Students work to improve intellectual climate
Throughout their college careers, Elon University students Greg Honan and Cara McClain often discussed the “lacking” intellectual climate on campus. It wasn’t until last spring, however, that the two decided to take action and shape the intellectual climate themselves. Now seniors, Honan and McClain have spent the last year speaking with teachers, working with the Student Government Association (SGA) and surveying Elon students to figure out where Elon’s intellectual climate currently stands and how to improve it. What is “intellectual climate?” SGA defines “intellectual climate” as “the combination of your academic and your social life,” according to Sarah Paille-Jansa, President of the Class of 2015. But Tom Mould, director of the Honors Fellows program, Elon professor and member of Elon’s intellectual climate working group, defined it more broadly. “Intellectual climate to me is the life of the mind,” he said.
