Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LabCorp) has made a major gift to support endowment for the Elon Academy, a college-access and academic enrichment program run by Elon that encourages Alamance County high school students with significant financial need to earn college degrees and serve their communities.
The company’s gift will create the LabCorp Endowment for Opportunity, which will provide a permanent funding source for Elon Academy operations. Private gifts are vital to the Elon Academy since students do not pay tuition to attend the program.
”LabCorp is pleased to support an initiative that makes opportunities available to young people in our community,” said David P. King, chairman and CEO of LabCorp.
“This generous gift from LabCorp demonstrates the company’s commitment to our community and to the critical role education plays in shaping our future,” said Elon President Leo M. Lambert. “Through this gift, LabCorp is making a major statement, telling the young men and women of the Elon Academy that they have bright futures and deserve our full support.”
LabCorp has a rich history of supporting education in Alamance County and Elon University, including making generous gifts to the university’s Ernest A. Koury Sr. Business Center and establishing a summer internship program for Elon Academy scholars.
Modeled after similar programs at Princeton, Furman and Vanderbilt universities, the Elon Academy is a three-year, year-round program for students in the Alamance-Burlington School System with high financial need or no family history of college attendance. The program combines three intensive four-week summer residential experiences at Elon with a variety of academic activities throughout the school year. The academy seeks to inspire and empower students to attend four-year colleges or universities and go on to assume leadership roles in their communities.
Since opening in 2007, the Elon Academy has changed the lives of nearly 100 young men and women in Alamance County, including 22 members of the inaugural class who graduated from the academy in August 2010. Twenty scholars were admitted to four-year colleges and universities and two were accepted to community colleges. Six scholars are currently members of Elon’s Class of 2014.
Developing the Elon Academy as a national model of excellence in university-school collaboration and building strong partnerships with the Alamance-Burlington School System are among the priorities of The Elon Commitment, the strategic plan that will guide Elon until 2020. The LabCorp Endowment for Opportunity will play a critical role in meeting these important objectives.
Based in Burlington, N.C., LabCorp is one of the world’s largest clinical laboratories and is a pioneer in genomic testing and the commercialization of new diagnostic technologies. With more than 35 years of experience in serving physicians and their patients, LabCorp provides leading-edge medical laboratory tests and services through a national network of 38 primary testing locations and combines its expertise in innovative clinical testing technology with eight specialized Centers of Excellence.
Recognized for innovation, quality and customer convenience, LabCorp performs more than 1 million tests on approximately 400,000 samples each day, delivering timely, accurate results for improved patient care. The company’s 220,000 clients include physician offices, hospitals, managed care organizations, and biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. LabCorp has corporate headquarters in Burlington and more than 28,000 employees worldwide.
LabCorp’s gift is counted as part of Ever Elon: The Campaign for the Future of Our University, which seeks to raise $100 million primarily to support the university’s endowment.