Elon faculty, staff receive 2004-05 awards at luncheon

Tom Arcaro, professor of sociology and director of Project Pericles, received the 2004-05 Daniels-Danieley Award for Excellence in Teaching. Jon Metzger, assistant professor of music and artist in residence, was the recipient of the Distinguished Scholar Award, while George Troxler, dean of cultural and special programs, received the Periclean Award for Civic Engagement and Social Responsibility.

Arcaro’s creativity and ability to engage students in their learning has been recognized by his colleagues. “Tom still amazes me with his ability to engage the students, challenge them, push them, reward them, and connect with them,” one colleague writes. “When a student takes a class with Dr. Arcaro they have a professor for life. He makes himself available above and beyond the expectation of this job. I don’t think it is as much a job to him, but a life’s journey.”

Another colleague admires Arcaro’s ability to engage his students in meaningful and productive collaboration. “Part of Dr. Arcaro’s success can be attributed to his ability to transform a classroom into a working, thinking organization. His classes are ‘alive’ because he has the great teacher’s instinct of asking important questions and then involving students in their solution.”

The same colleague goes on to praise Arcaro’s overall commitment to his students. “Dr. Arcaro understands advising and mentoring to be key elements in the life of a liberal arts institution. His door is always open to students and much of his informal teaching occurs there….Students know that he is interested in their development as persons, but they also know that taking an ‘Arcaro class’ means confronting difficult questions, working hard, and meeting high standards for that work.”

Students praise Arcaro for combining high expectations with compassion. “He has given us confidence as students and bearers of social change,” writes one student active in Project Pericles. “It isn’t uncommon for Dr. Arcaro to check up on a student to make sure they are doing well in their personal lives.”

Another student says, “Dr. Arcaro stands for everything that is good in professors. He makes you think, but more importantly, he makes you act….He has become so much more than a professor to me. He has become a mentor and more importantly, a good friend. He has been able to teach me life lessons that I hope to someday share with my children.”

Arcaro has served as director of Project Pericles at Elon since its inception in 2002. Project Pericles challenges colleges and universities to provide a learning experience that would “instill in students an abiding sense of social responsibility and civic concern.” Working with Project Pericles, Arcaro has led Elon students, faculty and staff on several trips to Namibia to work on the problem of HIV and AIDS in Africa and produce video documentaries on the topic. He has also been an active participant in Elon’s study abroad program.

Arcaro is the 33rd winner of the Daniels-Danieley Award, established by President Emeritus J. Earl Danieley ’46 and his wife, Verona Daniels Danieley ’49, in honor of their parents.

Metzger has earned international acclaim as an accomplished musician, teacher and scholar. One peer writes, “Jon is considered universally by the community of professional percussionists to be one of the most important jazz vibraphonists performing and recording today.” His music is featured on a wide variety of professional recordings, including seven albums that include many of his original compositions. Three of his recordings, Common Ground, Times Fly, and Teach Me Tonight are on Elon’s Improvibes label.

Metzger has performed in prestigious venues across the nation, including Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center and Constitution Hall. He has been a musician on international tours to Central America, Germany, Italy, Belgium and Holland.

Metzger has also played in numerous clubs and at music festivals, and his work has been featured on NBC-TV, Voice of America Radio and the BET network.

Equally active as a scholar, Metzger has offered countless masterclasses and recitals to students at institutions such as Duke University, Baylor University and the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. His method book, “The Art and Language of Jazz Vibes,” published in 1996, is used throughout the United States, South America and Western Europe and is considered the definitive text for the jazz vibraphone genre.

Metzger serves as associate editor of Jazz Education Journal, the journal of the International Association of Jazz Educators. He has also written for various professional journals and produced several educational recordings.

At Elon, he has served on the Academic Council’s sub-committee on adjunct and limited term faculty, the Senior Showcase committee, the admissions committee and the Lyceum committee. He received a Project Pericles grant in 2003 and has received the Plus Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.

Metzger is the sixth recipient of the Distinguished Scholar Award, established in 2000 to recognize a faculty member whose research has earned peer commendation and respect and who has made a significant contribution to his or her field of study.

For more than 50 years, Troxler has been actively involved with the Boy Scouts of America. He has been Cub Master of the local Pack 51 since 1975, and became the troop’s assistant scoutmaster and district commissioner in 1982. At the Boy Scouts district level, he has held several leadership positions on the Council Executive Board, including vice president of Cub Scouting. He received the prestigious Silver Beaver Award in 1984, which recognizes distinguished service to young people within a Boy Scout local council. He has also received the District Award of Merit for his extraordinary service beyond the local level.

Troxler has been a member of the Boy Scouts’ National Camping School Staff for more than 25 years and has been a member of the National Jamboree Staff five times. He is aquatics director at the National Jamboree, which hosts thousands of Boy Scouts from across the country every four years.

As a historian, Troxler has made similar contributions to Alamance County and North Carolina. He served on the organizational board of directors that created the Alamance County Historical Museum and has been an officer of the county historical association since 1971.

Troxler has been an Elon staff member since 1969, when he joined the history department. As dean of cultural and special programs, Troxler coordinates the university’s busy schedule of concerts, plays, speakers and convocations. He has served as chief graduation marshal for more than a decade.

He and his wife, Carole, are also active members of Elon Community Church, where he has served as church moderator and deacon.

Troxler is the third recipient of The Periclean Award, presented each year to a member of Elon’s faculty or staff whose service to the broader community exemplifies the ideals of Project Pericles.

Also recognized at the luncheon were staff members who have at least 25 years of service at Elon, and retiring employees Wilhelmina Boyd, Janie Brown, Seena Granowsky and Ann Wooten.