Across nearly three decades, the couple supported student development in their roles at Elon with a special focus on providing global experiences and fostering cross-cultural understanding.
Elon University on Saturday, May 4, dedicated the Global Neighborhood Green in honor of Bill and Lela Faye Rich, who across nearly three decades at Elon supported student development with a particular focus on promoting global understanding.
The green is central to the university’s Global Neighborhood and now carries the name of the Riches in recognition of their contributions to the university and their impact upon generations of students. Bill and Lela Faye Rich, who were awarded the Elon Medallion in 2006 and 2008, respectively, were joined by dozens of family members, friends and former colleagues in the Global Commons building for the ceremony.
“Today we celebrate the careers of two leaders who played a central role in developing Elon’s academic programs as a national model of excellence in experiential learning,” President Connie Ledoux Book said. “They were out to break the mold, try new things, put Elon on the map and, most of all, to benefit students.”
Bill Rich came to Elon in 1977 as a religion professor and followed a path of administrative leadership that included leading general studies, directing Winter Term and summer school and finally leading Elon’s international study programs. He put together the program that sent five faculty members and 75 students to London in 1983, an initial study abroad program that would begin Elon’s path to becoming a national leader in global experiences.
When he retired as dean of international programs and director of the Isabella Cannon Center in 2004, Rich received the International Excellence Award from his peers in the Association of International Educators. By that time, Elon’s global offerings had grown to more than 25 Winter Term courses and 20 semester abroad programs.
“The impact that these offerings have had on our students, our faculty and our staff is incalculable,” said Provost Emeritus Gerry Francis.
During his remarks, Bill Rich recounted a variety of experiences he had during his time involved in study abroad programming at Elon and his pride in seeing the deeper integration of global experiences into an Elon education. He paid tribute to all of those who were involved in “throwing the first seeds into the Elon Study Abroad Garden” during the years when global education began to grow at the university.
“Life at Elon during the ’80s, ’90s and the 21st century were challenging but also exciting and rewarding,” Rich said. “On reflection those days were filled with the high energy of students, the commitment of faculty and the dedication of staff. If you don’t mind, I have to refer to that as being an enriching program.
“The dedication of the Global Neighborhood Green should include all those students, faculty and staff who were so much a part of opening these new ways to learn and new opportunities to know ourselves and to know others better,” he said.
Lela Faye Rich joined Elon a year after Bill, starting at the college as a grants coordinator and during her first year, writing grant application that would be approved and would pave the way for a pre-major advising program that she would lead. That grant led to the creation of Elon’s Academic Advising Center and the launch of its renowned Elon 101 program (now Elon 1010), a powerful component for new students that helps them adjust to college life and prepare them to succeed.
“The tens of thousands of students who have gotten a great start in college through their Elon 101 class — well, they have Lela Faye to thank,” Book said.
Rich offered the idea to give every first-year student the Myers-Briggs assessment to help them better understand themselves and others. “That simple test was a signal to every student to get serious about college, their learning styles and their future,” Book said. “It also told them that Elon was ready to help them follow their unique pathway and help them achieve personal and academic success.”
Lela Faye Rich helped create and oversee Elon Centro de Español at Elon, an initiative she helped propel forward as she saw the surrounding community grow increasingly diverse with the immigration of new people to the area from Latin American countries.
“It is only fitting that we’re dedicating the Global Neighborhood Green today in their honor, with Lela Faye, the true champion of what we practice as the Elon student-centered approach, and Bill, creating our now nationally recognized #1 study abroad program,” said Vice President for Enrollment Greg Zaiser, who was a student and later a young staff member during the Riches’ time at Elon. “And every day, I get to tell prospective Elon families about those very things, because of Lela Faye and Bill.”
In her remarks, Lela Faye Rich pointed to her own children and family members, and the fact that their main course of study did not always provide a direct connection to the careers in which they would find success. She said that one of the strengths of a liberal arts and sciences curriculum is that students learn to make a life, not just a living.
“This is what I was about — choosing what you love and not being so determined by what your parents think you want to do,” Rich said. “Take risks. Find mentors and in the process, maybe you’ll just learn to listen to others and to yourself.”