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FAMILY TRADITION MAURICE ’57 AND D BURNEY ’87 JENNING GS SHARE A LEGACY IN BUSINESS AND AT ELON ELO BY KRISTIN M. SIMONETT SIMONETTI ’05
For recent generations of Elon students, it’s a simple, yet beautiful, sight: A sign featuring a yellow rolling pin with a single word emblazoned across it: “Biscuitville.”
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the magazine of elon
regional restaurant chain that serves nothing but breakfast and closes daily at p.m., Biscuitville has achieved cult status among members of the Elon community. But as they munch on freshly made biscuits, steaming hot grits and crunchy hash browns, many students and alumni have no idea that their beloved Biscuitville was founded by one of their own, Maurice Jennings Sr. ’, and today is led by his son, Maurice “Burney” Jennings Jr. ’. Over the years, as trips to Biscuitville have become an unofficial tradition among members of the Elon community, the Jennings family has played an integral role behind the scenes in the advancement of the university. From serving as trustees to making major gifts to support Elon scholarships, facilities and the Elon University School of Law in Greensboro, N.C., Maurice and Burney have made a lasting impact on the campus they both call home. “Our family believes Elon is doing a very good job in building leaders, encouraging experiential learning and teaching students to ask questions about leadership,” Burney says. “I think that’s something we’re proud to be aligned with.” The Jennings family’s ties to Elon run deep. Burney Jennings’ maternal grandfather, Clyde W. Gordon Sr., graduated from Elon, as did eight of Gordon’s siblings. Gordon served on Elon’s board of trustees until the beginning of President Fred Young’s tenure in 1973. When he retired, Young recalls, Gordon asked whether his son-in-law, Maurice, could be named to the board to continue his family’s service to Elon. Young obliged. By the time Maurice joined the board of trustees, he already had become a thriving entrepreneur. After graduating from Elon in 1957 and serving a term in the U.S. Air Force, his young family settled in Burlington, N.C., where he opened two bakeries in 1966. Constantly seeking to diversify his business, he began selling pizza in the bakeries to attract customers later in the day. The pizza sold so well that Maurice converted his bakeries into restaurants, and by the 1970s, he owned 12 Pizzaville restaurants in North Carolina’s Piedmont region. But Maurice wasn’t satisfied yet. “He was always coming up with new concepts and new ways of doing things,” Burney says. Interested in building morning business at his Pizzavilles, Maurice decided to try baking