PAGE 4 // FRIDAY. AUGUST 27, 2010
move-in issue
THE PENDULUM
Summer news roundup
Board of trustees elects new members
"Ve No“ Carolina businessmen look ,o bring International perspectives
Jack Dodson
News Editor
The October meeting of Elon University's board of
trustees will have three new faces - Jim Sankey, Enc
Hinshaw and Dalton (“Mac”) McMichael - all of whom
were elected at the board’s spring meeting.
All three of the men are North Carolina-based
businessmen with varying connections to Elon. Sankey
has two sons that currently attend the university a
rising junior and a rising sophomore, and McMichael s
son went to the graduated from Elon. Hinshaw has
members of his extended family who attended Elon.
Eric Hinshaw
Hinshaw is the chairman of the board and CEO of
Kingsdown, Inc., a mattress company in Mebane, N.C.
He grew up in Alamance County and went to Duke
University, hoping to eventually become an attorney, he
said. He patterned himself after a friend who was both
an attorney and a certified public accountant.
Plans changed after Hinshaw’s father died while
he was at Duke. He said he had to constantly work to
support his mother and his education. ^
Between a job and classes, Hinshaw said he didn’t
think law school could have been an option once he
finished Duke, despite his desire to be an attorney.
“I was almost starving to death,” he said. “And 1 just
didn't think that without a break I could do that.”
After graduating college in 1971, he began working
for a law office where Kingsdown was a frequent client.
Four years later he went to lead a division at Kingsdown.
Six years after that, at 30 years old, he became the CEO
of the company.
“It was a combination of satisfaction, exhilaration
and fear,” he said. “Now, my fear’s been turned into
caution and my exhilaration into experience.”
In his years working for Kingsdown, Hinshaw has
received numerous awards. In 2009 he was awarded
Elon’s Frank S. Holt, Jr. Business Leadership Award
from the Love School of Business.
Since then, he said he’s become good friends with
Mary Gowan, the dean of the business school and the
university’s President, Leo Lambert.
“I have respect for the type of student Elon is
producing,” he said. “I’ve been knowing Elon and have
been a fan of it for many years. I’ve seen the school
develop from a localized school to a really good regional
school and I’ve admired that progress.”
Hinshaw said he hopes he can offer his view of
international business to the board, because his
company works a lot overseas.
“I’m hoping 1 can bring a bit of an international
PHOTO COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY RELATIONS
Eric Hinshaw, chairman of the board and
CEO of Kingsdown, Inc.
PHOTO COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY RELATIONS
Datton (Mac) McMichael, founder and
president of McMichael Mills.
PHOTO COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY RELATIONS
Jim Sankey, president and CEO of InVue
Security Products.
business and world market expertise (to the board),”
he said. “I feel that’s possibly an area of expertise 1 can
share with the school.”
Dalton (Mac) McMichael
McMichael’s sister, Gail Drew, is currently a member
of Elon’s board of trustees as well, and the science
building at the school is named after McMichael’s
father, who was a large benefactor of the school.
As the founder and president of McMichael Mills, an
elastic yarn company based in Madison, N.C., he said
his main focus is in business.
Until recently, he had been on the board of trustees at
Guilford College, though he earned his undergraduate
degree at North Carolina State University.
The recent move to Elon came after years of
McMichael and representatives from the school talking
about him coming to the board, he said, but until now
he had been focusing on his work for the board of
trustees at Guilford.
“I’m looking forward to the differences in how Elon
runs itself and how Guilford runs itself," McMichael
said.
McMichael is involved with various leadership
positions, as a member of the board of visitors at
the Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center
and a contributing member of the McMichael Family
Foundation, which supports Elon School of Law
students. He said he’s looking forward to seeing Elon
grow while he’s on the school board.
“My goal is to help Elon continue to prosper any way
I can,” he said. “Where Elon’s come in the last 10 to 20
years is a fabulous success story, and I’m just looking
forward to seeing what it can become in the next 10
years."
Jim Sankey
Sankey, the Charlotte-based president and CEO of
InVue Security Products, said he hopes he can offer
an international business point of view. InVue sells
security products to retailers around the world.
“Our company does a lot of overseas work,” he said.
“And I think Elon’s approach to get students connected
outside the country is really a smart approach.”
Sankey said he was out at lunch with President Leo
Lambert some time in May when he found out that he
had been elected to the board.
“1 feel honored that I was asked to be on the board,
and 1 certainly hope to add something to it,” he said.
Before his days at InVue, Sankey owned a few
businesses dealing in other markets. He sold them and
started InVue in the 1980s.
Sankey is a member of the board of trustees for
Theranova, a humanitarian prosthetics and orthotics
clinic in Romania. He also works with building
orphanages in other countries.
“Any humanitarian effort Elon is involved in, I think
1 could bring some perspective,” he said.
Former student files suit against The Elon School, teachers
1 . ANNA JOHNSON I Photo«rapt«
An Elon School student recently sued the private high school and two former teachers, Taylor Saxe and Caltlin
anonZn’I'.. ^'s»ress caused to a student by two teachers. The issue received initial publicity when an
anonymous package filled with e-mails containing “disparaging comments” was left for the parents of the plaintiff.
Ani>a Johnson
Managing Editor
A former student has filed suit
against The Elon School and two former
teachers for “breach of contract” and
“for negligent infliction of emotional
distress.”
Kathryn “Khacki” Greene and her
parents Deborah and Tom filed the
suit against the private high school,
located across from Johnston Hall
and the Truitt Building, on June 15.
Greene attended The Elon School
her sophomore and junior year and,
according to
the lawsuit, has
since moved to
Rhode Island.
The lawsuit
names the
school and two
former teachers
Taylor Saxe
and Caitlin
McKinney as
defendants.
Saxe was
Greene’s
geometry teacher and coach of the
girl’s soccer team. McKinney was
Greene’s English teacher, academic
advisor and worked at Greene’s parents’
restaurant.
The lawsuit claims Saxe was
displeased when Greene’s driver’s
education classes coincided with
soccer practices. It was at this point
“Saxe engaged in behavior that was
hostile” towards Greene.
The hostile behavior included
not being available for geometry
tutoring, not making eye contact with
Greene, answering Greene's questions
in monosyllables and making
“disparaging comments” about Greene
to the boys’ soccer team. Members of
the boys’ soccer team allegedly told
Greene about the comments made by
Saxe.
Greene mentioned to McKinney
“that she felt Saxe did not like her.”
The lawsuit claims McKinney told
Greene this was not the case.
Greene’s parents met with school
officials to discuss her experience
with Saxe in 2007.
The lawsuit then states an unmarked
package was anonymously delivered
to Greene’s
parents’
restaurant.
The package
contained
e-mail
exchanges
between the
two teachers
and had
“disparaging
comments
about the
students,
faculty and staff at The Elon School,
including derogatory comments about
Khacki (Greene) and her family."
Greene and her mother went to
school officials to discuss the matter
where they were told the school would
treat the internal affair as a “learning
tool.”
In February, 2009 another
anonymous package of emails
were delivered to Greene’s parents’
restaurant.
The lawsuit claims the second
batch of e-mails caused publicity and
“Elon has been content to let Saxe
and McKinney finish the school year
despite their clear incompetence.”
It was the publicity from the e-mails,
the lawsuit claims, which forced The
Elon School to terminate Saxe and
McKinney’s employment.
The lawsuit states students have
access to teacher’s e-mail accounts and
Greene could have seen the e-mails
and “that this would cause severe
emotional distress.” The lawsuit
does not say if students delivered the
unmarked packages.
The Elon School has a policy that
states all electronic communication
systems are property of the school
and may be reviewed periodically
“to assure that the use of the e-mail
communication system is consistent
with the school’s interest.”
The Elon School Headmaster John
Silva said he could not comment on
current legal matters. Frank Johns
of Booth, Harrington & Johns i*
representing Greene and said they
could not speak to the media about
the case. McKinney, Saxe and Greene
could not be reached for comment.
“THE PACKAGE ... HAD
‘DISPARAGING COMMENTS
ABOUT THE STUDENTS, FACULTY
AND STAFF AT ELON, INCLUDING
DEROGATORY COMMENTS ABOUT
KHACKI AND HER FAMILY.’”
-EXCERPT FROM COURT
DOCUMENTS