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Elon University alum Andrew Creech asked himself: Should students have to drive into Burlington late at night for a bottle opener? How about Advil? Gum? He doesn’t think so.
Last spring, when Chance, Belle and Blue were loaded off of the horse-trailer that carried them 11 hours, from Last Chance Corral’s headquarters in Ohio to HighClere Farms in Burlington, it was clear the foals had been through a lot, especially 6 day-old Blue.
For the international students who come to study at Elon University, one thing is clear: Establishing yourself in a new environment so many miles away from home is challenging. Many international students experience anxiety after temporarily leaving behind languages, cultures and families that shape their identities. Becoming familiar with the multifaceted aspects of college life can be a lot to juggle. For more than a decade, the Elon Local Friends Program has been helping to lessen the distance from home for many of these students. Elon Local Friends is a group of Burlington and Elon residents who are united under the banner of making Elon’s international students feel at home. From organizing gatherings, sending Valentine’s Day goodie bags, cooking authentic Thanksgiving meals and hosting apple-bobbing contests, the group has planned a variety of activities for international students to attend for the past twelve years. Marj Bennett and Anne Smith, two Elon residents, pioneered the initiative and formed the group in the fall of 2003. “The first thing we had to do was make it clear to Elon what our purpose and intention was,” Bennett said. “We were not there to spread any religion. We were there because we wanted to meet international students and create a community for them outside Elon University. Once we established that trust, the program really took off.” Bennett, who has spent the majority of her life in various countries around the world, said she and Smith understand the challenges that come with sending your child thousands of miles away. “[My children] were definitely nervous about coming back to study in the United States, especially because they had been abroad for so long, Bennett said. “But people opened their homes to them and helped them adjust once they got there, and that really made a difference.” Margaret Gurd, who began volunteering with the program from its early stages, says she had no trouble jumping on board. “My mother would contact the dean in our local college for the names of students [who could not] visit their families during Thanksgiving,” Gurd said. “When I heard that Marj was going to be doing this, I knew I wanted to join.” Through acts like these, her family became especially close with a student who stayed at their home from Thailand. Gurd recalled dropping the young woman off at the airport and bidding her goodbye as one of her own. With approximately 50 volunteers and more than 60 regularly attending international students, the group has been rapidly expanding since its inception. And the group’s growth has helped foster bonds in the international community in addition to Elon’s local community. Donna Harwood, the current leader of the program, is looking forward to welcoming the new international students and has already set dates for six activities. To mix things up, the group started this year with a new initiative: welcoming the parents of incoming international students when they arrive at Elon. “We truly enjoy spending time with the students and learning about their different experiences,” Donna’s husband Ralph Harwood said. “We’re definitely thinking about expanding on our events. There are a lot of things that happen throughout the year like the Carousel Festival in October, all kinds of art and food exhibits, and it would be great to explore them with the international students,” he said. Junior Ameya Benegal from Singapore said he always enjoys attending activities initiated by the group not only because it strengthens the international student community but also the amount of care and interest that is put in by every member. “One of the things I love about the Local Friends is that they sincerely want to know who you are, where you’re from and what your culture is,” Benegal said. “They’re not just asking questions. They’re genuinely interested.” Benegal added the bonds he has formed have allowed him to form a deeper understanding of holidays celebrated in the United States. “When the campus completely emptied for last Thanksgiving, I was fortunate enough to be invited to the home of [one of the families I met through the program]. We get a lot of these holidays off, but many of them, like Thanksgiving, are uniquely American holidays. So it really meant a lot to get the chance to actually experience one the way the holiday is experienced [here] and share it with other people,” he said. Senior Le To, from Vietnam, who has established connections with Local Friends from her first year, said these bonds have transformed holidays and events that, for many international students, only meant feeling homesick. “I truly feel like the Local Friends are my family in the United States. Thanks to them, I feel more at home, especially during special occasions when most families are together like move-in day, parents weekend and Thanksgiving,” To said. “Elon international students and the Elon community in general are so lucky to have the group, and we can never be thankful enough.” Bennett encourages international students to continue forming connections with Local Friends and to welcome the new and returning students to attend the various activities planned. “The relationships we create are beneficial in the ways we learn about different cultures, and at the same time, international students are shown that there is more than one kind of American,” Bennett said.
BALD HEAD ISLAND - It was hot, humid and sunny and I was sweaty, sandy and, somehow, still trudging the 3.1 miles through sand and heat during the Turtle Trot at the Bald Head Island Conservancy. The $45 fee seemed steep for a 5k, but it benefitted sea turtles, and who could argue with that.
NEW YORK CITY - New York fashion is something that has always fascinated me. Being an avid blog-reader and fashion enthusiast, I’d heard the rumors that New Yorkers only wear black and I’d listened to both sides of the who-wore-it-best debate — Parisians or New Yorkers.
It’s a sunny Saturday in May, and you’re dressed in a maroon robe listening to the names of your classmates being read aloud. Next thing you know, you’ve been handed your diploma. You’re officially a graduate of Elon University. You’re also officially an alumnus. But what does that mean?
Considering living with your significant other after college? It’s a big decision that should be weighed carefully before you enter the same living quarters and share financial responsibilities.
I bet you can remember your first night at Elon University. Lying on your college-issue twin mattress, staring at the ceiling and trying to get a handle on the thoughts rushing through your head: the dorm that you now call "home," the academic and social challenges starting at 8:30 Monday morning, the friends you worried about making, and the friends you worry you’ve left behind. It’s bittersweet, but it’s also the next great adventure in your life — this is the moment you’ve been waiting for and now, finally, you’re here.
Internships, job hunting and graduate school — the real world. That is what is on the minds of the Class of 2014 as they leave the comforts of Elon University and take on responsibilities of the world at large.
Every year a new class of seniors walks across the stage at Commencement to receive its diplomas. Despite a different class leaving, the traditions stay the same each year. The school has worked hard to ensure the Elon experience comes full circle, starting with New Student Convocation and ending with Commencement. This involves one of the most well-known Commencement traditions: the giving of the oak saplings. According to George Troxler, professor emeritus of history and official Elon University historian, this tradition began in 1992 when President J. Fred Young took the idea from the year before, when the Commencement speaker gave out redwood saplings. President Leo Lambert took this idea a step further by giving freshman their acorns during Convocation. “At Elon we did something this way and this is why,” Troxler said. “That’s a tradition. It is only an oak sapling tradition because the oak has special meaning to the school. Elon is Hebrew for oak.” During Convocation, the new freshmen exit the ceremony by walking past Elon’s faculty, a sign of support of the university and what is to come. This trend is repeated at Commencement, where students leave Jordan Gym and once again walk by the faculty to say their final goodbyes to their advisers and past instructors. These two traditions form connections between students’ years at Elon and the end of their time here. Despite its growing size, the university has also made an effort to hold a graduation ceremony that includes the entire class. Each student has his or her name called by Lambert and receives his or her diploma on the spot. This tradition creates one last feeling of togetherness. “It represents that people matter and that people are important,” Troxler said. “It is a sense of community, that you really matter. Things might not stay this way forever, but we want to hold onto this for as long as possible.” Elon also represents all nationalities of the senior class. Starting in the 1990s, the university chose to display the flag of each international student in the class as well as the American flag — bringing the class together into one unified body. The university has tried to tie the Commencement speaker to Elon since 2002. This person meets with students privately in the Jordan Gym to prepare them for the ceremony. “It is usually an alumni, faculty member or parent that will make the speech,” Troxler said. “It ties the Commencement to the school. We prefer to get the big-name speakers for the convocations instead.” To lead the ceremony each year, the senior member of the faculty will carry a handcrafted, 40-inch long staff called the mace. It represents leadership and professionalism and is meant to leave students with this ideology for their years to come. Elon’s graduation traditions leave a certain mark on the school. “There is something distinctive about an Elon education, as I hope for everyone,” Troxler said. “Tradition is important because we want this to be distinctive at Elon. We didn’t take the normal way of doing a graduation and copy it. We made it specific to our school and specific to our students.”
It was just shy of four years ago, that vast canopies of oak trees engulfed the skies above unfamiliar, wide-eyed faces during Fall Convocation. In the midst of nervousness, excitement and confusion, each student from the Elon University Class of 2014 received an acorn, a gift that 18 classes of students before them also received. This is the tradition inspired by Furman Moseley, a graduate of the Class of 1956 and a Californian entrepreneur in the timber industry. In his 1991 commencement address, Moseley gave each graduate a redwood sapling to symbolize the importance of growth through hard work. Recognizing the value behind the idea, President Fred Young established the practice as a tradition the next year, swapping redwood trees to oak trees. President Leo Lambert later completed the tradition by giving the acorn to new freshmen. Staying faithful to Elon’s 23-year-old tradition, this commencement day, the now-graduates will receive a sapling, a reflection of their growth, achievement and intellectual nourishment. Just like the graduates, each sapling has its own story. Each seed sprouted at its own pace and faced its own challenges, but all saplings collectively survived an epic journey of growth. As the graduates bid Elon farewell, they will find themselves in familiar seats, filled with similar sentiments but possessing a newfound development, sense of accomplishment and vision for the future. The saplings and the graduates will travel far, and though they will plant their roots elsewhere, their collective foundations will be rooted in their hearts as they continue growing parallel to one another. Rachel Southmayd, a member of the Class of 2013, planted her sapling in a pot on her balcony, right next to her fiance David Campbell’s sapling. “Receiving our saplings was a lot like getting our acorns. The first thing on your mind is, ‘Now that I’ve been given this thing, this symbol, what do I do with it?’ For us, the answer both times was, ‘Treasure it,’” she said. “This was Elon’s gift to us, much like our Elon education, and we take the responsibility of caring for our trees and the lessons Elon taught us very seriously.” These saplings, although ordinary plants, are gateways for alumni to return to their alma mater. They are a reminder of their former selves and the changes they have undergone since Elon. As such, they are cherished. “Two days after graduation, I went to a nursery to get instructions on how to care for our trees and just last week, we transplanted them from their ‘starter pots’ to larger ones to allow them to continue to grow on our balcony of our apartment until we move somewhere permanent,” she said. “Today, the trees have gotten taller, and like us, they stand on their own better now than they did a year ago.” Other saplings have traveled to various corners of the nation — including the sandy beaches of California. Dan Quackenbush, ‘13, had a classmate ship his sapling to him in Santa Monica Pier. “Because of all the separation anxiety and nostalgia that recent grads feel after leaving Elon, it’s nice to have a strong reminder of where you came from and everything that happened to bring you here,” he said. “I would say that the person that I was when I first came to Elon is far from the person that I am now, the same way that a sapling is far from the acorn that it started as.” Other sapling stories have not been as successful. Elizabeth Neirch, ‘13, lost her sapling to the blades of a lawn mower. “The morning after I had planted him in a plot near my house, I was outside and saw that he had been viciously cut down. And by viciously, I mean the gardener hadn’t even noticed my little sapling that took four years to get, and he got mauled by the blades of the lawn mower,” she said. “Hopefully the rumors aren’t true that where you plant your seedlings points to what your future holds.” While the prospects of Nerich suffering a similar fate are slim, she said she believes planting the sapling helped quell her nostalgia. “I planted it because I had a major case of graduation blues,” she said. “I spent four years at Elon, and after I had packed up my house and said goodbye to some of my best friends, I really wanted to have a way to stay connected to Elon.” Tyler West, who graduated in 2011, gave his sapling to his grandmother as he believed her green thumb would be able to provide the nourishment that it needed. “I knew she’d take good care of it. She planted it outside her kitchen window so she could keep an eye on it,” West said. “She staked it, waters it, takes pictures of it. I guarantee it’s been nurtured more than any other Elon oak tree.” West, who has kept the acorn he received as a freshmen, said he never considered throwing such symbolically important gifts away. “I never throw anything away. The gifts are lasting souvenirs of my time at Elon,” he said. “The sapling is taller than me now, but it still has a lot of growing to do. And I suppose that’s how I consider myself.” Adam Constantine, Class of 2010, said he has never once regretted his decision to plant the sapling. “Being able to see that sapling turn into a young oak was a surprisingly satisfying experience. Every time I come home, I see it and I can’t help but think about my time at Elon,” he said. Constantine said his now eight-foot tall oak has grown with him through the challenges and successes that many alumni face after graduation. “As silly as ‘growing alongside my sapling’ may sound, it really does reflect what after school life has been,” he said. “There are times where everything seems to be budding with potential. Then there are times where it seems nothing is going right and your life seems to just go dormant. However, no matter how many trials you go through, you keep getting stronger, keep growing taller and dig your roots further into the ground.”
In the animal kingdom, a “watering hole” is the main source of water in a given area. It’s where animals of any species come to physically soak up a necessary resource of life. For those who watched Animal Planet specials growing up, the watering hole was also where territorial displays between those species would take place—it’s the one place that encourages interaction. If Elon University had a watering hole, it would be the gym.
Vineyard Vines. Brooks Brothers. And now, Coastal Prep.
You know it’s spring at Elon University when the grass gets greener, the temperature rises and students bring out their paintbrushes, sanders and coolers.
Khaleesi, a black Labrador mix who crossed paths with students across campus, passed away Friday, April 25.
After four years of RAs, roommates and communal bathrooms, having a place all your own sounds pretty appealing. Still, starting out in a new city, living alone and relying on only yourself can seem daunting. Have no fear, it can be done if you just keep a few simple things in mind!
Elon’s commitment to diversity and global engagement has increasingly found a role in all aspects of our student life — classroom experiences, social activities and, most popularly, the food.
Within the Elon University bubble are intramural sport competitions, an upcoming B.O.B. concert and the tradition of stealing bricks. But beyond this campus, there are social problems and human rights violations of which students may not be aware.
LinkedIn is much more than a job search website. For students and professionals, LinkedIn serves as a platform to manage your professional network, share ideas, research companies and contacts, discover new career and business opportunities and develop a personal web presence. Business professionals use LinkedIn on a daily basis to learn about the backgrounds of business associates, identify and screen prospective hires and uncover sales opportunities and contacts.
From April 3-9, those affiliated with Greek life at Elon participated in Greek Week, a week of competition among sororities and fraternities.