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Elon University

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Elon University is a private liberal arts university in Elon, North Carolina founded in 1889 by the Christian Church, which is now the United Church of Christ. Formerly known as Elon College, it became a university in 2001. The 575 acre (2.3 km²) campus features old oak trees, brick sidewalks, a fountain, and two lakes. Elon is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

Contents

History

In 1889 North Carolina Legislature issued a charter for Elon College. William S. Long was the founder and the first president. The orginal student body consisted of 76 students. In 1923 a fire destroyed most of the campus, including school records, classrooms, the library and the chapel. The Board of Trustees voted to rebuild immediately. Because of its quick revival from the fire, Elon later accepted the Pheonix as the school mascot. Many of the buildings that were erected in the years following the disastrous fire still stand today and make up the bedrock of Elon's campus.

Elon has changed drastically from its longstanding status in the past 25 years, when it was solely an undergraduate college. Until 25 years ago, students were almost all from North Carolina, and mainly local residents commuting from family homes. Now, about 70 percent of Elon's students come from out-of-state.

Many prominent figures have visited and spoken at Elon, including Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson, Jimmy Carter and George H. W. Bush, former U.S. Secretary of State General Colin L. Powell, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel, and astronaut John Glenn.

Presidents of Elon

President From To
William S. Long 1889 1894
William Wesley Staley 1894 1905
Emmett Leonidas Moffit 1905 1911
William Allen Harper 1911 1931
Leon Edgar Smith 1931 1957
James Earl Danieley 1957 1973
James Fred Young 1973 1998
Leo Michael Lambert 1999

Alamance Building at Elon University.
Enlarge
Alamance Building at Elon University.

Academics

The university includes Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences; the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business; the School of Communications; the School of Education; and the School of Law. Master's programs are offered in business administration and education, and doctoral programs include physical therapy and law. Elon operates on a 4-1-4 academic calendar, including a four-week term in January known as Winter Term. There are 48 majors to choose from.

Elon has 279 full-time faculty members of which 83% have a PhD. The average class size is 22 students and the 4-year graduation rate is 66%. As of 2005, Freshman retention rate was 89%.

Athletics

left Elon competes in NCAA Division I (I-AA in football) as a member of the Southern Conference. Intercollegiate sports include baseball, basketball, cross-country, football, golf, soccer, and tennis for men, and basketball, cross-country, golf, indoor track, outdoor track, soccer, softball, tennis, and volleyball for women. Campus Recreation offers intramural and club sports programs, such as cycling, lacrosse, flag football, equestrian, swimming, rugby, triathlon, and roller hockey.

Up until 1999, the mascot of Elon was the Fightin' Christians. (The moniker is said to have been coined by a sportswriter covering a contest between Elon and nearby Guilford College, a Quaker school.) However, many did not feel that the nickname was universal enough for a team making the transition to Division I athletics, so a new mascot was adopted, the Phoenix. The choice came from the 1923 fire that destroyed almost the entire campus. Soon after the fire, the university trustees began planning to make Elon "rise from the ashes". The Phoenix was a mythical creature that rose from the ashes of its predecessors.

(Nickname background source: 2005 Elon Football Media Guide)

Facilities

Elon's sports facilities include two gymnasiums, Walter Latham Baseball Park, Rhodes Stadium, the on-campus football stadium, a field house, six club athletic fields, a driving range and putting green, and an Athletic Center. The Athletic Center features the 2,400 seat Alumni Gym, an aerobic fitness center, a weight room, racquetball courts, an indoor pool, and a dance studio. The Jimmy Powell Tennis Center is a twelve-court state-of-the-art complex and is recognized as one of the finest collegiate tennis complexes in the nation.

Student Body

Elon has a student body of approximately 4,700 undergraduate students and 250 graduate students. 47 states and 41 nations are represented in the student body. Elon sends more undergraduate students to study abroad than any other master's-level school in the nation. Seventy-five percent of Elon students complete internships, and 88 percent of recent graduates participated in service while at Elon. Students can record their participation on an Elon Experiences transcript, which is issued as a companion to the traditional academic transcript.

[The Elon University website] gives us these figures on the make-up for the 2005-2006 academic year for the top states .

State Percentage 
North Carolina
32% 
Maryland
11% 
Virginia
9% 
Pennsylvania
6% 
New Jersey
6% 
Ohio
5% 
Florida
5%

Campus Life

The university has more than 150 campus organizations and programs, including ten national fraternities, eleven national sororities, the weekly student newspaper The Pendulum, a yearbook, the student run FM radio station WSOE, a student-run cable channel ESTV, a dance organization, Elon Cycling Club, an Ultimate frisbee team, the Black Cultural Society, the Student Union Board, BASE Jumping club, Catholic Campus Ministry, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Elon Hillel, Model UN, Habitat for Humanity, Elon Volunteers, and [Students for Peace and Justice].

Elon's historic campus is located in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, adjacent to Burlington, a city of 50,000. Elon is just 20 minutes from Greensboro and within an hour's drive of major universities — Wake Forest, UNC-Chapel Hill, UNC-Greensboro, Duke, and North Carolina State.

Popular Elon hangouts include The Lighthouse Tavern, West End Station, Acorn Coffee House, Kimber's Restaurant, Pete's Grill, The Zone, and Sandy's Subs & Italian Grill.

Greek Life

Elon University recognizes 21 social Greek organisations. 46% of women and 21% of men on campus belong to one of the following campus-chartered organisations. Other Greek organisations are ΑΦΩ, ΕΣΑ, and ΣΑΩ.

Interfraternity Council National Pan-Hellenic Council Panhellenic Council
Κ Α ΑΦΑ ΑΧΩ
ΚΣ ΚΑΨ ΑΟΠ
ΛΧΑ ΩΨΦ ΑΞΔ
ΠΚΦ ΦΒΣ ΔΔΔ
ΣΧ ΑΚΑ ΦΜ
ΣΦΕ ΣΓΡ ΣΚ
ΣΠ ΖΦΒ ΣΣΣ
ΖΤΑ

Rankings

The Elon University Poll

Elon students conduct statewide polls on issues of importance to North Carolinians. Formed in 2000, the non-partisan polls' results are shared with various media outlets, citizens and researchers to facilitate representative democracy and public policy making through the better understanding of the opinions and needs of North Carolina citizens.

Some recent polls conducted dealt with Presidential Approval Ratings, the Death Penalty and the Iraq War.

School of Law

:''See main article at Elon University School of Law.
The Elon University School of Law opens in the fall of 2006. The School of Law will be located in downtown Greensboro, North Carolina in the former city library.

Alumni

External links

 

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