17 // � e Legacies of Elon’s Leaders

David CopelandPHOTO BY ASHLEY BARNAS

GET TO KNOWDavid Copeland

Arrived at Elon in 2001Hometown: Edenton, NC“When you’ve done it to the least, you’ve done it unto me.” – Jesus

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Ask David Copeland to describe himself and he will respond, “David Copeland is just a guy who loves to teach and has been doing it for a long time.”

With that statement, Copeland does not cover a fraction of what he has accomplished in his life as a historian, an educator, a journalist and a musician. So far, he has dug an outhouse in historic Williamsburg, done freelance archaeology in his hometown, lucked into the position of sports editor at a local daily newspaper, played trumpet with The Temptations and has written nine books.

When he applied for the position as sports editor, he was asked about his journalism background.

“‘I don’t have any,’” Copeland told them. “‘But,’ I said, ‘I can write.’ And they said, ‘Go home tonight and watch the World Series.’”

Copeland was told not to read anything and not to watch any reports on it. His task was simply to write it up and turn it in the next day. He was hired and his hands-on journalism education began.

Copeland principally teaches Media History now, in addition to serving as director of the Interactive Media graduate program.

He has earned two master’s degrees – one in divinity and the other in theology. Copeland served as a music minister from 1987 to 2001, in addition to working as a journalist and earning his doctorate degree.

One of the facts Copeland likes to share when introducing himself to his students is that he once played with The Temptations. What his students do not realize – judging by the chuckle that runs through the room when he says it – is that he really did play with The Temptations. The group had a show band with a complement of trumpets, saxophones and guitarists, and one night a trumpet player was sick. The band called Wake Forest, where Copeland was an undergraduate student at the time, and he was asked to fi ll in for the show. The only thing he needed to do to prepare was fi nd a white tie to fi t in with the navy and white attire.

“I kind of took them aback when they looked back there and saw me sitting there,” Copeland said, “because they didn’t exactly expect me to be there. So, it was pretty fun. What was really fun was I had a lot of friends who had gone to the concert and had really up-close seats and they were going, ‘What are you doing there!? I can’t fi gure this out!’”

Elon alumna Kristin Simonetti said there is no one at Elon quite like Copeland, a sentiment echoed by many of his students through the years.

Simonetti fi rst met Copeland when she took his Media History class in the fall of 2003.

“It was required for all communications majors at the time, and to be honest, few of us were excited about it, because, well, 20- to-21-year-olds aren’t often

excited about history,” she said. “But Dr. Copeland has a funny way of making just about any topic interesting. After completing a project about media coverage of the Cuban Missile Crisis for my fi nal paper, I discovered not only an interest in media history but also in research.”

Simonetti worked with Copeland during her senior seminar course and again during her time in the journalism master’s program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill when she asked him to sit on her thesis committee.

Freely giving of his time to read and re-read drafts of Simonetti’s thesis is just something Copeland does without a second thought.

Honesty, sincerity, caring and empathy are some of the most important characteristics a leader can have, Copeland said. Leaders also have to make hard decisions.

“Leadership is the ability to have people do things that they feel they want to do or should be done,” Copeland said. “Leaders don’t dictate what to do, but say what they want to be done.”

The best example of this, he said, is his wife, who teaches kindergarten. She can get those kids to do anything she needs to be done.

Copeland said his high school football coach was also a tremendous leader. His coach’s character of leadership was so great that in a high school of 200 students in the top four grades, he got nearly 100 boys out to play. His quality of leadership was so good that people wanted to join the team not because they wanted to play necessarily, but because they wanted to be around that coach.

Copeland also admires the leadership of Martin Luther King Jr. King’s “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech is one of Copeland’s favorites.

“I’ve seen the promised land,” King said. “I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I’m happy, tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”

Copeland uses the “selfl ess and phenomenal” speech every time he teaches Media History to show how powerful King’s speeches were and to demonstrate how they were perfect for the media because they were short, pithy and sentimental.

“I nearly start crying every time, because I know what’s going to happen,” he said. King was assassinated the day after delivering the speech in Tennessee.

Copeland treats everyone the same no matter their talent.“There’s a worth to everybody,” Copeland said. “Everybody has a value.”Concerning his legacy at Elon, Copeland said he hopes he “made everyone feel

that they were important, that they were liked, that they would be remembered. And somehow [that everyone] learn something of lasting importance.”

Story By Ashley Barnas

SERVICE WITH A SMILE

PHOTO BY ASHLEY BARNAS

� e Legacies of Elon’s Leaders // 18