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(03/13/15 2:30pm)
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.”
(03/12/15 3:00pm)
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.”
(03/11/15 6:30pm)
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.”
(03/11/15 4:17pm)
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.”
(03/04/15 5:32pm)
From “permanent job contracts” to “holiday tickets,” a tenure status has been assigned many labels. But not all are true.
(02/27/15 3:00pm)
During his visit to Elon, Ross Szabo, CEO of the Human Power Project and co-author of “Behind Happy Faces: Taking Charge of your Mental Health,” urged a crowd of Elon University community members to move past the social stigma against mental health and recognize the importance of seeking help for themselves and peers.
“Mental health isn’t a problem,” he said. “It’s something we should all have.”
The social stigma he refers to is one that affects college students across the country.
The American College Health Association National College Health Assessment found that while an estimated one in five Americans 18 and older, which translates to more than 54 million Americans, will experience mental health problems in any given year, fewer than 8 million will seek treatment. The study also found that 30 percent of college students reported feeling “so depressed that it was difficult to function.”
To further Szabo’s discussion about peer support in early prevention and treatment, the Elon University Department of Health Promotion initiated Helping Students in Distress: Signs, Strategies & Resources.
The series of conversations and Q&A sessions address the signs, strategies and resources needed to support students suffering from distress or anxiety.
The Q&A is one of the many initiatives the department has provided for students, faculty and staff this year by placing an emphasis on providing resources for peers who notice signs of distress, as well as community members who are experiencing signs of distress.
The department has strived to bring mental health to the forefront of discussion on campus through various educational opportunities, platforms for dialogue and resources.
When Bruce Nelson, director of counseling services and Whitney Gregory, director of promotion and student concerns outreach, designed the program, they hoped to reach as many students, faculty and staff members as possible. On the day of their first discussion, they stood in front of an empty room.
They raised an important concern: students may not be aware of the initiatives and resources provided by the department of health promotion.
For those more aware of the extent of the problem, social stigmas could be holding back their comment.
Senior Kally Lavoie said that though she has never been to the counseling offices herself, she has heard about their efforts, which she thinks attest to the counselors’ attempt to spread the awareness about the resources.
“There are times where I was interested in visiting but was intimidated because I didn’t know exactly what services were provided or how the center worked,” Lavoie said. “I do also think the distance plays a factor. Some mental health issues could hinder motivation or ability to walk such long distances across campus.”
Gregory said the ways in which these initiatives are discussed play a large role in generating participation.
“I don’t know a student who doesn’t connect with the idea of stress reduction and focusing on coping skills and finding ways to support one another to be less stressed,” she said.
Help starts with peers
According to Gregory, research has shown that the primary resource that mitigates negative outcomes or worsening mental health conditions is person-to-person contact.
She said that one of the department’s major goals in these types of conversations is to intervene at a systemic and organizational level.
“If we can have these conversations with students who may be in the early stages of anxiety or who know somebody who may be showing signs of distress, then we can spread the word that with the right resources and support, the problem can often be resolved,” she said.
With student-run groups such as Active Minds, a non-profit organization dedicated to reducing the stigma that surrounds mental health, and SPARKS, a team of responsible student leaders who provide health-related programming and serve the Elon community as health resources, it’s clear that Elon is making space for peer-centered discussion about mental health.
According to Gregory, these discussions need to be supplemented by an awareness of resources and strategies to provide support for peers in need on a campus-wide level.
“Elon students are incredibly involved,” she said. “But a culture surrounding staying up late at night to complete assignments or attend meetings can lead to high levels of stress, lack of sleep and impact on emotional health.”
Breaking myths and stigmas
There are a variety of rumors about counseling services at Elon, especially related to their cost.
Another is matching the student with the counselor, which requires careful compatability and planning to ensure a good fit in which both parties are comfortable talking candidly.
“We are fully licensed, trained and have years of experience working here and elsewhere,” said Bruce Nelson, director of Elon Counseling. “But our No. 1 priority is to get students what they need and if that means looking for resources within a 40 mile radius, then that’s what we will do.”
Sophomore Matthew Sheehan said breaking stigmas begins with students.
“A lot of individuals view counseling as an admittance of weakness, but it isn’t,” he said. “It takes great courage to make the decision to go and then actaully attend a session.”
Sheehan added that he felt intimidated while in the Health Services waiting room with everyone else as the only person there for counseling.
“I view it as positive but didn’t want to be judged by others,” he said.
Sheehan said his experience was positive and that the people he met were caring and connected him to the right resources.
Gregory encouraged students who may be thinking about making an appointment to simply try.
“It’s not about diagnosing some sort of disorder. It’s about identifying a problem,” He added. “It’s about finding the solutions for yourself and the resources you need to get to a better emotional state.”
Helping Students in Distress will take place on March 4 at 1:30 p.m. and March 19 at 5 p.m. in the Psychology building, Room 102.
(02/21/15 10:58pm)
Elon University's budget for next year places particular emphasis on giving students with demonstrated financial need more opportunities to study abroad.
(02/19/15 6:03pm)
At the end of my first day at Elon University as a freshman a year ago, I had a stark realization: there’s something seriously wrong with my English.
After all, most of my professors that day had a question about it. Why is your accent so great if you’re from Nepal? Where did you learn English?
While I came to understand these queries came from a good place, I was suddenly hit by a wave of questions about my identity that I had never thought to ask myself.
International students face a dilemma of having to maneuver through genuine curiosity and genuine ignorance. The difference between the two is clear. To employ a “Mean Girls” reference, the latter makes me Cady Heron and you Karen Smith, except that Gretchen Wieners isn’t there to say, “Oh my God, Karen. You can’t just ask people why they’re white.”
No, I don’t speak “Indian.” Nobody in the world does, for that matter. What kind of music do I listen to? Well, Drake. Yes, I’ve heard of him. Oh, you moved three chairs down to see if I could pronounce this foreign word? Sorry, Nepalese people speak “Nepali,” not Arabic. What am I? I don’t know, because I’m not an object.
Other internationals have shared their frustration around certain “types” of questions too: Yes, you can be considered international if your parents are from the States. I grew up overseas, so that’s still part of my identity, right? I appreciate your concern for me not wearing a “headscarf,” but not all Muslims wear a hijab. Before you paint a picture about how “relieved I must feel to be in the United States,” please note I love my country.
Why ask questions if you’ve already summed a person up? If preconceived notions guide your questions in the first place, the odds of really getting to know me are little to none.
We love answering questions and educating when we can, but not when questions are constructed in a way that makes us feel like we’re supposed to be super-cultural aliens who have quirky traditions for your entertainment.
We love genuine curiosity, especially when it’s funneled through comfortable space, admittance of ignorance and careful thought. And trust me, we can tell if your questions come from there.
For a while, I started telling students I was from “the D.C. area.” I felt like whipping out the “international card” would deter people from really getting to know me because they would either be afraid of offending me or they would place me in a box where the only thing they’d ever talk to me about was where I was from.
Ask questions, but think about them first. When you’re done, get to know the people you’re talking to rather than only focusing on the country they represent, because their story consists of more than that.
There’s an unwritten expectation from the university for internationals to adopt ambassador roles and serve as one of the living, breathing forms of Elon’s “commitment to diversity and global engagement.”
It has changed me. Somewhere in my journey to educate and inform those with genuine curiosity about where I am from, I lost myself. Being Nepali is one part of me, but when you only put one of your identity hats on, you start to forget about the stockpile of other vibrant headgear that play equally important roles in defining you.
It’s not only about being international, but also about being part of the “other” on this campus — whatever that “other” is.
When you’re an outlier, the superimposed identity conferred on you tends to be in battle with the other identities you hold. It becomes more apparent that you are not American, foreign, white, brown, black, rich, straight, affiliated or whatever it is you don’t identify as.
Our attention to otherness is clear in the way we form groups on this campus. Most of us choose to stick with people who share that otherness because we are so obsessed with the notion of it.
But because I was solely latching on to what made me different, I found it impossible to relate to anybody.
I’m Leena, and I’m from Nepal. But that’s not all. I also collect currencies and love to read autobiographies. My Instagram is on fire. Nicki Minaj is my homegirl, and I have a weird obsession with owls. Oh, and I practice occasional sassiness.
So let people tell their story, but don’t assign one to them. And to the “others,” don’t let being different identify you. Identity is fluid, multifaceted and ever-changing. Take time to celebrate who you are rather than only focusing on what sets you apart.
(02/14/15 12:45am)
Elon University's chapter of the Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity is currently under investigation for alleged hazing in its new member education program, according to a statement by Vice President for Student Life Smith Jackson.
(02/13/15 6:00pm)
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., caused many people around the nation to question his sanitary routines: Tillis doesn’t think restaurant employees should be required to wash their hands.
At the end of his appearance at the Bipartisan Policy Center in D.C. last Tuesday, Tillis recounted a story from 2010 to complement his discussion on burdensome regulations placed on businesses. When the conversation turned to restaurant regulations, Tillis shared his previous comment which highlighted his point but also triggered a couple laughs from the audience:
“I don’t have any problem with Starbucks if they choose to opt out of this policy as long as they post a sign that says ‘We don’t require our employees to wash their hands after leaving the restroom.’ The market will take care of that. It’s one example.”
For restaurants that don’t require their employees to wash their hands, he said, the market will take care of itself.
This comment went viral across social media and news outlets. Consequently, it led to several jabs from political commentators and talk show hosts including John Stewart who took it a step further by dubbing Tillis “Sen. Dung-Hands Von Fecal Fingers.”
“That’s not getting rid of regulation,” the late-night host said on-air Wednesday. “That just makes you an inconsistent ideologue with a light fecal dusting in your latte.”
On the other hand, some supporters argue that government regulations are often a burden and overwhelm businesses.
Ryan Shindler, a sophomore political science major, said a fine line exists between liberty and reality.
“Yes, people have the freedom to wash or not wash their hands, but this action taken or not by those who handle food directly affects the people who eat at said restaurants,” he said. “His intention was probably about liberty, but people should care because no one wants to go to Duke Hospital for getting food poisoning from The Root.”
Jason Husser, assistant political science professor and assistant director of the Elon University Poll, said while the comment was not well thought-out, it definitely spoke to his staunch free-market philosophy.
“I see it mainly as an off-the-cuff statement,” he said. “But beneath the surface, you can see it is in some ways consistent with his philosophy that the government does not need to be so intrusive in all domains of life.”
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 48 million cases of food-borne illnesses occur in the country every year, 3,000 of them fatal. They also found that 20 million people fall ill every year because of norovirus, with about 5 million cases associated with food, especially restaurants and catering services.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 48 million cases of food-borne illnesses occur in the country every year, 3,000 of them fatal. They also found that 20 million people fall ill every year because of norovirus, with about 5 million cases associated with food, especially restaurants and catering services.
(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.
(02/04/15 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.”
(01/23/15 3:28am)
Everyone who has endured a winter at Elon University knows that nothing is predictable, except for one thing: as temperatures drop, numbers on thermostats rise.
To face the demand for higher temperatures on the thermostat, Physical Plant works around the clock to ensure that residential buildings and academic spaces are suitably heated while aiming for a temperature range that falls to around 68 degrees — one they deem both appropriate and environmentally-aware.
But the imposed limit has become a cause of discomfort for some students at Elon who find that their residential spaces are too cold.
Maria Hadaya, a sophomore who lives in Colonnades, said that though her room would heat up to around 70 degrees, she had to seek alternative measures to stay warm.
“It was just too cold and it took to long to heat up in the first place,” she said. “I had to buy a space heater because I was so cold. It was the only way I could stay warm.”
According to Robert Buchholz, director of Physical Plant and the figure who drafted the 68-degrees policy, the number reflects extensive research but has nothing to do with Physical Plant’s budget.
“It’s a number that, as far as talking about energy conservation, has been around for a long time,” he said. “Part of my research involved checking with other universities, and I found that the norm was 68 degrees.”
The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), a program that Physical Plant partners with, also listed in a 2011 report that its recommended temperature range is from 68 to 72 degrees. During the energy crisis of the 1970s, city, state and federal administrators, including the Navy, also imposed a 68-degree limit.
According to the Office of Sustainability website, Elon’s policy on heating and cooling is based on degree-days, a formula that relates each day’s temperature to the demand for fuel to heat buildings. The average of the high and low temperatures of the day are calculated. If the result is greater than 65 degrees, then those would be cooling degree-days. Conversely, if the average is below 65 degrees then the difference would be heating degree-days. But Buchholz emphasized that while Physical Plant does their best to ensure that the temperatures fall in the requested range, there isn’t much they can control as the university relies on several different kinds of heating systems including steam ventilation and geothermal heating. Though they regularly monitor temperatures, the desired range can be surpassed in many residential spaces.
“Every room is independent,” he said. “We do our best to maintain the range, but sometimes it doesn’t always work, and I don’t always have the ability to control it in the first place.”
Buchholz, with more than 38 years of experience in facilities including similar heating policies, said finding a universally satisfying temperature range for large groups of people with varying degrees of comfort is almost impossible.
“I used to get calls from two people in the same office with one complaining that it was too hot and the other saying it was too cold,” he said. “Even now at Elon we still have students that leave their window open, which is highly damaging to buildings given the low temperatures and others that are too cold.”
Still, he encouraged students to visit the office with any proposals to change the policy.
“Elon has always been an open, friendly place and I wouldn’t have any problem with students coming to talk about it,” he said.
Elon’s environmental efforts have not gone unnoticed. Elon was a recipient of federal grant money through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that helped with the installation of solar thermal panels for heating water in Colonnades Dining Hall and four residential buildings. Eighty-two solar thermal panels were installed and are expected to prevent 49 tons of carbon emissions each year.
(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.
(11/20/14 6:10am)
Be it a football stadium, a field or a canvas, everyone has a place where they can share their passion and expertise with others. For Elon University senior Matthew Zimpelman, that place is the front of a classroom, sharing his knowledge of financial literacy training.
Zimpelman is a member of the local chapter of Beta Alpha Psi, an international honor organization for financial information students and professionals. Serving as the financial program coordinator, Zimpelman has designed a presentation that captures the fundamentals of financial literacy in a unique and engaging manner to be presented to Alamance County high school students. Since then, 28 members of BAP have joined the effort to share the significance of financial literacy with their surrounding community.
The 45-minute session has reached 420 high school students in Alamance County since October. From relating credit scores to report cards, to using “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” as a way to analyze the value of investments, Zimpelman said the members try to make financial literacy as comprehensible and fun as possible.
“This isn’t like a lecture. It’s coming from a much younger voice,” he said. “That’s the most important thing. They can associate with us at a much greater level.”
The program emphasizes the value of a college degree by providing students with a breakdown of average starting salaries of those with a high school degree, community college degree and four-year college degree. Students then contextualize these numbers by exploring their own current household budget and spending patterns–an activity Zimpelman said demonstrates how furthering their education will truly impact their financial future.
“The gap between the average starting salaries between a high school graduate and college graduate is said to start at $17,000,” he said. “Comparing their current spending with average starting salaries really makes these numbers meaningful.”
According to Zimpelman, the most significant aspect of the program is it provides information on the consequences of financial decisions to students who may not have had the opportunity to receive that knowledge.
“You don’t realize the demographics of the surrounding area until you step out there and see it,” he said. “That’s why it’s important for us to reach the students who may not have access to financial literacy-related classes.”
Zimpelman recalled a particular instance during his summer internship when he had to hold presentations in local high schools around his hometown. He used going on a field trip as an example, to which a student responded, “We don’t go on school trips.”
“Some of these high schools are very different from the ones we went to,” he said. “And it’s important for us to move beyond Elon to see the demographic changes and emphasize the value [of being financially literate].”
Because of the success of the program, Zimpelman and two other BAP members are planning to bring the program to Elon by offering a Burst the Bubble course this winter, making presentations in various classes and hosting a session in the business school.
“We’re going to take what we used in high school and accelerate it,” he said. “The point is that we’re sharing our knowledge with people who wouldn’t necessarily receive it as non-finance or accounting majors.”
Richard Segel, president of Elon’s chapter of Beta Alpha Psi, said the program has not only impacted the greater community, but also has strengthened the bond between members.
“They have not only put in effort to go make a presentation, but they’ve also spent time preparing for the presentations and giving us feedback on how the students respond to our presentations,” he said
Segel stressed the program’s success is reflective of the local teachers who have allowed the members to take class time.
“We really appreciate all the local teachers in the area who have allowed us to take some valuable class time to present on financial literacy,” he said. “All the teachers have definitely been instrumental in the success of our financial literacy program.
Zimpelman said by sharing their decisions to become accounting and finance majors with various people through these presentations, members also help to break the common stereotype of accounting and finance majors, who are often painted as boring people who are expected to eventually end up in desk jobs.
Patty Cox, assistant professor of accounting and faculty director of BAP, said there is no ounce of truth to the stereotype.
“Through various service projects this semester, our students have shown that accountants are where the action is,” she said. “[They] have volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, gone to area high schools to give financial literacy training, and tutored students in introductory level accounting classes.”
Cox added she couldn’t be more proud of her students for finding a way to use their expertise to give back to the community which, she stressed, is an area that BAP places great emphasis.
“Our students have shown that it is possible to find time in a busy schedule to be involved in a project that one feels passionately about,” she said.
(11/12/14 9:26pm)
Elon University senior psychology major Jenna Gilder has been seeking assistance for her undergraduate research from the Makerbot Replicator 2—a tool that speaks in a series of whirrs and chirrups.
(10/22/14 9:14pm)
The daring tradition of wading in all four of Elon University’s fountains without being caught has left trails of wet footprints for years.
(10/15/14 4:42am)
In the days leading up to any Elon University break, it is normal to see the Facebook class pages get inundated with posts of students offering or seeking transportation to the airport.
(10/01/14 6:21pm)
It’s easy to dismiss your dining hall experience as a business transaction- you swipe, you eat and you go. But for many students at Elon University, a visit to a dining hall carries with it more comfort and familiarity because of the people behind the counters who serve with a smile.
Elon Dining Services staff members have been forming lasting relationships with students, serving as a source of comfort and a family away from home. These friendly relationships, built from thoughtfulness, have helped foster a sense of community for both students and staff members.
Laura Haith, often seen managing the swipe counter at Lakeside Dining Hall, is popularly considered by students as one of the many staff members who works to create a homelike environment for students. From memorizing names, faces and birthdays to keeping up to date with campus activities, Haith has been forming strong connections with students for the past ten years.
“Nobody wants to go anywhere and feel cold,” she said. “When you walk through that door, I want you know that somebody cares.”
As the mother of two children, Haith said she understands how difficult it might be to be away from family for an extended period of time.
“I wouldn’t want my sons to be away from home and feel no kind of love,” she said. “So I treat every student the way I treat my children.”
The bonds she has created with students have lasted beyond their four years at Elon- former students still call her on a regular basis and invite her to events such as wedding showers.
“The fact that they want me to be a part of their next step in life is just so amazing,” she said.
First year Sam Fisch said it’s the personal touch that makes all the difference.
“Many of them are like second moms,” he said. “We talk about how my weekend is going, how I’m feeling and even about whether there are any girls in my life.”
Fisch said the warm environment is the reason why he looks forward to coming back.
Julie Wilson is a familiar face to many students who form long lines in front of Lakeside Dining Hall’s omelet station every morning. Despite the crowd around her station, Wilson creates a personal experience for each student, asking them about their days and how they’re feeling, as she carefully prepares their orders. Wilson even goes out of her way to memorize the orders of some regulars.
It was during one of these conversations that first-year student Mae Schwelkert formed a connection with Wilson.
“She knows about my family, my running and even about my injuries,” Schwelkert said.
Wilson said it is a joy to interact with students on a regular basis. Having started her eighth year at Elon, Wilson said the relationships she shares with students are the reason why she goes to work every day.
“I want to be more than just a server here. I want to be their Elon mom or whatever I can be for them,” she said. “So I try to start their day off with an omelet made with love.”
Junior Najah Short, who has formed several friendships with Dining Services staff members said it doesn’t take much to respond to such levels of kindness.
“Most of my friendships started from a simple, ‘How are you doing?’,” she said. “As I kept coming back, the relationships just kept strengthening.”
Short said she believes it is an honor for the staff members to be taking some of their time to genuinely care for students.
“They could come to work with a frown on their face or just do the bare minimum, but they don’t,” she said. “A lot of them go out of their way to make sure that students feel welcomed.”
Class of 2014 alumnus Joe Bruno said words cannot express how thankful he is for the friendship he developed with Ashley Curtis, who works at Acorn. Serving as an escape from the stresses of working late nights in McEwen, Curtis’ perseverance and backstory inspired him to keep pushing through his own hard times.
“She played the role of my mentor, mother and at times a best friend,” he said. “We continue to keep in touch on Facebook, and all the stories of her kids, Sophie and Mason, brighten my day.”
Similarly, Class of 2009 alumnus Peter Ustach said his friendships with staff members Krystal Neil and Antoine Downey continue to grow.
Ustach added his friendly relationship with Neil began through simple conversations about life while she would prepare his order in PanGeo’s, a former dining option on Elon’s campus. Those conversations would continue everyday, and the two have kept talking ever since.
“I consider him one of my closest friends in Burlington,” he said. “We go to Greensboro Grasshopper games, and we see each other on a regular basis.”
As many members of the Dining Services staff continue putting in extra effort to genuinely care for students, Ustach stressed that it is important to recognize their work.
“It’s more than seeing the person in front of you as just someone swiping your Phoenix Card every day,” he said. “Once you take that extra step by just saying ‘Thank you’ or asking ‘How are you?’ meaningful relationships can be created.”
(09/17/14 5:48pm)
There’s a cyber-beast living in devices across the country. Its users are nameless but its name is famous. Yik Yak celebrates harmless anonymity and has transformed into a space for cyber bullying. Some Elon University students are paying the price of participation.