Informing the El on College Community
WWW - ELO
VOLUME XXVI
EDU/PCNIDULU
6
DATE 10/13/00
Goodbye £lon College, Elon
University effective June 1, 2001
Jessica Rivelli
News Editor
The Board of Trustees an
nounced their unanimous decision
to designate Elon as a University
Wednesday. The news of Elon’s
university designation as of June 1
of 2001 and the approval of the
NewCenturv@ Elon was broke to
campus and local media at 4 p.m..
Gail Drew, chair of the board
backed the decision with, “The name
Elon University, in conjunction with
NewCentury(S)Elon, our new stra
tegic plan, will position the institu
tion for continued dramatic im
provements in academic programs,
personnel and facilities. Elon will
be a leader in 2P‘ century higher
education.”
The name change has been
planned since 1992, when the trust
ees began planning the Elon Vi
sion, which is currently being con
cluded.
The 14'“' point of the plan was
“To have the programs, personnel,
students and trustees worthy of rec
ognition as a comprehensive under
graduate university,”
However, some students,
faulty and alumni commented that
the process went too fast, and that
their voices weren’t heard loud and
clear. Jack Duvall and Garrett
McKnight were among the alumni
that were opposed to the name
change.
“Alumni’s responses were
placed in a notebook for the Board
of Trustees and the task members
to look at. Approximately 70
alumni wrote to us, and only a small
amount of those opposed the
change,” President Lambert said.
The main consensus of stu
dents is that Elon should remain
small and quaint. The university
status is feared to cause extensive
growth, which could inhibit the at
mosphere of Elon.
President Lambert’s response
to this was, “We are not aspiring to
become a big university. Students
choose Elon over UNC, Duke and
Wakeforest because of our size.
We aren’t going to hurt our com
petitive advantage.”
During the Elon Vision, Elon
increased enrollment by 80 students
a year, bringing Elon to the total of
4,100 students today. Growth for
the future has been speculated at 50
students a year under the
NewCenturv@Elon plan. The
growth has fueled new residence
halls, class buildings and programs.
“The number of students will
eventually have to be limited, but I
am unable to give a number at this
time,” President Lambert said.
In a mass e-mail to all mem
bers of the Elon community yester
day afternoon, Dan Anderson, Di
rector of College Relations informed
everyone that the Board of Trustees
approved the name change.
Reactions to the change var
ied. Students and faculty alike each
hold their own views on the univer
sity designation.
“The reasons behind the
change seem to contrMict each
other. They want a small quaint
college, but the prestige of a univer
sity,” Senior Nancy Whitten said.
“ I am just glad that I one of the last
that will graduate from Elon Col
lege instead of Elon University.”
Drew wrote in the e-mail, “In
recent weeks, many Elon alumni,
students, faculty, and staff have
communicated with us about adopt
ing the university name. Some have
heartily endorsed the change, while
others have expressed reservations.
But all have demonstrated their
commitment to Elon’s future and a
desire to retain the qualities that
make this school unique.”
Over the next few months, an
implantation committee will address
issues that surround the change, like
a new seal. Their plans will be de
signed to be in place for the June
transition, at which time “Elon will
be one of the nation’s premier small,
private, select universities,” said
Drew.
it' 'a ' i'
Jennifer McCort/ The Pendulum
President Lambert, John Gardner, Gail Drew, Janie Brown,
Zachary Walke, Ode Murray, and Noel Allen, gathered to
answer questions from local and campus media regarding the
change to Elon University.
Overview of Parents Weekend
Susan Duppstadt
The Pendulum
Parents Weekend proved to
be a huge success with a large quan
tity of people in attendance this
year. From the football game to the
Beach Dinner and Dance, people
truly made the most of Parents
Weekend 2000.
Due to the large incoming
freshman class in August, there was
an abundance of parents and sib
lings at this amazing event. Every
where people went in the Burlington
area was flooded with Elon people.
Hotel rooms were booked, restau
rants werecrowded and of course
the ideal student store, Wal-mart,
was unusually packed.The week
end kicked off Friday afternoon at
1:30 p.m. with the golf tournament.
One popular activity for Fri
day afternoon was families who
toured the campus with their stu
dent. Many buildings stayed open
for the majority of the day to offer
people a chance to see the many
changes taking place here on our
campus, such as the Belk Library
and the new Communications build
ing.
see “PARENTS” page 5