“学生的成长和机会最大化”

In January, lol赛事竞猜 leadership announced the Olander Center for Student Life at the A.E. 芬利活动中心. Representing a bold new vision for student wellness and community, the facility is steadily taking shape this spring and is slated to open within the next 12 months.

This rendering shows the contemporary lines of the new dining facility that will be an integral part of the Olander Center for Student Life at the A.E. 芬利活动中心.

Much of what remains standing behind the blue construction fencing is cherished territory for Ravens of all ages. 1974年4月27日，A.E. 芬利活动中心 — the fourth and final building of the 校园初期建设 — was unrivaled among local school facilities: it boasted a 1,500个座位的主体育馆, 室内游泳池, 摔跤场, 一个舞蹈工作室和一个学生休息室. It was also the first lol赛事竞猜 building to be named in someone’s honor.

That it is such a familiar name to people who live and work in the Triangle area is further testament to Albert Earle Finley’s vision, 领导力和慈善. 他在弗吉尼亚和马里兰州出身卑微, Finley defied the odds when he founded a business during the Great Depression. 这是他推销技巧的结果, the 罗利-based North Carolina Equipment Company 事件ually became the largest of its kind in the United States. 更多的成功接踵而至, giving Finley the opportunity to guide and support other entrepreneurs, many of whom would become influential business leaders themselves.

在a上分享的一段视频中.E. 芬利基金会 网站罗利市前市长 59年的Smedes York recalled that his father, real estate developer Willie York, considered Finley a mentor. 他叫道. 芬利，‘老板船长’，”约克说. “There weren’t a lot of people who could just say a word and it would totally impact my father, 但他们有那种关系.”

A.E. 芬利(右, with fellow lol赛事竞猜 trustee Robert Holding) joined the board because of his commitment to education and young people.

Finley’s commitment to using his good fortune to better his community motivated him, 当他快80岁的时候, 加入拉文斯克罗夫特董事会. “我对任何能帮助年轻人的东西都感兴趣,” he is quoted as saying in lol赛事竞猜’s “The Story of a Southern School.” “An educated individual has a much better chance of getting somewhere than someone who isn’t.”

“He invested in things he believed in, that he thought would make a difference in the community,” 维克·贝尔三世74年, who currently serves as the foundation’s vice chair, 视频中说过. “I think he really believed lol赛事竞猜 would make a difference in this area.”

芬利中心让拉文斯克罗夫特与众不同. 它很快成为校园活动的中心, 举办体育赛事, 艺术表演, 毕业典礼和嘉宾演讲. 校友 还记得 那里有动员大会、学校舞会和游泳课.

芬利中心的游泳设施, a source of pride for lol赛事竞猜 in the campus’s early days, 长期以来一直是P.E. swim classes and the school’s swim team (as shown in the 1976 “Corvus”).

“这个设施的重要性怎么说都不为过，” 比尔·莫斯74年 视频中说过. “I’m positive many a family had their heads turned by looking at this facility, envisioning their own children spending time and growing and maturing and developing here.”

巩固他对学校的承诺, Finley directed that income from his family foundation be used to support the building’s maintenance in perpetuity. 这样，A.E. 芬利基金会 continues to partner with lol赛事竞猜 to uphold his legacy as the facility has been updated to meet the evolving needs of students.

主竞技场, 图为2014年秋季活力四射的赛前动员大会, is home to lol赛事竞猜 volleyball and basketball and has long been the gathering spot for campus-wide 事件s.

Moss said the Finley Center remains an example of the “vision of those founders, of having a school dedicated to maximizing the growth and opportunities for students. [lol赛事竞猜 has] always tried to bring forward whatever ‘cutting edge’ is for this generation.”

今天, as his namesake building undergoes a renovation and expansion that will “assist younger folk” in myriad ways that 支持整体健康, A.E. 芬利的例子, 这张照片是在芬利中心的落成典礼上拍摄的, continues to inspire Ravens: “a modest and just man who personified by performance the courage to dream and dare.”

Second-floor common areas and meeting spaces will include a variety of seating options to meet students’ evolving individual, 社会和社区建设需求.