Elon Law alumnus Matt Krueger-Andes L’11 and sister Juli Krueger-Andes have made a gift to endow a scholarship to honor their father, David Andes ’65. The David A. Andes and Family Internship Endowment will provide financial assistance to students pursuing these life-changing experiences.
Giving back is something David Andes ’65 learned early in life while sitting in Sunday services at Elon Community Church, where his father, The Rev. Dr. William J. Andes ’35, served as pastor. The tradition of tithing appealed to Andes who went on to give back to his alma mater, his profession and his community.
“In my adult life, I realized I could make a difference and make contributions to causes I cared about and that I needed to do that,” Andes said.
In 2006, Andes made a gift to create The Rev. Dr. William J. Andes ’35 Endowed Scholarship to honor his father and make an Elon education possible for students with financial need who embody Elon’s values of building a welcoming community.
Fast-forward nearly two decades and the family’s philanthropic tradition lives on. Recently, Andes’ children, Elon Law alumnus Matt Krueger-Andes L’11 and Juli Krueger-Andes, made a gift to establish the David A. Andes and Family Internship Endowment. The endowment will help make internships possible for students with financial need, with preference given to environmental studies majors. Matt and Juli surprised their father with the gift on his 80th birthday on Oct. 1.
“We wanted to honor and thank our dad for what he’s done for us and do it in a way that would be thoughtful,” Matt said. “The values that he instilled in us are admirable, and we wanted to make sure those values are passed on to future generations while helping to deepen his legacy at Elon.”
“We chose to do something like this because it’s very authentic to who my dad is,” Juli Krueger-Andes said. “He really values being able to educate people on the environment, and the opportunity to enable students to have these experiences is very meaningful to him.”
Andes was overwhelmed by the surprise.
“It’s amazing,” he said. “I’m particularly pleased with the way my children chose to designate it as an internship that involves environmental studies students.”
Committed to environmental conservation
Andes, a retired psychologist, has always been passionate about nature and environmental conservation, which he traces back to summer jobs he had at Yosemite and Yellowstone national parks.
“Those two experiences really impressed me and made me appreciate the beauty and value of these great places in nature,” Andes recalled. “Being with nature grounds me and helps me appreciate the natural world and my relationship to it.”
Andes has high hopes for the scholarship that bears his name.
“I hope it provides support to students who believe in stewardship of the earth and caring for creation and who realize the kind of climate crisis we’re in and want to do something about it,” he said. “Every person you can invest in can make a huge difference in the world.”
Increasing funding for internships is a top institutional priority. Each year, 87 percent of students participate in an internship before graduating, deepening their understanding of how to be successful in a variety of professional settings and building important networks. Yet significant financial barriers exist for students to complete internships, particularly those in expensive locations such as New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles.
“Elon is grateful to Matt and Juli for their generous gift, which will help make internships more accessible to outstanding students,” said Scott Leighty ’09, assistant dean for development and alumni relations at Elon Law. “We are also proud of Matt’s ongoing contributions to the legal field and his engagement with Elon Law.”
Strong family ties at Elon
The Andes family roots at Elon run deep and span four generations, beginning with David Andes’ grandfather, the Rev. Alfred Wellons Andes, who graduated from Elon in 1906. Bill Andes ’35 was a member of the choir and band and served as student body president. As an alumnus, he was awarded an honorary doctor of divinity degree in 1958 and received Elon’s Service to Church and Society Award in 2007 in recognition of his more than four decades of work with the United Church of Christ.
As pastor of Elon Community Church from 1954 to 1966, Bill Andes oversaw the completion of the church’s first sanctuary, education building and parsonage. Following the death of his first wife, Carey E. Atkins, he married Lucile Stone, who served Elon for 30 years, including as a longtime member of the faculty in the Dr. Jo Watts Williams School of Education and in retirement as university decorator and professor emerita.
Growing up, David Andes fondly recalls walking Elon’s campus with his parents and he later enrolled as a day student while living in the church parsonage house nearby. He followed in his father’s footsteps by singing in the choir and also performed with the Elon Players theatre group.
“Being at Elon was a delightful growing experience for me,” Andes recalled. “Elon was a comfortable community in which to explore and expand my world. I’m blown away by Elon’s progress since then. Its reputation has grown nationally and I’m proud of that.”
After earning his Elon degree in English and philosophy, Andes went on to receive a master of divinity degree at the former Andover Newton Seminary and a doctoral degree in counseling psychology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Andes and his former wife, the late Margaret Krueger-Andes, eventually settled in Concord, New Hampshire, where Andes worked as a psychologist. Following Margy’s death in 2000, Andes returned to North Carolina in 2006 to be closer to his father and Juli, who had enrolled at Greensboro College.
Andes, who currently lives in Elon with his wife, Karen Lewis, was excited when Matt decided to enroll at Elon Law, deepening the family’s connections to the university. “I was thrilled that it was Elon and that he had found something that seemed to be a good fit for him,” he said.
After working at several law firms, Matt founded Krueger-Andes Law in Charlotte, North Carolina, along with his wife, Lynn, which focuses on business litigation, appeals and family law. He has been recognized as a “Rising Star” by North Carolina Super Lawyers and as a “Young Gun” by Business North Carolina’s Legal Elite. He is also a member of North Carolina’s Pro Bono Honor Society and worked as a judicial law clerk at the North Carolina Business Court and North Carolina Court of Appeals.
“I think Elon Law prepared me for a variety of opportunities, including the bigger firm litigation experience and the more community-driven family law practice that I have today,” Matt said.
Juli Krueger-Andes, of Denver, Colorado, owns her own interior design firm and online boutique, Shopjcollab.com, which specializes in home decor, beauty, wellness, and jewelry made by female artists from around the world.