Best of 1998- 19
New library breaks way into Elon's future
Exactly 109 years after its
founding on March 11, 1889, Elon
College continued its preparations
for the future by breaking ground
for a new $14 million library.
Construction on the 75,000-
square-foot building, the fourth li
brary in Elon’s history, is expected
to scheduled to begin Monday.
“We are privileged in our gen
eration to be part of an astounding
renaissance in the life of our col
lege,” Chaplain Richard McBride
said at the groundbreaking cer
emony.
Elon College President Fred
Young said, “The new library re
flects our values and traditions and
it is appropriate that we celebrate its
groundbreaking on the anniversary
of our founding.”
The new library will feature
state-of-the-art technology and
meeting spaces for group work and
professor and student interaction.
The LaRose Resource Center, Writ
ing Center, tutoring and other aca
demic programs will be located in
the new library as well.
Library Director Kate Hickey
said, “Starting on Mondayall around
us will rise walls, bricks, mortar.
ceilings and soon, stairways. This
building itself, though, is really
about the breaking down of walls,
the breaking down of barriers—the
walls between people, the walls be
tween services, the walls between
technology.”
“Our Trustees and our soci
ety at Elon are committed to provid
ing an excellence in education. It is
a continuous challenge that we all
face. This library, in my mind, is a
major step in our ability to continue
that excellence in education,” Rob
ert LaRose, chairman of the Board
of Trustees, said.
The library is one of the final
pieces of the Elon Vision, an $80
million plan to make Elon one of
“the premier undergraduate institu
tions on the Eastern Seaboard,” to
be completed.
“This library is a huge piece
of the Elon College puzzle. As a
graduating senior, this library rep
resents another reason why the value
of my diploma should go up,” Stu
dent Government Association Presi
dent Ashton Newhall said.
This article originally ap
peared in the March 2 issue.
Library director Kate Hickey, Catalog Librarian Ann Vickers, Trustee Chairman Bob
LaRose, President Emeritus Earl Danieley and Trustee Vice-Chairwoman Gail Drew
toss the first shovels of dirt to break ground for the new library.
Sophomore housing
requirement passed
Study abroad safe
despite attack
The Board of Trustees passed a policy
that would require all sophomores to live on
campus.
The requirement, which was passed at
the spring meeting held March 10 and 11, will
take affect with the incoming freshman class.
“The main pur
pose of adding sopho
mores to the resi
dency requirement is
to increase student
success at Elon,” said
John Barnhill, assis
tant to the dean of stu
dents.
Assistant Di
rector of Housing Op
erations Mark Harris said that studies have
shown that students who live on campus have
a higher graduation rate than those who don’t.
Harris also said if students live on cam
pus for two years they are more likely to stay
on campus.
The Board also approved the building
of a $9 million housing complex to house the
extra students. The new housing will be built
near the East Campus apartments.
Construction on the new housing is
expected to begin this summer. The complex
will have 320 additional beds and will feature
five buildings and a dining facility.
“This will be a very significant im
provement in the expansion of the campus
housing,” Vice President for Student Life
Smith Jackson said.
Jackson said that the new housing was
not apartments, but rather a suite form of
housing. Each of the five
buildings will contain
eight suites. Each suite
will have four or five
bedrooms, 2 1/2 bath
rooms and a kitchen.
Jackson said the
suites provided flexibil
ity and could house up
to 10 students each.
The new housing
will allow freshmen, sophomores and upper
classmen to mix more in campus housing.
“We don’t see residence halls as just a
place to sleep. Learning happens in all areas
of our campus and community. In campus
housing students learn about group dynam
ics, team building and themselves. It is also a
place where freshmen and sophomores and
upperclassmen learn firom each others’ expe
riences,” Barnhill said.
This article originally appeared in the
March 19 edition. The new housing, which
was named the Daniley Center, is currently
under construction.
One of the 41 Elon students currently
studying in London was sexually assaulted
on Wednesday, March 18.
Elon officials will not release the
student’s name.
The incident occurred less than two
blocks from the Elon flats, which are located
in an area of the city known as Little Venice.
According to a letter
written by Vice President for
Student Life Smith Jackson
the student had just left the
Warwick Avenue Under
ground (“tube”) Station when
she was pulled into a car by a
single assailant and raped.
The student did not re
ceive any additional injuries.
London police are currently investigat
ing incident, however no arrests had been
made by Tuesday, March 31.
Dean of International Studies and Spe
cial Programs Bill Rich said the London
police told him that no similar event had
occurred in this part of London in 10 years.
“It’s unfortunate, but you really can’t
blame anyone. If she (the victim) had been
there five minutes earlier or five minutes later
this may not have happened,” Rich said.
“It’s not a matter of blame," he added.
Rich was in Denmark planning another
study abroad trip when he heard the news.
He then made plans to fly to London
the next day.
Elon also sent Pam Kaiser, a clinical
counsel pr and the chairwoman of the human
services department, to speak with students.
One of Rich’s tasks while in London
was to see if a change needed to be made to
Elon’s London program.
Rich said that every
thing seemed to be OK and the
school isn’t planning any im
mediate changes.
In fact, Rich said Elon is
planning on renewing its rental
agreement on the flats.
Rich said that safety in a
city was stressed during orientation activi
ties.
“Safety is our number one concern,” he
said. “We don’t put students in situations that
have a high potential for being unsafe.”
Rich said that the students who are in
London now, while concerned for their fel
low student, don’t feel unsafe.
MarisaMoss, who spent the fall semes
ter in London said, “I’ve talked to a lot of
students who went to London and we all
agreed this was a freak occurrence.”
This article appeared in the April 2
issue. ■