News

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NEWS 3/13/25 9:06am

Elon Nursing Program receives high marks from accreditation body for DEI efforts

By Charlotte Pfabe

Over the past two to three years, Elon’s nursing department has been preparing a self-study to send to the National League for Nursing Commission for Nursing Education Accreditation. After the program’s launch in fall 2021, Elon’s nursing program received accreditation from the NLN CNEA in February 2025. The accreditation body applauded the program for its Winter Term study abroad course which travels to Cuba and focuses on showing students the differences between healthcare in the U.S. and healthcare in Cuba but also the limitations of each country’s systems.

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NEWS 3/12/25 3:08pm

ABSS grapples with staff shortages, prioritizing budget

By Avery Sloan

The bus driver shortage in ABSS has grown since the COVID-19 pandemic, with more bus drivers choosing to retire. This can be a larger problem in some weeks for the county when multiple drivers call out sick. There are between 30 and 35 open positions for bus drivers in the county. But, this is not just a problem unique to Alamance County; school districts across the state and country are facing similar challenges. As of September 2024, there were 12.2% fewer school bus drivers on the road than September 2019, according to data from the Economic Policy Institute.

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NEWS 3/12/25 1:27pm

Gerald Whittington awarded Elon Medallion, dedication of residence hall in his honor

By Abigail Hines

After receiving a call from Elon President Connie Book informing him the university would be dedicating a building in the Global Neighborhood to him, Senior Vice President Emeritus Gerald Whittington was at a loss for words. Whittington said he was further shocked to hear he would also receive the Elon Medallion, a testament to his dedication of advancing Elon as an institution throughout his 32-year career. The Elon Medallion is Elon’s highest award and is granted to faculty, staff, trustees or alums who have demonstrated meritorious service to the university.

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NEWS 3/12/25 11:27am

Southeastern Indigenous Coalition Environmental Conference gives space to share issues facing Native communities

By Abigail Hobbs

The Southeastern Indigenous Coalition Environmental Conference, held March 7 and 8, saw around 200 participants looking to learn about the environmental issues facing Native communities today. The conference was hosted by 7 Directions of Service, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advocating for Native land and rights and headquartered in Mebane. The two-day event took place at Rockingham Community College in Wentworth and the Haw River State Park in Browns Summit — both in the land of the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation, which covers a majority of Alamance and Orange counties, including the land that Elon University sits on.

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NEWS 3/12/25 8:57am

Elon Town Council discusses proposal for new mixed-use development

By Ruby Burckle

The Elon Town Council held a meeting March 11 to discuss plans to construct a new mixed-use development at the southwest intersection of University Drive and North Williamson Avenue. If the town council votes to approve the development, Parc Village will be located behind the Schar Center, in close proximity to Elon University property. Though the development is so close to campus, developers will not be able to build pedestrian access between the two sites unless the university agrees to the idea, according to Lori Oakley, town planning director.

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NEWS 3/11/25 9:32pm

SGA announces election results for the 2025-26 school year

By Trista Panagakos

Over 2,000 students voted in the SGA elections for the 2025-26 school year, only 28% of the student body. A higher turnout from last year's election which saw only 1,308 ballots cast. Anya Bratic was elected student body president with 1,382 votes. Sammy Azua was elected executive vice president with 1,082 votes compared to Morgan Minoff’s 838 votes. In the election, three semi-finalists were chosen for senior class commencement speaker: Craig Brandstetter, Drew Fetterolf and Marques Walker. The three semi-finalists will share their speeches with a selection committee who will make recommendations to Elon University President Connie Book.

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NEWS 3/7/25 4:10pm

Elon University raises over $3 million during 12th annual Elon Day

By Fiona McAllister

Elon University celebrated its 12th annual Elon Day on March 6, 2025, with a series of events and opportunities designed to engage the campus community and alumni worldwide. Highlights of the day included a special edition of the university's tradition, College Coffee, and a comedy performance by Joe Gatto. According to the Elon Day website, Elon raised the most money in Elon Day history, with over $3.1 million and a total of 6,385 gifts. Elon Day serves as a cornerstone for the university’s philanthropic efforts, encouraging donors to support areas of campus that resonate personally with them.

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NEWS 3/6/25 7:14pm

Elon Student Government candidates discuss leadership, student concerns, campus engagement at candidate forum

By Liya Rike

Candidates for Student Government Association gathered for a forum on March 5 to discuss issues facing students. The event featured candidates for executive president, Nic Fillippa and Anya Bratic, and executive vice president, Sammy Azuza and Morgan Minoff, each addressing topics including student engagement, and collaboration with university organizations. These are the two top roles in SGA and both positions receive a stipend of $8,000 for the term, according to Elon News Network coverage from 2022. The forum took place at Oak House, drawing an audience of approximately 20 people.

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NEWS 3/6/25 9:26am

40 candidates running in Elon’s Student Government Elections

By Avery Sloan

Elon’s Student Government Association election season is underway. Voting begins starting at 8 a.m. March 10 and ending 5 p.m. March 11. Students can place their votes on PhoenixConnect. There are a total of 40 students running across all positions, including two candidates for each elected executive position — executive president and executive vice president. Last year, no student initially applied for student body president. The election results will be announced at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 11 at Medallion Plaza. 

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NEWS 3/5/25 2:33pm

Burlington Recreation & Parks sees delay in building of new pickleball courts

By Anjolina Fantaroni

A place where the community now plays tennis will soon be home to a new type of court — pickleball. Seventeen new courts are expected to open at Burlington City Park with six courts at Fairchild Park. However, five months have passed since the anticipated opening date in September 2024. The $4 million project set to open in the fall has been delayed for a variety of factors such as weather and timing and has no new announced opening date, said Davis Montgomery, capital projects manager for the city of Burlington.

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NEWS 3/5/25 10:44am

Elon University to continue normal operations during possible severe weather

By Charlotte Pfabe

Elon University will continue all normal campus operations on March 5 despite the possibility of severe weather conditions according to an email from Vice President of Student Life, Jon Dooley. Three weather alerts were issued for the Elon-Burlington area Wednesday morning. The U.S. National Weather Service issued a tornado watch at 7:45 a.m. which will be in effect until 1 p.m, a severe thunderstorm warning from 9:35 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and a wind advisory from 4 a.m. to 7 p.m.

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NEWS 3/3/25 5:02pm

Elon nursing program receives accreditation

By Nia Bedard

Elon University’s nursing program received accreditation after four years of the program’s existence from the National League for Nursing Commission for Nursing Education Accreditation, after launching in fall 2021. The School of Health Sciences currently offers two programs for students majoring in nursing — a traditional four year program or an accelerated 16 month program for students who have already completed a bachelor’s degree in another discipline. 

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NEWS 3/3/25 12:48pm

Elon University receives ‘A’ in ADL second campus report card

By Anjolina Fantaroni

The Anti-Defamation League has released its second campus report card — this time, evaluating 135 institutions. Elon University received an ‘A’, along with Brandeis University, CUNY Queens College, CUNY Brooklyn College, Florida International University, University of Alabama, University of Miami, and Vanderbilt University. Last year, Elon and Brandeis University were the only two schools to receive the top grade. Out of the 135 surveyed institutions, 49 schools received a grade of “A” or “B,” and 41 schools received a “D” or “F.” 

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NEWS 3/2/25 3:52pm

Elon University’s 11th annual Black Solidarity Conference spotlights legacy, impact

By Tariq L. Johnson

For the 11th year, the Center for Race, Ethnicity and Diversity Education at Elon University hosted the Black Solidarity Conference on Feb. 28. An event welcome to all students, this year’s message focused on how the Black population creates a legacy and inspires a sense of community. The words “influence, innovation, and legacy” were draped across the front of McKinnon Hall which summarized the essence of the conference.  

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NEWS 3/2/25 12:05pm

New Charlotte PA program set to open in 2027

By Avery Sloan

This week, the new program director and medical director will begin working to create Elon’s future physicians assistants program coming to Charlotte. The program has a tentative launch date of January 2027 and will be Elon’s second PA program — with its first program currently operating on Elon’s main campus. 

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NEWS 3/1/25 6:17pm

CHEAT SHEET: Economic professor details how tariffs raise the price of foreign goods

By Trista Panagakos

Throughout his 2024 presidential campaign to take back the White House, President Donald Trump outlined how tariffs would be used in his economic goals as well as his political ones. While on the campaign trail, Trump promised to put 60% tariffs on goods being imported from China, and 10% tariffs on goods from all other foreign countries. Elon professor Brandon Sheridan has provided an insight on how tariffs affect consumers and the price of their goods, how tariffs have been used in the past and how retaliatory tariffs may affect consumers.

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NEWS 3/1/25 5:25pm

Some Elon email accounts out amid Microsoft Outlook issues

By Elon News Network

Some of the Elon community are experiencing issues with their Microsoft Outlook due to a widespread outage, according to an Elon E-Alert sent at 7:29 p.m., the Microsoft outage has been resolved. In the Elon E-Alert sent at 5:01 p.m., Campus Information Technology is aware of the issue, however, Microsoft is working to resolve the widespread problem. According to the status checker sent in the technology update email, almost 38,000 users reported outages at 4:08 p.m. Elon IT is closed and did not respond to Elon News Network’s immediate request for comment.

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NEWS 3/1/25 1:52pm

Elon Relay for Life raises over $50,000 for American Cancer Society

By Abigail Hines

After 12 hours of relays, activities, performances, and guest speakers, the executive board for Relay for Life at Elon revealed the final number of money raised for the American Cancer Society, totaling $54,155.76. Leading up to the grand reveal, more than 700 participants relayed around the Phoenix Activities and Recreation Center and listened to members of the community talk about their personal experiences with cancer. Some of those speakers were familiar faces for Elon students.

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NEWS 2/28/25 5:50pm

Elon President Connie Book says Elon will not be affected by recent executive orders

By Ruby Burckle

Elon President Connie Book said Elon University will not be impacted by recent executive orders that propose cuts to funding for higher education and diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Elon’s Student Government hosted a fireside chat event with Book and Vice President for Student Life Jon Dooley to answer questions regarding recent executive orders and accessibility issues on campus.

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NEWS 2/27/25 3:17pm

SGA Elections 2025: Executive changes, rising candidate interest

By Liya Rike

This year’s Student Government Association elections bring changes to the process, including the addition of an executive vice president role, expanding the executive positions to five. Forty total candidates are running — an increase from recent years. Historically, voter turnout has been low. To address this issue, the SGA has increased outreach efforts, using social media campaigns, campus-wide events and measures such as the Phoenix Five Weekly email to raise awareness. Vice President of Communications Ella Kucera said student awareness of elections varies, with some students informed and others possibly forgetting. 

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