to become a citizen of mine. WELCOMING For the past 10 years, I’ve worked at Catholic My Elon degree prepared me well to help others. T H E N AT I O N’S Charities of Tennessee, where I serve as state coordinaI learned how to work with others and for others and tor of refugee services. I help some of this country’s to communicate and collaborate. I was challenged, NEWCOMERS most vulnerable and poorest residents, people who corrected, encouraged and praised at Elon, and those were forced out of their homeland by unthinkable experiences have equipped me well to thrive as an violence and civil wars, find work and raise their chilBy Holly Soderquist Johnson ’93 adult. My leadership experience with Alpha Omicron dren as American citizens. Pi sorority helped me become responsible, accountEach year, Catholic Charities in Nashville serves able and professional. All of these experiences taught approximately 330 refugees. After meeting them at the me how to take pride in my work and myself. airport and getting them settled in an apartment, we help them apply The most important thing working with refugees has taught me for Social Security cards, get medical attention, enroll their children in is that we should be thankful for what we have. We live in a great school, find jobs and enroll in English classes, among other services. country full of freedoms and opportunities that we all take for granted. As state refugee coordinator, I monitor budgets so the money I often think, “What if I’d been born in a refugee camp? Could I we have for our clients will stretch as far as possible. I write grants have survived that life?” No matter how difficult things get, I have so we can do even more to help our clients than we are doing now. I nothing to complain about. I always knew I was blessed, but I am so support the work our caseworkers do and listen to them when they much more aware of that now. need to talk through a problem. Helping our caseworkers is important I’m more open-minded now. (Professor George Taylor would because I know it is through them that lives are changed. be proud of me!) When I encounter someone who is from another One of the most rewarding moments of my career occurred four country, I go out of my way to smile and make them feel welcome. I years ago when I had the great privilege of watching my friend, Veton think that people appreciate this. I know I would. Novosella, become an American citizen. Veton, his wife and their four In the 16 years since I left Elon, I’ve never had a moment of regret children escaped the violence in their native Kosovo in June 1999 to for choosing this career path. I don’t expect I ever will. become the first Kosovar refugees to arrive in Nashville. I met them
14
MAGAZINE OF ELON
Good
Kevin Gilmore ’96 spent four years serving with Habitat for Humanity in Guatemala.
WHEN I ARRIVED at Elon 17 years ago, I participated in
with a future homeowner gives me a better understanding of the isPreSERVE, which brings new students together to build homes with sues that he or she faces in life, and they are going to understand me Elon’s chapter of Habitat for Humanity. I never would have guessed a little better, too. that Habitat would later become my career and maybe even my life’s I recently was reminded of the true meaning of our work. A work. group of high school students framed the walls of a new home as I remember going on a Habitat Winter Term trip to Homestead, part of a class. At the end of the course, we gathered with Martha, Fla., to help build homes following Hurricane Andrew. Since that the new homeowner, and her family to celebrate the students’ work. experience in 1993, I have visited hundreds of Habitat sites in several Martha had tears rolling down her cheeks as she said “thank you” to countries and have done my small part to contribute to the success everyone in the room. After the ceremony, I saw Martha walking of this amazing organization, which has provided affordable housing through the studded walls of her future home with a marker in her to more than 1.5 million people worldwide since hand. At the ceremony, the students wrote messages 1976. I have learned that Habitat has a tremendous of hope and blessings on the walls. Martha read every power to bring ordinary people together to do exmessage and wrote the date under each one. This was a traordinary things. day she would remember for the rest of her life. O R D I N A R Y As the son of a Presbyterian pastor and a nurse, Habitat truly changes lives. Martha will soon move PEOPLE DOING I suppose I was predisposed to a life of service. After into her new house and her children will have their own graduation and working briefly at Habitat headrooms for the first time. Habitat keeps me humble. I try EXTRAORDINARY quarters in Americus, Ga., I spent four years serving not to take what I have for granted. I count my blessT H I N G S with Habitat in Guatemala. During my second year ings, and I hope that God uses me to help others. Every there, Elon Chaplain Richard McBride asked if he By Kevin Gilmore ’96 day, I see people in need in our community, people who could bring a group of students to Guatemala to just need an opportunity to better themselves. Habitat help build homes. It was a joy to share that wonhas taught me to believe in people, and I believe in derful country and its people with Elon, and I am the volunteers who carry out our mission and in the proud that students still volunteer with Habitat in Guatemala during homeowners we are serving. Winter Term. Working with Habitat, I have matured professionally, become For the past four years, I have served as executive director of a better leader and stretched beyond my comfort zone. Sometimes Habitat in Sussex County, Del. In this role, I have the opportunity I make a mistake and sometimes we succeed. I have learned that as to put my Elon degree into action and serve a cause that I love. Every executive director, I must make the best decisions I can at the moment time we dedicate a new home to a family or I visit the job site and and keep moving forward. see crowds of volunteers building a home, I am proud to see how our At Elon, I learned the power of people and ideas. I learned that affiliate has grown. good ideas, when executed with passion, dedication and thoughtfulHabitat is my calling, my passion. This is what I think God wants ness, can motivate people to do amazing things. I left Elon thinking me to do at this point in my life. I see my work in the community as a that I could do anything I want with my life. sort of bridge bringing people together. Elon taught me the power of Now I look at all the challenges and successes I have experienced service to bring people together who may not otherwise interact with since my Elon days, and I still think I can do anything I want with each other. I believe that to successfully address our societal problems, my life. In fact, that is exactly what I am doing. we need first to understand people. Spending the day on a Habitat site MAGAZINE OF ELON
15
Tony Roper ’90 with one of the seniors who receive meals each day through Alamance County Community Services Agency. Roper is the agency’s executive director.
MANAGING AN ORGANIZATION that provides ser-
which allows us to develop housing subdivisions for first-time homvices to 2,800 people each year is a little like riding a seesaw — it eowners with modest incomes. There is nothing like the feeling of has its ups and downs. But the great thing about that is, no two days handing a set of keys to a new homeowner or getting a thank-you are the same. note from a family you helped remain in their home. When someone I enjoy people and I love pulling for the underdog. As executive takes the time to express their gratitude, it makes all the challenges director of the Alamance County Community Services Agency, I get worthwhile. an opportunity every day to help people succeed and improve their One of the things we stress to clients, especially those in our quality of life. self-sufficiency program, is learning how to identify their marketable When I graduated from Elon with a degree in psychology, I skills and promote themselves in the workforce. My philosophy is that knew I wanted to work with the community, but I wasn’t sure in we are our own marketing machines. Last year, we helped a woman what capacity. After six months of Army officer basic avoid home foreclosure with some agency funding training in Fort Knox, Ky., I returned to Burlington, and counseling from one of our case managers. The N.C., and within weeks started working as a resident woman used her five years of experience in childcare counselor at Elon Homes for Children. to open a daycare center in her home, turning her P U L L I N G Working with youths from broken homes, victims largest investment into a vehicle to generate income. F O R T H E of abuse and those struggling with poverty ignited a With our help, she found the confidence to become passion in me to build a career in the helping proan entrepreneur. I spoke with her recently and am UNDERDOG fession. After serving as a resident counselor for two happy to report that her business is doing well. group homes and working for seven years with the My work helping people has opened my eyes Greensboro Housing Authority, I found my niche — By Tony Roper ’90 to the balancing act that all professionals in my field helping low-income families. face every day. You try to meet the significant needs Being part of the communities that normally apof the less fortunate while encouraging those with pear in a negative light on the news has given me a sense of purpose. financial resources to support their community. Through keeping young people off the streets and away from the My wife, Lisa Ratliff Roper ’93, assistant director of alumni relaconstant threat of violence, I have found my calling. tions at Elon, and children Quintin, an Elon sophomore, and Quierra After serving with the Housing Authority, I spent five years support me and keep me grounded. My experiences at Elon, including mobilizing residents in High Point’s Macedonia community. The tutoring at the elementary school and participating in community Macedonia Project was an eight-year initiative that revitalized the clean-up projects and food drives, instilled in me the helping spirit once-thriving mill community. that pushes me even today. In 2006, I took over leadership of Community Services. Our staff While society defines success by the ability to acquire material of 16 helps families in crisis, assisting with food, utilities and housing. wealth, I define success by the number of families whose lives are Each day, we serve lunch to senior citizens at five sites throughout improved through my work. If you have to be motivated to get up Alamance County. We also provide weatherization and other energyin the morning to come do this type of work, you need to check reduction services to homeowners. Through our case management your heart. Helping people succeed against the odds is the best job program, we offer job placement assistance and coaching. in the world. Our agency is a Certified Housing Development Organization,
16
MAGAZINE OF ELON
Deana Joy ’00 at CrossRoads: Sexual Assault Response & Resource Center in Burlington, N.C.
WHEN I WAS ASKED to write about my life and career path
Since that time, my heart has become so interconnected with the since leaving Elon, I thought of the long road and journey I have issue of sexual violence and CrossRoads that I cannot imagine my life been on over the past 10 years. The common good is defined in many being any different or on any other path. As an advocate for victims, I ways. One is the ability to provide the greatest possible good to the provided crisis intervention, court preparation and helped to protect greatest number of individuals. Another is that all individuals have their basic rights. In 2006, I was promoted to executive director, and equal ability to possess the basic rights of society. Neither of these my responsibilities grew to include guiding and directing the agency definitions seems to fit the path that I have chosen. toward its mission and raising funds to ensure its future. I also am The common good that I have spent the past decade hoping to responsible for conducting forensic interviews with child victims for fulfill refers to the ability to help what society often considers “the least law enforcement and the Department of Social Services. of these,” individuals society is unaware of, sometimes Most important, I have spent 10 years of my unforgiving of and more often turns its back on. I’m life teaching society about sexual violence and how speaking, in part, of victims of sexual violence. to treat the victims whose lives have been shatI was raised in a home that considered volunteerism tered. I have worked with hundreds of adults and H E A L I N G and helping others a priority. My family worked hard children throughout my time at CrossRoads and S H AT T E R E D to help me recognize issues that many struggled with, been forever changed by their stories. including homelessness, poverty and violence. I came to I will never forget a young woman who told L I V E S Elon with these lessons already etched onto my soul. me that she would rather have been killed than At Elon, I had many professors, including Steve have to live with the violence she had experienced. Braye, Jeffrey Pugh and Cindy Fair, who worked hard to By Deana Joy ’00 Her offender had taken her soul. She no longer challenge the concepts of society and the ideals that my knew who she was, and she couldn’t recognize the classmates and I had been raised with. They challenged woman in the mirror. Sexual violence victims come me to reach beyond myself, to learn the world around me as it really in as shattered souls, their entire world turned upside down, and I is and to find ways in which I can make an impact. My experiences have the great honor of being the person who picks them up and helps through internships, volunteering and coursework helped me learn them through the darkness to find light and life again. about the realness of the world that I live in, the struggles that manWhat I have learned through my experiences at Elon and kind faces and how I can make a difference. CrossRoads is that the true gifts that life has to offer come from the Yet my journey to where I am today is due to former Elon promost unexpected places. While most would say that I have spent my fessor Tommy Gumm. I first met Tommy as a sophomore, and he life helping others, the truth is those individuals have been the ones continued to teach me throughout my time at Elon and throughout to change my life forever. his lifetime. After graduation, he introduced me to CrossRoads: Sexual I will spend the rest of my life fighting for, supporting and proAssault Response & Resource Center in Burlington, N.C. He sat on viding an unfailing love for all mankind. The gifts and lessons I have the CrossRoads board and told me about a job opening. I began my been given are immeasurable in worth and lifelong in value. career as a victim advocate serving adult and child victims of sexual violence.
MAGAZINE OF ELON
17
Honoring the Sacred �
Reflections from Elon’s chaplain This spring, the Rev. Richard W. McBride retires after serving as Elon’s chaplain for the past 25 years. In addition to leading the Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life, McBride founded Elon’s chapter of Habitat for Humanity, helped start the Elon Volunteers! service program and created some of the university’s most innovative student programs. An eloquent speaker, his stirring remarks have uplifted the campus during times of joy and sorrow. McBride will deliver Elon’s 119th Commencement address on May 23. In the following essay, he reflects on his 39-year career in campus ministry and the generations of students he has touched.
18
MAGAZINE OF ELON
BY RICHARD McBRIDE
I began my career in campus ministry at Wake Forest University in 1969 with our nation fractured over the war in Vietnam. Later this month, I will end my career at Elon with our nation seeking to extract itself from another divisive war in Iraq and poised to deploy more troops to Afghanistan. “Wars and rumors of wars” have framed my career, making me keenly aware that all spiritual life occurs within cultural and political contexts. In the spring of my first year at Wake Forest, four students were killed on the Kent State campus by National Guard troops who fired on a group protesting President Nixon’s expansion of the war into Cambodia. Within hours, four crosses bearing the students’ names appeared on Wake’s central courtyard, and I was called to lead a prayer vigil. Within days, rows of 1,100 wooden crosses were planted on the campus bearing the names of North Carolinians who had died in Vietnam. Hundreds of students helped plant that Flanders field of crosses. We worked just outside the library to construct them, consulting the Congressional Record to find and write on each the name of a soldier who had died. I walked among those crosses carrying my 15-month-old son, Scott, in my arms. Today, that son, a 1991 Elon graduate, is on his second tour of duty as a soldier in Iraq. During the ’70s, student activism was high around issues of war and peace, systems of injustice and care for the earth. Students held campus events to draw attention to world hunger, and they buried a car engine on campus to celebrate Earth Day.
In the early ’80s, however, quietism returned. Students foThe Life Stories course became a centerpiece of my effort to cused more on achieving personal goals. The goal of life was help students accomplish a primary life goal during the college no longer justice for the earth and its people but securing a years: graduating from adolescence into adulthood. Of course, profitable career. they are new at it. They are emerging adults. After a staff meetBy the end of the ’80s, a new energy emerged — a re- ing in which we discussed what language best describes this life newed commitment to strengthen community life. During transition, I went out to my car to find that a student had parked 1988-1989, Elon’s Centennial year theme was “Reaffirming a beside me with a bumper sticker that read, “Cleverly Disguised Tradition of Service.” John Barnhill ’92, an energetic freshman as a Responsible Adult.” from Massachusetts, joined me in founding the nation’s 30th My entire career, including 39 years in campus ministry and collegiate chapter of Habitat for Humanity. four years of high school teaching, has kept me attending to a steep In its first 20 years, our chapter has built 18 houses in learning curve. In my early years of teaching American literature and Alamance County and, during a visit by Habitat founder Millard composition, the goal was to understand myself as a professional on Fuller in 1995, became the first chapter in the nation to pledge the other side of the desk. When my seminary career opened the to build one house every year. The chapter has sent students door to campus ministry, I learned what this new role asked of me on spring break trips to West Virginia, Mississippi and the — offering pastoral care to those who were hurting, gathering the Dominican Republic. We also launched Winter Term service community around its experiences of joy and sorrow, and probing learning courses in South Carolina and Florida after Hurricanes the distance between institutional purpose and practice. Hugo and Andrew destroyed so many homes. The success of In the ’70s, I decided that my vocation would be lived in Elon Volunteers!, also formed in spring 1989, was assured by a higher education, but I wrestled hard with whether I wanted to growing surge of student interest in providing direct service to be a professor or a chaplain. I dreamed that I entered a faculty individuals in need. meeting accompanied by a student friend. When the dean of the Throughout the ’90s and continu"The vocation of a chaplain is centered on naming — and helping the university to ing into the new millennium, students celebrate — the connection between ourselves and those things we honor as sacred." responded to multiple efforts on campus to establish Elon as a premier institution for engaged learning. faculty saw the student with me, he shouted, “He does not belong As a result, service learning courses have flourished. here!” and I was confronted with the question: Do I leave with my I launched a Winter Term course in Guatemala in 2001 with student or stay here with the faculty? The dream ended abruptly, the help of Kevin Gilmore ’96, who was serving as a Habitat in- and I woke with my vocational question starkly clarified. It took ternational partner there. During the past nine years, more than another two years and a second master’s degree for me to see the 200 students have partnered with Habitat para la Humanidad, path ahead. My primary identity would be as a chaplain, but I’d working alongside families of pure Mayan and Mestizo descent. seek to work for colleges where I could also teach. Gardner-Webb April Hewitt Post ’01 served as translator on that first journey gave me that opportunity, and in 1984, so did Elon. and today teaches Spanish at Elon. Over the past 25 years, Elon’s transformation has presented Parker Palmer, a Quaker scholar, has been a major influence continual learning challenges. The presence of more diverse facon my life and ministry. I once heard him recount a conversation ulty and students has required new understandings of hospitality he had with students at a large public university. “Our lives don’t and new approaches to building community. For example, in matter here,” the students said. “There’s stuff our faculty want us recent years, Elon’s Thursday Chapel has focused on spiritual to know. We take it in through their lectures and give it back to questions experienced by widely divergent people. We have exthem on exams, but our life experiences don’t matter.” plored themes such as “Living the Questions,” “Companions on So I began to imagine what a course would look like if the Journey” and “Finding the Sacred in Everyday Life.” students’ life experiences did matter and if they were invited to My career with students, staff and faculty has taught me that critically examine the significant events and relationships that life is most fully lived when we are engaged in asking big queshave shaped their view of themselves and their world. Life Stories tions and searching for worthy dreams, to borrow a phrase from was born. author Sharon Daloz Parks, whose work has inspired me. After beginning as a Winter Term course in 1994, Life Stories I have discovered that the most distinctive thing a chaplain has evolved into a spring semester course for graduating seniors brings to a university is prayer, which is not to say that chaplains who have a high motivation to figure things out before they are are the only ones who may pray! The vocation of a chaplain is catapulted out of the comforts of Elon into the briar patch of centered on naming — and helping the university to celebrate their future. They explore such questions as: What challenges — the connection between ourselves and those things we honor has life presented to me? What choices have I made? How have I as sacred. We hold our institutional history in sacred trust. We changed in my college years — intellectually, relationally, spiritu- honor the experience of teaching and learning as a sacred vocaally — so that I have a clearer view of who I am and what I have tion. And we honor what is holy in each of us. Namaste: the to contribute to communities I am about to join? light within me honors the light within you.
�� MAGAZINE OF ELON
19
“Elon Law has made me think about the kind of leader that I want to be. It has been a great experience of self-discovery.” Alix Hazel Class of 2009
Setting a
precedent
BY DANIEL J. ANDERSON AND PHILIP CRAFT
Elon Law charter class writes new chapter in university’s history The practice of law became real and very
Price and other law students tackled those questions, rewarding to Leslie Price as she trudged through the mud devoting evenings and weekends to burrow through relalong railroad tracks on a rainy day in January 2008. evant laws and gather information needed by the The Elon Law student was scouting properties in down- Downtown Greenway Steering Committee and Action town Greensboro, getting a firsthand look at the urban Greensboro, a nonprofit civic organization. Using skills landscape as part of her research on land title, zoning and she learned in classes, Price gathered facts, wrote memos easement issues. She was laying the legal groundwork for and defined the legal hurdles that would need to be a major initiative to build a greenway hiking and cycling cleared to make the greenway a reality. trail around the city’s central business district. Price says she never thought of the experience as a Who owned the land in the path of the greenway? burden or a distraction from law school, but as an integral How could property easements be obtained? Could fed- part of her legal education. eral laws be used to convert the old railroad right-of-way “I valued the opportunity to help improve the city’s to public use? quality of life,” she says. “And it was great to apply con-
20
October 2002
October 2004
January 2005
Elon University Board of Trustees authorizes feasibility study for a school of law
Trustees vote to establish the law school in downtown Greensboro, N.C., following a successful fundraising effort led by Elon President Leo M. Lambert and Jim Melvin, president of the Joseph M. Bryan Foundation
Work begins on the law school facility, the former Greensboro Central Public Library building
MAGAZINE OF ELON
cepts from the classroom to the very real challenges of urban development.” April Harris, executive director of Action Greensboro, praised the work of Price and her fellow law students. “They were exceptional to work with, very professional in their presentations and particularly helpful because they solved a very specific legal issue we had with the project.”
who conceived the school, generously contributed startup funding and committed their time and skills to build a school that was dedicated to re-envisioning the standards of legal education. Members of the charter class in turn contributed more than 21,000 hours of service to the community during their time at Elon Law. “Without the support of the community, this law school would be just like every other law school,” says A class of pioneers Damon Duncan, a Charlotte, N.C., native and Elon That kind of civic engagement and hands-on learning University alumnus who intends to open a branch of his occurred regularly with members of Elon Law’s charter family’s law firm in Greensboro. “We have been overclass. Recently, they reflected on their three-year partner- whelmed with support, and because of that, we’ve been ship in helping to launch a law school with a difference, able to create a foundation for a law school that is going where students not only receive an excellent legal educa- to be top tier. There is no doubt that this law school is tion but also the opportunity to work with practicing going to be one that people are talking about, not only attorneys and civic leaders. in North Carolina, not only in the Southeast, but naMembers of the charter class decided to commit their tionally and internationally.” time and resources to enroll at a school that had never held a class. Their careers were at stake in 2006 as the Developing lawyers who lead university hired the inaugural faculty, developed the cur- Such ambitions for excellence were evident in 2002 riculum and assembled the myriad pieces of the puzzle when Elon trustees and administrators first discussed that would become Elon Law. Faculty members call the the idea of establishing a law school. students “pioneers” who had strong faith in the university, They were intrigued when former Greensboro Mayor as well as the ability to understand the risks and oppor- Jim Melvin brought up the idea of locating the tunities associated with a new school. school at the center of his city, rather than “It has paid off exponentially for all of us,” says Heather on the Elon campus. As the novel idea Quinn, who after graduating this spring will head to a took root, Elon leaders declared that the judicial clerkship with the New Hampshire Superior university was not interested in starting Court. “We were able to shape and form the school in a school that would merely duplicate ways that no other class will ever be able to do. We started programs at existing law schools. student organizations from the ground up — it was a The goal was to push beyond the unique opportunity.” boundaries of traditional legal eduFounding Dean Leary Davis notes the singular posi- cation, drawing on the university’s tion held by the 107 members of the first graduating core strengths: engaged learning, a class. focus on leadership and an inter“They created the organizations that students at other national perspective. With those schools take for granted,” Davis says. “They also estab- high aspirations, Melvin and lished a culture of engaged learning and public service President Leo M. Lambert found that has justified the confidence of all who sacrificed to enthusiastic support from indimake Elon Law a reality. Our pride will only grow in the viduals, law firms, foundations future as they use their legal educations to help people and businesses that embraced and to make the world a better place.” the law school vision. The students are grateful to the hundreds of people The substantial investments
March 2005
September 2005
January 2006
Noted North Carolina legal educator and lawyer Leary Davis named founding dean
Former presidential adviser David Gergen named chair of Law School Advisory Board
Law school facility named for Greensboro business leader and philanthropist H. Michael Weaver; inaugural faculty announced
“We’ve been able to create a foundation for a law school that is going to be top tier, there is no doubt about it.” Damon Duncan Class of 2009; president, Student Bar Association
MAGAZINE OF ELON
21
that have been made over the past seven years pay first dividends with the May 24 graduation of the charter class. Elon Law’s first graduates have already developed a vision for how they can contribute to the practice of law and to the betterment of their communities. Their capacity to make an immediate impact comes in part from direct contact they have had with legal leaders, such as former presidential adviser David Gergen, chair of the law school’s advisory board, who will deliver the inaugural Commencement address. “Already we are getting calls and inquiries from other law schools about what we are trying to do here,” says George R. Johnson Jr., who was named the school’s second dean in February. “It is just a matter of time before we see other law schools taking up this whole question of leadership. I think that is going to be the difference that will set this class and future Elon Law classes apart. They will be leaders in their communities.” Johnson says the emergence of Elon Law graduates comes at an opportune time, as the nation faces public policy and economic crises. “We really need people who can look at problems and come up with innovative solutions,” Johnson says. “It is tough, but it is in the tough environments where real creativity can emerge. That is going to be a real strength of this class and those who follow.”
Hallmarks of quality
Charter class graduates are giving valuable feedback and input as the law school matures, pointing out hallmarks of excellence as well as programs that can be improved. Johnson says the students have been “enthusiastic, quite energetic and sometimes cantankerous” in their roles as partners in building the school. “I think we owe an enormous debt to this charter class,” Johnson says. “The success of this law school is largely their doing.” Students often cite the school’s small size and close community feel as among its greatest strengths. “I know every person in my class by name, and it has been that way since the first month we were in law school,” says Andrea Dancy Harrell, who is preparing to begin work at a Greensboro law firm following the bar exam.
22
MAGAZINE OF ELON
“Some of my friends at bigger law schools know their little section and that is it, not anybody else.” Phillip Cornett, who is headed for a Court of Appeals clerkship after graduation, has high praise for the school’s faculty. “They are right there with you,” Cornett says. “I have had a lot of professors sit down with me and take the time to show me where I went wrong or explain something to me.” Jason Aycoth agrees, and he also notes the wide range of talents and experiences the faculty bring to the classroom. “Professors come from all over the world,” Aycoth says. “I was instructed this past term by (faculty) from the University of Virginia, from England, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Iran, you name it. They all came and instructed us, so it gives us more of a world view.” Aycoth intends to build a career of service on the state or federal level. “Making a difference in the world will be our way of conveying appreciation in a lasting and meaningful way,” he says. Students consistently praise the local attorneys and judges who joined Elon Law as preceptors — professional mentors who develop personal, coaching relationships with students. “My preceptor brought me over to her office, showed me case files, showed me the types of things that she was working on, and when I had a question about personal jurisdiction, she said ‘Oh, let me show you how that works,’” recalls Michelle Cybulski, who fulfilled her lifelong dream of attending law school following a midlife career transition. “The preceptors really help put into context what we are learning in the classroom and show us how it applies in practice.” Preceptors say the students’ experience will be a valuable advantage as they begin their careers. Greensboro attorney Sarah Roane, whose firm has hired charter class member Sean Olsen, says new law school graduates must have the skills and knowledge to make immediate contributions on behalf of their clients. “That is what makes Elon Law students so attractive,” Roane says. “They have worked in legal practice during
July 2006
September 2006
September 2007
Weaver Building completed; North Carolina Business Court hears first case in law school’s courtroom
U.S. Supreme Court Justice (ret.) Sandra Day O’Connor formally dedicates the school with inaugural class of 115 students
Joseph M. Bryan Distinguished Leadership Lecture Series begins, featuring noted leaders such as former N.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Henry Frye
law school, they have developed legal dexterity by applying their education in the law to specific client circumstances, and they exhibit a professionalism that is unique among law school graduates.” Charter class members also have benefitted from opportunities to interact with such prominent figures as CNN’s Gergen and Jeffrey Toobin, former N.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Henry Frye, former N.C. Gov. Jim Hunt, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian David McCullough and others who spoke at the law school as part of the Joseph M. Bryan Distinguished Leadership Lecture Series. “We are extremely lucky to have movers and shakers on an international scene that want our school to succeed in a big way,” says Alix Hazel, a Harvard University alumna who plans to work for a law firm in Virginia. “Being here has made me think about the kind of leader that I want to be. It has been a great experience of selfdiscovery.”
“Here you can begin to think about how you relate to others, how you think of yourself and how you can work to better an organization, a community or any environment where you find yourself working and living,” Johnson says. “You can get a great legal education in almost any law school in the United States. At Elon, you will get something in addition to that. “I think our destiny is to be a premier player in legal education. I think there is the commitment of the university and the faculty to help us get there. And that is what we will do.”
“Our goal is to be among the premier law schools in the United States, making a real difference at a critical time in our nation’s history.” George R. Johnson Jr. Dean, Elon University School of Law
A school with a destiny
While the spring 2009 graduation marks a historic milestone for Elon Law, members of the charter class are already thinking of ways they will be enthusiastic and engaged alumni of the school. An alumni association has been formed, and more than 90 percent of class members have contributed to the charter class gift to Elon Law. Beyond celebrating the Class of 2009, faculty and current students are considering the next steps in the school’s maturation. The focus will clearly remain around developing lawyers as society’s leaders. “As we know, the reputation of lawyers is not all that wonderful in our society,” says Steven Friedland, one of the founding faculty members. “Lawyers are seen as takers, as people who take from others. We want to try to reverse that here and show that lawyers are also givers. They give to the legal profession, they give to the community at large, they give to politics and our democratic system.” Johnson says that kind of thinking is rare in law schools. In talking with students who will follow in the footsteps of the charter class, he has a compelling story to tell.
September 2008
February 2009
May 2009
Law school reaches full enrollment comprised of three classes and more than 300 students
Constitutional scholar and former White House counsel George R. Johnson Jr. named second dean of law school
Elon University School of Law graduates its charter class
MAGAZINE OF ELON
23
The early years
Jesse Branson ’65, at left, and Tommy Cole ’72
Elon’s basketball program was formed in 1908, though the team did not begin playing a complete schedule of games until 1912, according to The Fighting Christians, a history of Elon athletics, by James M. Waggoner ’55. That year, Elon joined other central North Carolina institutions, including the University of North Carolina, Trinity College (now Duke University) and Wake Forest University, to form a basketball league that became the North State Conference in 1931. Elon enjoyed early success, winning state championships in 1914 and 1915. In 1915, Elon was the first team in four years to defeat the Blue Devils on their home court in Durham. Elon basketball continued its winning ways after
BY KRISTIN SIMONETTI ’05
Jesse Branson ’65 and Tommy Cole ’72 fought back tears as they looked to the rafters of Alumni Gym. The capacity crowd roared when black drapes fell to the floor, revealing the retired jerseys of two of the greatest basketball players in Elon history. Afterward, the two men stood at midcourt, each with an arm around the other’s shoulders, posing for photos and acknowledging the cheering crowd. “This is the best moment of my life,” Cole said. “I’ve waited 37 years for this moment. It’s the greatest recognition an athlete can receive.” Said Branson, “The fans of today, even though many didn’t quite know us, they cheered us and they appreciated us. That was special.” The Feb. 7 ceremony highlighted a weekend of celebration commemorating the 100th season of men’s basketball at Elon. More than 40 former players representing nearly 60 years of the program returned to campus to participate in the historic event. Dave Blank, director of athletics, said the ceremony demonstrates the athletics department’s commitment to “transcend what happens on the field of play” by celebrating Elon’s rich athletics history. For former players such as Charlie Van Lear ’68, the reunion illustrated the power of college athletics to develop character and foster lifetime friendships. “The older you get, the more you appreciate who you’re around,” Van Lear said. “It has been 40 years since I’ve seen some of these guys. It has been a great reunion.”
24
MAGAZINE OF ELON
entering the North State Conference, capturing three conference titles (1932, 1935, 1937) and tying for a fourth (1934). The dedication of Alumni Gym on Jan. 14, 1950, and a new coach, Graham L. “Doc” Mathis, energized the campus and the team following a difficult period during and after World War II. Mathis’ squads won the North State regular season title in 1952, the conference tournament in 1956, National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) district titles in 1956 and 1957, and earned three berths to the NAIA national tournament in 1952, 1956 and 1957. Leading the way for Elon was center Dee Atkinson ’57, the North State MVP in 1957 and, at the time, holder of nine of Elon’s 12 individual basketball records.
‘Miller Time’ In 1959, Mathis stepped down as head coach after tallying a 162–120 record. He left big shoes for his successor, William R. “Bill” Miller, to fill, but the new coach from Campbellsville, Ky., was up to the task. Bill Morningstar ’64, who played for Miller and later served as his longtime assistant coach, said his mentor was a demanding coach on the court but quick to support his players off of it. “He was like a father to me in so many ways,” recalled Morningstar, currently head coach of Elon’s men’s golf team. Miller’s teams brought Elon’s basketball program to unprecedented heights. The first two basketball All-Americans in Elon’s history, Branson (1964, 1965) and Cole (1971, 1972), thrived under
Miller’s watch. Elon captured the 1971 regular season title in the Carolinas Conference, the renamed North State Conference. Miller’s teams also won three conference tournament championships (1965, 1971, 1972), including a thrilling finish to the 1971 season when Cole sank a free throw with two seconds left in the title game, sealing a 58–57 victory over defending champion Guilford. Miller’s former players, who refer fondly to their playing days as “Miller Time,” remember the overwhelming fan support more than the feats they achieved. Branson recalled that students, faculty and the community packed Alumni Gym for games. “Sometimes the fire marshal had to turn people away it was so crowded at games,” Branson said.
Moving up In 1979, two significant changes came to the basketball program and Elon athletics. Miller stepped down as coach after the
hoops
1978–1979 season with 341 victories, the most in Elon’s history, and was succeeded by Morningstar. Alan White became Elon’s director of athletics, a title he held until retiring in 2006. The next two and a half decades saw Elon athletics rise to increasingly higher levels of competition and visibility, moving from NAIA to NCAA Division II competition in 1990, to Division I in 1999 and to the Southern Conference in 2003. Despite the challenges, Elon basketball enjoyed some memorable performances in the ’80s and ’90s. Lee Allison ’81, a four-time all-conference selection and an honorable mention All-American in 1981, finished his career with 1,941 points, the fourth-highest total in Elon history. His daughter, Nicole Allison ’07, followed in his footsteps, starring on the Elon women’s basketball team. Another child of an Elon star, Brian Branson ’87, Jesse Branson’s son, led Elon’s 1988 regular-season conference championship team and earned Academic All-American of the Year honors, as well as conference and NAIA District 26 player of the year awards. After Elon left the NAIA for NCAA Division II play in the South Atlantic Conference, Chris Kiger ’98 helped lead Elon to the 1997 conference tournament championship, which was Elon’s last season in the division. “We had a pretty good season that year, but no one expected us to win the tournament,” recalled Kiger, who the following year garnered Academic All-American of the Year honors. “It was a great experience.”
A bright future Elon earned its first regular-season conference title in more than 30 years in 2006, winning the SoCon North Division championship. That season included Elon’s first victory against an ACC opponent, over Clemson at Littlejohn Coliseum. Success continued in March 2008 when Elon played its way into the SoCon tournament championship game against Davidson, which was broadcast nationwide on ESPN2. The Phoenix fell to the Wildcats, 65–49, but not before bringing national attention to the team and the university. A catalyst for Elon’s success was Montell Watson ’07, who finished his career ranked fourth in the Elon record books for assists, steals and three-point field goals. “I loved every second of my time as an Elon basketball player, especially the 2006 championship season,” Watson recalls. “The bond our team shared that season was like family.” Watson was the youngest of the former players honored alongside Branson and Cole on Feb. 7 when Elon faced off against Appalachian State. At halftime, the former players gathered For additional coverage of 100 near the south end of the gym for the jersey seasons of men’s basketball, go to www.elon.edu/magazine. retirement ceremony. “The old players started sharing stories you’d forgotten until someone started retelling them,” Branson said. “It’s an honor to be here.” Most left Alumni Gym that evening humbled by the experience and grateful for their Elon memories. “Elon gave me the opportunity to go to college, then it gave me the opportunity to do what I love to do, which is coach,” Morningstar said. “You grow to realize how much Elon means to you. It’s the biggest part of my life.”
Former Elon basketball coach Bill Miller, at left, with the 1972 Carolinas Conference Tournament Championship team. Tommy Cole, front row at right, holds the trophy.
MAGAZINE OF ELON
25
ALUMNI Action
Let Elon be your support network On May 23, I will join the campus community for Elon’s 119th Commencement, when we will welcome the Class of 2009 into the Alumni Association. Graduation is not only a time to recognize the achievements of our newest alumni, it also is a moment when we give thanks to our support networks — the parents, grandparents and other family members who helped make our Elon experiences possible. At my graduation, I remember feeling a deep sense of gratitude for the many people who saw me through moments of joy as well as disappointment. I know that without the support of my mom, Shirley, my challenges would have been much greater. My mother’s main focus has always been to make sure that my brother and I had all the opportunities that she did not. She was selfless in Sallie Hutton ’92 ensuring that I was able to attend Elon no matter the cost, and I saw her sacrifice her own dreams to make sure I realized mine, especially earning an Elon degree. For that, I am forever grateful. As a proud Elon graduate, I feel a similar sense of gratitude for the Elon community, which can be a valuable support network for all alumni, particularly in these challenging times. We can get so caught up in our lives that it’s easy to forget that we have a lifelong connection to a special community of people who care. Remember what President Lambert often says: You may leave Elon, but Elon will never leave you. I urge you to tap into the benefits and services of your Alumni Association during all stages of your life. Reconnect with a favorite faculty or staff mentor by looking them up on the university’s online directory. Return to campus for Homecoming and reunite with friends and professors who helped make you who you are today. Join your local alumni chapter and attend social and service events with alums of all ages. You’ll have fun and meet new friends as well. You can tap into Elon’s career services, including Career Beam, which helps you craft an effective resume, prepare for interviews and launch a strategic career search. You also can mentor students through the Elon Career Network or join the Elon Alumni Association group on LinkedIn, an online professional networking resource. You can find links to all these programs and more at www.elon.edu/alumni. The care and support of the Elon community go with you wherever you are and in whatever you do. Make Elon an active part of your life and reap the benefits that come from a lifelong relationship with your alma mater.
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION WELCOMES NEW BOARD MEMBERS
The Elon Alumni Association this spring welcomed new members to the Elon Alumni Board (EaB) and Young Alumni Council. Members of each advisory board serve three-year terms and play an integral role in ensuring Elon’s success and strengthening ties between alumni and the university. Alumni who have graduated eight years ago or more are eligible for service on the eab. Alumni who have graduated no more than seven years ago are eligible to serve on the Young Alumni Council. For more information on either of these boards, visit www.elon.edu/alumni or contact the alumni office at alumnirelations@elon.edu or toll free at 877.784.3566. The new members of the eaB and Young Alumni Council are: elon Alumni Board John Hill ’76, Severna Park, Md. Chris Martin ’78, Manasquan, N.J. Lennie Dutton Edwards ’91, Louisburg, N.C. Heather Middleton ’99 (Alumni Chapter Representative), New York Tracey Walser Nugent ’84, Chevy Chase, Md. Julia Strange Chase ’84, Richmond, Va. Carolyn Wright McDuffie ’64, Greensboro, N.C. Tyrone McDuffie ’66, Greensboro, N.C. Lee Thomas ’91, Charlotte, N.C. Young Alumni Council Chris Gaylor ’03, Arlington, Va. Cara Catalfumo ’04, Charlotte, N.C. Shelby Peterson ’06, Arlington, Va. Lauren Murphree ’08, l’11, Greensboro, N.C. Ablavi Gbenyon ’03, Charlotte, N.C. Susan Denny ’03, Apex, N.C. Carson Foushee ’07, Atlanta David Morrow ’07, l’10, Burlington, N.C. Lisa Dawn “LD” Akers ’08, Bluffton, S.C. Christine Jordan ’03, Atlanta Erryn Gallasch ’07, Alexandria, Va. Kristin Smith ’07, Cary, N.C. Erica Ayala ’08, New York Hilaire Pickett ’08, Cary, N.C.
Wishing each of you the best in these challenging times, Sallie
PHYSICAL THERAPY REUNION OCT. 10
Physical therapy graduates will gather on campus for the first time on Saturday, Oct. 10, to celebrate the program’s 11-year history at Elon. All alumni of the master’s and doctoral physical
The Alumni Relations Office is located in Johnston Hall at 123 S. Antioch Ave. and can be reached toll-free at 877-784-3566 or by writing to Campus Box 2600, Elon, NC 27244.
26
MAGAZINE OF ELON
ALUMNI Action
therapy programs are invited to join faculty and staff at the reunion, which will include a free continuing education course, reunion T-shirts, family activities, dinner and tours of the Center for Fitness & Human Movement Studies at Alamance Regional Medical Center (ARMC). The center, which opened on ARMC’s campus in 2006, is a partnership between Elon and the hospital. Elon began its master of physical therapy degree program in January 1998 before changing to a doctoral program in 2003. Graduates interested in helping to plan the reunion may contact Lisa Ratliff Roper ’93 in the alumni office at 877.784.3566 or lroper@ elon.edu. Reunion details will be e-mailed or mailed to alumni and posted on the alumni Web site. NIGHT OF THE PHOENIX RAISES $50,000 FOR SCHOLARSHIPS
Alumni, parents and friends helped raise more than $50,000 for athletics scholarships Feb. 20 at the annual “Night of the Phoenix” event held in Alumni Gym. Many in the crowd participated in a silent auction, bidding on more than 150 items, including a Sunbrella furniture set and an autographed Michael Jordan jersey. The crowd also heard remarks from Dave Blank, Elon athletics director, Amy Hendrickson ’69, chair of the Phoenix Club Advisory Board, and Wes Durham ’88, radio announcer for the Atlanta Falcons and Georgia Tech athletics, who served as master of ceremonies. “In these uncertain economic times, the generosity displayed was amazing, and we were able to exceed our goal of funding one full athletics scholarship at Elon,” Hendrickson says. Mike Cross, vice chair of the advisory board, says the fundraiser is a great way to stay connected to Elon. “Not having attended Elon, I have discovered over the last few years what a great institution it is by attending events like ‘The Night of the Phoenix’ and athletics contests,” Cross says. “I am glad to participate and help show the community what can be accomplished when we give back. We appreciate the many businesses in the area that contributed items for the auction.”
Alumni donors celebrated at Elon … Pass It On The campus community celebrated philanthropy on March 17 with Elon … Pass It On, a new event sponsored by the Alumni Association and Office of Annual Giving to educate students about the vital role that alumni, parents and friends play in supporting their Elon education. The event, held during College Coffee, included posters featuring alumni donors and their testimonials about giving to Elon. The posters and statistics about giving at Elon were displayed in academic buildings across campus for the day. In addition to learning about the donors who have helped make their Elon experiences possible, seniors were encouraged to “pass it on” to future generations by contributing to the Senior Class Gift and joining IGNITE , Elon’s young alumni giving program, after they graduate. The following giving statistics from 2007-2008 were shared with the campus community: • Total giving to Elon: $16.6 million • Total gifts from alumni: $6.8 million • Total gifts from parents: $3.1 million • Number of alumni donors: 4,397 • Number of young alumni donors (graduates of the past 10 years): 1,147 • Number of gifts from alumni, parents and friends: 11,504
Welcome to the neighborhood Moving to a new city can be daunting, so let the Elon Alumni Association and alumni chapters make it a little easier. This summer, the association and leaders of the regional chapters will host their thirdannual Welcome to the City events to help alumni get settled in a new city. It is a great way for alumni, particularly new graduates, to meet other alums in their area and maintain their ties to Elon. All alumni are invited to bring family or friends to welcome 2009 graduates to their city. The following events have been scheduled: Atlanta: Sept. 8, 7-9 p.m. at Wildfire Restaurant Baltimore: Aug. 15, 4-7 p.m. at the Baltimore Marine Center Boston: Aug. 27, 6:30-9 p.m. at McFadden’s Charlotte: Aug. 12, 6:30 p.m. at The Gin Mill Charleston: Sept. 18, 5:30 p.m. at Tommy Condon’s New York City: Aug. 25, 7 p.m. at Mad46 (rooftop of The Roosevelt Hotel) Philadelphia: Sept. 10, 7-10 p.m. at Manayunk Brewery Piedmont Triad: Sept. 10, 6:30 p.m. at Natty Greene’s Richmond: Sept. 10, 7 p.m. at Capital Ale House in Innsbrook Washington, D.C.: Sept. 30, 7-9 p.m. at the Clarendon Grill, Arlington, Va. “We want recent grads to meet other Elon alumni in a relaxed environment to help open doors for networking and friendships,” says T.J. Rose ’00, a Baltimore Chapter member. “We chose Crab Fest for our event because eating crabs is a Baltimore tradition and provides a great opportunity for conversation.” A full list of Welcome to the City events will be posted on the alumni site. Contact the alumni office at 877.784.3566 or alumnirelations@elon.edu for more information.
Alumni Relations Office staff: Director, Sallie Hutton ’92, alumnirelations@elon.edu • Assistant Director, Lisa Ratliff Roper ’93 Assistant Director for Young Alumni, Lindsay Gross Hege ’04 • Coordinator of Alumni Chapters, Lauren Kelly ’08 • Program Assistant, Kelly Elliston
MAGAZINE OF ELON
27
ALUMNI Action
ALUMNI BEGIN 2009 IN HIGH SPIRITS
From cheering on the Phoenix basketball teams to serving their communities, members of Elon’s alumni chapters began 2009 with a flurry of activity. In Atlanta, alumni kicked off 2009 with a Jan. 7 New Year’s party at the Warren City Club. The following month, chapter members put on their Phoenix gear and headed
Chicago
Richmond
to Fox Sports Grill to watch the men’s basketball team take on Appalachian State. They also gathered at the Hudson Grill to watch the men’s team battle University of North Carolina at Greensboro. The Baltimore Chapter held a mid-January New Year’s celebration, which drew 30 members to Claddagh Pub in Canton near the Inner Harbor. In March, alumni laced up their bowling shoes and played a few games at Mustang Alley’s in Fells Point. In Boston, alums chased away the winter blues by watching the 2008 NBA champion Celtics defeat the New Jersey Nets. They also turned out to watch the Boston Bruins take on the New Jersey Devils in hockey. Phoenix basketball was on the minds of Charleston alumni, who cheered on the women’s team in a matchup against the College of Charleston. Alumni also watched the men’s squad take on The Citadel and later celebrated the team’s win over College of Charleston during a post-game get-together 28
MAGAZINE OF ELON
at The Mellow Mushroom. On St. Patrick’s Day, chapter members traded their maroon and gold for green during a celebration in the city’s Market Street area. In April, they got together for the Charleston Riverdogs minorleague baseball game. Charlotte, N.C., alumni co-hosted the fourth-annual Faculty/Staff Social in March. Paul Parsons, dean of the School of Communications, and Mary Gowan, dean
Triangle Chicago
of the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business, joined other faculty and staff members at the Fox & Hound in the Uptown district. Members of the newly formed Chicago Chapter gathered in March at Webster’s Wine Bar to celebrate their group’s launch. In Hampton Roads, Va., alumni got together for happy hour at Baron’s Pub in Suffolk, Va. In April, chapter members traveled to Norfolk, Va., to watch the Phoenix baseball team take on Old Dominion. Los Angeles alumni began the new year with happy hour gatherings at Big Wangs in North Hollywood and McCabe’s Bar and Grill in Santa Monica. At McCabe’s, alums welcomed Peter Falcone ’04, who recently moved to Santa Monica from New York and helped plan the event. In New York, alumni in January joined Elon students, faculty and staff for a Broadway performance of “Wicked.” After the show, the group received a backstage tour from cast member Lindsay Northen ’03. Piedmont Triad alumni met in January at Elon University School of Law in downtown Greensboro for a Winter Mingle. Elon Law student David Morrow ’07 led a tour of the school’s H. Michael Weaver Building. In April, the chapter hosted a happy hour at the Fox & Hound in Winston-Salem. Alumni of all ages in Richmond, Va., turned out for a chapter kickoff social at Legends Brewery, where alums and members
of the chapter’s newly restructured board discussed future events. The Triangle Chapter hosted its fourth-annual Groundhog Day party at Hi5 in Raleigh. In March, alums attended a social before watching a Carolina Hurricanes hockey game and posing for a photo with Stormy, the team mascot. In April, the chapter participated in the Angels Among Us 5K and Family Fun Walk at Duke Medical Center in Durham. More than 75 members of the Washington, D.C., Chapter attended a New Year’s celebration at Whitlow’s on Wilson Bar and Grill. In February, alumni volunteered with KEEN (Kids Enjoy Exercise Now), which provides recreational opportunities to children and young adults with developmental disabilities. On St. Patrick’s Day, alums gathered at McFadden’s Restaurant and Saloon to celebrate all things green and watch the opening game of the NCAA basketball tournament. For more information on chapter events, go to www.elon.edu/alumni.
GET YOUR ELON LUGGAGE TAG
Want to show your Elon pride on the road? GET TAGGED with a complimentary Elon luggage tag from the Alumni Association. Mail your business card to the university and you will receive a laminated maroon and gold luggage tag with the Elon logo on the front and your business card on the back. The tag is sturdy, waterproof and a great way to make your luggage stand out in a crowd. To get your tag, mail your business card to: Office of Alumni Relations, 2600 Campus Box, Elon, N.C., 27244.
ALUMNI Action
Get your travel on! If you have dreamed of touring Ireland or seeing New England’s fall foliage, now is your chance. The Alumni Association travel program continues Aug. 21–29 with a trip to Ennis, Ireland. The trip includes tours of the ancient Burren and windswept Cliffs of Moher; Bunratty Castle, one of Ireland’s most famous medieval castles; the Aran Island of Inishmore and the cliffside fortress of Dún Aengus; Coole Park in County Galway, featuring a beech tree bearing W.B. Yeats’ initials; and the 16th century tower of Thoor Ballylee, where Yeats lived. The cost is approximately $2,595 per person plus airfare and taxes (double occupancy). Young alumni are invited to take in New England’s beautiful fall colors Oct. 16–19 in Fryeburg, Maine. The trip package includes a three-night stay in a bed and breakfast, tours of local towns, biking, rock climbing, yoga and massage. Fryeburg is located on the New Hampshire border in the Mt. Washington valley and offers a variety of recreational activities. Prices range from $425-$475 per person (not including airfare). The registration deadline is June 15, and 50 percent of the trip fee (per individual) is due by that date to secure your reservation. For more information on these trips, go to www.elon.edu/alumni or contact the alumni office toll free at 877.784.3566 or alumnirelations@elon.edu.
Coming Events 2009 MAY 21 Washington, D.C. Chapter happy hour, 6:30 p.m. Union Jack’s, Bethesda, Md. JUNE 6
D.C. Chapter Race for the Cure, National Mall D.C. Chapter Nationals vs. New York Mets, 7:05 p.m. Pre-game barbeque 5 p.m. Philadelphia Chapter Wilmington Blue Rocks baseball game, 6 p.m.
JUNE 6–7
Young alumni service trip, Washington, D.C.
JUNE 11
Charleston Chapter Riverdogs vs. Augusta Greenjackets baseball game, 7:05 p.m. JUNE 12 Baltimore Chapter happy hour, 5 p.m. Rams Head Tavern, Annapolis, Md. JUNE 13
Triangle Chapter Komen Race for the Cure, 7 a.m. Meredith College, Raleigh, N.C.
JUNE 16
Piedmont Triad Chapter Martini Night, 6 p.m. Dick & Jane’s Tapas and Martinis, Mebane, N.C.
JULY 2
Charleston Chapter Riverdogs vs. Greenville Drive baseball game, 7:05 p.m.
JULY 17
NEW ALUMNI WEB SITE DEBUTS
Graduates of all eras will find something to like on the newly redesigned alumni Web site. The site features more alumni stories and news, an enhanced events calendar, career information and links to Elon on Twitter, YouTube and Facebook, as well as the LinkedIn professional networking resource and E2, the university’s social network. If you have moved recently or changed your e-mail address, you can update your information on the site. Announcements on major events and alumni services are featured in the “What’s Happening” section while “Look Who’s Talking” includes young alumni blogs and stories of alums from all eras. A new alumni chapter map and individual chapter pages keep alums up to date on the activities of Elon’s growing regional chapter program. The young alumni section includes information on the Young Alumni Council, travel program and ways to reconnect with Elon, as well as information for Elon seniors. Check out the new site at www.elon.edu/alumni.
Triangle Chapter Carolina Mudcats vs. Chattanooga Lookouts baseball game, 7:15 p.m.
AUG. 13 Charleston Chapter Riverdogs vs. Delmarva Shorebirds baseball game, 7:05 p.m. AUG. 29 Baltimore Chapter Orioles game, 7:05 p.m. Oriole Park at Camden Yards SEPT. 10 Schmoozapaloza alumni/ student networking event, McKinnon Hall, Elon SEPT. 11–12 National Alumni Executive Board fall meeting, Elon SEPT. 12 Richmond and D.C. Chapter Day, Philip Carter Winery, Hume, Va. SEPT. 19–20 Young Alumni Council fall meeting, Elon OCT. 10
Physical Therapy alumni reunion,
Elon OCT. 16–19 Fall in New England young alumni trip, Fryeburg, Maine OCT. 23–25
Homecoming Weekend
For the latest alumni news, go to www.elon.edu/alumni
MAGAZINE OF ELON
29
CLASS Notes
Class Notes ’40s Betty Lynch Bowman ’44 says she dreamed of attending Elon since she was in elementary school and is grateful that her dream came true. She says Elon was the perfect place for her to launch a career in education. She worked for more than 40 years in education, first as a teacher and later as a principal. As an Elon student, she appreciated the caring attitude, wisdom and guidance of all her professors. They instilled in her a love of education and a thirst for knowledge that she shared with her own students during her career. She is retired and enjoys spending time with her wonderful family. She lives in Burlington, N.C.
’50s REUNION ’59 Burley W. Dunn ’50 is thankful to Elon for preparing him for a successful career. He remembers socializing with his classmates and has great memories of former Elon President Leon E. Smith and professor Daniel Bowden. Dunn advises current Elon students to befriend as many people as they can on campus because you never know where those friendships will lead. He looks forward to Elon’s continued success and hopes that the school will hold tight to its Christian tradition. Jacqueline “Jackie” Royals Manzi ’50 has many fond memories of Elon, including catching the eye of her late husband, football hero Claude Manzi ’50. She remembers periodically scrubbing the dorm floors and how much fun she and her roommates had with that chore, as well as sitting under Elon’s magnificent oak trees. She hopes that Elon will hold true to its ideals and traditions, and that current students will make the most of their valuable opportunities. She lives in Greensboro, N.C. Hugh Brantley Wall ’50 is forever grateful to Elon for contributing to the successes he has achieved. He fondly remembers professors Alonzo 30
MAGAZINE OF ELON
Hook, Albert Coble and Earl Danieley ’46, all of whom were great educators and role models. Wall encourages fellow Elon alumni to support their alma mater generously and wholeheartedly, and to help the university continue its “march to greatness.” He hopes Elon will allocate more resources to science and technology so the university stays “on the forefront of helping our great nation reclaim our place as global leaders in invention and innovation.” Fred W. Yarbrough ’50 credits his Elon education with helping him land his dream job. He worked for the same company for 36 years. He loves to look back on his time at Elon and remembers the caring faculty and students, many of whom became lifelong friends. He hopes that Elon continues to thrive and progress, and that his fellow alumni will support the school and help Elon achieve its future goals. Henry Carr Jr. ’51 says Elon gave him a wonderful start in his pursuit of a career in medicine. He thoroughly enjoyed playing freshman basketball and living in Old North Dormitory. He made many wonderful friends, and he encourages current students to appreciate all that they are experiencing at Elon and to make the most of their opportunities. Jane Upchurch Roshelli ’51 went on the Elon Alumni Association trip to Italy last fall. “It was the most amazing trip of my life,” she says. She is a retired teacher living in Cary, N.C. D. Frank Ingram Jr. ’52 is grateful for the skills and knowledge he gained as a student at Elon. He says those skills gave him the edge he needed to climb the ladder of success. He warmly remembers living in the apartments for veterans and his neighbors, Bob Dolly and Lefty Taylor. He encourages current students to pursue their dreams vigorously. He hopes that Elon will “keep on keeping on.” Ronald E. Black ’54 credits Elon for thoroughly preparing him to be a music teacher. After a short stint in the U.S. Army, he taught for a couple of years at a school near Elon before moving to Rising Sun, Md., where he continued teaching for another 11 years. He then became a professor at Cecil Community College and is now retired. Some of his favorite Elon memories are singing and touring with the choirs.
He would love to hear from other Elon alumni and encourages them to share their favorite Elon memories and experiences with the magazine. He says he has high hopes for Elon’s continued growth and success.
shortly after graduation and had a son. She says she reflects often on her time at Elon and the people she met, many of whom have passed away. She urges current students to enjoy the opportunities they have been given and to make the most of their education. She hopes that Don L. Allen ’56 says Elon fully pre- Elon will continue to flourish. pared him to take on the challenges of life and to pursue his lifelong career. Edwin “Ed” Davidson ’57 calls atHe says he loved every minute of his tending and graduating from Elon time at Elon and is forever grateful to the defining period of his life. He his outstanding teachers. He encour- says he is very fortunate to have atages everyone to support Elon in any tended such a fine institution. He way they can to ensure that the uni- treasures the friendships he forged versity continues to thrive. with his football teammates on and off the field. That group gets together Carol Coble Brooks ’56 worked as a every Homecoming to celebrate their secretary for Burlington Mills after friendship and their alma mater. They graduating from Elon. She married worked together to establish the Sid
Charitable gift annuities can provide income for life A charitable gift annuity of $10,000 or more to Elon will guarantee you a fixed income for the rest of your life. With market interest rates near historic lows, a gift annuity is an attractive way for you 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. Sample Rates effective February 1, 2009: ONE BENEFICIARY
T WO BENEFICIARIES
AGE
ANNUIT Y RATE
AGES
ANNUIT Y RATE
60 65 70
5.0% 5.3% 5.7%
60/65 67/67 71/73
4.8% 5.0% 5.3%
Annuity rates are subject to change. The annuity rate remains fixed once your gift is made.
To calculate a gift annuity for you or your spouse or a family member, go to www.elon.edu/giftplanning. For more information on how you may benefit from a life income gift to Elon and other gift planning opportunities, please contact: Jamie Killorin, CPA/PFS, CFP®, Director of Gift Planning Toll free 877.784.3566 Jkillorin2@elon.edu • www.elon.edu/giftplanning
CLASS Notes from Salem College. She is a firstgrade teacher at Vienna Elementary in Winston-Salem, N.C., where she lives.
Aaron “Ron” Price ’83 has been promoted to vice president of Yukon Learning. He specializes in buildWilliam “Bill” Joyner ’59 loved living ing custom e-learning solutions usin Old North Dormitory and having ing Yukon’s proprietary C3 learning a gym in the middle of the dorm. He model. also remembers skipping out on chapel services to get a cup of coffee. He Caryl Smith Van Fleet ’83 recently is grateful to his Elon professors for earned a master’s degree in elementary helping to shape his faith and religious education from North Carolina A&T philosophy. He challenges current State University. She is the curriculum Elon students to “question authority facilitator at Eastlawn Elementary and and think for yourselves.” He lives in lives in Haw River, N.C. Sarasota, Fla. Bill Bride ’85 was one of the Phoenix fans who descended on Comcast Center Dec. 30 for the Elon vs. Maryland men’s basketball game in Rebecca Webster Graves ’66 retired College Park, Md. Bill reports that last spring after a 42-year career even though Elon didn’t win the in teaching, most recently in the game, the team played well against Alamance-Burlington School System. an ACC opponent. He is confident Her husband, William L. Graves ’61, that Elon will continue to develop a is a retired principal. They live in strong basketball program. He says he Burlington, N.C. thoroughly enjoyed the evening and was impressed by the large number of Walton C. Jennette ’66 enjoyed a 25- Elon alumni who turned out to cheer year career in banking and financial on the Phoenix. services with several large institutions across the country before starting First Colony Asset Management LLC, in Raleigh, N.C. In his free time, he enjoys golfing, gardening and boat- REUNION ’99 ing with his wife, Pat. They live in Raleigh. Stephanie K. Dawkins ’90 recently was appointed assistant city adminisDavid J. Johnson ’68 is co-author of trator and director of administrative Fort Monroe (Arcadia Publishing), a services for the City of Geneva, Ill., pictorial history of the famous fort where she lives. Her responsibilities overlooking Hampton Roads Harbor include administration oversight, huin southeast Virginia. Currently, he is man resources, information technolworking as an archivist and historian ogy and finance. in Hampton, Va., where he lives. Babette Riley Robbins ’90 has been Barton C. Shaw ’69 recently co-edited promoted to senior service delivery a book with Paul A. Cimbala, a history manager in staff operations at Bank professor at Fordham University. The of America. She manages a team that book is titled Making a New South: provides technology, process and comRace, Leadership and Community After munications support to the global the Civil War (University Press of staffing organization. She lives with Florida). He lives in Bethlehem, Pa., her husband, James, and their children where he is a college professor. in Winston-Salem, N.C.
’60s
’90s
Burt N. Repine ’91 celebrated his 40th birthday by climbing Mt. Aconcagua in the Argentinean Andes. The 13-day expedition took him to the top of the REUNION ’84 tallest peak in the Western Hemisphere, Virginia N. Davis ’82 recently re- which is 22,834 feet above sea level. He ceived a master’s degree in education lives in Isabelino, Calif.
’80s
PHOTO: RODNEY CHOICE
Varney Scholarship Fund and name the Varney suite at Rhodes Stadium. He advises current students to set their goals high because Elon will take them where they want to go. He hopes that Elon will continue to be considered a jewel in higher education.
Ashley Lawson ’07, in a white sweater, sits next to Michelle Obama.
Alumna has ‘surreal’ meeting with first lady Ashley Lawson ’07 and her colleagues at Miriam’s Kitchen had a big surprise for the homeless men and women they feed each day in Washington, D.C. On March 5, the staff called their clients to the serving line as they do each day. The men and women were shocked to find first lady Michelle Obama prepared to serve them their meal. After serving food, Obama spoke one-on-one with some of the guests, listening to their stories and giving them hugs. “Meeting Michelle Obama was a surreal and inspiring experience,” Lawson says. “For our clients, her visit reaffirmed the notion that they matter and that people care about them. It was truly inspiring to see that she also shares a passion for service to those in great need.” The first lady visited the kitchen to draw attention to the importance of good nutrition and volunteer service. The kitchen serves meals to more than 200 homeless men and women daily. “Many of our guests are suffering with severe health problems, and our mission is to serve them great-tasting homemade meals as well as offer them comprehensive social services,” says Lawson, who serves as the volunteer and development coordinator. The Cleveland native began working at the kitchen shortly after earning her human services degree. She credits a Winter Term class on homelessness and poverty with Beth Warner, assistant professor of human services, with her decision to work with the homeless. “I was passionate about being part of an organization that served homeless individuals with the dignity and care that they deserve,” Lawson says. “Each day I know that I am making a difference in the lives of the men and women who come to Miriam’s Kitchen.”
Robert Britt Deviney ’93 is a financial planner and has accepted a partnership with Palm Planning Group, a financial planning firm in Florida that specializes in values-based financial planning. He lives in West Palm Beach. Timothy C. Hall ’93 is the author of several secondary social studies textbook supplements, curricula and standards. He has written test items for multiple student and teacher social studies exams. He wrote The Complete Idiot’s Guide to World History and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Middle Ages, published in February, and the AMSCO Guide to World History: Preparing for the Advanced Placement
Examination, which will be available in August. He currently teaches at The Franklin Academy, a college preparatory public charter high school in Wake Forest, N.C. He is pursuing a doctorate in interdisciplinary studies at Union Institute and University. Through his studies, he hopes to gain an understanding of the historic connection between religion, state and culture in world history. He lives in Wake Forest. William C. Chisholm ’95 received a master’s degree in educational leadership from Argosy University in Chicago. He recently was promoted to assistant principal at North Moore
MAGAZINE OF ELON
31
CLASS Notes
High School, his alma mater. He lives with his wife, Yolanda, in West End,
Matthew Haas ’95 pictured with past and present team members of the Philadelphia Eagles during a promotional cruise
N.C. Matthew B. Haas ’95 is an account management team leader in marketing for AAA. In March, he coordinated the AAA Eagles Fan Cruise, a seven-day trip around the eastern Caribbean that gave Philadelphia Eagles fans a chance to meet some of their favorite players, past and present. The players included Brian Dawkins, Hugh Douglas, Troy Vincent, Brent Celek, Chris Gocong and A.J. Feeley. Haas says he spent more than a year planning the cruise, which was a big success and one of the highlights of his career. He lives in West Chester, Pa. Tiffany Smith ’97 is the staff recruitment, retention and development coordinator for Pender County Schools. She lives in Rocky Point, N.C. Meghan McGlinn Manfra ’98 is an assistant professor in the College of Education at North Carolina State University. She lives with her husband, Dennis, in Raleigh, N.C. Stacy Imler Rose ’98 has received her National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification in literacy. She lives in Fredericksburg, Va.
Alumna stars on “One Tree Hill” If you are a fan of the hit television show “One Tree Hill,” then you’ve seen Lisa Goldstein ’03. She plays Millicent Huxtable, the quirky assistant to Brooke, played by actress Sophia Bush. Goldstein’s on-air relationship with Mouth McFadden, played by actor Lee Norris, has led to a regular role on the show, which is filmed in Wilmington, N.C. Goldstein couldn’t be happier that fans have embraced her character, known as “Millie.” The theater veteran is having fun learning the workings of a television series. Growing up, she never dreamed Lisa Goldstein ’03 of becoming an actress. Acting is something she grew to love, beginning as a teenager when she attended the Walnut Hill Summer Theatre School in Naticky, Mass. At Elon, she majored in music theatre and performed in “Music Man,”“Comedy of Errors,”“Songs for a New World,”“12 Angry Jurors,” “Closer Than Ever,”“Marvin’s Room” and “You Can’t Take it With You,” in which she played Penny, still one of her favorite roles. After graduating, Goldstein performed in regional theater, including the Naples Dinner Theatre, the Heritage Repertory Theatre and the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina, eventually landing a role in the original cast of “Finding Nemo: The Musical” in Disney World. In August 2007, she received the phone call of a lifetime. The creators of “One Tree Hill” loved the audition tape she sent in and hired her to play Millicent. “I had to have one of my best friends listen to the voice mail because I didn’t believe it was real,” Goldstein recalls. Goldstein credits the fundamentals she learned at Elon with helping her succeed. “Whenever I am questioning something or am unsure of what I should be doing with a scene, I always go back to my Elon ‘toolbox’ and find what I need,” she says. Last fall, Goldstein returned to campus and joined Hannah Campbell ’02 and Christian Brescia ’03 to be recognized during Alumni Leadership Weekend. “I miss the closeness of the performing arts department and always being in an acting class,” Goldstein says. “The professors really opened my eyes to what a challenge acting is and how rewarding it is. I tell students to use Elon’s resources now while they can because they’ll miss Elon as soon as they’ve gone.”
Clark Center for Exceptional Children. Leslie DeJohn White ’98 is a social She lives in Atlanta with her husband, services coordinator at the Elaine Kevin, and their children, Warren and Kerin. REUNION ’04
’00s
Leslie DeJohn White ’98 with husband, Kevin, and their children, Kerin and Warren
32
MAGAZINE OF ELON
Dana M. Disborough ’99 recently joined Golden Living as a public relations specialist. Her new responsibilities include communications and public relations for Golden Living’s national service companies: Aegis Therapies, AseraCare Hospice, Home Health and 360 Healthcare Staffing. She lives in Crofton, Md.
Robin Beers ’03 is a special education teacher with Anne Arundel County Public Schools. In January, she graduated magna cum laude with a master’s degree in special education with a concentration in early childhood education from Loyola College in Baltimore. She works with special needs students ages 3 to 5. She lives in Arnold, Md., and says she would love to hear from her friends and classmates at elonrobin@yahoo.com. Joshua Campbell ’03 is the business development manager at Locum Leaders, a recruiting agency specializing in temporary medical staffing. He lives in Alpharetta, Ga. Peter P. Falcone ’04 recently was promoted to assistant vice president of Willis Group Holdings LTD in the aerospace division. He lives in Santa Monica, Calif. Gabrielle Komorowski ’04 has been promoted to anchor of the 5:30 p.m. ne wscast at WPTZ-TV, an NBC affiliate in Burlington, Vt. She previously served as morning anchor and says she Gabrielle Komorowski ’04 doesn’t miss going to work at 2 a.m. While working at WPTZ, she has interviewed several high-profile people, including Hillary Clinton during last year’s presidential primary. She received a Special Mention from the New York State Associated Press Broadcasters Association for a feature story she produced about Avatars. She lives in Plattsburgh, N.Y. Jonathan P. Lindberg ’04 is an executive administrator for the North Carolina Board of Education. As part of the Healthy Responsible Students
Ali Luchetti ’01 is an account executive at Worldlink Media in New York. Worldlink is a multi-platform advertising sales firm. Ali is responsible for television ad sales for FOX Sports and syndicated shows, including “Roseanne” and “The Cosby Show.” She lives in New York. Bobby Griffin ’05 (center)
CLASS Notes
Working for her mom
S
tacy Harris Koon ’96 remembers exactly when her life changed forever. It was 9 p.m. on Jan. 21, 2006. The phone rang at her home, and she knew right away that something was wrong. A police officer told her that a drunk driver had killed her mother, Faith Coleman. Adding to Koon’s pain was learning that the man who killed her mother was a repeat drunk-driving offender. He was convicted and sent to prison. After his release later this year, authorities are expected to deport him to his native El Salvador. Since that night, Koon and her sister, Jill Woody, have embarked on the kind of journey that comes with the loss of a loved one. A search for closure led them to work with North Carolina’s chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and Guilford County court officials to establish a Victim Impact Panel program in the county. The panel, which is part of a national program, enables victims of drunk driving accidents and their families to share their stories with offenders and put a human face on the consequences of drinking and driving. Judges can order drunk drivers to participate in the one-hour program as part of their probation. Koon signs participants’ certificates after they complete the program. “My sister and I realized we wouldn’t have closure until we tried to make a difference,” says Koon, who is a full-time teacher and volunteers with the program outside of work.
group, he is working to implement several key child obesity reduction pilot programs used throughout the state public school system. He lives in Raleigh. Bobby J. Griffin ’05 is a teacher, head football coach, baseball coach and wrestling coach at West Craven Middle School. This year, his wrestling team was 10–0 and won the conference and tournament championships — a first in West Craven’s history. He says he always enjoyed playing sports and loved his time as an Elon football
BY BETHANY SWANSON ’09
The program can be a powerful deterrent to drunk driving, Koon says. “I like to think there’s a little bit of humanity in every person,” she says. “Maybe I’m crazy, but I feel like if they knew our stories, maybe it would make a difference. And it’s a lot like therapy (for
Stacy Harris Koon ’96
me). I get to sign a certificate at the end of each session, and every time I do, I feel like I’m working for my mom.” Coleman, known as “Grandma Fay-Fay” to Koon’s two young sons, was a beloved staff member in the school of education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she worked as a program coordinator. Many of Coleman’s colleagues attended her funeral and shared with Koon how much her mother meant to them. “She was a surrogate mom for a lot of
people,” Koon says. “She always treated everyone the same. She was so special.” Last summer, Koon was selected as one of Nabisco’s 100 Calorie Pack “100 Extraordinary Women.” Koon says thousands of women are nominated each year for making a difference in their communities and with their families. Koon traveled with her sister to Los Angeles to accept her award and also appeared in People magazine. “My face was about the size of a dime, but it was still an amazing experience,” she says. “These women were so awesome.” Koon, who majored in English, lives in Graham, N.C., and teaches English at River Mill Academy. She says she has wonderful memories of her Elon days, which have been a source of strength since her mother died. “My friends exuded such positive energy,” Koon says. “Everyone goes through so many changes in college, and the people you live with are your family. College is where you find your voice, and those are the people you find it with.” Today, Koon chooses to lend her voice to eliminating drunk driving. She knows all too well the cost of such tragedies. “It feels good to be able to do this,” she says. “It’s not something I ever thought I would be doing, but you just do it. The people who’ve died should have been able to do what they wanted with their lives. And I like to think that in doing this, I’m offering a little bit back to them for their loss. I miss my mom every day. I wasn’t finished asking her questions.”
player but prefers coaching to playing. in finance at the University of Denver. ill children to one of the Hole in the He lives in New Bern, N.C. He lives in Denver. Wall camps. Corey encourages alumni to go to www.teamholeinthewall.org Michael N. Hodges ’05 works Elizabeth A. Corey ’06 is a caseworker to learn more. She lives in Lewisville, for Richard Childress Racing’s #33 at Bryan’s House, a nonprofit organi- Texas. Cheerios/Hamburger Helper team, zation that serves children with or afheadlined by Sprint Cup driver Clint fected by HIV and other serious medi- Brandon K. Gauthier ’06 is pursuing a Bowyer. He enjoys traveling across the cal conditions. She currently is pursu- doctorate in United States diplomatic country with the team. His home base ing a master’s degree in community history from Fordham University. He is Lewisville, N.C. counseling with an emphasis in play lives in New York. therapy from the University of North Brendan Maxwell ’05 is an auditor Texas. In April, she ran in the Boston Phoebe R. Lott ’06 is pursuing a masat Level 3 Communications. He is Marathon as a member of Team Hole ter’s degree in behavioral health psypursuing a master’s degree in business in the Wall. She has committed to per- chology from Boston University. She administration with a concentration sonally raising $3,000 to send seriously lives in New York.
MAGAZINE OF ELON
33
CLASS Notes
David “Muddy” Waters ’93 and Erica Lee Frene Waters Melissa Cafiero Cook ’99 and Aaron Cook
John D. Floyd ’90 and Ann Green Floyd and friends
Corbie Meadows Lathan ’00 and Christopher Lathan
Amanda Curran DiPietra ’00 and Nick DiPietra and friends
Anne DeVoe Garcia ’03 and Luke Garcia and friends
Randi Oxendine McMillen ’05 and friends
Kara Hopkins Emes ’05 and Brian Emes ’05 and friends Trista Duval-Wilkinson ’06 and Thomas Wilkinson
Amy Osleger Piccoli ’00 and Christopher Piccoli
Amanda Mann Thomas ’03 Stafford Lewis Kim ’03 and Michael DPT ’06 and Jon Thomas Kim and friends
Brittany Boda Saxe ’06 and Fabyan R. Saxe IV
Chisa Pennix Brown ’01 and Montro Brown and friends
Lindsey Conley Slaughter ’04 and Christopher Slaughter
Lindsey Paquette Barnes ’06 and Andrew Barnes ’06 and friends
Weddings
Alumna receives Rotary Scholarship Julie Anne Kenneally ’08 has received a 2008 Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship, a $24,000 award that will fund her graduate studies on human rights issues at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. It marks the third time since 2006 that an Elon graduate has received the honor. Kenneally was an Honors Fellow at Elon and double majored in political science and international studies. She conducted research on media coverage of female suicide terrorism and presented her work at Julie Anne Kenneally ’08 a conference of the North Carolina Political Science Association and at the International Studies Association-South Annual Conference. “I am so honored to have been given this opportunity,” says Kenneally, who works at the U.S. Census Bureau in Washington, D.C. “I can’t wait to go abroad and experience another culture firsthand. I think that living in another country is the only way to fully understand its beliefs, values and culture, and to understand its way of life.” Kenneally participated in the Isabella Cannon Leadership Program and volunteered as a tutor for Spanish-speaking children, as well as with Loaves & Fishes Christian Food Ministry and Safe Rides, a student-run university program that offers free late-night rides to students.
34
MAGAZINE OF ELON
Melissa Catherine Cafiero ’99 and Aaron P. Cook, 2/27/08. Elon alumni who participated in the wedding were: Amanda Moore Roberts ’99, Joseph Roberts ’00 and Kimberlee Hicks John D. Floyd ’90 and Ann Green, Edwards ’99. Melissa is a zookeeper. 11/29/08. Shane Yount ’91 and Stewart The couple live in Taylors, S.C. Arens ’89 participated in the wedding. In attendance were: Doug Payne ’88, Trey Siner ’91 and Suzy Simpson Arens ’91. John is a stand-up comedian. For more information about his Amanda Curran ’00 and Nick DiPietra, career, visit his Web site at www.clean- 6/1/08. The couple were married in the comedyinc.com. The couple reside in Chart House in Weehawken, N.J., Wilmington, N.C. overlooking the New York City skyline. Elon alumni in attendance were: David “Muddy” Waters ’93 and Erica Kristin Hartley Gardner ’00, Misty Lee Waters, 4/20/08. David is a free- O’Day ’98, Amy Frazier Spirides ’00, lance assistant director for film and Brett Williams ’00, Todd Gardner ’00, television in Hollywood. The couple Dayna Dhein Craig ’00 and Elisabeth live in Marina del Rey, Calif. Wise ’00. Amanda is a project manager at AllianceBernstein. The couple Tori Young ’97 and Nick Selimis, reside in Hoboken, N.J. 11/8/08. Tori is an associate at Booz Allen Hamilton. The couple live in Corbie Meadows ’00 and Christopher Rockville, Md. Lathan, 5/17/08. Jill Schweback Rose
’90s
’00s
CLASS Notes
Training for success
BY MEGAN KIRKPATRICK ’09
F
or many people, their job is simply that — a job. Not for Alan Stein ’99. He wakes up most days at 4:30 a.m. to work out before meeting with clients to help them break a sweat. Stein, a former point guard on Elon’s basketball team, has made a name for himself as a strength coach for top young basketball players. He has trained some of the NBA’s biggest stars before they became household names, including Linas Kleiza of the Denver Nuggets, Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Michael Beasley of the Miami Heat. Stein is the head strength and conditioning coach for the boys’ basketball team at Montrose Christian, a prep school in Rockville, Md. He also is a performance consultant with Nike basketball and head conditioning coach for the annual McDonald’s All-American game, the Jordan All-American Classic, the NBA Players Association’s Top 100 Camp and Five Star basketball camps. Stein has been featured in publications such as Men’s Health, Winning Hoops, Dime, American Basketball Quarterly, Stack and the Sports Illustrated Web site, SI.com. “I love what I do and am thankful for the variety and mix of people that I get to work with,” Stein says. “I am very fortunate to be so passionate about doing this.” It took a lot of hard work and perseverance for Stein to achieve success.
’00 participated in the wedding, and Steffany Lindell Hester ’00, Beth Harper Salzberg ’00 and TJ Rose ’00 were in attendance. The couple live in Orlando, Fla.
Alan Stein ’99 and former client Kevin Durant on the night of the 2007 NBA Draft.
After graduating with a degree in leisure and sport management, he helped Elon develop a strength program for several varsity sports before moving to the Washington, D.C., area to work with prep school athletes. It was at this time that Stein began focusing exclusively on training basketball players. His big break came in 2002 when he got the attention of Stu Vetter, famed basketball coach at Montrose Christian and twice-named National Coach of the Year by USA Today. “I finally got to work with a few Montrose guys, including Linas (Kleiza),” Stein recalls. “Coach Vetter was pleased with their (physical) shape and let me start
Amy Osleger ’00 and Christopher Piccoli, 10/25/08. Elon alumni in attendance were: Eric Osleger ’98, Karen Mullis DeSouza ’00, Jennifer Selitto ’00, Elizabeth Kelly Cioffi ’00, Jessica Wallace Moran ’00, Mia Manzotti ’00 Kristen Grace Nastasia ’00 and and James Puleo ’00. Amy is a marChristopher S. Dundov, 8/8/08. Elon keting manager at Coupons Inc TV. alumni in attendance were: Allison The couple live in Suffield, Conn. Riley Knode ’99, Allison Ricciardi DeMacy ’99, Kelly Hayman Steele ’99, Chisa Dene Pennix ’01 and Montro Dena Gregory ’00 and Angela Olsen D. Brown, 2/14/09. Elon alumni in ’99. Kristen is a reporter for WSPA-TV, attendance were: Jernan L. Smith ’01, a CBS affiliate serving Anderson, Tashina DeVeaux ’01, Leeya CurryGreenville and Spartanburg, S.C., as Winstead ’01, Larry D. Baldwin ’01 well as Asheville, N.C. The couple re- and Anika Davis ’03. Chisa is an side in Greer, S.C. events planner. The couple reside in Greensboro, N.C.
working with the program. They are a nationally recognized team, which helped open some doors for me. Just having the ability to work with someone like Kevin Durant makes you more recognizable.” Being a former basketball player has helped Stein relate to his clients and stand out in a crowd of football-trained strength coaches. He works with athletes on flexibility, injury prevention, nutrition and agility conditioning. “I can get them to work at 100 percent every time they come in,” Stein says. “I make sure my program is comprehensive and includes everything except skill work.” Stein admits that playing basketball at Elon was not always easy. He spent a lot of time sitting on the bench, experience that helps him relate to other players. “That helped me build character,” Stein says. “The friendships and life lessons learned on that team are invaluable. The Elon environment is exactly what I needed at that time in my life. I needed a family approach.” Stein’s dream is to take his workouts to the international stage by training the U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team. “It would be an amazing experience to go to the Olympics,” he says. “That is my ultimate goal. For now, I want to keep doing what I am doing. I am so thankful every day that I get to do something I love.”
Anne DeVoe ’03 and Luke Garcia, 6/7/08. Beth Alexander ’03 served as a bridesmaid. Other Elon alumni in attendance were Bryan Psota ’01 and Elizabeth Richter Psota ’01. The couple reside in Naples, Fla. Whitney “Stafford” Lewis ’03 and Mike Jong Min Kim, 9/27/08. Elon alumni who participated in the wedding were: Kelley Kruse ’01, Kylle Ashby Hall ’02, Dalton Dorn Fitzsimmons ’03 and Kat O’Connor ’03. Elon alumni in attendance were: P.J. Kennedy ’01, Marshall Glass ’01, Courtney Wells ’01, Christine Glatsky ’02, Sarah Aurigemma ’02, Amy Grzeskiewicz ’02, Sara Beaty ’03 and Anne Grosvenor ’03. Stafford is a
certified project manager and has her Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification. She is a project manager at CPS Professional Services LLC. The couple reside in Fairfax, Va. Amanda Renae Mann ’03 DPT ’07 and Jon M. Thomas, 10/25/08. Amanda is a physical therapist at Randolph Hospital. The couple live in Asheboro, N.C. Lindsey Conley ’04 and Christopher S. Slaughter, 10/12/08. Elon alumni in attendance were: Michael Lopata ’03, Shannon O’Connor Lopata ’02, Julie Salvatore ’05, Victoria Whipple ’03, Liz Eddy ’04, Crystal Pape McBane ’01, Megan Pinnell ’04, T. Scott
MAGAZINE OF ELON
35
CLASS Notes
Jodi Pearlman Rosenthal ’97 and twins, Levi and Lexi
Kerrie Greeson Corbett ’97, husband, Jarad, and daughters, Madalyn and Emma
Robert Davidson ’00, wife, Jennifer, Gregory Lasser ’00 and son, and daughter, Madelyn Benjamin
Chris Rash ’02, wife, Ashley, and daughter, Elizabeth
Evan Parsons ’02, Jennifer Long Parsons ’03 and daughter, Ava Marie
Allison Poinsett Peretin ’98, husband, Jared, and daughter, Lily Clair
Jessica Balon Baun ’00, Amanda Holtzman Fortson husband, Scott, and children, ’01, Brian Fortson ’00 and Ethan and Logan daughter, Kendall
Katie Beaver Parsley ‘03 and daughter, Lena
Whipple ’00. Lindsey is a manage- and John Finucane ’04. The couple ment analyst for the Department of reside in Montclair, N.J. Veterans Affairs. The couple reside in Clemmons, N.C. Randi Michelle Oxendine ’05 and Jordan D. McMillen, 12/20/08. Kara Lynn Hopkins ’05 and Brian Randi teaches kindergarten for Vance Edward Emes ’05, 7/12/08. Ashley County Schools. The couple reside in Brown ’05, Alison O’Hara Miller Henderson, N.C. ’04, Emma Douglas ’05, Katie Wade Donald ’05, Karen Van Hoewyk ’05, Alison Gray ’05 and Michael G. Wille Ryan Moore ’06 and Bryan McFarland ’05, 6/7/08. Elon alumni in attendance ’04 participated in the wedding. Elon were: Emily Sprouse Walker ’04, alumni in attendance were: Amy Matt Wille ’07, Alden De Lamarter Flower ’04, Rebecca Grice ’04, Dan ’07, Ashley Kehrer ’02, Bowie Gray King ’05, Elizabeth Kind ’04, Brian ’00, Matt Crews ’05, David Ratz ’01, Gift ’06, Rebecca Sieger ’05, Mary Tracy Trave ’06, Jen Quast ’05, Cassie Britt Burke ’05, Michelle LeDonne Cosentino ’07 and Elon professor ’05, Laura Kirby ’03, Danielle Blakely Linda Poulson. ’08, Meg Ellis ’04, Jenny Clark ’05, Alexis Walters ’05, Fran Brown ’05, Brittany Erin Boda ’06 and Fabyan Andrew Tomkiewicz ’04, Eric Nielsen R. Saxe IV, 9/5/08. Brittany works at ’05, Emily Coons ’02, Jake Cooper ’05, Abercrombie & Fitch. The couple reKathryn Atkinson ’06, Erin Day ’06, side in Columbus, Ohio. Bill Campbell ’07, Neil Millhiser ’05
36
MAGAZINE OF ELON
Mark Tyson ’98, Kim Henry Tyson ’99, and son, Eli
Jennie Urrutia Fisher ’01, husband, Daniel, and daughter, Mia
Cara Belt Losurdo ’03, husband, Anthony, and daughters, Brielle and Genevieve
Laura Holtry-Hughes ’99, husband, Todd, and daughter, Ellery
Mindy Carden Buchanan ’02, husband, Bradley, and daughter, Isabella
Jeff Trauring ’04, wife, Brittany, and daughter, Laura
Trista J. Duval ’06 and Thomas M. Wilkinson, 1/11/09. Trista is an actress. Corey Marie Roberts ’05 was in attendance. The couple reside in Kent, Wash. Lindsey Paquette ’06 and Andrew Barnes ’06, 10/18/08. Elon alumni in attendance were: Jay Myers ’07, Austin Ferin ’07, Colleen Jones ’04, Ashley Mielak ’04, Brad Austin ’07, Lauren Summers ’07, Ashley McNally ’07, Kristie Anderson ’06, Chelsea Goodwin ’06, Shane Gerken ’06, Elliott Cardano ’07, Dan Ennis ’06, Brittany Saxe ’06, Kimy Dixon ’06, Alison Fiske ’06, Alice Gridley ’04, Jenna Bailey ’07, Kyle Lopriore ’06, Elizabeth Kernodle ’06, Robert Torres ’06, Emily Walker ’06, Lesley Merrill ’07, Kat Mellor ’07, Clayton Collins ’07, Charles Keenan ’06, Mallie Colavita ’05, Caity Cummings ’07, Christin Hopewell ’06 and James
Scott Lewis ’03, Brandi Anderson Lewis ’03, and son, Connor
Kristin Smith Barrier ’04, husband, Whitaker, and daughter, Grace
Rill ’06. The couple live in Charlotte, N.C. Jenifer Blowe ’07 and Steven Riddei, 3/13/07. Jenifer is director of the Student Success and Technology Center at Horr y-Georgetown Technical College. She gained the necessary expertise to run the center by working with the Elon’s elite program. She lives with her husband in Conway, S.C.
Births
’80s Lisa Emerson Bittle ’88 and Bennie T. Bittle, Henderson, Nev. Son: Luke Samuel. 2/23/09. He joins older brother, Noah. Lisa is a lead mammographer and is pursuing a master’s
CLASS Notes
‘They just want to be loved’
N
atasha Christensen ’07 and Liz Earle ’07 were so inspired by their undergraduate work helping povertystricken children in Honduras that they have vowed to continue serving children in the Central American country, which they call their “second home.”
(l-r) Natasha Christensen ’07, Liz Earle ’07, Jen DeSimone ’07, Rhiannon Staub ’07 and Emily Sargent ’07 in Honduras.
Christensen and Earle credit Elon’s Periclean Scholars program with igniting their passion. They were among 15 students in the Periclean Scholars Class of 2007 who selected malnutrition as their global issue to address during their Elon careers. Following extensive research, they chose to focus on Honduras, one of the poorest countries in Latin America. They joined other Periclean Scholars who traveled to Honduras during Winter Term 2007 to see firsthand the effects of malnutrition. They volunteered with faculty members to help build a dining facility in the pediatric ward of a hospital
BY ROBERT HOPPEY ’09
in the city of San Pedro Sula. They visited the capital city of Tegucigalpa, where they immersed themselves in Honduran culture and met with representatives of Hope for Honduran Children Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded by Elon parents Karen and John Godt. The students accompanied Karen Godt to Flor Azul, a farming community affiliated with Godt’s group that serves neglected boys. They also interacted with children in the village of Nuevo Paraiso. “When you go there, they don’t care who you are or where you’re from,” Earle says of the Honduran children. “They just want to be loved. Once you make those connections, it is hard not to go back. I can’t pretend it’s not going on.” Following graduation, Christensen and Earle vowed to continue their volunteer work in Honduras. In January 2008, they joined Emily Sargent ’07 and Rhiannon Staub ’07 and returned to the country to volunteer with Elon students participating in a Winter Term program. The alums visited the boys they had befriended at Flor Azul, taught them English and helped build a classroom on the property. “The farm is home for them, a safe haven,” Christensen says. “Many walked or ran from their circumstances, which include abject poverty, violence and the lure of gangs, and have triumphed. They teach us Spanish and hold our hands. The fact that they still smile and enjoy life is astounding. We learn as much from them, if not more, than they learn from us.” Christensen says it’s important to continue sending Elon students to developing countries such as Honduras so they can
gain a global perspective and share their knowledge with others. “Elon provided a place where we could think globally and find ways to become global citizens,” she says. “Our education has given us so many opportunities, and we want to extend that chance to the children of Flor Azul. This service trip made us realize that we can become social entrepreneurs and work to bridge the gaps between cultures.” The alums plan to take their dedication a step further by starting a nonprofit organization to help Honduran children. They hope to launch the group by spring 2010. Joining them in this effort are former Periclean Scholars Jennifer DeSimone ’07, Amie Ritchie ’07, Beth Roberts ’07 and Sargent, as well as Staub, who became interested in Honduras while working on a senior seminar photography project there. Christensen and Earle juggle full-time jobs with their volunteer work in Honduras. Christensen is pursuing a master’s degree in public policy and peace operations at George Mason University and works at the State Department in Washington, D.C. Earle works in the insurance industry at AIU Holdings, Inc. in Boston. “The most important thing I’ve learned from Honduras is that you need to believe change is possible,” Christensen says. “You can learn so much about yourself by learning from others.” Adds Earle, “You cannot feel bad about your lifestyle. You just have to be willing to tweak it to help someone else and make the world a better place.”
degree in teaching and learning with Ames Emory Forish ’95 and Jason comedic improvisational actor for technology. Forish, Boston. Son: Tanyon Burke. Disney’s Hollywood Studios. 1/1/09. Ames is director of operations for MaidPro. Meghan Zanouski Campbell ’97 and John Campbell, Oxford, Pa. Son: Kristin E. Hayes ’95 and David Brendan Paul. 4/9/08. Brendan joins Victoria Karukas Schumacher ’93 Hartnett, Long Branch, N.J. Son: older brothers, Luke and Jack. and Eric Schumacher, Williamsburg, Maquire “Mac” Reid Hayes-Hartnett. Va. Daughter: Sophia Claire. 2/18/09. 8/21/08. Kristin is a learning disabili- Kerrie Greeson Corbett ’97 and She joins older brother, Jake. Victoria ties teacher and consultant. Jarad Scott Corbett, N.C. Daughter: is a corporate meeting planner at Madalyn Rose. 3/6/08. She joins older Kingsmill Resort & Spa/Anheuser Brian Weckerly ’96 and Jessica sister, Emma. Busch Companies. Weckerly, Orlando, Fla. Daughter: Helen Ann. 12/18/08. Brian is a
’90s
Alicia Otte Regan-Laur ’97 and Jesse Adam Regan-Laur ’97, Mount Airy, Md. Son: Jack Henry. 6/17/08. He joins older sisters, Gracie and Caroline. Stephanie Hicks Meyer ’97 and Tim Meyer, Winterville, N.C. Son: Jacob Lovell. 9/2/08. He joins older brothers, Andrew, Patrick and Hagan. Jodi Pearlman Rosenthal ’97 and Martin Rosenthal, Highland Park, Ill. Twins: Levi Elijah (son) and Lexi
MAGAZINE OF ELON
37
CLASS Notes Gretchen Hall Archibald ’02 and Timothy Archibald ’02, Gainesville, Va. Daughter: Grace Ann. 1/6/09.
Alumni start scholarship to honor a good friend Friends and family of Matthew John Ford ’04 remember him as a loyal friend and proud Elon graduate who was as passionate about computers as he was about the Carolina Panthers football team. Ford, 28, died last October following an accident at Southland Electric Supply in Burlington, N.C., where he had worked for four years. Ford’s family and friends, including many Elon alumni, are raising money to endow a university scholarship in his name. “Elon meant a lot to Matt and to us, and we wanted to create a permanent tribute to him at Elon,” says Kristi Hollins ’05, of Greensboro, N.C., who is leading the fundraising effort with her husband, Andrew Hollins ’05. “Once he embraced you as a friend, he’d do anything for you. He was a computer and electronic genius. He could fix anything from computers to cars.” The goal is to raise $25,000 to fully endow the scholarship, which will assist computing science majors participating in the Elon Experiences, including study abroad, internships, research, service or leadership opportunities. Preference will be given to students with financial need. Ford, of Greensboro, N.C., was chief information officer Matthew John Ford ’04 at Southland. He worked closely with Andrew Hollins, who remembers his friend as someone who “worked and played hard.” “He was adamant about academics, and he used to lecture me about going to class,” recalls Andrew, who left Southland to pursue financial investing. “He’d figured out how much my parents were paying for each of my classes and told me I needed to go.” When he wasn’t cheering on the Panthers, Ford liked to watch NASCAR, work on computers and organize group outings with friends. At Elon, he worked for The Pendulum student newspaper and was a member of Pi Kappa Phi fraternity. Alumni have created a memorial page on Facebook honoring Ford, and his family has started a blog at mattfordmemorial.blogspot.com. Alumni and friends may contribute to the scholarship online at www.elon. edu/makeagift or write a check payable to Elon University and mail it to 2600 Campus Box, Elon, NC 27244. Please write the Matthew John Ford Memorial Scholarship on the memo line.
Avital (daughter). 12/11/08. Jodi is a Thomas F. McDow ’99 and Holly cantor. Weeks McDow ’99, West End, N.C. Son: David Bradley. 9/11/08. Allison Poinsett Peretin ’98 and Jared Peretin, Annapolis, Md. Daughter: Lily Kristen Kurtz Robiglio ’99 and Moe Clair. 5/15/08. Allison is a teacher. Robiglio, Mason, Ohio. Daughter: Katherine Julia. 8/26/08. Myron Shawn Stevenson ’98, Leland, N.C. Son: Xavier Allen. 12/29/08. He was welcomed home by big brother, Elijah. Myron is a computer analyst at the University of North Carolina Jessica Balon Baun ’00 and Scott at Wilmington. Baun, Myrtle Beach, S.C. Son: Logan Alexander. 10/6/08. He joins Mark Tyson ’98 and Kim Henry older brother, Ethan. Jessica is a Tyson ’99, Monroe, N.C. Son: Eli homemaker. Brody. 2/4/08. Robert Davidson ’00 and Jennifer Laura Holtry-Hughes ’99 and Todd Davidson, Midlothian, Va. Daughter: Hughes, Arlington, Va. Daughter: Madelyn Audrey. 12/31/08. Robert Ellery McLeod. 8/29/08. works for Wells Fargo.
’00s
Amy Brechka Mammano ’99 and Erik Mammano, Ocean, N.J. Daughter: Kylie. 10/30/08. She joins big sister, Sophia. Amy is a teacher in Matawan, N.J. 38
MAGAZINE OF ELON
Mindy Carden Buchanan ’02 and Bradley Buchanan, Mebane, N.C. Daughter: Isabella Lea. 12/6/08. Evan T. Parsons ’02 and Jennifer Long Parsons ’03, Rural Hall, N.C. Daughter: Ava Marie. 4/18/08. Chris Rash ’02 and Ashley Rash, Tucker, Ga. Daughter: Reagan Elizabeth. 8/9/08. Scott F. Lewis ’03 and Brandi Anderson Lewis ’03, Graham, N.C. Son: Connor. 2/11/08. Cara Belt Losurdo ’03 and Anthony Losurdo, Raleigh, N.C. Daughter: Genevieve. 8/23/08. She joins older sister, Brielle. Katie Beaver Parsley ’03 and Brad Parsley, Mocksville, N.C. Daughter: Lena Katherine. 10/23/08. Katie, a former staff member in Elon’s University Relations Office, is enjoying being a stay-at-home mom. Kristin Smith Barrier ’04 G’07 and Whitaker Barrier, Whitsett, N.C. Daughter: Grace Whitley. 11/17/08.
Jeff B. Trauring ’04 and Brittany Trauring, Crystal, Minn. Daughter: Gregory Lasser ’00 and Andrea Lasser, Laura Ruth. 1/30/09. Jeff is a pubNew Milford, Conn. Son: Benjamin lic relations manager at Snow Nathan. 12/5/08. Gregory is a financial Communications. analyst at IBM. Julie A. Fogt ’06, Burlington, N.C. Jessica Cyran Redner ’00 and Paul Daughter: Callie A. Bryand. 5/6/08. Redner, Suffern, N.Y. Daughter: Margaret Patricia. 9/17/08. Jessica is a reading specialist in Monroe, N.Y. Deaths
’30s
Elizabeth Day Schoenecke ’00 and Phillip Schoenecke, Chicago. Daughter: Caroline. 2/24/09. Elizabeth is a real estate agent. Margaret Hinshaw Abernathy ’33, Graham, N.C. 2/18/09. Jennie Urrutia Fisher ’01 and Daniel Fisher, Apex, N.C. Daughter: Mia Mary Sue Rawls Parker ’33, Suffolk, Grace. 1/10/09. Jennie is a supervisor Va. 1/6/09. for Biogen Idec.
’40s
Steven W. Harrell ’01 and SunSarae Harrell, Greensboro, N.C. Daughter: Brian Fortson ’00 and Amanda Pyper CoraRose. 3/4/09. Steven is Gladys Wright Holmes ’41, Chapel Holtzman Fortson ’01, Nashville, N.C. associate director of Carmichael Hill, N.C. 3/10/09. Daughter: Kendall Victoria. 4/19/08. Complex Facilities and Operations at North Carolina State University. Viney Sue Rigney Jones ’41, Galax, Va. 11/21/08.
CLASS Notes Mabel Tennala Abner Gross ’42, James Clyde Brady ’52, Burlington, Steven Spain ’74, Durham, N.C. Burlington, N.C. 2/18/09. N.C. 2/23/09. 1/5/09. Alice Mangum Hornaday ’42, Snow Camp, N.C. 12/21/08.
’00s
Kenneth E. Hicks Jr. ’79, Staunton, Michael Patrick Gallagher Jr. ’00, Mt. Va. 12/31/08. Pleasant, S.C. 2/15/09.
’60s
Winifred Ellington Brande ’44, Silas “Mack” McCullock ’60, Orlando, Reidsville, N.C. 1/28/09. Fla. 1/7/09.
’80s
’10s
Carl Ray Neal Sr. ’46, Concord, N.C. Boyd Lee Black ’62, Graham, N.C. Milnor Price Jones Jr. ’82, Greensboro, Milena Alvarez ’12, Winston-Salem, 2/5/09. 3/4/09. N.C. 3/9/09. N.C. 4/1/09. Mary Neil Lindley Murchison ’67, Laura Taylor Reidy ’82, Richmond, Siler City, N.C. 2/12/09. Va. 1/21/09.
’50s
Friends
Dewey M. Stowers Jr., Tampa, Fla. 5/6/07. Stowers taught geography at Elon from 1955 to 1961. A former John Grayson Hager ’51, Fieldale, Va. Joseph Faulk ’74, Pleasure Island, N.C. Michael William Smith ’91, Camden, member of the U.S. Army band, he 1/19/07. S.C. 12/28/08. also led Elon’s band program from 8/25/08. 1955 to 1959.
Winfred “Wink” H. Ward ’50, Graham, N.C. 3/23/09.
’70s
’90s
TURN
Youself in online at www.elon.edu/classnotes
Class Notes Policy Class notes must come firsthand from the graduates who have news, a birth or marriage to report. Please send in your news as soon as you have something to share. We welcome news that is no more than a year old.
Photo acceptance policy Photos will be accepted in these formats: slide, print or digital. You may e-mail your Class Notes photos to classnotephotos@elon.edu or mail them to the address at the bottom of this form. We reserve the right to determine the quality of your images. Poor quality images will NOT be used.
CLASS NOTE: Name
Spouse’s name
Address
Please fill out completely.
News/Promotion
middle
last
maiden
first
middle
last
maiden
street
son
Marriage
first
E-mail address Birth:
Birth
city
Telephone: Home (
Address change Class of Alumnus?
state
)
Yes: Class of
ZIP
Office (
daughter Child’s name
)
Birth date (do not send prior to marriage)
Marriage: date of marriage Your occupation
No
Date assumed
Responsibilities include
Spouse’s occupation (if alumnus) News/Promotions/Honors
Signature (required) Help us keep you in touch with your classmates and Elon. If you have moved, send us your current address and telephone number. Return this form with your news or story idea to the following address: Elon Office of University Relations 2030 Campus Box Elon, North Carolina 27244-2020 Spring 2009 Fax: 336-524-0100 Phone: 336-278-7415 E-mail: alumniclassnotes@elon.edu
MAGAZINE OF ELON
39
Bowie and Adele Gray
Bowie and Adele Gray
MAKING A Difference To learn more about how you can support the Ever Elon Campaign and make a difference at Elon with a charitable trust or other planned gift, contact: Jamie Killorin CPA/PFS, CFP® Director of Gift Planning Toll free 877.784.3566 jkillorin2@elon.edu www.elon.edu/giftplanning 40
MAGAZINE OF ELON
‘Every little bit helps’ WHEN IT COMES TO GIVING, Elon parents Bowie and Adele Gray like to spread their generosity around. That’s why the Wilson, N.C., couple chose to fund a charitable remainder trust, which gives them the flexibility they need to meet their philanthropic and estate planning goals. “It was a way that we could honor giving to more than one of our favorite charities,” Bowie says. “Of course, Elon is number one on our list!” In the future, proceeds from the trust will establish scholarships to assist students in Elon’s Martha and Spencer Love School of Business and the School of Communications. The scholarships are named in honor of the couple’s children, Alison Gray Wille ’05, an accounting major, and J. Bowie Gray VI ’00, a communications graduate. The Grays can continue to add assets to the trust and receive lifetime income as well as tax benefits. They look forward to growing the trust, which is managed by their financial adviser. “From the first day we set foot on campus, Elon has been special to us,” Adele says. “It was a smaller school and a nurturing place, and it was beautiful. Elon has done so well with both our children that we think it’s a wonderful place for everyone to go.” The Grays have generously supported Elon through the years, making gifts to Rhodes Stadium and the Ernest A. Koury, Sr. Business Center, and are members of the Order of the Oak, the university’s planned giving recognition society. Bowie Gray V is owner and president of Wilson Hardware Co., while Adele has volunteered for 40 years with the American Heart Association. “We realize that not every family is as lucky as we are,” says Adele, who credits scholarships with helping her earn a college degree. “Those of us who are able need to dig into our hearts and help those students get on with their education.” The Grays know their support of Elon students is more important than ever before. “We hope that the scholarships will make it a little easier on students so they can concentrate on their studies,” Bowie says. “Every little bit helps.”
Students in the Winter Term course Story Magic: When Words Ignite Images created five quilted banners to hang in the library of the Newcomers School in Greensboro, N.C., which serves children new to the United States and with limited English skills. Students cut and dyed textiles and fabrics to make the banners, which include the word “welcome” translated into languages from around the world.
300 ways to say ‘welcome’
ELON UNIVERSITY Office of Alumni Relations 2600 Campus Box Elon, NC 27244-2010 Toll Free: 877-784-3566 www.elon.edu/alumni
Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Raleigh, NC Permit # 686
Change Service Requested
For the fifth consecutive year, Elon students and staff spent spring break building a home in the Dominican Republic. Elon’s Kernodle Center for Service Learning sponsored the trip. PHOTOS COURTESY J McMERTY