Updated as of 12:13 a.m. on May 20 to include photo gallery.
As the sun ducked behind Snow Family Grand Atrium, over 1,400 candles lit the darkness Under the Oaks during Elon University’s annual Numen Lumen Senior Baccalaureate Reflection ceremony May 19.
The senior baccalaureate is a celebration for Elon seniors focused on light, both spiritually and intellectually, according to Elon University. Students from the class of 2026 received an oak sapling at the close of the event, fulfilling a tradition that began in 1991. Every student receives an acorn during new student convocation, and the saplings mark the transformation students experience during their years at Elon — just like an acorn growing into an oak tree.
“You arrived from different places, and all had different stories. Yet, over these past four years, you forged something stronger than difference. You forged a community,” said Rev. Kirstin Boswell, university chaplain and dean of multifaith engagement, during her welcoming remarks.
Boswell addressed students with advice for the future but also shared a look back. She said she hopes students realize the changes that college has sparked within them.
“I hope you now see what we have seen all along, that the acorn is becoming the oak, that you have become people of wisdom, strength, integrity and purpose, rooted deeply and reaching boldly,” Boswell said.
In a moment familiar to many Elon students, a train passed by during Boswell’s welcome. Boswell said it was just another Elon tradition.
Alongside their new greenery, students received undergraduate commencement speaker Patricia Walsh Chadwick’s book titled “Breaking Glass: Tales from the Witch of Wall Street”.
The ceremony also took a moment of silence to remember Jason Titunik, a member of the class of 2026 who died July 6, 2023. A tree stands in his memory in the historic neighborhood near Lambert Academic Village.
Elon musicians performed at the ceremony, including seniors Malia Horst, Lucas Velasco-Shen, Andrea Baca and Mindy Monroe.
As Monroe and Velasco-Shen performed “Bridge of Light” by Pink and Billy Mann, Elon faculty, staff and alumni lined the aisle, passing candlelight into the crowd.
Seniors were not alone in their moments of reflection. Jana Lynn Patterson, dean of student health and well-being, is retiring this summer after an almost 40-year career at Elon.
Patterson, also the associate vice president for Student Life, said that she is often asked about what has changed at Elon over the years. While the campus is different, she said Elon’s focus on students has held strong. She hopes students will remember not just the big moments from their Elon experience, but the small interactions too.
“These moments don't come with applause, but they matter. They say to another person, ‘You matter, you belong and you are seen,’” Patterson said. “And those moments shape the community that you will carry forward for your lifetime.”
Diana Jimenez-Carreno spoke alongside seven other students for “The Meaning We Make” portion of the evening. Seniors Nic Fillippa, Grace Stetler, Simon Mendelsohn, Rocco Albano, Huria Tahiry, Brooke Gustafson, Fatmata Binta Bah and Ahron Frankel also delivered readings and scripture.
Jimenez-Carreno read an excerpt from “Solito: A Memoir” by Javier Zamora, which details his journey from El Salvador to the United States. As a first-generation American, Jimenez-Carreno said she connected with Zamora’s story.
“Going through his journey, he persevered through it, and that was just amazing to see,” Jimenez-Carreno said in an interview with Elon News Network. “And even for me, as a first-generation student, kind of very much relates back to me too, and just creating every single step that I went through my four years and giving it back to my parents.”
The Odyssey scholar and public health studies major now plans to begin preparing for the Medical College Admission Test, also known as the MCAT. She said even though the next few years may be unknown, she’s excited for what is to come.
“It can be uncomfortable not knowing what the next plan is, but that is kind of a best part, sometimes the best plan,” Jimenez-Careeno said.
Elon University President Connie Book encouraged students to venture down new roads and challenge themselves.
“In addition to a life of love, I encourage you to embrace a life of risk taking,” Book said. “Try things more than once, be dissatisfied, and in my experience, that is the fullness of life, and often where hope for something better begins.”