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Fox News anchor
Chris Wallace and Kappy Leonard, widow of former CBS News President
Bill Leonard, were special guests for the announcement of the D'Angelo
Family Scholarship in Honor of Bill Leonard Nov. 8 in McEwen Studio
A. The event also included the presentation of the first D'Angelo/Leonard
scholarship to Matt Belanger, a senior Broadcast major at Elon.
Larry and Dee
D'Angelo, whose son Mike graduated from Elon in 2002 as a music
major and communications minor, have given the School of Communications
a generous donation to endow this Broadcast scholarship at Elon. Chris Wallace
was Larry's college roommate at Harvard, and the association between
the two and Bill Leonard inspired the special scholarship in Leonard's
honor.
Larry mentioned
with pride the D'Angelo family's happy association with Elon University.
"We were taken from the very start of Mike's education by the
commitment that Elon had - we'd never seen the dedication to providing
an education to undergraduates that Elon provides," he said.
"We decided if we ever were to do something like this, we would
do something for Elon. We are honoring a man who is dear to us -
Bill Leonard. We have truly enjoyed our long-term relationship with
the Wallace-Leonard extended family. I particularly admired Bill,
and not because he was one of the most powerful men in television
in his time but because he was such a wonderful father and grandfather.
In his honor, we are more than happy that this gift will go on long
into the future."
The D'Angelo/Leonard
Scholarship will be awarded annually to a Broadcast major in the
School of Communications. "Larry and Dee D'Angelo are really
very special people in our eyes," said Paul Parsons, dean of
the School of Communications. "Their gift will help students
every year into perpetuity."
Associate Dean
Brad Hamm quoted Bill Leonard's words to Don Hewitt when the two
CBS co-workers put their heads together decades ago to formulate
the idea for the first news magazine show "60 Minutes."
When Hewitt asked Leonard for advice in formulating the program,
Leonard simply replied, "Make us proud." Hamm thanked
the D'Angelo's for their gift and said, "We are thrilled today."
The first recipient
smiled at his mother and father in the audience at the scholarship
announcement. They'd traveled to Elon from their home in York, Pa.,
for the ceremony. "Your parents always tell you if you work hard
you will be rewarded," Belanger said as he thanked the D'Angelos,
"and, you know, they were right. You have given this university
such a gift, and something that will give forever. You have also
given me a gift of confidence; it says you believe in me even though
I've never met you before."
The D'Angelos
live and work in the Washington, D.C., Silver Spring, Md., area,
and they continue their relationship with Elon as members of the
university's Board of Visitors; son Mike is now a graduate student
at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte.
A special exhibit
featuring photos and memorabilia from Bill Leonard's years in communications
is on view in the display case in the lobby of the School of Communications.
Chris Wallace
later conducted a question-and-answer session for students and faculty
members in Whitley Auditorium, talking with members of the Elon
community about broadcasting and the recent presidential election.
To read more about the event, click here.
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