Elon President Connie Book said Elon University will not be impacted by recent executive orders that propose cuts to funding for higher education and diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
Elon’s Student Government hosted a fireside chat event with Book and Vice President for Student Life Jon Dooley to answer questions regarding recent executive orders and accessibility issues on campus.
Dooley asked Book about her thoughts on recent executive orders and how they might affect Elon students.
Book said she had been in D.C. for the past week meeting with senators and representatives to talk specifically about executive orders aiming to cut federal spending on higher-education and research grants.
“This great education system that we have in the United States that is literally the envy of the world is driving the world's greatest economy,” Book said. “So let's tread very carefully with anything that might affect it.”
Senior Ryan Elad asked about how executive orders aimed at eradicating DEI would affect programs such as Odyssey, which provides scholarships to first-generation students, students who bring cultural and socioeconomic diversity to campus and students eligible for the Federal Pell Grant.
In a previous article by Elon News Network Provost Rebecca Kohn said Elon’s class of 2028 is 14% Pell Grant recipients. In total, only 9% of Elon’s undergraduate students were Pell Grant recipients in the 2022-23 school year, according to data from the Nation Center for Education Statistics.
Book said initiatives aiming to clamp down on diversity, equity and inclusion would not affect any of the programs or scholarships provided by Elon, as they already meet federal standards such as Title VI.
“If the law would change then we would need to sit down and look at what the requirements were, but currently there is no legal basis that Elon is not meeting,” Book said.
Senior Drew Fetterolf asked about plans to fix accessibility issues on campus, specifically highlighting the McMichael building.
“On the weekends and after hours the building gets kind of inaccessible because the front doors where the wheelchair ramps are are locked and there’s no scanner,” Fetterolf said.
Book said the university would work to get the issue resolved and encouraged students to say something when they see issues like that on campus.
“The intention is that we are an accessible campus … so when you see something, say something because we will go do an evaluation,” Book said.
Book also encouraged students to not wait until events like the fireside chats to bring up issues on campus, directing them toward the electronic suggestion box on the president’s landing page.
“We can’t see what you see, so don’t hesitate to put it in there. It makes us better,” Book said.