A $500,000 gift by The Belk Foundation of Charlotte will name the next pavilion in Elon University’s Academic Village complex.
The new pavilion will be named in honor of John Belk’s father, William Henry Belk, who founded the Belk department store organization in 1888. The pavilion will be home to the Elon Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning, where faculty members can develop and test new methods of teaching. The building will have flexible classroom space, allowing faculty to experiment with different setup options depending on the lesson or curriculum they plan to teach. The pavilion will have the latest in technology and video equipment so faculty members can observe and evaluate their performance in the classroom.
The pavilion will be the fourth in the Academic Village, a prominent and central location for the liberal arts and sciences on campus.
“We’re pleased to present this gift to support Elon’s new pavilion and its Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning,” said John M. Belk, chairman of The Belk Foundation Board of Advisors. “We applaud the university for this innovative initiative to enhance the teaching and learning environment for its faculty and students.”
John Belk retired as chairman and CEO of Belk, Inc., in May after a 59-year career with the company. He held top management positions in the company’s central buying office before being elected chief executive officer in 1953. His leadership enabled Belk to become the nation’s largest privately owned department store company. The Charlotte-based company has 228 stores in 14 Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states. John Belk’s father, William Henry Belk, founded the first Belk store in Monroe, N.C., in 1888.
About The Belk Foundation
With assets of more than $50 million, The Belk Foundation awards grants to a variety of community-based nonprofit organizations and institutions that support the Foundation’s five focus areas: education, religion, culture, society and healthcare. Most of its grants benefit communities located in the Carolinas where Belk, Inc. is based; however, grants are also made to charitable organizations in the 12 other Southeastern states served by Belk stores.
For more information about The Belk Foundation, contact M.C. Pilon, foundation administrator, (704) 426-8396, Paul Wyche, trustee, (704) 426-8404, or visit The Belk Foundation website at http://www.belk.com/main/belk_foundation.jsp.
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