It's time for Elon News Network's Best of 2021 edition. In our survey, vote for your favorite things and places in and around Elon.
Jenipher and Jerry Smith, of Whitsett, are co-owners of Deep Roots, a smoothie bar that they hope to open in Elon this December. The couple said they began their own wellness journey and wanted to bring a healthy quick-service option to the area.
The Kernodle Center for Civic Life is hosting a virtual panel that will include three people who have faced or currently facing homelessness. This year, the event is taking place on Zoom. The Faces of Homelessnes panel is assembled by the National Coalition for the Homeless and sponsored by the Elon chapter of Campus Kitchen.
Elon Votes! is a student-led, nonpartisan initiative on campus aimed to engage students in civic and political participation. The initiative started in 2014 and is currently the exclusive voter registration organization on campus.
For the next three years, Elon University’s political science department will edit and publish the Pi Sigma Alpha Undergraduate Journal of Politics, which releases both a spring and fall issue each year. Elon will be the fourth school to host the journal since it was founded in 2001.
Dan Anderson, member of the Ready & Resilient committee and vice president of university communications, said the university expects students to comply with limiting their social circles. He said the university is “less focused on punishment and enforcement” and more on student actions that slow the spread of COVID-19.
Elon University has moved to level 3 — High Alert after the university reported the single highest daily cases of COVID-19 with a total of 44 new cases. The move to High Alert comes on the first day of social hiatus and five days after moving to in level 2 — Moderate Alert. According to Jeff Stein, chair of the Ready & Resilient committee, there were three new clusters identified bringing the total number of clusters identified on campus in the past two weeks to eight.
With the onset of the pandemic, Elon choir and a cappella groups are now adapting to new rules and regulations put in place by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In accordance with the new regulations, singers now wear masks, practice virtually or at socially distanced rehearsals and are shifting their focus from large concerts to making new recorded music.
On Thursday night, Elon University’s Student Government Association held a Project Task Force meeting to discuss topics including connecting the school community with the town and security issues. Representatives discussed ideas and brainstorm ideas as opposed to passing legislation.
This will be the first election many college students will cast a ballot in, and it’s widely considered a monumental election for other reasons as well. As tensions across the country remain high from the COVID-19 pandemic, other concerns regarding Black Lives Matter protests and health care affordability during the pandemic are also defining issues voters currently face.
Elon senior and cheerleader Zach Wallace started cheerleading in 2011 while he was in middle school and became enamored with the sport. Wallace is a skilled cheerleader and trains at the highest level in the sport on the national level. Although he has cheered on the mat at several international cheerleading competitions, his favorite place to cheer is at Elon football games.
Elon University will return to social hiatus on Oct. 23 due to a recent spike in cases, according to an email update from Jeff Stein, chair of the Ready & Resilient committee. Some of the restrictions include prohibiting visitors in on campus housing, closing indoor seating in dining halls and suspending high risk club sports and intramural activities.
With Election Day quickly approaching and early voting starting last week, Elon University students are gearing up to cast their ballots on or before Nov. 3. 28 million Americans already have voted early. In Alamance County over 21,000 people have voted early according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections.
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has caused multiple changes to Elon University’s academic calendar, and Winter Term has not been immune to these changes. With Winter Term abroad programs canceled, a new "Maymester" is planned for the summer.
North Carolina will stay paused in Phase 3 for the next three weeks because of a rise in COVID-19 cases, Gov. Roy Cooper announced in a press briefing today. Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Mandy Cohen said the main causes of this increase have been social and religious gatherings.
In light of the racial tensions and disparities occurring in the United States, Elon students from the physics, biology, chemistry, exercise science and the engineering clubs started the STEM for Black Lives Matter club. The new club emerged on campus in July to promote diversity and advocate against racial disparities in the STEM communities.
The roundtable on the Trump caravan gave its recommendations to Elon University President Connie Book on Oct. 19. The list included 16 different recommendations of action that could be taken to boost campus safety. The group was formed following the pro-Trump caravan, which traveled through campus, and was made up of students, staff and faculty appointed by Book.
Every October since 2015, Alamance Pride, a nonprofit that serves the LGBTQIA community, has held an annual Pride festival in downtown Burlington, but this year’s sixth annual event was held virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Students who test positive for COVID-19 or are in close contact with a positive case are required to quarantine. These students are in isolation to contain the spread of the virus. But as a result of their solitude, their mental health can face negative effects.
Three additional coronavirus clusters have been identified at Elon University. Two of the clusters are located in freshman dorms, while another was identified in a sorority. According to Jeff Stein, chair of the Ready & Resilient committee, the clusters are due to social gatherings.
