Elon Alumni

Verona Daniels Danieley, 87, a fixture of the Elon University community for decades as wife of president emeritus Dr. James Earl Danieley, died June 24 at Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro, N.C., following a brief illness.

Each year, gifts from alumni, parents, friends, faculty and staff sustain and strengthen the hallmarks of an Elon education. During 2010-2011, members of the Elon community contributed $5.3 million in annual gifts to the university, supporting close to 200 programs. Check out this end-of-fiscal-year video message from President Leo M. Lambert.

Former college and professional basketball star Charlotte Smith was introduced June 22 as Elon's new head women's basketball coach. Smith has spent the last nine years as an assistant coach at her alma mater, UNC-Chapel Hill, where she had an All-American career topped by a last-second shot that earned UNC the national title in 1995.

Bloomberg Businessweek ranks Elon's Martha and Spencer Love School of Business among the nation's top undergraduate business programs in its 2011 rankings, which were released March 3. Elon ranks #26 in academic quality and receives an "A" grade for facilities and services.

Student leaders collected more than $28,000 this year from seniors, their parents, grandparents and friends through the Senior Class Giving Campaign, which asked students to make a gift to the area of campus that meant the most to their experience while at Elon.