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Rhodes Stadium is named for trustee Dusty Rhodes, his
wife, Peggy, and their family. They are among the
largest benefactors in Elon history and are involved in
promoting the university's growth in numerous ways.
Their $2 million gift provided key funding for the
stadium project.
Dusty has served on the board of trustees since 1997,
and the couple has made numerous gifts and pledges,
supporting building projects, academic programs and a
variety of scholarships. "Investing at Elon, you
can make a difference and see what your gift
does," Dusty says. "If you gave a million
dollars to some large institution, you would never see
it. But at Elon you can immediately see the results.
It's very gratifying."
"Dusty and Peggy's influence at Elon has been
transformational," says Leo M. Lambert, Elon
president. "Their generosity has helped us reach
goals that many believed were beyond our reach. And
they have matched their philanthropy with a personal
community involvement that has provided visionary
leadership. Dusty and Peggy, and their family, are
great supporters of Elon."
A journey to Elon
Dusty and Peggy grew up in Fremont, Ohio. After
quitting high school in 1946, Dusty enlisted in the
U.S. Navy and spent four years intercepting Russian
communications. After his discharge in 1950, he
returned home and married Peggy, his high school
girlfriend. Over the next 50 years, Peggy and the
couple's children, Debbie, David, Larry and
Jennifer, followed Dusty around the country. "My
children have always told me that I have a three-year
itch to change jobs," he says.
The first move after their marriage took them to
Purdue University, where Dusty earned a degree in
physical education in 1956, while Peggy worked at the
local telephone company. A right-handed pitcher, Dusty
was a three-year starter on Purdue's baseball team
under coach Hank Stram, who went on to coach the Kansas
City Chiefs football team.
During his career, Dusty was always on the lookout for
new opportunities. In his first job, from 1956 to 1960,
he taught biology and coached baseball and swimming at
Edsel Ford High School in Dearborn, Mich. In his spare
time, he worked as an athletic trainer with the Los
Angeles Rams. He later tried engineering and became
involved in computer programming. After joining General
Electric, Dusty worked with Dizzy Dean and Pee Wee
Reese in 1965, adding computer-generated statistics to
the "Game of the Week" on CBS television.
After a variety of positions in education, engineering
and computers, Dusty joined Cisco Systems, a start-up
technology company, in 1988. As one of the original 17
employees, he had an opportunity to help turn a small
company into a big one. Within a decade, Cisco became a
leading force in the technology revolution, with more
than 25,000 employees.
In 1990, Dusty and Peggy moved to the Elon
community, a convenient location for Dusty's work
in opening Cisco's new sales office in Research
Triangle Park. Larry had graduated from Elon in 1986,
and Jennifer's husband, Mike Ford, graduated in
1984. With family and friends close by, it seemed a
great place to call home. Today, all four of their
children and their families, including five
grandchildren, live nearby.
Getting involved, staying involved
As active and devoted members of the Elon community,
the Rhodes family can be found cheering at sporting
events and in the audience at theatre and music
performances. They have traveled to Hawaii with the
basketball team, to Miami with the baseball team and
have visited Elon's facilities in London.
"It's nice being in our position. We can enjoy
all the Elon events," Peggy says. "That
includes the meals," adds Dusty. They occasionally
join students for meals in McEwen dining hall.
"We couldn't have found a better place to
retire," Dusty says. "I can't even
imagine being down in Florida, retired and having
nothing to do. That's not the way we do things. We
enjoy people and feel very blessed and fortunate that
we found Elon."
Both of the Rhodes' involvement extends beyond the
campus to the surrounding community. They are members
of St. Mark's Reformed Church, a growing
non-denominational congregation. The Rev. Robert
Disher, senior pastor, says when Dusty discovered that
the church's youth athletic fields were in need of
rebuilding, he got involved immediately. Dusty
organized a maintenance crew to keep the fields in
shape, grooming the infield and mowing the grass. While
Dusty is out on the John Deere, Peggy helps out in the
church nursery or a small group ministry.
"It appears to people in the community that Dusty
just writes the checks, but it is quite the
contrary," Disher says. "They are servant
leaders with a keen interest in being involved."
Dusty and Peggy say their philosophy on giving
stems from a sense of family developed during 50 years
of marriage. "We've taken care of our own
children, and it just makes us feel good to help other
people," Dusty says. "You have to look at the
multiplier factor. We can touch one, and they can touch
many more."
Part of the family
Dusty cites the family feel of Elon as one of its most
attractive qualities. "The heart of Elon is the
family atmosphere, the closeness of faculty, staff and
students, all understanding and using their positions
to help one another," he says.
The Rhodes family joined the Elon Society in 1994
and continued their giving during the Campaign for the
Elon Vision. In addition to the stadium, the library
and main lecture hall in McMichael Science Center,
several rooms in Belk Library and the athletic training
room in Koury Center have been named in honor of their
contributions.
"I know that there are room signs with our names
on them, but we did not give to get our names on
rooms," Peggy says. "We gave to assist young
people in their efforts to obtain an education. That is
what giving is all about. We are happy to see any
donor's name on any sign. It means someone else is
also helping others."
Dusty gets satisfaction knowing Rhodes Stadium will
bring enjoyment to others. "A lot of people are
going to walk through those gates, rekindle old
friendships and enjoy the moments. And when they see
this beautiful facility, they'll say 'What an
awesome place! This is Elon's Field of
Dreams.'"
Beyond buildings
While Dusty and Peggy have given to
bricks-and-mortar campaigns at Elon, touching the lives
of young people and investing in education are their
primary motivation. They have established a scholarship
fund for elementary education majors to help them
complete their education in the event of a family
emergency. The Rhodes-Ford Sports Medicine Scholarship
provides assistance to students pursuing a career in
athletic training or sports medicine. Privately, the
Rhodes have made arrangements to help three Elon
students attend graduate school.
"We sit down and work out a plan to send them to
school, and ask for nothing in return. No
repayments," Dusty says. "We ask them to go
out and help other people."
Olga Vysotskaya, a student from Minsk, Belarus, is one
of the students touched by the Rhodes' generosity.
"It's not just helping me financially. They
are my family," says Vysotskaya. Dusty and Peggy
became Olga's adopted family while she was a
student at Elon. They later helped her attend the
University of British Columbia, and she is now in her
second year of law school at Campbell University.
Vysotskaya says she is lucky. The Rhodes invite her to
dinner and to spend holidays at their home, take her
shopping and even helped move furniture into her
apartment. They also offer parental advice.
"Without them, I don't think I would have been
able to get where I am educationally," she says.
"This kind of charitable thing is unusual in my
country, and I don't think my mother
understands." The Rhodes hope that someday her
mother will be able to visit Elon.
Focus on the future
Dusty and Peggy focus on how their contributions
will benefit Elon and students over time. "I could
care less about what happens today. I'm more
concerned about what happens 10 or 15 years from today.
If we don't put down the right foundation, we
won't get there. If you are not a visionary and
looking forward, you will get left behind," Dusty
says.
Dusty and Peggy Rhodes are involved, generous and
share the core values Elon strives to instill in its
students: honesty, responsibility, integrity and
selfless giving. Reflecting on his family's
connection with Elon, Dusty says, "It's hard
to believe that we have been able to be a factor in
doing these things, but no one can predict what their
destiny may hold. Fifty years ago, we had hopes and
dreams for our family, but we never envisioned that we
could do the things we have done. We hope that we have
set an example for others to follow."
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