#5 History of Elon College In 1962 Vice President Lyndon B. JOHNSON visited the campus and gave the Founders Day address. A year later, he became president. President Gerald FORD visited the campus while a congressman from Michigan, and in recent years, former President Jimmy CARTER came for an address on campus. When the Vietnam War drew to a close and prisoners were released, the college again drew national attention. The first prisoner to return to free soil was Navy Capt. Jeremiah DENTON. His son Jim was president of the student government at the college at the time. Capt. DENTON and two other former prisoners later came to the campus for a Founders Day program. That event fell on the very day on which the government allowed the former prisoners to tell the story of their captivity in Vietnam. The three visitors for the first time related the horrors of their captivity, making national news and putting the college in the national limelight. "The Fightin' Christians" of Elon College have achieved national status in athletics. The basketball and baseball teams have had high rankings in recent years in the NAIA, and the football team rose to the top of the pack. Under COACH Red WILSON, the team reached the national finals, and under Coach Jerry TOLLEY the team won two national championships. A number of individuals went on to national honors, and the best well known perhaps was Richard McGEORGE, an All-American in football who went on to star with the Green Bay Packers. Elon College is now governed by a mayor and town board of five members. The town's business is conducted from a newer city hall building on Williamson Avenue at the railroad tracks. Many marks from the past remain in Elon College today. West Dormitory stands built in 1905 and the oldest building still on the campus. It was the first built by the college. Many of the old houses remain as well. Elon College, a nice place to live in Alamance County! The End...