The Pendulum - Lighthouse to be audited in April
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host events.
The university bought the property in 2008 for almost $300,000 more than the assessed value from the owner,
Grayson Chad Snyder, who had been employed as an adjunct professor at Elon previous to his arrest for
possession and intent to sell cocaine and GHB, a date rape drug.
After fights and drug-related instances became increasingly problematic, the university made Lighthouse into a
"hangout" for students and faculty, Whittington said.
"We began to worry about the safety of students," he said.
The application also said Lighthouse would not be open to the public, a practice that has not been enforced,
although York said whether it was open to the public, did not matter for tax exempt status.
According to Whittington, a campus committee requested it be made public last summer.
"We didn't know a change had been made," Whittington said. "Effective Monday, March 22, Lighthouse will no
longer be open to the public."
Every three years, one-eigth of all properties in the country must be audited, and each property must be
approved on a case-by-case standing, York said.
"Every one just assumes that if Elon owns it, the property should be exempt," York said. "That's just not the
case."
Whittington said the university plans to meet with York this week to listen to his concerns and decide how to
respond to the matter.
Updated March 31, 2010
4/7/2010 1:31 PM