Elon Alumni

Douglas G. and Edna Truitt Noiles ’44, of New Canaan, Conn., have made a $1 million gift to Elon University to support the Elon Academy, a university-run college access program for Alamance County high school students.

When Nick Igdalsky '99 visits Daytona International Speedway this weekend to begin his first full season in the ARCA Racing Series, he’ll find himself running against a familiar name in motorsports: Danica Patrick, an international sensation making her debut in stock car racing in the same field as the Elon University alum.

A 2007 graduate of Elon University represented North Carolina in the Miss America pageant in Las Vegas on Jan. 30. Katherine Southard, a double major in business administration and dance, won the North Carolina contest in June.

Elon University has created a new web page for the campus community to share news and information on outreach efforts following the January 12, 2010, earthquake that killed more than 100,000 people in Haiti. The page, www.elon.edu/haiti, lists fundraising events, updates and awareness campaigns sponsored by student organizations, classes and individuals at the university.

Elon athletics has announced its 2010 Phoenix football schedule, which includes a change of date in the annual Family Weekend. Elon will open the season at Duke University Sept. 4, with the home opener scheduled for Sept. 11 vs. Shaw University. The Family Weekend game will be Oct. 2, with Homecoming set for Oct. 23.

It’s been a while since North Carolina has seen a lengthy warm spell, so at noontime on Wednesday, how did a crowd of Elon University students take advantage of the January weather? By jumping into Lake Mary Nell, naturally, as part of the seventh annual Polar Bear Plunge.