This was not President Connie Book’s average Friday afternoon. Rather than spending time in her office, she decided to take time out of her day to play in a ping-pong tournament in the Moseley Center with Jacob Wiedeman, an Elon Junior.
Wiedeman, a Danieley RA, said he got the idea to reach out to President Book after she spoke at a training session he had to attend this summer During her speech, she told a story of how her and her son enjoy playing ping-pong together.
“It really resonated with me because that’s what my dad and I have always done, growing up,” he said. “Then one day I actually emailed her, and she got back to me, and I couldn’t have been happier.”
When it comes to the president’s skills, Weideman said, “I thought she was going to be a little bit better, but I mean any competition is good competition and to play against somebody like President Book was a real honor.”
It wasn’t until their fifth game that President Book finally beat him.
Wiedeman had a good time getting to know President Book over the few games of ping-pong. He said he appreciates her finding the time to play.
“It’s actually really special because going to a small school, like Elon, it kinda makes it more homey, and you get to know everyone a lot better and that’s one of the appeals to why I came here in the first place,” he said.
When it comes to playing another game against President Book, Wiedeman said he doesn’t know if it will be soon, but he hopes to play her again.