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(02/05/15 9:03pm)
When the Council on Civic Engagement at Elon University and the Burlington Times-News co-sponsored the program “Alamance 2030: What will our Community Be Like in 15 Years” Wednesday evening in McKinnon Hall, a consensus was made: The future of Alamance County is dependent upon creating pleasant communities for young professionals and families, while also improving the infrastructure of the region.
(02/05/15 7:00pm)
Since Elon University School of Law was founded in 2006, national tuition has, with few exceptions, been on the rise while employment prospects have been on the decline.
(02/05/15 3:00pm)
In recent months, consumers across the country have been enjoying lower prices at the pump as a result of booming production in the Midwest and dropping crude futures worldwide.
(02/05/15 12:00am)
Tony’s Pub-N-Subs, better known as Tony’s to Elon University students, has drawn attention in the weeks since opening. The new bar, featuring sandwiches and pool tables, has seen some success so far.
According to Tony Caruso, co-owner of the bar, the support from Elon students has been “almost overwhelming.”
The latest addition to Elon provides a new source of competition for current hot spots West End Terrace and Fat Frogg Bar and Grill.
Caruso, who co-owns the bar with his wife, Rita, knows there will be some competition but insists Tony’s is striving to offer something a little different.
“I want to try to be a little different [by offering reasonable prices],” Caruso said. “I want to stand out from both Fat Frogg and West End.”
After opening, it has become clear that Caruso and the rest of the Tony’s staff has worked towards that goal. With unique specials and deals, the bar has been able to attract students looking for cheaper options to eat, hang out and drink.
On opening night, Tony’s brought in crowds with a special of $5 for all sandwiches, top shelf drinks and mixed drinks. Other deals included half off all wine and a pitcher of Bud Light for $6.50. The grand opening also offered giveaways and door prizes.
Even bigger crowds showed up for $1 tequila shots, a Tuesday special
It’s these deals that have the owners hopeful students will continue to make the trek to Tony’s. The bar is located near Dominos Pizza at 415 W Haggard Ave. somewhat out of the way for most students, especially those who live on campus.
“If they continue to offer the same deals, then it will definitely attract students and make them want to go there instead of West End, even though it’s closer to campus,” said junior Katie Armstrong, who visited the bar opening week.
Caruso previously owned Sandy’s Steaks & Subs, a late-night favorite for Elon students until it closed in 2013 because declining business. A year and a half after the closing of Sandy’s, Caruso knew there was a gap that needed to be filled.
“Sandy’s was a real popular place to eat or to come have a few drinks in the afternoons,” said Caruso. “It had been closed for a while, and just being in Elon and talking to other people, they were looking for a place.”
The bar is getting attention not only for its great deals and specials but also for its unique, relaxing atmosphere. Tony’s offers a bar and dance floor along with pool tables, seating and lots of open space.
“It’s pretty original in terms of what it offers to students,” said sophomore Holly Carlton, who also attended the bar opening week. “The bar itself actually has seats, which makes it more of a bar and gives it a friendlier, more social vibe.”
As the weather gets warmer and students want to spend more time outdoors, Caruso hopes the support and excitement from the Elon community remains strong.
“Elon has come out and treated us well,” said Caruso. “And I hope they think we treated them well."
(02/04/15 8:00pm)
Yasmine Arrington, a black Elon University senior, waited outside the Truitt Center on a chilly Jan. 21, 2015 night for E-Rides to pick her up.
(02/04/15 6:27pm)
As many students, faculty and staff returned from Elon University Study Abroad and Study USA programs, they were greeted by a traveler’s worst nightmare: a record-breaking series of winter storms.
Winter Storm Juno, accompanied by other winter storms in the Northeast region, have caused havoc across the nation, affecting the lives of millions of people and testing the patience of travelers. Media reports noted more than 14,000 flights were canceled because of heavy snow and record-breaking high-speed winds.
According to Rhonda Waller, director of study abroad at the Global Education Center, six of the 35 total programs at Elon were affected by the inclement weather conditions. Of that group, about a dozen flights had to be re-routed.
“We were being told that airports in the Northeast might be closed for four to five days,” Waller said. “So, getting students, faculty and staff back to the United States became our next priority, even if it meant dividing the program into smaller groups or bringing them into cities not on their original itinerary.”
Madeline Monaco, a senior aboard the “India: Education & Development” Winter Term trip departing from Kerela, India, was one of the students whose arrival home was delayed. Her transferring flight from Dubai was scheduled to leave at 2 a.m. Jan. 27, but didn’t end up flying out until 8 p.m. Jan 27. Anticipating the cancellations caused by the weather conditions, the group decided to stay at a hotel, paid for by the university, and wait for word from Elon.
“The time difference was at some points frustrating,” Monaco said. “But with Wi-Fi in the hotel, good food and good company, we made it through.”
According to Waller, the process of rerouting flights was difficult, especially because many were group bookings handled by divisions within airline offices that were all dealing with systems overloaded with cancellations and limited seat availability.
“In a few cases, we had to wait for the airline to officially cancel the flight before they could be asked to respond to requests for rebooking,” she said. “We were grateful to the airlines that acted proactively and canceled flights early on, as opposed to those few who adopted a ‘wait and see’ attitude.”
Lexi Williams, a sophomore student on “The Sundance Experience” trip returning from Utah, said that though her traveling group inevitably had to be divided because of flight availability, she is staying positive.
“I’ve been up since 5 a.m. this morning, so it has definitely been a long day,” she said. “But we’re all trying to remain positive, especially because we’ve had such a great experience on the program.”
Williams emphasized the role of her program leader, Mark Dalhouse, director of Study USA, who missed his own flight home in order to be with his students, in maintaining a sense of calm to weather the storm.
“They told us that everything would be taken care of, booked us a hotel and have offered to pay for our dinners,” she said. “At this point, there’s nothing we can do but just wait — so I think everybody’s trying to do the best they can.”
Waller said that while the office did everything possible to keep groups together, the scenario of finding 30 available seats on another flight, all within 24 hours, proved tough. For the most part, she said, the airlines determined how individuals were rebooked.
Elon Winter Term programs include a round-trip international airfare from a designated U.S. departure airport in their program fee. Some students who didn’t depart from a nearby city had to book other domestic flights with the office’s affiliated travel agency, Aladdin Travel. Waller noted that many students booked their domestic flights independently of the GEC, which complicated the troubleshooting proccess.
But for some students, finding their own way home wasn’t an option.
Senior Leah Channas, who was also a member of the Sundance program and a former Pendulum staff member, said that she is disappointed by how the situation has been handled.
“Students spend thousands of dollars each year to attend Elon,” she said. “When it came to getting us home, it seems there was a lot of miscommunication regarding transportation home between our university, travel agency and us.”
Channas said their flight was changed even before weather became an issue.
“Once our flight was canceled, it felt like it became a game of cat and mouse to try to get the university to work with us to get a flight home because of financial reasons,” she said. “The university is willing to let students miss two days of classes to save a couple bucks, and I think that is what is most disappointing.”
Her group’s flight Monday morning to Minneapolis was scheduled for only five of the students, leaving an additional four stranded in Utah. Channas said the remaining group was left to “fend for themselves,” finding a return flight without the help of the travel agency or the University. The group reached Elon Tuesday morning.
Waller said the entire ordeal has been difficult on both ends. Emphasizing that her team greatly values efficiency, she said that when reasonable and efficient solutions presented themselves, they took them.
“I would like to say thank you to those who showed great patience and adaptability and to those who recognize how difficult this kind of situation really is,” Waller said. “We got a lot of complimentary emails, which was really motivational to those of us who lost many hours of sleep in the past week helping to keep lines of communication open.”
Waller also pointed to the dedicated work of her colleagues at Aladdin Travel, noting that at the height of the storm, they had an entire team of people working literally around the clock.
“People who have to face these types of unexpected difficulties can understandably become frazzled and frustrated. Patience can really wear thin,” she said. “No matter what, Aladdin’s team maintained professionalism and worked hard to achieve the desired goal- getting our programs home safely.”
(01/29/15 6:07pm)
Members of the Elon University community were invited to attend an open forum addressing racial injustice and a lack of on-campus diversity after a reported incident Jan. 21 involving senior Yasmine Arrington, a female African-American, and two college-aged Caucasian males.
(01/26/15 5:43am)
During a lecture in Whitley Auditorium Wednesday, Mei-Ling Hopgood shared how her cultural roots and immersions, which have taken her from Asia to Detroit to Argentina, have shaped her perspective and personality.
(01/23/15 10:06pm)
Last Updated: Jan. 25 at 5:58 p.m.
In an email sent Jan. 23 afternoon by Smith Jackson, vice president for Student Life, students were informed of an on-campus incident of racial and sexual bias that allegedly occurred two days prior.
According to Jackson's email, the incident occurred at the intersection of Haggard and North O'Kelly Avenues adjacent to the Numen Lumen Pavilion and involved two college-aged males driving east who yelled racial and sexual slurs at an African-American female Elon student.
As Elon University Police are investigating video footage and working to identify the perpetrators, several campus departments are working to address what happened and to provide support to the student involved.
"We are saddened by and condemn this behavior, which is totally unacceptable," Jackson wrote in response. "This incident serves as further evidence that all members of our community must work every day to eliminate this kind of ignorance and lack of respect, both on campus and in the wider community."
In response, the university scheduled two meetings.
The first meeting was a forum organized by the Black Cultural Society (BCS) and took place Friday in the Koury Business Center's LaRose Theatre. BCS invited all students, faculty and staff who identified as Black/African Americans to attend in order to critically examine the current campus climate for Black/African American students.
According to sophomore Alexandre Bohannon, BCS vice president, the intent of the event was to provide a platform for students to rally together to discuss acts of racism that remain prevalent in American culture.
“[The Black Cultural Society] decided to respond [to Wednesday’s incident] by hosting a meeting with the students who identify as Black or African American to sort of provide a safe space so people can be candid and speak about not just this incident, but how often other incidents occur on campus,” Bohannon said.
Junior Cassidy Stratton attended Friday’s event because she felt it was important to discuss the impact that racial bias has on college campuses.
“We [African Americans] are oppressed in America, so it’s essential that we come together as a group that needs to be one on Elon’s campus,” Stratton said.
A second meeting sponsored by the Center for Race, Ethnicity and Diversity Education (CREDE) in collaboration with BCS invites everyone at Elon to engage in meaningful conversations about acts of intolerance on campus. This event is scheduled to take place in the Lakeside meeting room Jan. 26 at 5 p.m.
(01/23/15 3:21am)
Elon University recently announced a record-breaking number of students, faculty and staff traveled around the country and world to participate in a range of global study experiences during Winter Term 2015. This month, nearly 1,000 students — about 15 percent of Elon’s graduate and undergraduate population — are participating in 36 international and five Study USA courses.
The courses fulfill Elon core credit requirements in the areas of science, civilization, society, expression, general studies, service learning and elective courses. This year’s increase in the number of participating students have something to do with the increase in available programs.
Some of the programs added since 2013 include “Austria: Sex and Violins,” “Malawi: The Warm Heart of Africa” and “Discovering Dixie.”
“More programs mean more spots for students,” said Amanda Zamzes, business and data manager at Elon’s Isabella Cannon Global Education Center (GEC).
Last year, 932 students participated in 38 global experience programs around the world during Winter Term. According to data posted on Elon’s website, Winter Term at Elon is the most popular time to study abroad.
Elon reported that 72 percent of 2014 graduating seniors participated in at least one global study experience during their time at Elon, which includes semester and Winter Term study abroad opportunities. As a result, the Institute of International Education consistently ranks Elon No. 1 in the nation in study abroad for a master’s-level university.
This year’s record comes at the tail end of the International Elon Plan created in 2010 and available on Elon’s GEC website. The plan proposes 100 percent access to study abroad programs for students by 2016 in accordance with Elon’s global citizen effort. The GEC successfully coordinated study abroad semester programs for at least 400 students in Fall 2014, more than double the number from five years ago.
“The majority of our new programs appeal to a certain part of the Elon student population,” Zamzes said. “The more programs we have, the more students we have participating.”
Elon’s Winter Term programs vary in cost — the average cost is about $6,000. These costs include international airfare, accommodations and transportation and cover most fees for course-related activities while abroad. A program’s average length is about three weeks — the same length as a Winter Term course on Elon’s campus.
“Winter Term abroad programs can be an opportunity for freshmen and sophomores to discover if they want to go abroad for a semester later on,” said senior Eugena Neumann, who traveled to Greece with Elon last year. “It’s an amazing experience Elon offers that few other institutions can rival.”
In addition to international courses, Elon offered five Study USA courses this year during Winter Term for students looking to explore domestically. Experiences in Hawaii, at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, travel through the American South, as well as Elon Fellows programs along the East Coast, offered courses in a number of subjects from indigenous culture to filmmaking.
Zamzes said Elon plans to add even more Winter Term programs to the docket next year. Applications for 2016 Winter Term global experience programs will be available March 3.
(01/23/15 2:49am)
This Winter Term, Elon University rolled out a new diversity training session with good intentions, but was met with mixed reviews and more than a little confusion.
At first, the university said freshmen had to attend at least one mandatory session. The thought brought out some grumbles from students — each workshop is four hours long. Although some informative emails said attending the session was required, others implied a strongly-encouraged type of attendance.
Currently, the Elon website states that all freshmen are “expected” to attend.
The national program, called “A Campus of Difference,” was brought to Elon by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), in order to increase understanding of racial and cultural issues.
Though the university has made strides toward increasing campus diversity each year, the statistics are still stark: 82 percent white, 6 percent black, 5 percent Hispanic and 2 percent Asian.
Compared to other private universities in North Carolina like Wake Forest University and Davidson College, Elon has a slightly less diverse student population.
Steven House, provost and vice president for academic affairs, said holding these seminars is a part of Elon’s “new strategic plan” and demonstrates the university’s commitment to improving diversity on campus.
“We really want to expose the students to diversity,” House said. “We wanted a lot of first-year students to do it [because] we think it’s important.”
House clarified that the sessions are currently not mandatory and faculty and staff members are still deciding whether it will become a requirement in the future.
Freshman Jessie Boak said that she felt the campus was aware of the lack of diversity and was working to develop the cultural atmosphere.
“I don’t think Elon is very diverse, but I think they’re trying very hard to change that and inform us more about diversity,” Boak said.
Freshman Brooke Wivagg, who was under the impression the training was required, recently attended one of the sessions led by Elon staff, Esther Freeman, director for Watson and Odyssey Scholars program, and Randy Williams, dean of multicultural affairs. Wivagg said the training focused on eliminating stereotypes and developing a heightened sense of self-efficacy.
“We defined words relating to prejudice and discrimination and how they are used,” Wivagg said.
The interactive sessions require students to discuss issues and hot topics surrounding college campuses. Wivagg described one activity where students chose several words that defined themselves, and then selected the term that they identified with most.
Other activities in the sessions were largely focused on defining words that related to stereotypes and prejudices and how they impact society. Because of the discussion-based format, one of Wivagg’s favorite parts of the training was that she met a lot of new people.
“While I personally didn’t learn anything that I didn’t already know, I think it is great that Elon is trying to be more diverse,” Wivagg said.
After Winter Term, the training sessions will be evaluated based on effectiveness and necessary adjustments will be made. In the spring, students who are part of a residence hall or club can make requests for training seminars.
“[The seminars] will be offered whenever students want to do them,” House said. “We have lots of faculty and staff who have been trained to do it.”
Currently, 41 faculty and staff members are qualified to administer the training sessions, including MarQuita Barker, associate director of residence life. She believes the training assists students to be more aware of themselves and others.
“Hopefully students will figure out who they are, so they can appreciate others,” Barker said.
Barker said that Leigh-Anne Royster, director of inclusive community well-being, has been working for three years to bring the ADL training sessions to Elon’s campus. Royster has been the primary facilitator of this initiative on campus and continues to be the leading coordinator of the training.
Founded in 1913 to combat anti-Semitism, the ADL is a national leader in advocating civil rights and preserving democratic ideals. “A Campus of Difference” training sessions have been held on more than 900 college campuses and each university has the option to customize the sessions according to the university’s individual needs.
Instead of training sessions, some students propose that establishing a more diverse student body would naturally facilitate a greater sense of diversity and awareness. Rather than just talking about diversity, first-year student Haley Hostetter said implementing diversity would produce the most effective results.
“I feel like having actual diversity would be better than actually learning about it,” Hostetter said.
Although the current training sessions provided by Elon could be revamped to include better information, Wivagg said she still benefitted from attending.
“I would recommend it to other students because it’s nice to have a refresher on things we can do to make the Elon community more diverse,” Wivagg said. “Not going to lie, I thought that four hours was a little too long, but nonetheless, I walked out of the room feeling proud to go to a school that was making such great strides in educating their students on diversity.”
(01/21/15 6:22pm)
They packed the room to the brim and then some, clogging the heavy air thick with loss, remembering a student, a brother, a friend.
(01/21/15 12:54am)
Amanda Sturgill, associate professor of communications, developed an iMedia Sampler to provide School of Communications graduates with up-to-date information about how media industry practices has changed since they’ve graduated.
Sturgill anticipated that a few dozen students would register for the massive open online course (MOOC) but quickly realized that Elon student engagement continues after graduation.
“I was kind of expecting maybe 30 people would enroll,” Sturgill said. “We’ve got 212 right now.”
While the program’s enrollment surpassed all expectations, its creation was designed to explore online education possibilities and engage alumni with events happening on campus.
“I had the idea that we should do some kind of mini-MOOC for Comm alumni,” Sturgill said. “Doing a short course for alumni seemed like a good way to try out both of those ideas at the same time.”
Outside publicity helped increase interest in the course. Some alumni, for example, shared information about the iMedia Sampler on their social media networks in order to increase registration. The sampler was also featured on CBS Radio and Google News.
The iMedia Sampler began Monday with online lessons about search engine optimization and funding. Future topics scheduled to be covered through early March include multimedia storytelling, design for mobile devices, media analytics and the relationship between coding and web design.
One of the new majors that Elon is offering to students is Media Analytics. In order to educate alumni about this change and provide insight into media effects research, assistant professor of communications Qian Xu is leading the user/audience research portion of the iMedia Sampler.
“This sampler covers the topics that have changed or emerged since our alums have graduated,” Xu said. “It involves things that were not covered when our alumni were at school.”
Because the media industry is constantly evolving, students are encouraged to adapt to change.
“I think a lot of people in undergraduate school think that they’re learning a set of skills and that when they get out they’ll have those skills and they’ll be able to get a job,” Sturgill said. “The more important thing to learn when you’re here is how to learn new things in a field that is as technologically-driven as communications.”
Sturgill and Xu are just two of the seven professors giving lessons as part of the sampler. According to Xu, it is an honor to be a part of a new program that is generating a lot of interest.
“All professors teaching in the Interactive Media Master program were invited to contribute to this sampler,” Xu said. “It is not only a new attempt of the School of Communications for massive online courses, but also a good opportunity to let more people know about the iMedia program.”
(01/20/15 3:52am)
Robert Jensen, professor at the University of Texas and author of “The Heart of Whiteness: Confronting Race, Racism and White Privilege,” visited Elon University Monday to lead “Addressing Institutionalized Racism.” The on-campus workshop in Alamance Building was part of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Beloved Community Celebration — a weeklong commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life.
Jensen, a self-proclaimed radical feminist and controversial advocate for disempowered groups, argued the United States is a hierarchical society, a white supremacy and a patriarchy fundamentally hindered by capitalism.
“If you look at the redistribution of wealth, it’s still a largely white supremacist society,” Jensen said. “It seems like we’re not as committed to equality as we thought.”
While Jensen acknowledged that many Americans embrace polite conversations about diversity, he claimed they avoid difficult questions related to racial inequality, which makes significant cultural changes more challenging to create. He said he believes while many white Americans would never publicly state racist views, they often engage in “backstage” racism among trusted company.
He listed three primary forms of racial discrimination: institutionalized, overt and unconscious.
Although Jensen recognized progress toward racial equality and greater professional opportunities since the Civil Rights Movement, he argued racism is instilled in American society at an institutional level. The cornerstone of Jensen’s argument lies in the United States’ public school system.
“Even though overt racism is illegal… it’s still true that this is a society of segregated housing,” Jensen said. “Non-white America isn’t doing as well as white America.”
Looking at the way public education is funded, Jensen found a disparity between white and black students’ educations. Since public schools are funded by local property taxes, wealthier areas have more funding for public schools.
What’s the solution? Many students attending the event agreed with Jensen: a fair alternative would be to combine all property taxes from each state and then distribute the funding evenly among its districts. Other students found this idea unfeasible. They argued that such an approach doesn’t follow the U.S. capitalist model.
Students of many races and ethnicities engaged in the active discussion on racism.
“It helps to hear what people of the opposite race have to say, because it helps advance the discussion,” said freshman Alonzo Cee.
Jensen’s academic credentials as a tenured professor helped reinforce ideas some students had previously considered.
“It confirmed some of the things I have been thinking,” said junior Alex Bohannon. “It, overall, was a really good learning experience for me.”
Cee said he benefitted from the discussion and left the lecture feeling encouraged that people participated.
“A lot of good points were brought up that will have to be discussed — not just in a small group setting, but with peers,” Cee said. “[Student participation] reassures me that people actually care.”
(01/20/15 2:18am)
While students at Elon University have become accustomed to rapid changes on an expanding campus, many were surprised after receiving their President’s List and Dean’s List certificates for the 2014 fall semester via email instead of the traditional printed ones.
Although some students across campus have called the maneuver a way to cut costs, University Registrar Dr. Rodney Parks says the move was more concerned with saving the other kind of green.
“We mainly changed it to support our green initiatives of being a paperless environment,” Parks said. “Certainly this does save money, but very little. The certificates were not that expensive to print and mail.”
Parks also cited various logistical issues and frustrations that resulted from mailing the certificates to each student individually.
“Each semester we received many of them back for bad addresses and could never get students to pick them up from our office,” Parks said.
Freshman Alexander Pearl, who made the Dean’s List for fall semester, believes that moving the certificates online was a smart move.
“It really didn’t affect me,” Pearl said. “I thought it was nice our school wasn’t wasting paper. The online certificate also can't be lost.”
While Parks thinks the complaints about the shift from print certificates to electronic ones have been minimal [he’s only received two complaints] he encourages all students who would like a printed copy to go to the Office of the University Registrar.
“We have had two complaints so far, but both were fine when they found out they can still get a paper copy,” Parks said. “ We will still print a hard copy certificate for any student that requests one.”
Within a span of two years, Elon has moved processes that affect students online in order to save time, promote efficiency and be environmentally conscious.
Any students with questions regarding the shift to online processes are encouraged to visit the Office of the Registrar in Alamance 102.
(01/16/15 1:15am)
In the fall of 2014, Elon University implemented residentially-linked courses as a part of the Residential Campus Initiative in an effort to promote engaged, collaborative learning among first-year students living in similar parts of campus. Of the 1,497 first-year students at Elon, 960 were enrolled in residentially-linked classes last semester.
(01/15/15 7:03pm)
Bats are not the only ones staying indoors in light of the cold weather. At 1:20 p.m., a bat was sighted flying around Lakeside Dining Hall. It has been resting peacefully for the past half hour and there are no signs of animal control.
(01/13/15 11:56pm)
After much anticipation, Elon University announced that political analyst Charlie Cook will deliver the 2015 Commencement address Saturday, May 23.
(01/12/15 6:08pm)
POST LAST UPDATED: Tuesday, Jan. 13 8:05 p.m.
(01/10/15 3:27am)
Business frontrunners Ed Moriarty and Eric Sklut were elected to the Elon University Board of Trustees Wednesday, Jan. 7. Having already served on two advisory councils, Moriarty and Sklut plan on supporting and shaping the university’s future.
