Elon student airlifted to UNC Hospitals after being struck by car
(03/17/15 1:17pm)
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UPDATED: Wednesday, 12:43 p.m.
UPDATED 4:30 p.m., Sunday March 15
Animal activism at Elon University now has an organized voice through the Elon Animal Protection Alliance, a segment of the volunteer-oriented S.H.A.R.E. program. It will begin its first official group meeting and other on-campus events in the coming weeks. While S.H.A.R.E. focuses specifically on animal interaction in Alamance County, the APA aims for a broader approach. “We’re trying to expand what S.H.A.R.E. does through advocacy and activism in a social aspect,” said junior APA organizer Clare Farrow. “We’re going to cover a wide variety of issues and work with all species, not just cats and dogs.” Planned events for members include field trips to The Conservator’s Center and the Piedmont Wildlife Refuge, along with circus protests and lobbying for anti-tethering legislation. The club is flexible in the issues it tackles. “We cover animal issues that club members feel passionate about,” Farrow said. “So while I’m particularly passionate about farm animals, I also want to tailor things to what the club wants as a whole.” The APA is also involved with campus outreach. At Tuesday’s College Coffee, the group gave $1 to every person that watches a four-minute video about farm animal treatment. On March 19, it will host a vegan potluck open to the public. Long-term goals include increasing vegetarian and vegan options in dining halls and dissection alternatives for students. The group will be hosting speakers from animal rights groups, including Andrea Gunn from The Humane League. According to APA member Marissa Costner, this kind of campus activity is necessary. “Other people need to understand how their actions affect animals,” she said. “I’m excited to get this conversation started here on this campus. I believe more people will get involved as they learn how easy it is to make a difference.” Costner, a sophomore, said she has been an active participant in animal rights cyber campaigns, but this organization allows her to get involved as a member of the Elon community. “This is a great place to start if you’re new to animal activism, but it’s also a great place for those with years of experience,” she said. “It’s a way to be a voice for animals.” Animals are not going to be the only beneficiaries, according to Farrow. Several leadership positions will be available, including an event planner and photographer. “There are plenty of opportunities here to gain real-life experiences that you can put on a resume,” she said. By filling a niche that Elon didn’t have before, the APA hopes its activism will have a lasting impact on campus. “People need to help animals in some way or form, and that may be as easy as signing a petition, or sharing a link on your Facebook,” Farrow said. “I’m looking forward to inspiring people to become activists.”
Anyssa McMillan joined 50 other women in writing hurtful preconceptions and labels commonly associated with their identities on large sheets of paper. Then, in a symbolic act of breaking away from stereotypes that plague their identities, they collectively tore each strip of paper into miniscule, meaningless shreds. The women, representing African-American, Latina, Asian, Native American and Multiracial (ALANAM) backgrounds, gathered in Elon University’s Oaks 212 Saturday with one shared goal: to inspire, empower and motivate. ALANAM Women’s Institute, a conference seeking to provide a space for women to celebrate their common thread of diversity, was previously recognized as Women of Color Institute. But the phrase “women of color,” did not fall well with many students who felt isolated by the terminology. In alignment with the Center for Race, Ethnicity & Diversity’s (CREDE) goal to broaden the spectrum of diversity in its programming, the name was changed to ALANAM earlier this year. “We recognized that some students, particularly international students, didn’t necessarily identify with the term ‘women of color,’” said Jamie Butler, assistant director for CREDE. “So we wanted to support CREDE’s mission to advocate for ALANAM students as it is the terminology that we, as a center, have decided to encourage.” A variety of speakers, including keynote speakers Brenna Humphries, ‘13, and Rhonda Butler, instructor in management, created a platform for students to engage in meaningful dialogue, create connections and celebrate difference. Carla Fullwood, associate director for CREDE, and Amy Johnson, assistant professor of history, also led workshop sessions during the day. McMillan said the most rewarding aspect of the event was that it allowed minority women to unite in conversation. “It is crucial for women of all minority groups to stand in solidarity and support each other,” McMillan said. “Historically, even now in the present, different racial groups are negatively stereotyped and oppressed by society. It is time to be unified and lift each other up with the purpose to help each other strive and flourish as women.” Senior Danelia Dwyer, the student coordinator of the event, led a planning committee with other CREDE student leaders to organize the event. “One of my personal highlights was learning how amazing and relatable women on campus are,” said senior Daneilia Dwyer. “People shared their personal insights and stories, and it was an amazing space for laughter, shared experience and growth.” She stressed that the purpose of the event was not as much to stand in solidarity but to celebrate common experiences in life, culture and womanhood — peer-to-peer, teacher-to-teacher and friend-to-friend. According to Butler, CREDE will continue working with ALANAM to provide more programming opportunities including town hall meetings and collaborations with other organizations such as LASO, SPARKS and Sisterhood Circles to create a shared, safe network for students who identify as ALANAM. “The main value of this working group is that it will offer a sense of community and unity,” Butler said. “But also that it serves as a platform to promote diversity education to the larger campus.”
Junior Laura Conroy returned home from a busy schedule filled with classes, homework and sorority activities and glanced down at the small calendar she bought while studying abroad in Ghana. As the memories of delivering soccer balls and helping out local Ghanaian communities returned to her mind, she realized she got more out of the trip than the Ghanaians who had received her help. “We provided [the Ghanaians] with material goods, but I think they provided us with a lot more because I walked away still with their faces in my mind,” Conroy said. “I’m not sure if they think about us, but I definitely still think about them.” Although Conroy said she benefited from the experience of giving back to the local community she had visited, some like Heidi Frontani, professor of geography, think offering aid does more harm than good. “[By giving handouts], you create dependent communities that are just sitting there waiting for the next group of people to come through and give them things,” Frontani said. “That’s not what people want. Nobody wants that anywhere in the world.” In order to ensure students have productive experiences while studying abroad, Elon offers several opportunities for students to practice global citizenship through service. As founding director of Project Pericles, a program designed to provide students with a sense of social responsibility and civic concern, Thomas Arcaro has led several service trips to Africa. According to Arcaro, providing meaningful aid is not as easy as people think. “Service isn’t easy if it’s done right,” Arcaro said. “If it’s done in a partnering, not patronizing, way, it’s really a lot of work. It’s rewarding as hell, but it’s a lot of work.” The key to providing effective aid through service is to spend money wisely, he added. “There’s a huge cost of going [to Africa],” Arcaro said. “That cost has to be more than offset by the value added of what we would do in country ‘X’ or ‘Y’ or whatever that country is.” While some students choose to spend a semester abroad, others like Conroy go abroad during Winter Term, which can be a major expense. The most recent cost, credit and prerequisites chart shows that the 2016 Winter Term study abroad costs range from $3,750 to $8,100. People choosing to do service in Africa independently would pay more than $1,000 in airfare alone. With other costs of travel, such as food and shelter, a round trip experience to the continent could easily exceed $2,000. In order to offset the cost of traveling to Africa with the value added of doing service in a country, Arcaro urges students to develop a deep understanding of the place they are visiting. He and Frontani also hope more people will eliminate some of the common misconceptions and stereotypes about Africa before they make travel arrangements. According to Frontani, most students don’t realize Africa is made up of 54 countries with both urban and rural regions. Because of the short length of Winter Term trips compared to a semester abroad, Frontani said students need to return to the places they visit. “We have so many students going on J-Term,” Frontani said. “I think J-Term’s a great thing to do, but I would love to see a lot more follow up where a student would maybe do J-Term in Ghana, spend the time with the group, get acclimated a little bit and then already have planned at that point to stay on for the spring.” Though Conroy said she got more out of her experience than the people she helped, she believes it’s important to visit the places you’re trying to help rather than sending money. “When you get to hand a child their first soccer ball or their first real notebook, it’s a moment you’ll never forget because you realize that you’re actually touching a human life, not just a piece of paper that you sign a check to,” Conroy said. “I think it’s really important for people to see who they’re donating to and what kind of cause you’re helping.”
Elon University Planning, Design and Construction Management has recently completed the construction of a new volleyball court in between the Global Neighborhood and the Loy Center. Originally intended to just be a continuation of the parking lot, Student Residential Life thought that volleyball and basketball courts would be of better use to the students living in both the Global Neighborhood and in Loy Center. According to Brad Moore, architect and director of Planning, Design and Construction Management, the project only had a couple snags that caused delays. Because Elon selected two different contractors for construction on the Global Neighborhood itself and for the court project, construction on the volleyball and basketball courts had to be delayed until construction on the Global Neighborhood had been completed. Additionally, the recent snow storms that have hit Elon caused a few delays in the original plans. “So they have been working on it through the fall and the weather has put a little stress on it,” said Moore. “They started in September and October and they’ve worked since then.” Elon students are excited about the new addition. However, most are just waiting until the weather is warm again to be able to use it. “It’ll definitely be fun when it’s warm and we can tan outside and just hang out when it’s sunny,” said freshman Global Neighborhood resident Lizzie Griffin. The new courts will certainly be a welcome addition when the weather is warm and students want to spend more time outside. Looking forward, Moore says his team’s main focus is on the current construction in Danieley, as well as some construction in Arts West. “We’re working on two projects over at Danieley Center;” said Moore. “A new recreation building in addition to work on Danieley Commons, along with the additions to Arts West.” The new additions to the Violet Hoffman Daniel Commons Building will include neighborhood offices, a demonstration kitchen, an outdoor patio, a larger common room and an Einstein Bros. Bagels. Moore and the rest of the construction management team are also working on a recreation center that will hold a fitness center, staff offices and a new recreation space. These are welcome additions for the current freshmen who are set to live in Danieley next year. “A lot of sophomores have to live in Danieley now, so it’s really nice that there’ll be more options close to them,” said Griffin. “I’ve heard the walk from Danieley is pretty bad, so if I end up living there I’ll definitely be happy to have a gym and more food options close by.” While University Planning, Design and Construction Management get to work on these future projects, students are just getting ready to put the new volleyball and basketball courts to good use.
After various fundraising events led by Global Neighborhood residents, the Kwitonda Family, a refugee family originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, left Lakeside conference room with a lifelong change: a desktop computer. Their gift represents seven months of community fundraising by Global Neighborhood residents who have been visiting the Kwitonda home to help their family acclimate to the U.S. through English and basic computer skills lessons. It was during one visit when Emmanuel Kiwtonda asked Global Neighborhood Service Initiative leaders Omolayo Ojo and Alexander Ball for a computer of their own. Little did they know, their simple request would galvanize the community to unite in raising funds, awareness and support for the gift throughout the year. The Kwitonda family spent the past 17 years living in a Rwandan refugee camp prior to their arrival to Greensboro on Aug. 28, 2014. The family was “adopted” by the Global Neighborhood as part of their “First-Friends” service partnership with North Carolina African Services Coalition. The initiative seeks to help the immigrant family adjust to their environment in North Carolina by providing them with support in their settlement process. Every other Saturday, residents have been visiting the family and helping them acclimate to their surroundings by teaching English and basic computer skills through activities and games. Ojo, the Global Neighborhood’s lead student mentor, said the new computer will play a vital role in their adjustment. “For a family that is new to the U.S. who are still trying to perfect their English and cultural acquisition, good grades in school can make a big difference,” she said. “Emails, word documents and all the glorious things that computers and the Internet give us access to will be vital to our [their] acclamation.” She noted that students who currently visit the family every Saturday will further their lessons on basic computer skills while the family members will now be able to practice at their convenience. While the funds for the gift came from a host of activities, including a crepe fundraiser during National French Week and office donations, the Global Neighborhood Penny War played a significant role in unifying the community. The “Penny War,” an initiative led by first-year student Alexander Ball, challenged students to put spare change in buckets placed in each of the Global Neighborhood houses with one small catch: coins added positive points and bills added negative points. Houses competed against each other by placing bills each others’ buckets. Through simple change, the neighborhood raised around $200. “It was all down to the Global Neighborhood residents,” Ball said. “It just showed how the community could come together to make a change.” He stressed that the relationship has been mutually fulfilling. “I’ve learned so much from them and I always look forward to seeing them again,” he said. “It’s easy to feel like you’re a part of a bigger family.”
In order to increase discussion about LGBTQIA Christians, the Truitt Center brought two religious leaders that identify as gay and lesbian to Elon University to lead an conversation, “Intersecting Identities: Faith, Gender and Sexuality.” Timothy Kane, associate director of inclusive initiatives and coordinator of the LGBTQIA Resource Center at George Washington University, and Rev. Jocelyn Cadwallader, interim associate minister at Western Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C. visited Elon to highlight various journeys of LGBTQIA Christians and facilitate a dialogue so students of various beliefs feel more comfortable about entering these discussions. “No matter our group or no matter our theology, we all have students who are struggling with their sexuality,” said Joel Harter, associate chaplain for Protestant life at Elon. “I just want to provide our community with an opportunity to interact with people who are gay and Christian.” Jan Fuller, university chaplain, said it’s important to realize there are many facets of Christianity. Each person’s faith may manifest itself in different ways. “One thing that I like to keep saying… is there’s no right way to do this. There’s no one right way to be a Christian,” Fuller said. “You can be a Christian and be a gay or lesbian person.” The planning of the event began in November 2014, shortly after some of Elon’s religious leaders attended an interfaith and community service conference in October. At the conference, Kane and Cadwallader were panelists for a workshop focusing on LGBTQIA topics and multifaith work. Harter decided after the workshop that he wanted to bring Kane and Cadwallader to Elon. “They did a good presentation on what it’s like to have these intersecting identities,” Harter said. “I think that’s something we’re still learning how to talk about at Elon.” March 5, Kane and Cadwallader engaged in an open discussion about their personal experiences with their intersecting identities and how Elon’s core values can promote inclusivity of LGBTQIA Christians. Kane used the analogy of a rubber band ball to describe individuals’ identities. Some of the rubber bands are present on the exterior and are visible to others, but then other rubber bands are hidden on the interior. “There are all these identities that make me who I am on the inside that are not visible,” Kane said. “I think of my spiritual and religious identities on the inside of the ball.” Kane said the same was true for his sexual orientation. “It’s very interesting to think about the identities we bring, the minority and majority ones,” Kane said. Cadwallader thinks about identity by accepting a progressive approach to the Bible. To her, the Bible should be read by looking at the big picture, rather than in individual segments. “The Bible, depending on traditions, can be wielded as a weapon or a sacred text,” Cadwallader said. To illustrate her point, Cadwallader referenced the book “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Now, if she had just read the two sentences out of the book describing the mob that attempts to kill Tom Robinson, she would have thought the purpose of the book was different from actuality. “I would think that the book has an entirely different meaning because then I would think that the book was holding up white supremacy,” Cadwallader said. This is her approach to looking at Scripture, too. She noted that verses from Leviticus should be put into context in relation to the rest of the Bible. “That, for me, is how I need to go back and realize that I’m reading this particular piece of Scripture as a part of a whole,” she said. Different views about accepting LGBTQIA Christians were also addressed. Cadwallader shared how her partner comes from a traditional background. Her partner’s family strives to be accepting and to not discriminate while also holding onto some “level of theology.” According to Cadwallader, it is not possible for the two to coexist. “It’s difficult to hang on to a theology that upholds exclusion of some of God’s children and say that you love all of God’s children,” Cadwallader said. Toward the end of the event, Fuller said Christians have many sexual orientations and there is support in the Truitt Center for those who identify as LGBTQIA. “We aim to help all of us understand our spiritual commitments, and as they relate to other commitments and identities,” Fuller said. “Can Christians also be gay, lesbian, bi, or queer? Yes.”
With pristine, clear blue skies and radiating sunlight, Elon University successfully avoided the comeback of last year’s ice storm this Fellows Weekend. But Mother Nature still had a few tricks up her sleeve: a winter storm overwhelmed much of Eastern United States, affecting many of the 600 visiting families. Nationwide, 4,892 flights were canceled and another 4,000 were delayed Thursday — a whopping delay of 20 percent of all flights in the U.S. While some visiting families escaped Thursday’s horrendous weather, others were caught in the middle. Some prospective fellows turned to the Class of 2019 Facebook page to arrange dinner plans with their peers, while others united in their shared concerns of how the inclement weather conditions have thwarted their travel plans. J.T. Carroll, a prospective Honors or College Fellow, was one of those students. After returning home from school Thursday, he was informed his flight to Greensboro was canceled. “I left school early in anticipation,” he said. “My parents spent hours on hold looking to reschedule the flights, but nothing was available until Friday.” The next day, his family tried again. After arriving at the airport at 5 a.m., they were informed of another cancellation. Following a series of more delays and cancellations, his family finally caught a 7:30 a.m. flight from Boston to New York and arrived in Greensboro nine hours later. Despite his travel blunders, Carroll said the ordeal was definitely worth it. “The opportunity to compete with hundreds of similar students, especially out of the multiple hundreds of applications, in itself made the trip worth it,” he said. Other students caught in the storm had to seek alternative means of travel. Many students were forced to abandon their flight plans and drive through 8 to 10 inches of snow to reach North Carolina. Tess Harkin, a prospective Communications Fellow, was originally scheduled to fly out of New York Friday at 6:30 a.m. but decided to make the 10-hour drive from Connecticut because of the endless cancellations. Other students bore greater distances. The winter storm gave an especially hard-hitting homecoming to Hannah Schmidt, a prospective Leadership Fellow traveling from her home in Frankfurt, Germany, where she currently lives. Landing in John F. Kennedy Airport at 11:30 a.m. after her ten-hour flight, Schmidt and her father had no choice but to drive all the way down to Greensboro, with only one stop in Washington D.C. “She was jet-lagged as well but wasn’t complaining,” her father, Tim Schmidt said. “She was just excited to be able to make it to campus and get a feel for what Elon is all about.” Aside from some travel delays, the Fellows Weekend went smoothly for many families. The event welcomes hundreds of families every year to compete in a selective process for seats into one of Elon’s six fellows programs: honors, college, business, leadership, teaching and communications. The weekend’s activities included interviews, group meetings, information sessions and written exams. Kevin and Marilyn James, the parents of prospective Leadership Fellow Faith James, said they were especially impressed by the warm environment created by faculty, staff and students, as well as President Lambert’s charisma. “Elon was already a high possibility, but coming here has just made us so much more confident,” Kevin James said. “I’m ready to go to Elon myself.”
Five Elon students wedged themselves between thousands of people packed onto Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, the attack on voting rights marchers. Among the students retracing the historic steps of Selma to Montgomery protesters was sophomore Josephine Gardner, who was one of more than 20,000 people marching for further social progress. From signs advocating for Asian-American rights to women standing for equality, Gardner said the 50th anniversary created a platform for several minority communities and social classes to stand against oppression. “The 50 anniversary wasn’t just a black movement anymore,” Gardner said. “It encompassed so many social groups—it was a march for civil and citizen rights for all.” The experience was made possible by GST 224 Nonviolence and Civil Rights course, a spring semester offering that explores how civil rights leaders and activists employed theories and tactics of nonviolence to challenge the institutions of segregation in the American South. Gardner said the course moves beyond the contributions of well-known figures such as Dr. Martin Luther King and amplifies the voices of other shapers of the civil rights movement. “The movement in Selma was made possible by so many different leaders and [their efforts] are not always recognized,” she said. “This course looks at the many personalities of that moment in history and their contributions.” According to Frances Ward-Johnson, the course instructor and associate department chair of the School of Communications, the class also instills in students a deep appreciation of the tactics of nonviolent, direct action and allows for a closer understanding of its strategic advantages as well as its shortcomings. Nonviolence played a central role in Bloody Sunday. History was written into Selma’s landscape when peaceful voting rights activists attempting to march to the state capital of Montgomery were met with billy clubs, tear gas and various other forms of brutality administered by Alabama state troopers and Sherriff Jim Clark’s officers. The incident plays a defining marker in U.S. civil rights history and spurred the Voting Rights Act. Half a century later, the memories of the Selma Foot Soldiers, those who participated in the series of Selma to Montgomery marches, are still very much preserved. Gardner said reliving history through their voices was another aspect of the experience that struck her. “The fact that we were able to cross the bridge and almost feel everything they felt as people who stood for something they believed in, was so moving,” she said. “It was just a very inspiring experience.” Rev. Benford Stellmacher, an activist and well-known civil rights leader from Atlanta, was among the many figures Gardner was given the opportunity to speak to personally. “He shared how he was brutally beaten to the ground during one of the marches for equality which led to him being in a wheelchair,” Gardner said. “His story was especially powerful.” Ward-Johnson said the travel is one of the most rewarding aspects of teaching the course as the students can move beyond concepts learned in class and read in textbooks and explore in the real world. “History really comes to life for students,” Ward-Johnson said. “Many of them have never heard of much of the civil rights history taught in the class and are moved by the people and events.” Originally offered as a winter-term course and usually reserved for Leadership Fellows, this was the first time GST 221 was offered in the spring. “When I teach the course during Winter Term, there is always a travel component,” Ward-Johnson said. “I also wanted to include a travel component in the Spring Semester. The Selma trip was perfect.” Following the recent killings by police of unarmed citizens of color including Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and Eric Garner in Staten Island, the commemoration situates itself in a difficult period for race-relations in the U.S. President Barack Obama, among hundreds of other political leaders, alluded to the difficult period in race relations in the current social atmosphere during his address to the public. Garner said hearing the President address issues of social importance to her was especially powerful as she noted that being able to vote for him was a direct result of the efforts by men, women and children during Bloody Sunday. “The fact that I was able to vote for Obama for his second-term and then hear him speak about all the social issues I’m passionate about was so moving,” she said. “For him to address how the criminal justice system targets young black men was very important and very near to my heart.” While the context of the movement for equality has changed as many social barriers have been knocked down by the generations of activists who have voiced for freedom, its essential spirit of demanding for further justice and standing against oppression has prolonged through decades. “The march will never be over if we continue to marginalize people,” Gardner said. “We need to always keep marching and working towards further equality.”
UPDATED MARCH 12, 2015
Elon University will celebrate its 126th birthday Tuesday with the largest alumni involvement in university history. About 60 Elon students, faculty and staff and over 700 alumni volunteers worldwide have been working to make Elon Day a success.
Elon University welcomed nearly 600 families on campus March 6-7 for Fellows and Scholarship Weekend, a time when admitted students considering fellows programs completed interviews, attended seminars and engaged with current Fellows.
All new member activities in Elon University’s Kappa Sigma, Lambda-Lambda chapter have been suspended, according to an email from Smith Jackson, vice president for student life.
Ben Carpenter, author, entrepreneur and finance-industry CEO, visited Elon University Tuesday to share with students his tips for success: be aggressive, do what you’re good at and stay happy. His talk was hosted by the Student Professional Development Center, in conjunction with Greek organizations Delta Upsilon, Sigma Kappa and Alpha Omicron Pi.
Whether students take car pools or use reusable water bottles, they belong to a nation using nearly one-fourth of the world’s natural resources. The overlooked key to a greener future: linking social justice and sustainability. Julian Agyeman, a professor of urban and environmental policy and planning at Tufts University who coined the concept ‘just sustainabilities,’ visited Elon University’s LaRose Digital Theatre Feb. 24 to argue sustainability is about so much more than the environment — it’s also about human equality. “Wherever environmental degradation is happening in the world, I defy you to find a place where it’s not about social injustice,” Agyeman said to a large group of Elon students. Bringing sustainability to Elon According to Agyeman’s website, just sustainabilities can be defined as “the need to ensure a better quality of life for all, now and into the future, in a just and equitable manner, whilst living within the limits of supporting ecosystems.” After introducing this concept, Agyeman expressed his frustration with how the sustainability agenda is construed around green issues. Before coming to Elon, Agyeman examined the mission statements of some sustainability organizations on campus. He concluded many organizations focus on addressing the environment or social responsibility, but there are no coalitions formed between the different groups. Shannon Temlak, a senior political science and policy studies double major and Eco-Reps coordinator, said coalitions should form between different sustainability organizations on campus. “I’ve noticed on this campus that we have a lot of student organizations that do have a mission that is to promote certain sustainable-related issues,” Temlak said. “We have all these great organizations that all tie into sustainability, but currently, we’re not doing that great working together.” For example, one portion of the Sierra Club’s mission is to “practice and promote the responsible use of earth’s ecosystems and resources.” Enactus, an international nonprofit organization, works with leaders in business and higher education to develop “skills to become socially responsible business leaders.” Similarly, the Eco-Reps Program is “dedicated to promoting sustainability and environmentally responsible behaviors. This program raises awareness of sustainability-related programs by working with Residence Life and Greek Life and delivers lessons to Elon 101 and COR 110 courses as requested. Collaborations between these organizations could help promote the idea of just sustainabilities, according to Agyeman. Getting a fair share Agyeman listed off five themes to what just sustainability should look like in practice: environmental space and fair share, well-being and happiness, urban agriculture and food justice, planning for intercultural societies and spatial justice. Data from the CIA shows the United States has the world’s largest coal reserve and accounts for 27 percent of the world’s total. An article from 24/7 Wall Street, a Delaware corporation that runs a financial news and opinion company with content delivered over the Internet, named the United States the second-richest country in the world in terms of resources — Russia ranked first. Other wealthy countries include Australia, China and Canada. Because of this disparity in available natural resources between wealthier, more powerful nations and poorer ones, Agyeman advocated for a more equitable allocation of resources. He also said government cannot be trusted to make cutbacks for the greater good of other nations. “Do you envision American government policymakers cutting back on our nation’s resources within the near future?” Agyeman asked. “If not, who has to be accountable for lowering that 25-5 percent gap?” While he was specifically skeptical of the federal government, he noted there is hope for local governments to bring change. Alamance County in action Budget cuts have become increasingly prevalent in counties throughout the United States. Alamance County is no exception. The county’s Planning Department site says it oversees a number of community activities ranging from water and sewer projects to land development in rural Alamance County. As the planning department’s director, Libby Hodges has witnessed a sharp decline in her department’s activities because of recent budget cuts. “Most of the funding that we’ve gotten from the past has come from state or federal,” Hodges said. “[Securing those funds nowadays] requires someone from our department applying for the funds, and we don’t have the staff to apply or manage the funds once they’re in place.” Despite this problem, departments try to remain optimistic about their existing sustainability efforts. “A lot of the municipalities and colleges and universities are trying to do more with water control,” said Phil Ross, head of the Soil and Water Conversation department. Ross also points to the county’s recycling program as another step in the right direction. “Greg Thomas [the county’s solid waste director] has an excellent recycling program through the landfills,” Ross said. “That would be one thing we’re doing well in Alamance County.” But Agyeman said that while these efforts promote sustainability, they do little to address social justice. Food for thought Agyeman is a firm supporter of buying fresh local food, but encourages students to stray away from their traditional definition of local. “I want to develop a notion of local that is not seeing local as a geographic concept but is seeing local as a cultural concept,” he said. “Buy local, buy fresh usually means geographic food. It doesn’t refer to what other people want.” At Elon’s farmers market on North Williamson Avenue, local farmers cater to members of the Elon community. But members of the Elon community come from a variety of backgrounds. More than 80 percent of Elon students live out of state. Because students come from a wide range of geographic regions, local food may refer to food from their hometown rather than an Elon farmers market. Within Alamance County itself, residents have different cultural roots. According to data from the 2013 census, 19.3 percent of county residents are black or African-American while 11.8 percent are Hispanic or Latino. To define what is local, Agyeman urges farmers to consider the diversity within the community and make products for minority groups as well. Bridging sustainability and social justice When stringing together his final thoughts, Agyemen challenged students to expand their minds beyond conventional scientific research. “We have the science of sustainability, we know what we need to do, but we’re not doing it,” he said. “This is where social science [psychology, sociology, anthropology] comes in.” Agyeman concluded his speech by urging those in attendance to critically examine how to promote both environmental justice and social justice. Improving parks as an attractive option for people to congregate, constructing streets for people to talk rather than roads for drivers, bringing more diversity into the work force and promoting human potential through a better educational system were among the many ideas he hoped would generate future discussion on campus.
A five-year engineering program at Elon University is in the works. The new program will allow students to stay at Elon for the entirety of their engineering degree, rather than transfer after three years, which is how the program works now. Elon’s engineering department currently operates under a dual-degree program: students complete three years of their degree at Elon and two years at a partner institution. But not for much longer. Sirena Hargrove-Leak, assistant professor of engineering, has been with Elon since 2004. She has witnessed the maturation of the dual-degree engineering program, which began in 1999. Because of her background with the engineering program, Hargrove-Leak has been especially involved in the formation of the five-year engineering program at Elon. She summarized the five-year program as a “continuation” of the dual degree program — except that the entirety of the program would be completed at Elon. “We think that it offers students more options for their engineering studies,” she said. Elon originally based the dual-degree program off a model from Jacksonville University in Florida. Elon’s administration saw that its engineering program was successful and recognized it attracted strong math and science students. “Seeing that success, the administration here at Elon thought it would be a great addition to the program here,” Hargrove-Leak said. While the dual-degree program has seen growth since its inception, the decision to incorporate the five-year engineering program at Elon was ultimately based off feedback from current engineering students. Hargrove-Leak said an overwhelming number of responses from a survey indicated most engineering students would prefer to continue their education at Elon. “That’s the hardest thing — having to leave after only three years, the way our program is currently structured,” Hargrove-Leak said. At the moment, it hasn’t been determined when the five-year engineering program will go into effect. New facilities need to be built to accommodate the extensive engineering labs required for the five-year program. Additionally, Elon will need to complete an accreditation process. Hargrove-Leak noted that once that process begins, the department will be able to determine a timeline for the expansion of the program. Elon will also need to hire more faculty members to accommodate the new curriculum. “Clearly, we have a lot of work to do, and it requires resources,” Hargrove-Leak said. A new engineering faculty member that specializes in biomedical engineering has already been hired and will begin teaching in fall 2015. Scott Wolter, associate professor of engineering, has also been contributing to the five-year program. He participated in a committee last year to determine the future of the engineering program at Elon. “We evaluated several peer and aspirant engineering programs around the country and considered the types of degree offerings which would best fit our strengths at Elon,” Wolter said. “Subsequently, we proposed biomedical, environmental, computer and general engineering degrees as those that we felt would best fit our strengths and capabilities at Elon and our student’s interests.” With the five-year program, degrees in biomedical, computer and environmental engineering would be available to Elon students. Currently, the dual-degree program offers six concentrations, including these three areas of study. If future students would like to pursue the other areas of engineering currently offered as concentrations, including engineering physics, engineering mathematics and chemical engineering, then they would continue on the current dual-degree track. Options for students who would like to complete the five-year program in four years will be available to students, and the dual-degree program will continue to be a possibility. The goal is to provide students with more options and flexibility as they earn their engineering degree. “My sense is that as the engineering program continues to grow, our engineering students will have opportunities to positively impact our world,” Wolter said. “I believe there are additional opportunities to interact with the school of business and entrepreneurship program at Elon as the engineering faculty develop their research programs.” Hargrove-Leak is looking forward to the benefits for students, such as internship opportunities that may present themselves as a result of the new program. “I am always student-centered, so I’m just excited about the possibilities that this change holds for our students,” Hargrove-Leak said.
Adam Lowry clicked to a PowerPoint slide that showed a picture of him holding a checkbook in a grocery store parking lot.
After months of conducting research on homelessness, five Elon University students created a five-minute video as part of the Home Matters public relations competition. Since the video was published onto YouTube on Feb. 9, it has been received buzz from The Huffington Postand garnered over 5,000 views.
The thought elicited some wide-eyed facial expressions, a chuckle or two and most certainly some brainstorming to see if it was really true.