The celebration will be Sept. 15 at 6 p.m. in McCrary Theatre with a community reception to follow.
The campus community is invited to gather in McCrary Theatre, Center for the Arts, at 6 p.m. on Sept. 15 to join in the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Elon Academy, a national model for college access and success programs.
Elon faculty and staff are invited to join Elon Academy scholars and their families, Alamance-Burlington School System leaders, donors to the program and other community leaders for the event. A community reception will follow on the Love Terrace outside the Center for the Arts featuring a jazz ensemble, food and family entertainment.
The 10th anniversary celebration will feature remarks from President Leo M. Lambert as well as Jean Rattigan-Rohr, executive director of community partnerships and director of the Center for Access and Success, Elon Academy Director Terry Tomasek, academy scholars and benefactors. Deborah Long, founding director of The Elon Academy, will be honored at the event, which also will feature a special performance by Elon University’s Camerata, conducted by Stephen Futrell with Gerald Knight on piano.
Thursday night’s event also offers a chance to celebrate the presentation of the university’s highest honor — the Elon Medallion — to Edna Truitt Noiles ’44, the founding donor of Elon Academy whose financial support for the effort was critical to its launch and success.
For the past decade, the Elon Academy has inspired hundreds of academically talented students in the Alamance-Burlington School System (ABSS) to pursue higher education, build their leadership skills, and serve their communities. A collaborative effort between Elon University, ABSS and other Alamance County partners, the Elon Academy has served close to 250 scholars with high financial need or no family history of college attendance — students who are often underrepresented on college and university campuses.
Each year, the Elon Academy welcomes a new cohort of about two dozen rising sophomores from ABSS to participate in a summer academic enrichment program. During the summer program, high school sophomores, juniors and seniors participate in month-long residencies on Elon’s campus, which are then supplemented throughout the year with Saturday academy sessions. The Elon Academy is a comprehensive, four-phase program that focuses on increasing access to college, helping with the transition to college, supporting students while they seek four-year degrees and then encouraging them to remain involved as alumni of Elon Academy.
Along with exposing students to a broad range of academic classes and cultural opportunities, the Elon Academy helps educate scholars and their families about the college application and selection process, and then prepares scholars for success once they are enrolled in college.