Elon Alumni

Members of the Class of 2014 gathered in the Academic Village Thursday morning to pledge their commitment to Elon University’s honor code at the fifth annual Call to Honor Ceremony. “We’re honor-bound by the values of honesty, integrity, responsibility and respect,” said SGA President Taylor Martin. “These are the hallmark values of our education and ourselves.”

Debra Briggs Hennelly '88, a mathematics teacher at Southeastern Stokes Middle School, was named the 2010 Stokes County (N.C.) Teacher of the Year earlier this month. Hennelly has been working at SES, where she attended junior high, for 16 years.

Richard McGeorge '71, a star member of the Fightin' Christians football team who went on to play in the NFL, will return to his alma mater Saturday night. But, as the Times-News reports, it'll be on the sideline opposite the Phoenix. McGeorge travels to Elon as an assistant football coach for Shaw University.

About 3,000 people have watched President Leo M. Lambert's message about the important role that alumni play in Elon’s future, including making annual gifts to support the best of an Elon education. This is the first of several videos the president will share with alumni this year via e-mail, Facebook, Twitter and E-Net.

The Alamance-Burlington School System named Tyronna McKoy Hooker, a 2009 graduate of Elon's master of education program, its 2010 Teacher of the Year at a banquet on Wednesday, Sept. 8. Five other Elon alums, all chosen as their respective school's teacher of the year, were also considered for the system-wide recognition.

Elon will begin upgrades to the Walter C. Latham Park baseball facility following the 2010 baseball season. The improvements are made possible by a group of generous donors led by trustee Dr. Bryan Latham and his wife, Janet, of Miami, who made a $250,000 commitment to fund the work.

Conventional wisdom has it that a professional baseball player reaches his peak batting performance at age 27. Research by two Elon University alumni, whose work in a general studies seminar last spring led to a presentation for the Society for American Baseball Research, shows otherwise, with what they hope is potential for changing the way Major League Baseball teams structure future contracts.

Louis Rittberger '06 has spent the better part of his life watching his mother, Betsy Bloch, courageously battle multiple sclerosis. On Saturday, Sept. 11, he'll take a step he hopes will help her and the millions of people suffering wth MS worldwide when he hosts the first Imagine! benefit in Mayfield Heights, Ohio.