Seven scholarship funds and a science department professorial chair to support undergraduate research at Elon University have been created as a result of a recent gift by the estate of Dr. Japheth E. Rawls, Jr., MD ‘35 and Virginia Riddick Rawls of Suffolk, Va. The gift was announced by President Leo M. Lambert during the national business meeting of the Council on Undergraduate Research, which was held on campus June 20-23.
The $735,000 endowment celebrates a century-long Rawls family legacy at Elon, dating back to 1890 when Japheth E. Rawls Sr. enrolled as one of the first students at Elon College. After graduating in 1896, he remained devoted to his alma mater, and in 1921 became a trustee, serving for 17 years until his death in a car accident in 1938.
Japheth and his wife Emmaline Holland Rawls, Elon class of 1903, had eight children who carried the commitment to Elon into the next generation. In an era when a college education was beyond the reach of many families, all eight enrolled at Elon.
As students, the Rawls siblings led campus organizations and earned reputations for being hard-working and committed students. In later years, many of their children and grandchildren became Elon graduates.
Japheth Jr. took up his father’s role as trustee in 1946, beginning a remarkable 46 years of leadership for the college. When he retired as a trustee in 1992, Japheth and his wife Virginia Riddick Rawls made one more astonishing commitment to Elon. Their estate plan set aside a $735,000 gift to establish the Japheth E. Rawls Chair in science, along with seven scholarships honoring his seven siblings. They also encouraged the descendants of each of those families to add to their scholarship funds in the future.
Japheth Rawls Jr. died in 1995 and Virginia Rawls died in 2000. The Rawls Chair in science will be appointed this year and rotated among outstanding faculty members
who are mentoring students doing research. The first scholarships will be awarded in Fall 2002, providing financial assistance to upperclass students who are doing research projects.
“This funding will open the door to more students and allow them to look more broadly at the types of projects they can undertake,” says Lambert. “Those students may not immediately understand the full meaning of the source of their scholarships, but it is my hope that they will take the time to discover the Rawls family story and appreciate the fruits of the seeds planted by the young man who stepped off that train at the Mill Point station in 1890.”
The $735,000 estate gift to Elon University by Dr. Japheth E. Rawls Jr. and Virginia Riddick Rawls has established the following:
- Japheth E. Rawls Chair in science
- Newman Scholarship: in memory of the late Ann Rawls Newman ’31 and her late husband, Joseph Bridger Newman DDS ’24
- Parker Scholarship: in recognition of Mary Sue Rawls Parker ’33 of Suffolk, Va., and her late husband James E. Parker
- Bentley Scholarship: in memory of the late Emmaline Rawls Bentley ’38 and her late husband, Oceola Bentley
- Charles H. Rawls Scholarship: in recognition of Charles H. Rawls MD ’40 and his wife, Betty Rawls of Suffolk, Va.
- Saecker Scholarship: in memory of the late Marcella Rawls Saecker ’42 and her late husband W.M. Saecker Sr.’41
- Bullard Scholarship: in recognition of Margaret Rawls Bullard ’46, Mebane, N.C., and her late husband George M. Bullard MD ’43
- Harvey P. Rawls Scholarship: in recognition of Harvey P. Rawls MD ’48, Virginia Beach, Va., and Mary Lou R. Edgar ’50