Prospective Students

Close mentoring relationships, academic rigor, undergraduate research, collaboration and innovation are at the heart of an Elon education.

Toshio Sato spent six years pursuing both a certificate of art and an art diploma and was active in the Christian Church and its foreign ministries, often speaking at events on behalf of the denomination. Sato was also an active and beloved member of the Elon community, serving as a representative of the Psisphelian Literary Society, a member of the volunteer band, and a cabinet meber and eventual president of the Y.W.C.A. She graduated as valedictorian of her class and was awarded the prestigious Moffit Essayist’s Medal and Wellons Scholarship Medal.

In 2023, more than 100 years after Toshio Sato’s graduation from Elon, President Connie Ledoux Book had the opportunity to meet Sato’s son, Masaharu Kato, and her grandson, Yusuke Kato, in Tokyo. Yusuke Kato had compiled a presentation about his grandmother’s life that drew from family photos and memories but said that much of the time she spent in the United States was a bit of a mystery. Book helped fill in some of the gaps with documents from the Elon archives and information about Elon’s history.

“She was courageous, and she inspired so many — even today, she is still inspiring,” Book told Masaharu and Yusuke. Masaharu Kato brought with him to the meeting a large Elon College pennant that had been his mother’s and that he has cherished for decades. He unwrapped it and proudly held it up to display for Book and the rest of the group. “Thank you for remembering Toshio and finding us,” Yusuke Kato said.