The Ella Darden and Elmon Lee Gray Pavilion, which houses the political science department and the Elon University Polling Center, was dedicated during ceremonies Friday, Oct. 29. Details...
The Hon. Elmon T. Gray of Waverly, Va., and his wife, Pamela, made a $500,000 gift to name the pavilion, which opened in August, in honor of his grandparents. Elon President Leo M. Lambert joined political science faculty and students, members of the Board of Trustees and the campus community for the dedication, held in the pavilion lobby.
Ella Darden and Elmon Lee Gray were married in 1889 and made their home in Sussex County, Va. Elmon Lee Gray, his two brothers and father founded Gray Lumber Co., a successful family business which continued through four subsequent generations. Ella Darden Gray was active in the Christian Church and an advocate for its mission, a primary reason she supported Elon, as well as her devotion to two nephews who graduated from Elon, James Parker ’39 and Charles Parker ’41.
Elmon T. Gray, a 1946 graduate of Virginia Military Institute, served on the Elon Board of Trustees from 1990-1999 before being named trustee emeritus. He served five terms in the Virginia Senate from 1972-1992, following in the footsteps of his father, Garland Gray, who retired from the state Senate in 1971 after 29 years in the legislature.
The new pavilion provides expanded office space for political science faculty and a new polling center for the Elon University Poll. More than 350 students from a variety of academic disciplines work with the poll each year, conducting telephone interviews with North Carolina citizens on important public and political topics.
The Academic Village is located in the area south of McMichael Science Center. The area features “living-learning” pavilions which incorporate student residences with teaching spaces and live-in faculty apartments.