News

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NEWS 2/19/25 9:41pm

Photo gallery: Winter storm hits Elon's campus

By Elon News Network

After cancelling classes scheduled past noon and closing many university offices in preparation for an anticipated winter storm, Elon University's campus was dusted with snow on Wednesday, Feb. 19. A winter weather advisory was issued by the United States National Weather Service starting Wednesday morning and staying in effect until 1 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 20. According to AccuWeather, Thursday will bring winds and a high of 36 degrees Fahrenheit with clouds breaking in the morning. However, roads may still be icy and slick on Thursday as the temperatures drop into the low 20s Wednesday evening and into the morning. 

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NEWS 2/19/25 2:41pm

Snow blankets Elon’s campus as winter storm passes over

By Charlotte Pfabe

A white blanket of snow is covering Elon University’s campus as an anticipated winter storm reached North Carolina on Wednesday afternoon, Feb. 19. The snow is expected to continue through the afternoon and into the evening around 11 p.m. according to AccuWeather. Elon is predicted to receive around one to three inches of snow during the day with one to two inches this evening. Alamance County is under a winter weather advisory issued Feb. 19 at 10:35 a.m. Areas of central North Carolina are expected to get hit hardest by the storm, with three to four inches of snow anticipated.

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NEWS 2/18/25 4:50pm

Elon University to close at noon, ABSS to close all day Wednesday due to incoming weather

By Nia Bedard

An email sent out to all undergraduate and graduate students by Vice President for Student Life Jon Dooley stated all classes scheduled to start after noon Feb. 19 will not meet in-person due to potential incoming weather. For classes scheduled after noon, Dooley suggests that students check with their instructors for information on alternative class plans. Despite the closure of classes and university offices after noon, morning classes will still be meeting in person. Dooley also stated that another update will be sent out to students by 6 p.m. Feb. 19.

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NEWS 2/13/25 1:07pm

Q&A: Search committee for new dean of students plans to interview candidates in March or April

By Nia Bedard

Jana Lynn Patterson arrived at Elon University in 1986, originally as an assistant professor and the assistant dean of student affairs. Patterson has taken on many roles throughout her career including assistant vice president for Student Life, associate dean of students and dean of student health and wellness. Patterson has worked at Elon University for 39 years and serves as associate vice president for Student Life and dean of students. She announced she will be leaving the role as dean of students at the end of the year and retiring in September 2026, but will oversee the development of HealthEU.

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NEWS 2/12/25 9:40pm

Elon University sees 20 fewer international students, slight change in first-year enrollment

By Charlotte Pfabe

The Office of the Registrar released its spring 2025 report Feb. 12, which showed the enrollment of international students decreased by 20 students compared to last year. In the spring of 2024, there were 162 international students with 142 international students this year, around a 12% decrease. The report also showed a slight drop in total freshmen enrollment between spring 2024 and 2025. Last spring, 1,345 students made up the class of 2027. Both total undergraduate enrollment and total enrollment, including graduate students, increased according to the spring 2025 report. 

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NEWS 2/12/25 7:28pm

Assistant vice president of SPDC leaving Elon University in April

By Trista Panagakos

Assistant vice president for the Student Professional Development Center, Brooke Buffington, will be leaving her position in mid-April to become the associate vice president for career and professional development at Mary Baldwin University in Virginia. Buffington, who started her career at Elon nine years ago as an associate director of career services in the Love School of Business is described by senior vice president for Advancement and External Affairs Jim Piatt as “a great contributor to the Elon community.” Buffington added to the Elon community through her contributions to the Boldly Elon Strategic Plan.

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NEWS 2/12/25 2:36pm

Elon University announces Wes Durham ’88 as 2025 commencement speaker

By Miles Hayford

Wes Durham will give Elon's commencement address in May to the class of 2025. Durham is a play-by-play commentator for ESPN and ACC Network, and he has served as the radio play-by-play voice for the Atlanta Falcons since 2004. He received the 2013 Distinguished Alumni Award in the School of Communications. Durham's brother, also an Elon graduate, is the play-by-play announcer for Elon's men's basketball, football and baseball teams. Elon News Network sat down with the class of 2025 commencement speaker before the 2025 graduation ceremony.

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NEWS 2/12/25 11:45am

Immigrants in Alamance County adjust to evolving policies

By Avery Sloan

In the less than 30 days Trump has been in office, Trump has tried to pass an executive order to block citizenship for children in the U.S. born to undocumented immigrants and has significantly increased ICE enforcement. Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson said the sheriff’s department has had a contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement since 2007 and has been holding ICE detainees in the county jail since 2012. In 2022, ICE released a press release saying it would no longer use the county’s detention facility for long-term detention, only short periods of custody.

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NEWS 2/11/25 8:44pm

Elon Town Council approves two new downtown sponsorship programs

By Fiona McAllister and Avery Sloan

Elon is launching two new downtown sponsorship programs, one allowing residents or businesses to sponsor an event and the second allowing sponsors to pay an annual fee. Elon Town Council unanimously approved this fundraising program on Feb. 11 at its council meeting. The downtown Elon event sponsorship opportunities have four levels of sponsorship, ranging from a platinum sponsorship costing $3,500, a gold sponsorship costing $2,500, a silver sponsorship costing $1,500 and a bronze sponsorship costing $500. These sponsorship levels will be for individual events, but for a series with multiple occurrences the sponsorship will last for individual occurrence. 

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NEWS 2/10/25 9:04pm

Elon students prepare for housing selection for the 2025-26 academic year

By Nia Bedard

As Elon University Residence Life prepares for housing selection for the 2025-26 academic year, rising juniors and seniors are faced with the decision of whether or not they want to continue to live on-campus. This housing selection, with applications due Feb. 10, comes after the new construction of East Commons and Loy Farm Ecovillage, which added 102 beds for students, according to Elon University, and Residence Life allowing students who live in Crest, Oaks and Danieley Center to renew their leases. Last year, Residence Life announced that students living in those apartments would be unable to renew their leases.

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NEWS 2/10/25 3:40pm

The Alamance County Community Remembrance Coalition honors Black history education

By Anjolina Fantaroni

As Black History Month continues, the Alamance County Community Remembrance Coalition works to acknowledge and educate the community about racial terror. Through historical projects, educational events and vigils, the coalition fosters conversation about race and justice, making sure victims of racial violence in Alamance County are never forgotten. One of the coalition's initiatives is the Equal Justice Initiative’s soil collection project. This project included collecting soil from sites where documented lynchings occurred, honoring the lives of Wyatt Outlaw, William Puryear and John Jeffress. The coalition works closely with the African-American Cultural Arts & History Center to showcase the soil collections.

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NEWS 2/8/25 4:05pm

Holocaust survivor visits Elon, tells story of courage and reconnecting with faith

By Abby Gravely

At age 4, Renée Fink’s parents loaded her onto a stranger’s bicycle with no explanation. She was taken to live with a Catholic family in Holland, and she never saw her parents again. To a standing-room-only Turner Theatre crowd on Feb. 6, Fink shared her story as a childhood Holocaust survivor to an audience of Elon students, staff and community members. Her conversation with retired professor of journalism Richard Landesberg marked the latest event in an Elon tradition lasting more than eight years: inviting Holocaust survivors in commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day. 

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NEWS 2/7/25 9:21am

East Burlington residents fight for environmental equity

By Julia Donaghy

Just five miles east of Elon sits a 22-acre property called by different names within the east Burlington community. Some refer to it as Western Electric, others, the Tarheel Army Missile Plant. The property’s buildings are dilapidated and come with a list of public health concerns. Because of this, Donna Vanhook, an Alamance County soil and water conservation district supervisor, believes it needs to be torn down. Originally constructed in 1927 as a synthetic fabrics factory, the 22-building site has a checkered past and present.

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NEWS 2/6/25 5:27pm

Q&A: Professor emphasizes the impact the TikTok ban could have on the First Amendment

By Charlotte Pfabe

As time ticks on President Donald Trump’s 75-day extension for TikTok, millions are wondering about the fate of the app and the precedent the ban may set. TikTok has been unavailable to download from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store since the platform’s original ban on Jan. 19. Under Trump’s recent executive order, he advised the U.S. Attorney General to not enforce the ban. Elon professor of journalism Israel Balderas, has been outspoken about the impact the executive order and ban could have on future interpretation of the First Amendment.

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NEWS 2/5/25 10:00am

Town of Elon’s diversity committee stands firm amid DEI rollbacks

By Fiona McAllister

The town of Elon’s Diversity, Equity and Belonging Committee held its first meeting of 2025 on Feb. 3. As the meeting unfolded, the committee covered its plans for the next few months, along with addressing the possibility of issues with diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the near future.The DEB was started around two years ago and holds monthly meetings. President Donald Trump recalled DEI programs within the federal government through an executive order during his first few days in office. Through this executive order, Trump said he aims to target DEI within private businesses and higher education.

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NEWS 2/4/25 8:36am

Elon Haggard corridor project finalizes grant plan during federal cutbacks

By Alex Nettles

Elon’s Haggard Avenue corridor project submitted its plan in hopes of federal grant funding this week. The project is the result of years of community feedback and would require an estimated $7.6 million. This move coincides with a government vocalization for cutbacks and a now-rescinded memorandum freezing all federal aid. The corridor plan was approved by the town council on Jan. 14. The Haggard Avenue corridor project proposes enhanced safety, increased visibility and looks to encourage multiple types of transportation. The plan places an emphasis on connectivity and safety with pedestrian and bicycle routes.

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NEWS 1/31/25 1:08pm

Undergraduate tuition, housing, meals to increase by 3.81% for the 2025-2026 academic year

By Avery Sloan

Elon’s tuition and fees will increase by 3.81% for the 2025-26 academic year. This is the total cost of attendance at Elon and is an increase of about $2,300, according to Janet Williams, Elon’s vice president of finance. The increase in tuition will go toward hiring more faculty members to maintain Elon’s 11 to one faculty to student ratio, increasing pay for faculty and staff and student focused initiatives such as free laundry across campus. 

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NEWS 1/31/25 9:45am

Elon Information Technology Services faces system-wide outage

By Elon News Network

All services have been returned to normal. An E-Alert was sent out at 10:59 a.m. stating that services are being gradually restored. The message thanked the Elon community for their patience and assured that facilities management and IT worked diligently to ensure full restoration. The disruption was caused by issues in the heating system of a campus technology building. Those still experiencing connectivity issues can call the IT service desk at (336)-278-5200. 

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NEWS 1/23/25 9:49am

Elon University prepares to enact anti hazing law through training, transparency

By Abigail Hobbs

Starting this year, all colleges participating in the Title IV program must collect statistics on hazing incidents that are reported to police for their annual security reports — including Elon University. President Joe Biden signed the Stop Campus Hazing Act in late December, amending the Higher Education Act of 1965 to include requiring institutions participating in the Title IV program to track and include hazing in their annual security reports. The annual security reports track all crime that has occurred on campus and within buildings owned by the university as part of the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990, which states that all institutions that participate in Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 are required to disclose campus crime statistics and security information. For the 2026 annual security report, all reported hazing incidents from 2025 will be included. 

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NEWS 1/22/25 8:10am

Elon University delays opening until noon due to unsafe roads

By Elon News Network

An email sent earlier this morning by Vice President for Student Life Jon Dooley informed Elon students that the university would be delaying its opening until noon. Last night, around half an inch of snow fell onto Elon’s campus and due to the cold temperatures, the snow stuck to roads, making it unsafe for drivers. According to Dooley, facilities management crews have been working since last night to clear roads and pathways from snow. Due to this delay, morning classes will start at noon and end at 2 p.m. and afternoon classes will start at 2:30 and end at 4:30 p.m. 

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