<p>My daughter is in the process of identifying colleges to visit in the fall and Elon's name seems to be a name that is consistently recommended to her. One of the most important factors to her in picking a college is "school spirit", which she describes generally as a display by the students that they love the school and support its athletics, arts and other offerings. Can anyone comment on the level of school spirit at Elon?</p>
<p>Also, I noticed that the freshman retention rate at Elon is 90%, respectable but lower than some of the other schools she has considered. Can anyone comment on that? Thank you.</p>
<p>My son just completed his freshmen year, and from what I can tell there is a lot of school spirit on campus. Athletic events and arts programs are generally well-attended, and Elon does a lot of things to promote a sense of community. For example, every Tuesday there is Campus Coffee, where the university provides coffee, juice, pastries, etc., and students and faculty just have some social time. Many students genuinely LOVE the school, or as one student told me “They really spoil us here.”</p>
<p>As for retention, some students just decide they don’t fit, I suppose. Then there are others, like my son’s roommate this year, for whom Elon was not first choice. He did not get into Boston last year, but they accepted him as a transfer so he will be there in the fall.</p>
<p>One of the most important factors to my Son in picking a college was “school spirit” - my Son choose Elon. Great school with lots of spirit from the students, teachers, alumni and administration. </p>
<p>Because 75% of Elon’s students come from out of state (mostly New England) I think 90% is good to very good. Most schools draw more heavily from students who live within 300 miles of campus. Heck, were in-state and still about 200 miles away.</p>
<p>I suspect much of what’s been generalized here is true. While you’ll get the company spin, more definitive insight, at least about alumni views is available on the president’s site. </p>
<p>Keller notes in his book about the rather low level of enthusiasm and support from alumni, and that generally, alumni will not be the near-savior of Elon’s needs. Their level of support is notably low …29% participation. But one must consider 3 notable variables in looking at this figure. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Over 1/4 of all living Elon alums have graduated in the past 8 years. It’s a young alumni body at this point.</p></li>
<li><p>Many/perhaps most of the “older” alums went into relatively lower paying, service type jobs. Teachers, pastors, social workers, etc. And as noted in #1, there were “lots less” of them. </p></li>
<li><p>The transformation of the place from a sleepy little no-name college to a growing, visible, attractive campus and university has left many older alums possibly feeling “left behind.” It’s a dramatically different type of institution than when they were known as “Fighting Christians” and nearly all from the South. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>So this is not your “normal” scenario when it comes to “school spirit” and evaluating such by these various constituencies. It’s not that simple. And Elon’s financial strategies and models reflect such, not naively depending upon a rah-rah, deep-pocketed alumni body to buoy its future.</p>
<p>Perhaps a more revealing current assessment about enthusiasm and spirit for the product that puts money where the mouth is would be examining the parents association and philanthropic support. This group is likely to be notably more well-heeled and knowledgeable about this issue.</p>
<p>Pig - I love your Elon posts and suspect we all have learned a great deal from you. But I have a different feeling on this one.</p>
<p>I define “school spirit” in this case as being the spirit that a student experiences on campus. Call it “rah-rah” if you want but I think that even an average student at Elon would find themselves involved and excited to be attending a vibrantly active campus.</p>
<p>I’ve visited several times over the last 18 months and was at last years homecoming and have never seen anything other than a happy students and alumni. </p>
<p>Your so right about Elon being a different school pre-1990. But the older alums that I know are very well represented in the higher socio-economic ranks and speak fondly and proudly of their Elon roots.</p>
<p>We agree. School spirit is one of those ephemeral things that’s challenging to understand, impossible to manufacture, almost magical. </p>
<p>A lot of it is rah-rah for sure. But most places that have it realize rah-rah’s rooted in racoon coats nearly as much as the moments at hand. And for sure their Elon was notably different than the one of today.</p>
<p>At any rate, I’ll trust your perception over mine. Thanks.</p>
<p>And in asking Rex for some specifics, I’d agree, books are dated the moment they are printed. And I’m hoping he can lend some specific meat to his allegedly dated skeleton-book. What’s changed in the years since Keller’s penned his observations?</p>