The Southern Conference honors Cecil and JoAnna Worsley for their support of Elon athletics.
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The Southern Conference has announced the 12 recipients of the league’s 2012 Distinguished Service Awards as selected by the member institutions. Elon’s honorees are Cecil Worsley III ’86 and his wife, JoAnna ’87, who have been strong supporters of Elon Athletics for many years. The award winners will be honored for their contributions at the Southern Conference Honors Dinner in Asheville, N.C., on May 30.
In September 2009 Elon dedicated the W. Cecil Worsley III Golf Training Center thanks to a generous gift from the Worsley family. This state-of-the-art facility located on Elon’s South Campus serves as the headquarters for both the men’s and women’s golf programs and includes an indoor practice area with hitting bays and a computerized swing analysis center as well as a putting area and players’ lounge.
Last fall, Cecil Worsley, a former member of the golf team, recognized the need to increase support by former student-athletes and issued the Worsley Family Match. With a three-year commitment of $150,000, the Worsleys matched gifts made to the Phoenix Club by former student-athletes during the month of October. All gifts benefited student-athletes scholarships and were matched two-to-one. The program was immensely successful, with more than 270 former student-athletes making gifts during the match. The program will continue for the next two years.
The Worsleys, of Wilmington, N.C., are members of the Phoenix Club IMPACT Circle and the Elon Society’s Founder’s Circle. The couple’s son, Cecil IV, recently completed his junior year at Elon.
The Distinguished Service Award program started in 2002 as a way for the Southern Conference to recognize individuals who have contributed in all aspects of the conference’s member institutions.