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Volume: XXIX I'SSUEi i'i DATE:12/6/01 www.elon.edu/pendulum
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Two gifts to fund new track adjacent to Rhodes Stadium
The new Irwin Belk Track will begin construction as early as spring.
The track will complete the north area sports complex and be
located near next Rhodes Stadium.
Erin Cunningham
Reporter
Two donations are the cause of
a big move for the women’s track
and field team.
Elon began the women’s track
and field program last year, and
the athletes have been practicing
at the Cummings High School
track since. “We started the pro
gram for women’s track last year
without a track, which is diffi
cult,” Director of Athletics Dr.
Alan White said.
The women’s track team began
when students expressed an in
tensified interest in the sport over
the past three years. “We have
been looking at increasing our
offerings for women’s sports,”
White said. “Track and field was
of interest to students, so we
wanted to develop a facility as
quickly as possible.”
The new Irwin Belk Track will
be located next to Rhodes Sta
dium. “It really completes the
athletic complex,” Director of
University Relations Dan Ander
son said. The North athletics
complex now encompasses
Rhodes Stadium, Walter C.
Latham Baseball Park, Rudd Soc
cer Field, Hunt Field and Koury
Field House.
The Paige Design Group will
create the new track design.
Their specialty is the planning
and design of sports facilities,
with a major emphasis in track
and field. The firm has designed
more than 140 sports projects
across the country. Plans for the
exact look and design of the track
have not taken place yet. “We are
still working on what it will con
sist of,” Anderson said.
The funding for the track was
given from two sources. “Both
parties generously agreed to help
with the project,” White said.
Irwin Belk and his wife Carol
Grotnes Belk donated $500,000.
The gift will pay for the new
eight-lane track and field.
Jerry and Jeanne Robertson
are residents of Burlington and
the parents of an Elon graduate.
Their contribution will fund the
field events facilities. Pole vault,
long jump, high jump, shot put,
discuss, hammer throw and jav
elin are among these activities.
The Belk’s have donated
many gifts to Elon. The most re
cent being the bronze sculpture
of the Phoenix. The couple is in
terested in sculpture and art, and
have donated sculptures of
school mascots to many institu
tions. Irwin Belk is also a mem
ber of the Belk department store
family. They have a family inter
est in athletics, and they have sup
ported the development of tracks
throughout the state, according to
Anderson.
Jeanne Robertson is a former
Miss North Carolina. She is now
a famous humorist speaker. “This
is a way they wanted to give to
the institution,” Anderson said.
The plan will go before the
board of trustees over the summer,
and upon approval construction
should begin in late spring or early
summer, according to White.
Belk Track
■ 8- lane, all weather
track
■ Facilities for field
events, including pole
vault, long jump, high
jump, shot put, discuss,
hammer throw and jav
elin
■ Soccer field
■ Donors: Irwin and
Carol Grotnes Belk, Jerry
and Jeanne Robertson
‘The Color of Water’ announced as freshman common reader
cc
This book crosses many different culural is
sues which are shown through the personalities of
the characters. ^ %
Laura Cunningham
Reporter
This fall, a committee of staff
and students made the decision on
next year’s freshman common
reading. The criteria for the book
included, readability without a
guide, interest, exploration of dif
ferent issues and applicability to
freshmen classes.
Eight committee members, in
cluding six staff members and
two Elon students, began last year
with more than 30 novels sug
gested by Elon staff members. In
October, the 30 novels had been
cut to one, James McBride’s “The
Color of Water.”
The common reading is a des
ignated novel for the upcoming
freshman to read before entertain
ing school for their first semes
ter. This reading is usually incor
porated into the freshman core
classes, including Global Experi
ence and College Writing.
Stephanie Getter, a student
member of the committee, said,
“The importance of the common
reading book cannot be over
looked, and the unity it brings to
the-incoming freshman class is
immense; it is a great starting
point for their Elon education.”
“The Color of Water” is based
on the true-life accounts
McBride. The novel explores the
childhood of a mixed-race child
who grew up in poverty. Alterna
tion chapters examine McBride’s
childhood, and his white mother’s
life history forms the story. The
chapters reveal, a story is re
vealed of self-realization from
dealing with issues of personal
and global values, race and iden
tity.
“This book crosses many dif
ferent cultural issues which are
shown through the personalities
of the characters,” Dr. Monica
Parson, chairperson on the Com
mon Reading committee, said.
Next fall, there will be a com
mon reading contest open to all
freshman as an incentive for read
ing the novel. A question will be
posed to the freshmen class, and
each student will have a chance
to write a paper in response. The
author of the best paper will be
awarded a $ 100 prize to be placed
on their Phoenix card.