Elon University President Leo Lambert has so many things on his mind that he forgot to send a planned video presentation to SGA’s executive staff — a mistake that was met with laughs and lightheartedness at the first 2016-2017 SGA meeting in its inaugural town hall format. 

“I’ll be sure to show this to you next time,” Lambert said, as his face turned red against his tan suit.

That forward, anticipatory thinking has encapsulated Lambert’s mindset for months. Lambert, the university’s eighth president, addressed SGA’s senate in depth on Thursday, outlining Elon’s plan for developing growth and answering questions ranging from study abroad safety to parking. Elon is currently in the waning phase of its Strategic Commitment Plan, with goals of initiating a similar one at the start of 2018.

To bolster this plan of raising Elon’s prominence and stature in the national arena, Lambert and his staff have trekked across the country from New York to Washington, D.C, acting as ambassadors to potential donors. Lambert said this program is a "bridge” between the two strategic plans, explaining that the funds will not only help the university expand, but will spearhead new scholarships to appeal to low-income families in the future.

“We’re a peculiar university because we’re thinking 10 years ahead,” Lambert said. “We have stretched out long-term goals that can’t be done next week.

“If you’re not thinking long-term and how things evolve, things can get messed up, so we have to make this a priority."

Lambert said he doesn’t want prospective students to not attend Elon because of financial burdens, adding that he wanted to add more fellowships to the six that already exists, and wants 100 Watson Odyssey scholars per class rather than 100 in total. He also noted that the recent construction on campus is a marketing tool as well as an improvement project to benefit current students. He plans to announce a major gift for a Historic Neighborhood commons building within the month, and said Dwight C. Schar Hall and Richard W. Sankey Hall will boost the intake and reputation of the School of Communications and School of Business, respectively.

“We’re competing with Vanderbilt and Wake Forest, and we want to be more competitive,” Lambert said. “Elon is a special place and has a culture, and we don’t want to lose that. We want this place to be a university where people can meet each other across differences and scores of experiences."

The Q&A session lasted for almost an hour, addressing a wide variety of topics and concerns. In the coming weeks, Elon News Network will cover most of the subjects discussed, ranging from Elon’s hopes of expanding its engineering program to how the university will react to the possibility of an active shooter scenario in light of the Orlando massacre.

SGA Executive President and senior Kyle Porro said he was pleased with how the night went and how Lambert was exceedingly transparent. 

“Tonight was interesting because it was the first meeting that we did like this style, but I always enjoy hearing from President Lambert and where the future of the school is going,” Porro said. “I think he has a lot of respect for what we do, and I think he looks to SGA to be the voice of the students.”