Holt Chapel, located on South Campus, was rededicated during services Thursday, May 4. The chapel was renovated in 2005 to host a variety of religious and student life events. Details...
A lead gift by the late Iris Holt McEwen Coupland of Burlington and additional gifts by Elon parents Joe and Anne Hsu of Winston-Salem and 1958 Elon alumnus Jack Shaw and his wife, Jane, of Greenville, S.C., provided funding for the Holt Chapel renovation.
Coupland was a trustee emeritus and longtime friend of the university. Her parents, James H. McEwen and Iris Holt McEwen, and brother, James H. McEwen, Jr., also served on the university’s board of trustees. The Hsus are active members of Elon’s Parents Council and frequently serve as hosts for campus events such as freshman orientation, open house weekends and move-in day. They are the parents of three sons, Hartley, a 2005 Elon graduate, Wesley, a senior, and Ryan, a sophomore. Shaw is chairman and CEO of Shaw Resources, Inc., a construction, real estate management and development firm. Shaw and his family are generous supporters of community and educational institutions.
Holt Chapel, named in honor of Coupland’s grandparents, William Kirkpatrick Holt and his wife Maud May Holt, was built in 1957 as part of Elon Homes for Children. For four decades it was used for religious services on Wednesday and Sunday evenings, community meetings and weddings.
During the service, Rev. Walstein “Wally” Snyder ’45, who served as executive director of Elon Homes for Children from 1960 to 1990, expressed his thanks to the university for restoring the chapel. During his tenure, Snyder recalled that Holt Chapel was used by students at Elon Homes for Children for a variety of religious services and programs, and many of the students were later married in the chapel.
“Now this chapel will live on in the history of Elon University,” Snyder said.
Elon University President Leo M. Lambert said Holt Chapel will “provide a focus for Elon’s spiritual programming – a place where people of faith will find refreshment and renewal.”
Renovation work restored the main chapel as well as a meeting room on the lower level to the original condition. The pews in the chapel were refurbished and a small vestibule and handicapped-accessible restroom were added. The chapel serves as a center for student and religious life activity on South Campus. The Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life uses Holt Chapel for a variety of programs and religious services, and student groups, honor societies, fraternities and sororities use the chapel for formal initiations and other appropriate meetings. The lower level meeting room hosts potluck suppers, informal meetings and programs for student organizations.