Hurricane Florence Coverage

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SPORTS 7/22/24 9:25pm

Elon University announces partnership with Ticketmaster

By Miles Hayford

Elon University announced a new partnership with Ticketmaster, a leader in the ticketing industry. The partnership will allow for an enhanced ticket-buying experience for Elon Athletics, cultural programs and other campus events. With the help of Ticketmaster’s experience at selling tickets globally, the aim is that the user experience will be more streamlined and easy. Ticket purchasers will also be able to transfer tickets to friends or family and resell tickets through Ticketmaster’s technology. This streamlined site will be located at elontickets.com, where tickets for the first events on Elon’s Fall Cultural Calendar will go on sale Aug. 27.

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NEWS 7/21/24 3:32pm

Joe Biden drops out of 2024 presidential election

By Nia Bedard

President Biden announced his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential election in a letter posted to X on July 21. “It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President,” Biden wrote in the letter. “While it has been my intention to seek re-election, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.” The last time an incumbent president declined to seek re-election was Lyndon B. Johnson in March 1968.

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LIFESTYLE 7/19/24 1:04pm

Elon University student’s TikTok ‘passion project’ builds community through comedic storytelling

By Sarah T. Moore

After faking his own death and subsequent kidnapping, Elon University senior and acting major Nik Salah finds himself with a highly engaged audience of roughly 1.5 million followers on TikTok. Over the past three years, Salah’s satirical TikTok page, judyhoppsl0vr69, has grown from a “joke” to a “passion project” to a source of income. Salah developed his presence centered around an exaggerated enthusiasm for Disney’s Zootopia, an animated movie featuring an anthropomorphic rabbit named Judy Hopps. Building on this persona, Salah and his friends spent the month of June weaving a complex, fictional narrative of his own (fake) death.

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NEWS 7/17/24 11:49am

Elon Town Council votes to close Aspen Avenue to vehicular traffic

By Nia Bedard

Following two years of discussion, Elon Town Council voted to close Aspen Avenue to vehicular traffic. Town Attorney Bob Hagemann explained that this includes automobiles, golf carts, low emission vehicles and other motorized vehicles – but will remain open to pedestrian and bicycle traffic. The council also discussed proposed changes to Elon’s town noise ordinance. The council aims to reclass a noise violation as a civil violation with a fine, as opposed  to the current ordinance which charges violators with a fine and a misdemeanor.

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NEWS 7/15/24 7:10pm

Elon University professors contextualize assassination attempt on Trump

By Ryan Kupperman

Less than 10 minutes after he took the stage at one of his political rallies, former President and 2024 presidential candidate Donald Trump was huddled away by secret service agents following multiple gun shots. According to Dillan Bono-Lunn, Elon professor of political science and policy studies, this incident is the most significant event of the election season so far. The attack came just days before the start of the Republican National Convention on July 15, where Trump announced Senator J.D. Vance as his vice president and running mate.

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NEWS 7/12/24 7:47pm

Driver of hit-and-run sentenced to five years probation for April 2023 killing of Elon University student

By Anjolina Fantaroni

Jackson Yelle, a 21-year-old former student and member of Elon’s Club Baseball team, was killed in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, in April 2023. The driver, 45 year old Jason Sauro of Myrtle Beach, pled guilty to first-degree assault and a felony related to the deadly crash on Highway 17 Bypass North near 21st Avenue. Sauro was sentenced to 10 years in prison and suspended to five years probation, by Judge Hyman in the case of The State of SC v. Jason Sauro. This means Sauro’s prison sentence will be delayed to serve his probation, and typically if someone successfully fulfills their probation, a judge will then dismiss the case.

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NEWS 7/12/24 1:53pm

Q&A: Elon professor shares thoughts about surgeon general’s social media advisory

By Nia Bedard

The U.S. surgeon general, Vice Admiral Vivek H. Murthy, issued a new advisory warning about social media and the impact it has on youth mental health. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, this advisory warning is meant to issue a call for urgent action by policymakers, technology companies, researchers, families and young people alike. Elon assistant professor of psychology Dr. Ilyssa Salomon, whose professional expertise includes social media and adolescence, offered her own insight about the surgeon general’s advisory warning. 

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SPORTS 7/9/24 11:05am

New Elon men’s tennis coach looks to build culture of excellence

By Miles Hayford

Maciek Sykut has been named the next head coach for Elon University’s men’s tennis team. Sykut will take over for Michael Leonard, who retired at the end of the 2023-24 season following 20 storied years leading the program. Following a career in professional tennis, Sykut began coaching at North Carolina State University in 2012 where he served first as a volunteer assistant coach before getting a full-time assistant coach position. Sykut also spent time at the University of Arizona as the associate head coach and helped lead the team in 2019 to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2010.

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LIFESTYLE 7/5/24 1:47pm

Elon alumna navigates music industry, promotes upcoming album

By Sarah T. Moore

The day before Game 5 of the Stanley Cup, pop artist Brooke Alexx got a call from one of her managers asking if she wanted to sing the national anthem. She flew to Miami the day of and said it was the biggest crowd she’d performed the national anthem for. But before she was releasing music under the name Brooke Alexx, she was studying music production at Elon University. Brooke Greenberg said her stage name is derived from her middle name, Alexandria, with “an extra X for flair.” She characterizes her music as “girl next door” pop-rock that centers story-telling and narrative.

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NEWS 7/2/24 12:27pm

Connectivity issues with three Elon resources cause problems for community

By Anjolina Fantaroni

OnTrack, Colleague and Entrinsik Informer was down June 29 to July 2. Elon’s Technology Update sent nine email updates to the Elon community in total. As of 4:41 p.m. July 2, Elon Technology Update sent an email stating that OnTrack and Colleague are now accessible to the Elon community. The update included that the issue was related to connectivity problems, and no database information was at risk. Rebecca Beck, director of campus technology support and Daniel Statum, communication strategist for IT, directed Elon News Network to Elon’s accounting department. Director of Payroll Armeka Ware was unavailable for immediate comment.

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NEWS 6/28/24 7:03pm

New Title IX regulations go into effect Aug. 1, Elon’s Title IX office to hire new staff member

By Avery Sloan

New Title IX regulations will go into effect Aug. 1 — with federal changes expanding the jurisdiction. Title IX is a federal law enacted in 1972 that prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school, including higher education or other education programs that receive funding from the federal government. New Title IX regulations were passed in 2020 under former President Donald Trump’s administration, but many of the new regulations will reverse those from 2020.  Megan Karbley, Elon’s director of compliance and Title IX coordinator, said she will be hiring a new role in the fall to focus on training and education on Title IX at the university.

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NEWS 6/25/24 5:02pm

Elon Town Council explores re-opening Aspen Avenue to vehicles

By Nia Bedard

Elon’s Town Council met June 24 to a record turnout of citizen attendance to discuss the permanent closure of Aspen Avenue. The street is seven minutes away from Elon University in the Ashley Woods neighborhood and the closure borders between the town of Elon and the town of Gibsonville. The matter was reopened because the closure blocks a planned entrance into the Owen Parks subdivision, which is being built by property developer Matt Kirkpatrick. The council also made a proclamation declaring July as Parks and Recreation Month, approved capital funds and canceled two meetings in July.

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NEWS 6/21/24 4:07pm

Risant Health acquires Cone Health

By Ryan Kupperman

Cone Health, Elon University’s medical service partner, signed an agreement June 21 to become part of Risant Health — a nonprofit organization created by Kaiser Foundation Hospitals. Cone Health itself is a nonprofit health care network that manages and coordinates care for roughly 200,000 patients in Alamance, Guilford, Randolph, Rockingham and part of Forsyth counties, according to a Cone Health press release. “We do not anticipate changes in the types of care we provide as a result of becoming part of Risant Health,” Dr. Mary Jo Cagle, CEO and President of Cone Health, said in the release.

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NEWS 6/19/24 7:15pm

Town of Elon holds inaugural Juneteenth celebration

By Avery Sloan

The Rev. Rickiah Wingfield said when she was asked to speak at the town of Elon’s inaugural Juneteenth celebration, her first instinct was to say no. During the event, she said she only knew basic information about the holiday and she was anxious speaking about issues of race to a group of people. On June 19, the town of Elon hosted a Juneteenth celebration at Lawrence Slade Park, including games, food and music. Wingfield, who is the reverend at First Baptist Church which neighbors the park, spoke at the event on her own experience learning about Juneteenth. 

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LIFESTYLE 6/18/24 5:00pm

Elon local businesses deal with customer change for summer

By Nia Bedard

While students are away from campus, businesses in downtown Elon are experiencing a change in their customer demographic for the next two months. All that Jas, a gift store specializing in Greek life and Elon merchandise, have adjusted their hours due to the lack of students in the summertime. All that Jas owner Caitlin Brooks said the decrease in hours gives the business the ability to catch up in other facets. Management and vendors from Pandora's Pies and the Elon Farmer's Market, respectively, also discuss how the change in customer demographic effects sales during the summertime.

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SPORTS 6/14/24 12:32pm

Elon University cross country coach resigns for position at Duke University

By Miles Hayford

Elon University Head Cross Country Coach and Associate Head Track and Field Coach Kevin Jermyn resigned from his position to accept the role of head cross country coach at Duke University. Jermyn was an instrumental piece in the recent rise of Elon’s cross country and track and field programs. Since arriving at Elon in 2017, Jermyn has helped the two programs break almost every distance school record in cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field. Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Mark Elliston is leading the national search for Jermyn’s successor.

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NEWS 6/11/24 1:24pm

Elon graduates show large potential in job market

By Katharyn MacDonald

From the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, to the sudden swell of artificial intelligence, to an increasingly hybrid job market — this year’s graduating class has had a unique experience. Generally about 35% of students of all majors have a job by graduation, according to Ross Wade, Elon’s director of career services for the School of Communications. According to a survey sent to Elon alumni by the SPDC nine months after the class of 2023’s graduation, 96% of graduates are employed or in school, while 95% of those employed selected that their position is related to their career objective.

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SPORTS 6/7/24 3:12pm

Sports information directors see Elon athletic department as opportunity for new graduates

By Benjamin Berfield

Ashlee Brackett ’23 grew up around college sports at a young age with her dad being a Division III softball coach. She said she hoped to be involved with college sports in some way after graduating college. Fortunately, Elon University offers many outlets for their alumni to stay involved, she said. When it comes to sports, the school’s athletic department is one particular place where former students can remain employed for the school’s athletic teams. It is a “well-oiled machine” as described by Assistant Director of Athletic Communications for baseball Gray Aust '22.

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NEWS 6/5/24 3:16pm

10 faculty members retire from Elon University

By Audrey Geib

Following the end of the 2023-24 academic year, Elon University says goodbye to 10 of its faculty members. Associate Professor of Education Terry Tomasek; Senior Faculty Fellow in English Cassie Kircher; Professor of Education and Director of Master of Education Mary Knight-McKenna; Senior Faculty Fellow in Philosophy Nim Batchelor;  Associate Professor of Psychology Katie King; Associate Professor of Journalism Richard Landesberg;  Senior Faculty Fellow in Human Service Studies Bud Warner; Associate Professor of Law Catherine Wasson; Professor of Physics Pranab Das; and Professor of Finance Wonhi Synn share their fond memories and future plans.

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LIFESTYLE 6/4/24 5:36pm

Artist finishes third mural in downtown Elon plaza

By Avery Sloan

Muralist Mary Ryan has been working on completing an outdoor painting on the plaza in Elon’s downtown for less than a week. But the plaza itself, from conception to construction, took much longer than that. Beginning with the town staff announcing plans for an outdoor plaza in downtown Elon in December 2021 and completing construction in December 2023. Ryan said as she finishes painting this mural, she has been touching up her other murals at the same time. With outdoor seating around the mural itself, Ryan said she hopes this mural will avoid as much direct foot traffic as possible.

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