Family members and friends of Elon Law's Class of 2010 came together to celebrate the achievements of the class on May 22, together with the faculty and administration of Elon Law and the leadership of Elon University. Members of the class also presented their class gift to the law school at the event, a donation of more than $10,000 toward the establishment of an endowed scholarship at the law school. Commencement ceremonies for the class are scheduled for May 23 at 3 p.m.
In welcoming remarks, George R. Johnson, Jr., dean of Elon University School of Law, emphasized the importance of the work in service to society that lies before the class as they complete their entry into the profession.
“I know that lawyers are often maligned, but at our best we really are good people,” Johnson said. “We help others. We try to protect the weak, to lead in important organizations in our communities. We try to serve the commonweal, and that is our hope and expectation for these prospective graduates – to help others, to serve the commonweal, to be leaders among us and for us all. Our society desperately needs the talent, the commitment, and the enthusiasm these new Elon lawyers can provide.”
Leo M. Lambert, president of Elon University, spoke about the important contributions made by the Class of 2010 to the development of the law school.
“The first thing I want to do this afternoon is to offer my most warm and genuine thanks to the Class of 2010 for helping to build this law school,” Lambert said. “You were part of its formation. You were part of its development. You stepped in at a very critical time in its formation, and we knew even in that first year that things did not run perfectly, and you ran into the breach and made them better, even as first year law students, and we are very proud of that. That is an enormous contribution to building a fine law school and I am grateful to you for that.”
In thanking the class for the gift they presented to the law school, Lambert said, “Thank you for that very, very generous gift, and also for the farsightedness in thinking about building an endowed scholarship for this school because that is really what is going to build needed scholarship support for this school and its students for generations ahead.”
Camilla Goodchild and Sarah Neely, co-chairs of the Class of 2010 Gift Committee, presented the class gift.
“The Class of 2010 came to this school with the hopes of leaving it a better place,” Goodchild said. “We hope this gift, and endowed scholarship to future Elon Law students will do just that … We are the first class to establish an endowed scholarship and as such will receive a plaque at the school commemorating this particular event and achievement. We hope that this gift will benefit future Elon Law students with the same drive, dedication, and service that members of the Class of 2010 have demonstrated.”
“It is with great pride that we are pleased to present our class gift award in the amount of $10,021.66,” Neely said. “We are well on our way to establishing a fully endowed scholarship and, as the Class of 2010, we ask that you continue to make contributions to reach our final goal of a fully endowed scholarship of $25,000, as we would like future Elon lawyers to benefit from our class’s generosity.”
Goodchild and Neely recognized the following members of the class for helping to lead the gift campaign: Jeb Brooks, Lauren Jeffries, Kristin McAbee, David Morrow, Nicole Patterson, Jonathan Perry, and Ashley Shelton. They also recognized classmates Adam Arthur and Will Warihay for particular contributions.
Click on the E-Cast link to the right of this article to view a slideshow from the event.
Click here for details about commencement ceremonies for the Class of 2010.