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Elon College, N. C.
PERMIT No. 1
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VOLUME 49
ELON COLLEGE. N. C.
FRIDAY, MAY 2,1969
NUMBER 25
Gala Spring Weekend Planned
DR
^izorns PlCTVREU .y TYPICAL TEACH,POSE PrOBTamS To BcSill
Today;End Sunday
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Dr. Konstantinas Avizonis, whose death on April 20th saddened the entire Elon
community, is pictured above in a typical teaching pose that is well remembered
by students during his twenty years on the Elon faculty. In addition to the story
of his death given below, there is also a more lengthy feature concerning his
life before coming to Elon presented on Page 2 of this paper.
^airman Of History Faculty
Dies April 20th In Chapel Hill
Dr. Konstantinas Avi
zonis, chairman of the
Elon College history de
partment and a member
of the Elon College fa
culty for twenty years,
aied in North Carolina
emorial Hospital at
^tiapel Hill at 5:30 o’clock
Arts Forum
Honor
To Av izonis
Paying honor to Dr.
onstantinas Avizonis,the
Arts Forum de-
the lecture given
Dr J. H. Hexter, of
Sunf ^."i'^ersity, during
Week as the
Mpr! “Avizonis
niorial Lecture”.
nnw Forum officials
E" ®'* out that Dr. Hex-
Enr ^s^inguished as a
thev°f^?" historian, and
Sinn discus-
‘>«e
Care distinguished
SS, ?'
search ^“^opean re-
on Sunday, April 20th,
death coming after an ill
ness of several months.
He was a native of Lith
uania, born in Zagare in
that city near the Russian
border on January 16,
1909. He was the son of
Dr. Petras Avizonis, who
was at one time the dean
of the school of medicine
and the president of the
University of Lithuania.
Dr. Avizonis received
his early education in
Lithuania and earned his
graduate degrees in Ger-
many. He taught in a num
ber of European univer
sities prior to World War
11, but during that con
flict he and his wife were
imprisoned in a German
labor camp for a lengthy
period.
They came to America
after the war, and he
joined the Elon College
faculty in the department
of modern languages in
1949, later transferring
to the history departnient,
of which he had been
chairman for the past
several years.
Widely recogmzed as
an authority in the his
tory of Lithuania and
other nations of eastern
Europe, Dr. Avizonis has
written hundreds of arti
cles and a number of
books on the subject. He
was themember of a num
ber of learned societies
and has been listed in
Who's Who in American
Education, Who’s Who in
the South and Southeast
and Directory of Ameri
can Scholars.
He is survived by his
wife, Mrs. Angele Avi
zonis, who is also a mem
ber of the Elon faculty
in the department of for
eign languages; by one
brother. Dr. Vytautas
Avizonis, who resides in
Delaware; and one sister,
Mrs. Ruta Blacezevizius,
who lives in Connecticut.
Funeral services w^ere
held from the Elon Col
lege Community Church
on Wednesday,
23rd. with the Rev. Thom
as R, Hamilton, pastor oi
the church, conducting the
final rites. Burial was in
Magnolia Cemetery near
the Elon campus.
The fifth annual Spring
Weekend on the Elon Col
lege campus will get un
derway at 7 o’clock to
night with a beauty show
and talent contest in Whit
ley Auditorium, during
which the college’s
‘‘Spring Queen” will be
announced and accorded
the right to rule over the
weekend festivities.
The Spring Weekend,
which in recent years re
placed the traditional May
Day festivities on the Elon
campus, will continue un
til Sunday afternoon,with
two dances and one con
cert, along with a “Mr.
Amazon” contest for the
men of the campus and
various picnics and eat
ing sprees.
The beauty contest to
night will be preceded by
a candlelight steak dinner
in the two Elon cafeterias,
and it will be followed at
9 o’clock tonight by a
dance to be held in the
ball room of the McEwen
Dining Hall.
The Saturday program
opens at 11:30 o’clock
with a picnic beneath the
oaks of Elon’s west cam
pus, with musical enter
tainment by The Days
End. Immediately follow
ing the picnic will be the
“Mr. Amazon” contest
at West Dorm from 12:30
until 1:30 o’clock, follow
ed by a pizza party in
the McEwen and Harper
dining halls. Climaxing
the Saturday program will
be the big dance of the
weekend in Alumni Me
morial Gymnasium.
The Sunday program
CHAIRMAN
Sally O’Neill, of Syca
more, 111., is the chair
man in charge of arrang
ing the program for an
nual Spring Weekend,
which gets underway on
the Elon College campus
tonight and continues
through Sunday. The plans
include a wide variety
of entertainment, includ
ing a beauty contest for
the girls, a “Mr. Ama
zon Contest” for men, two
dances and a concert
along with picnics and
pizza party.
will feature the annual
Spring Weekend Concert,
also in Alumni Memorial
Gymnasium, with music
by The Associations ex
pected to evoke tremen
dous student enthusiasm.
The entire weekend pro
mises varied entertain
ment of a lighter vein
than the serious cultural
programs of the recent
(Continued on page 2)
Comninaki To Lead
SGA In Next Year
Bill Comninaki, a ris
ing Elon senior from Vir
ginia Beach. Va.,will lead
the Elon College Student
Government Association
during the forthcoming
1969-70 college year,
having been named to the
post of SGA president in
a tightly contested cam
pus election held during
mid-April.
Comninaki defeated
Bill Walker, of Newport
News, Va., in a final
presidential balloting
held on Friday, April
18th. The two finalists
had emerged as the two
winners in a four-man
election the previous day,
defeating Don Tarkenton,
of Chesapeake, Va., and
Phil Larrabee, of Vir
ginia Beach, Va., in the
preliminary vote.
Lee Loy, of Burling
ton, who has served as
sophomore class presi
dent during the present
year, won the SGA vice
presidency from a three-
man field in the finals
on Monday, April 21st.
Morrow Miller, of Lex
ington, Va., was unoppos
ed in the race for trea
surer of the Student Gov
ernment Association.
The rising sophomore,
junior and senior class
es also balloted during
mid-April for their class
leaders for the coming
year, and the leaders of
the rising sophomore and
junior classes were chos
en. The choice of the ris
ing senior leaders, how
ever, was delayed when
charges of irregulari
ties in the balloting sent
the matter to the Honor
Court and necessitated a
new election.
The officers for the
rising sophomore class,
winners in the election,
are Dean McBrayer, of
Mooresboro, president;
(Continued on page 2)