President Leo M. Lambert, Love School of Business Dean Mary Gowan, five business students and other friends of the university sounded the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange on March 9 on a day when Wall Street celebrated Elon's academic achievements.
The group was in New York for the regional kickoff of Ever Elon: The Campaign for the Future of Our University. Students on the bell platform included senior business majors Kyle McGrath, Jessica Connelly, Will Taylor, Amelia Henderson and Rachael Graham. Elon’s opening bell ceremony was sponsored by Peter Murphy, president of Bear Wagner Specialists and an Elon parent. Also joining the group were alumni Christopher Martin ‘78, president and chief operating officer of Provident Financial Services; and Sam Burke ‘89, partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers; along with Elon parent Kevin Kelly, a former managing partner at Bear Stearns.
Prior to ringing the opening bell, the group met in an expansive and elaborate boardroom with New York Stock Exchange president Catherine Kinney, who presented each person with a special medallion commemorating Elon’s visit to the Exchange. Kinney congratulated Elon for its outstanding academic programs, and in response, President Lambert said he is “bullish” on the nation’s future. “I’m in the optimism business, since I’m surrounded every day by such bright and promising young people,” Lambert said.
Following the opening bell, the students toured the trading floor at the Exchange. Later in the day, students went on a tour of Thomson Reuters, an information company with New York headquarters at Times Square. Thomson Reuters executives met with the students and explained the company’s growing efforts to distribute financial news and information via a number of communications channels.
The visit to New York City coincides with the NYC Ever Elon launch and IGNITE NITE for young alumni. University leaders also publicized the new Elon in New York business program scheduled to begin this summer.
Elon University was the featured centerpiece on the home page of the stock exchange Monday morning. To see the site and watch a video of the opening bell, click on the link to the right of the page under the “E-Cast” section.
