Expanded facilities, special campus events and a talented freshman class will highlight the beginning of Elon University’s 116th academic year. The first day of classes is Tuesday, Aug. 30.
Sixty-seven percent of this year’s freshmen graduated in the top quarter of their high school class; 22 students were valedictorians. The average SAT score is 1208, with the mid-range of the class falling between 1140-1280. The average high school grade point average is 3.8 with the mid –range covering the high B to A range, 3.5 – 4.2.
This year’s projected undergraduate enrollment of 4,800 is about 175 more than last year.
Freshmen will move into campus housing beginning at 8 a.m., Friday, Aug. 26, as they begin four days of orientation sessions. The new student convocation will be held Under the Oaks at 9 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 27. Residence halls open for returning students at 9 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 27.
New Facilities and Services
Elon’s South Campus complex continues to grow, with new buildings and playing fields ready for use this fall. Renovation work has transformed Johnston Hall into the new home of the Advancement and Alumni and Parent Relations staff. Johnston Hall will house the Alumni Center, which will provide meeting space for alumni functions.
Holt Chapel and Harden Hall on South Campus have been renovated and will provide expanded space for student life and campus recreation. Almost 100 new parking spaces have been added at South Campus.
New lighted playing fields for several club sports teams will be ready for use on South Campus this fall. In addition to a practice field for the Fire of the Carolinas Marching Band, playing fields will be used by club sports teams in men’s and women’s rugby, soccer, lacrosse and baseball.
Work continues on the new Ernest A. Koury, Sr. Business Center. The steel framework of the building went up this summer and the project remains on schedule for a fall 2006 opening. The Koury Business Center will provide a new home for the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business.
Expansion work on the existing greenhouse at McMichael Science Center this summer made room for an engineering workshop, including space for robotics design and construction. The workshop will include basic tools for metal and wood works, such as hand drills, hacksaws and soldering equipment.
Staley Hall in Harper Center was renovated during the summer. New carpeting, lighting and furniture were installed in the residence hall.
Construction work is proceeding on the new law school facility in downtown Greensboro. Lomax Construction of Greensboro is the general contractor for the work, which will be finished in May 2006.
A total of 717 new computers were installed on campus this summer. Technology investments included the purchase of 164 laptop computers that can be used as a tablet PC. Tablet PCs allow the user to write directly on a touch sensitive screen. The computer translates the handwriting into text, making these machines ideal for classroom use. Thirteen classrooms were updated with the latest instructional technology including new sound, video and computer systems.
Belk Library’s online catalog has been updated and provides access to more than 22,000 electronic journals. Recent acquisitions include the papers of Marjorie Hunter, noted New York Times journalist and Elon alumna.
Special Events
Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Edmund Morris will deliver the Baird Pulitzer Prize Lecture during Fall Convocation Oct. 6. Morris received the Pulitzer Prize and American Book Award for his biography, “The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt.” As President Reagan’s authorized biographer, he published the national bestseller “Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan” in 1999. Another bestseller, “Theodore Rex,” the second installment in the projected trilogy of his Roosevelt series, was published in 2002.
Ben Bradlee, vice president and former executive editor of The Washington Post, will serve as the Isabella Cannon Distinguished Visiting Professor of Leadership and give a public lecture Feb. 27. Bradlee was vice president and executive editor of The Washington Post during the Watergate scandal. Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein wrote a series of Pulitzer Prize-winning articles linking the 1972 burglary at the Democratic National Committee headquarters to top White House officials.
Former U.S. Secretary of State General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.) will deliver the address at Spring Convocation for Honors April 4. Powell served as secretary of state from 2001 to 2005. A four-star general in the U.S. Army, Powell served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1989 to 1993. He served as national security adviser to President Ronald Reagan and was an aide to the secretary of defense. He was in charge of 28 military missions during his Army career, including Operation Desert Storm during the 1991 Persian Gulf war.
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