President Emeritus J. Earl Danieley honored for living a life of love, integrity

More than 600 people gathered in Alumni Gym on Saturday afternoon to remember Dr. J. Earl Danieley ’46, president emeritus of Elon University, who died Nov. 29 at the age of 92. 

Prominent members of the Elon family spoke of Dr. Danieley’s strong character, his dedication to the success of his students, his ever-present smile and his commitment to the college that was his alma mater and his life’s work. 

Running through all the memories, stories and praise was one thing — love. His love of teaching. His love of students. His love of Elon. 

Addressing students in attendance, Lambert asked them to remember that Dr. Danieley’s life was defined by two simple words: integrity and love.

“Earl was a man of unimpeachable character and of principle – his word was his bond,” Lambert said. “He was an authentic original—loyal and true to himself and others. His Christian faith was the bedrock of his life. Earl Danieley practiced integrity every day of his long life.

“And love. He loved God. Earl adored Verona and his children Ned, Jane and Mark, and his wonderful grandchildren. He loved his colleagues. He loved Elon. And he genuinely loved students. Earl would often point out students on campus and tell me, ‘She’s my hugging friend’ or ‘He’s my hugging friend.’ By this, of course, he meant he knew you well enough to greet you not only with a warm smile, but also a big hug or to place your hand in his huge hands for an extended period. He loved hundreds—no thousands—of people. If there’s an Earl Danieley tradition we can carry on at Elon, I hope it’s ‘hugging friends.’ We humans thrive on hugs and Earl never spared his love. Let’s keep his love alive by continuing to share it with each other,” Lambert said.  

Danieley served his alma mater for 70 years, starting as a professor in the chemistry department just months after graduation. In 1957, he was named Elon’s sixth president at the age of 32, making him one of the youngest college presidents in the country at the time. He took the helm when Elon was “held together by Scotch tape and prayers,” Lambert said, but crafted a vision for Elon that became reality during the decades he served the university. 

Lambert noted that when Danieley graduated from Elon 70 years ago, the school had produced 1,600 graduates during its 57-year history. This year alone, Elon University has awarded 1,671 degrees so far. 

“He embraced change and improvement, and celebrated Elon’s emergence as a distinguished and innovative institution in American higher education,” Lambert said. “To put it simply, Earl Danieley made the Elon of today possible.”

Crafting that vision was a collaborative effort that drew in everyone in the Elon family, said Noel Allen ’69, a long-time Elon trustee who as a student was invited by President Danieley to take part in a long-range planning retreat in the mountains of North Carolina. 

“It was amazing,” Allen told the crowd Saturday. “He led us through a new way of looking at Elon. He even cooked breakfast for us. Here was a man who through the sixth grade walked to school every day to a two-room schoolhouse … yet he was engaging the whole Elon family in a visionary exercise about this place we all love.”

Danieley has become as much of the background of Elon as the sound of the train rumbling through town or the university’s bells ringing from on high, Allen said. “We shall all miss his smile, his wit, his passion for this place, his roses, his birthday cards,” Allen said. “Like the sound of that train, and the lilt of the college bell, his love of this place will echo in this grove of oaks long after we bid farewell, farewell, to Dr. James Earl Danieley.”

Danieley stepped down as president in 1973 to return to the classroom, drawn by his life-long love of teaching and connecting generations fo students. He would later serve as director of planned giving before again returning to the classroom in 1992. 

“His love for Elon was legendary, his bond with students over generations unprecedented,” said Powell Professor of Philosophy John Sullivan, who was hired by President Danieley and taught at Elon for more than three decades. “I shall count you always as my friend.”

Speaking after the service, Sullivan’s wife, Gregg, noted that Danieley’s ability in his later years to connect with students not yet 20 years old seemed to defy logic, given the gap between their ages. “He was remarkable, the way that kids loved him,” she said. “He just loved them, and they couldn’t help but love him back.”

One of those was Adam Constantine ’10, who formed a bond with Danieley early in his career at Elon starting with a welcome dinner he attended for members of the university’s basketball team. Constantine recounted how their relationship developed across the years, as he moved from being a student to an alumnus, and now a member of Elon’s staff as social media manager for the university. 

Constantine had the opportunity to interview Danieley this summer, and recalled asking him about what he wanted people to remember about him and his legacy. “His answer was this — ‘I want everyone to believe that here was an honest man, and that he always did his best,'” Constantine said. “Such simple words to describe an impactful legacy. … Let me conclude with this undeniable truth about my friend. He was an honest man, and he always did his best.” 

Saturday’s service drew in people from beyond Elon’s campus, given the connections that Danieley made during his decades of service. A native of Alamance County and a loyal member of Elon Community Church, Danieley was just as connected to the members of his church family as he was to those in the Elon family, said Gary Cooper, a fellow member of Elon Community Church. “We just loved him all the way,” Cooper said.

Danieley was a fixture on the sidelines or at courtside for Elon athletics, with his signature towel wave a fixture during Elon basketball games. That connection to student-athletes was apparent Saturday, as members of Elon Phoenix teams across the spectrum turned out for the memorial service, some wearing their jerseys. On Danieley’s court-side seat in Alumni Gym sat a vase of red roses, with a white towell draped over the back.

Along with providing a retrospective on Danieley’s life and the impact it has had on Elon and the thousands of lives he touched, the service also offered the opportunity to look forward. The Rev. Richard McBride, chaplain emeritus, said Danieley’s life has left all who have a connection to Elon with the charge to “love Elon with the same passion that he felt for her.” 

Alex Bohannon ’17 attended the service Saturday, and said since receiving word of Danieley’s death earlier in the week, he’s been thinking about all the interactions and conversations he had with the remarkable man during the past several years. The steps Danieley took to integrate Elon in 1963 have a direct impact on the black students attending today, Bohannon said. “Because he was here, I’m able to be here,” he said.

Bohannon, who previously served as president of the Black Student Union, said Danieley dedicated himself to loving others, a commitment that will live on as an example. “I think he will continue to set an example for those of us who want to dedicate their lives to serving others,” Bohannon said. “I personally have never met another human being like him.”