Elon University - Phi Psi Cli Yearbook (Elon, NC)

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President Young role on campus? Do you envision a fraternity row? PRKS. vol NG. I see some form of fraternity housing. I ' m not sure I see a fraternity row. Fraternity rows have as many problems as the current housing. This institution seems to me to have a long and good history with social fraternities. I think they are good because they encourage leadership. The fraternities provide a great number of worthwhile activities on campus. The fraternities also cause a great number of problems. It seems that some of them insistently put their worst foot forward by giving uncontrolled parties, vandalizing houses, and em- barrassing us at athletic competitions through unruly conduct. With a little more self-discipline and a little better leadership in being more responsible towards their own housing, they can overcome this problem. But, yes, I do feel that they have a long-term future working for Elon ' s benefit. And I hope that we ' ll have more substantial housing for them. YEARBOOK. Elon is seen as a suit- case college. Do you see a change in the future? PRES. YOUNG. I reject the idea that Elon is a suitcase college. Several things have changed colleges. There are no Saturday classes and about 85% of Elon students live within commuting distance for the weekend. There are a great number of cars. It is natural that students are more likely to go home and party. But I think that ' s no more true of Elon than of other institutions of the same stature. Is that good or bad? I really don ' t know.

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tially. We have already a worthy set of objectives, and I think they are broad enough and of sufficient depth to serve the future. The thing that I do see happening is that we will continue to improve our capacity to achieve these goals, making them more effective and in turn of more service to society. And to help the stu- dents, all of us who work for the college will strive for personal improvement. VEARBOOK. Elon is seen by some of its faculty and students as having a poor academic reputation. What is be- ing done to improve its reputation? PRES. VOUNG. I think it would be incorrect to say that the institution has a poor academic image, unless you restrict academic image to saying that the college serves only highly capable students or is only highly selective in the students it serves. But the major in- stitutional role is serving students from a wide range of abilities, and doing that very well. I don ' t know that the pre- sent goals will change substantially. I have no understanding of why faculty and students perceive them- selves in such an unfavorable light. YEARBOOK. Will there be any new construction on campus during the next 10 years? PRES. YOUNG. The long-range plan projects closing several of the small parking lots within the wall, but not all of them. There will be a concen- trated parking area in the expanded gym lot. There will also be a mall begin- ning at the front door of Alamance, a courtyard sort of thing with fountains and walkways, etc., so we will have a proper entrance to the college. This is the most dramatic change envisioned. Hopefully, within the year there will be a dorm or other type of residence facility that will enable us to reduce the over-crowding in the dormitories. That ' s our prime objective. 1 am op- timistic that this will be done by next fall or the following spring. It will probably be built between Harper Cen- ter and the gymnasium. That ' s the most important thing that we can do on this campus in terms of facilities to improve student life. Then our major thrust forward will be the construction of a fine arts center that will be built most likely on the present soccer field, with the soccer field going down behind the present baseball field. We have a lot of steps to do and it ' s an expensive under- taking. YEARBOOK. What is your opinion of fraternities. Do they serve a good

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I do wish that our academic program could become so stimuiiting that a great number of students would study on weekends, and that was the case just a few decades ago. I think that would be a more productive use of weekend time, but I see no more reason why a student should stay on campus and party than party at home. Now, we have offered a wide variety of activities on the weekend. The Stu- dent Government has tried and tried to have weekend activities, and I think that is all that can be done to make a reasonable number of activities available for those students who are interested. YEARBOOK. Do you see visitation as a good thing? PRES. YOUNG. I think it was time to make the step. I think many of us have reservations about it, but 1 think it was time and I recommended it. It will be good for the college. Visitation will be controlled and limited to certain hours of the weekends. I think it will encourage more students to stay on weekends. It will need to be closely managed because it could have some ill effects. We don ' t want some of the negative results that I have seen on other campuses where there is a great deal of irresponsibility. But, considering the age and maturity of most of our students, it was a proper thing to do. Visitation will be good for the future, and I don ' t see any changes in it in the future.