CONTENTS T M of E | F
13 TAKING NOTICE BY OWEN COVINGTON
Elon debuts as a top-100 National University in U.S. News & World Report rankings.
16 C O V E R S T O R Y A UNIVERSITY TRANSFORMED BY DAN ANDERSON
Exploring the legacy of the Elon Commitment Strategic Plan.
26 A TRENDY FOOD EXPERIENCE BY ROSELEE PAPANDREA TAYLOR
Elon’s dining hall cuisine has evolved to provide organic, sustainable and locally sourced ingredients for a better dining experience.
30 F R O M T H E A R C H I V E S MAKING FILM HISTORY BY OLIVER FISCHER ’20
Remembering Hollywood actor, director and producer Martin Ritt ’34, whose films often touched on the social issues of the day.
32 A DRIVE FOR SUCCESS BY ERIC TOWNSEND
Gia Gaster’s determination has led her from driving a school bus to obtaining a law degree.
2 Under the Oaks
50 Point of View
11 Phoenix Sports
51 Alumni Action
34 Campaign Update
55 Class Notes
I AM ELON BY KIM WALKER
Community means everything to Paige Wilson ’22. She just entered her sophomore year at Elon and is already part of a wide span of campus networks. She’s an Odyssey Program scholar, a resident assistant in the African Diaspora Living Learning Community, a student worker in the Gender & LGBTQIA Center and a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. “Being part of all of these communities makes me unique at Elon, and I like that. I appreciate being outside of the norm, but not a token,” she says. “I know that I’m educated enough to take that, control it and make it something that I can benefit from.” For Paige, a psychology major, focusing on topics she’s passionate about drives her to work harder. This also widens her worldview, academically as well as personally. Her job at the GLC continues to teach her about inclusivity and being socially conscious, while classes like her child psychopathology course have sharpened her interest in pursuing a career counseling children with disabilities. “I want the best for people, especially those unable to advocate for themselves. When working with young people, you can make a real impact, teaching tools that can change a person’s trajectory,” she says. As part of Lecturer Sandra Reid’s class about the art and science of human service studies, Paige is tutoring children at Burlington’s Positive Attitude Youth Center. She says helping the students learn gives her much satisfaction. “I always say that I want to make as much positive change as I can before I die, even if it’s small. I get so excited when a word we’ve gone over shows up again and they get it right. I love it when they get it!” Paige is Elon. Visit elon.edu/magazine to see more stories that are part of our “I Am Elon” series.
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▶ From the PRESIDENT
A Continuum of Exce
W facebook.com/ElonConnieBook twitter.com/ElonConnieBook
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hen we celebrated the 125th anniversary of the founding of Elon University in 2014, I had the opportunity to moderate a discussion with Elon presidents No. 6, No. 7 and No. 8. We had a standing-room-only crowd of more than 400 loyal Elon alumni and stakeholders. The energy in the room was celebratory as each of the presidents talked about significant events that had shaped Elon University as we knew it then. It was clear to me from that conversation that Elon had weathered many ups and downs and that through each, the institution had found a way to emerge stronger, smarter and more committed than ever to the mission and values that are the essential ingredients of all of our work. J. Earl Danieley talked about the Vietnam War and a march on campus that resulted in a richer understanding of the importance of freedom of speech and created new dedicated spaces on campus for discourse. Fred Young shared about the year that Elon had $25 remaining in its year-end budget, and how the senior team had designed a new recruiting footprint that would ensure a more financially sound Elon for the future. Leo Lambert talked about the learning process that unfolded as the university worked to achieve approval of a Phi Beta Kappa chapter and ensure Elon’s commitment to excellence in the liberal arts and sciences would be a deep cornerstone for each Elon graduate. With each adversity, a stronger university for the future emerged. In this issue, we celebrate the completion of the university’s strategic plan, the Elon Commitment, and the gains made over the past decade of this continuum of excellence that defines Elon. We also
highlight the recent national rankings, a testament to the outcomes we have collectively achieved and advanced as a university community. I can remember the day the board of trustees approved the strategic plan in December 2009, bringing to a close more than a year of planning and envisioning for the future of Elon. What unfolded then through community discussions was first and foremost a clear vision to advance Elon’s learning environment through a commitment to the power of diversity. Today, a decade later, everywhere I turn our campus lights up with new understanding about the ways in which we are different, yet bound by the common good articulated in our mission. The Elon Commitment brought us planned goals and other opportunities we hadn’t imagined on the
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llence { Executive Vice President Steven House, right, passes a symbolic torch to Aswani Volety, Elon's new provost. }
A celebration of leadership
T { From left: Connie Ledoux Book, J. Earl Danieley, Fred Young & Leo M. Lambert }
day the board approved it 10 years ago. And while during the planning process it was impossible to foresee potential uncertainties, the plan allowed the university to come together, affirm again our values and, ultimately, define strategies that are essential to the future we hope lies ahead for Elon. As you read the impact of the last strategic plan in this edition of the magazine, my hope is that each of you can feel the simultaneous hope and confidence we have in Elon University. We did, in fact, engage minds, inspire leaders and prepare students to be global citizens. Connie Ledoux Book PRESIDENT
he Elon community came together during the second College Coffee of the 2019-20 school year to recognize Executive Vice President Steven House for his 10 years of service as provost. During the Sept. 1 event, House symbolically “passed the torch” to Aswani Volety, who began his service as Elon’s top academic administrator that day. “We talk a lot about the power of relationships,” President Connie Ledoux Book told the crowd. “We’re so grateful for Steven’s relationship with all of us, and his being a constant champion of all that we do.” House came to Elon in 2001 and was named Elon’s provost and vice president for academic affairs in 2009. He led the school during a time of growth, overseeing significant increases in the number of faculty and staff and the student body. As the founding dean of Elon College, the College of Arts & Sciences, he oversaw 17 academic departments and 19 academic programs and led the team that brought a chapter of the prestigious honor society Phi Beta Kappa to Elon in 2010. House recounted his time as provost by telling those gathered that his job has been to tell Elon’s stories. “You have an amazing story to tell, and you should all be proud,” he said. “You are part of an amazing story at an amazing institution.” In recognition of his service, the Student Government Association renamed the annual academic major fair the Steven D. House Academic Opportunities Fair. House will serve as Elon’s executive vice president until the end of the 2020-21 academic year. Aswani Volety comes to Elon from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, where he was dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and executive director for the Center for Marine Science. He served as the chief academic, fiscal and administrative officer for one of the school’s largest academic units that housed more than 10,000 students and 26 departments across many disciplines. “I am excited and thrilled to be joining the Elon family,” Volety said. “I am going to build upon what Steven and his colleagues have done for Elon and take it to the next level.”
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The Magazine of Elon | . , . The Magazine of Elon is published quarterly for alumni, parents and friends by the Office of University Communications. © , Elon University EDITOR
Keren Rivas ’ DESIGNERS
Garry Graham Billie Wagner PHOTOGRAPHY
Andrew Krech ’ Kim Walker
{ From left: Lisa Pennington, Thomas Henricks & Pam Brumbaugh }
E D I T O R I A L S TA F F
Alexa Boschini ’ Owen Covington Roselee Papandrea Taylor Patrick Wright CONTRIBUTORS
Belk Library Archives and Special Collections Oliver Fischer ’ Sonya Walker ’ Noah Zaiser ’ Leila Jackson ’ V I C E P R E S I D E N T, U N I V E R S I T Y C O M M U N I C AT I O N S
Daniel J. Anderson EDITORIAL OFFICES
The Magazine of Elon Campus Box Elon, NC - () - elon.edu/magazine BOARD OF TRUSTEES, CHAIR
Edward W. Doherty ’ Saddle River, New Jersey
ELON ALUMNI BOARD, PRESIDENT
Kyriakos Pagonis ’
Arlington, Virginia
YO U N G A LU M N I C O U N C I L , P R E S I D E N T
David Campbell ’
Charlotte, North Carolina PAR E NT S CO U N C I L , CO PR E S I D E NT S
Toni & Michael Brown ’ Mount Laurel, New Jersey
SC H O O L O F CO M M U N I C ATI O N S ADV I SO RY B OAR D, C H AI R
Roger Bolton
New Canaan, Connecticut SC H O O L O F L AW ADV I SO RY B OAR D, C H AI R
David Gergen
Cambridge, Massachusetts MARTHA AND SPENCER LOVE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS BOARD OF ADVISORS, CHAIR
Patricia Chadwick ’ Old Greenwich, Connecticut PHOENIX CLUB ADVISORY BOARD, CHAIR
Mike Cross
Burlington, North Carolina
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Outstanding service recognized
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wo retired members of Elon’s faculty and staff and a Cone Health executive were presented with the Elon Medallion, the university’s highest honor, during an Aug. 19 event that marked the beginning of the academic year. Honored were: Thomas Henricks, professor emeritus of sociology After serving as a social worker in Chicago, Henricks joined the Elon faculty in 1977, cultivating the teacherscholar model and becoming a distinguished scholar in his field with more than 30 articles and numerous manuscripts, books and reviews in scholarly publications to his name. In 1984, Henricks helped found the Department of Sociology at Elon, serving as its first chair, then fulfilling roles as dean of social sciences and associate dean of Elon College, the College of Arts & Sciences. He was awarded the Daniels-Danieley Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1990 and in 2003 was recognized as Elon’s second Distinguished University Professor, one of only six to receive the honor. He retired in 2018. { Bill & Pat Inman } Pam Brumbaugh, assistant professor and director of experiential education Brumbaugh joined Elon’s faculty in 1986, eager to share the positive effects of the practice of experiential learning on students and to design and grow an experiential learning program at the university. For 31 years, Brumbaugh led a team dedicated to ensuring Elon students had the necessary skills for the professional setting and helped create the Experiential Learning Requirement of the Elon Core Curriculum. Her dedication to student success and passion for experiential learning earned her numerous awards throughout her career. She retired in 2017.
Lisa Pennington, Cone Health executive As an adjunct faculty member and a successful medical professional at Alamance Regional Medical Center and Cone Health, Pennington has supported Elon for nearly four decades. She served with distinction on feasibility committees for the physical therapy education and physician assistant studies graduate programs, as well as the search committees for the founding faculty members for both programs. Pennington also was the lead writer of two Duke Endowment grants that paved the way for the 2011 launch of the School of Health Sciences. President Connie Ledoux Book also presented two distinguished members of the Elon community with Elon Medallions on Sept. 27 during Fall Convocation: Trustee Bill Inman and Pat Inman As the parents of Jackie Inman ’00, Bill and Pat Inman have supported the growth and development of Elon through their generous philanthropy and commitment to shaping the university’s iconic learning environment and solidifying Elon’s national leadership in engaged learning. The Inmans have enriched Elon’s campus in numerous ways, including their lead gift to name the Inman Admissions Welcome Center, their establishment of 10 endowed scholarships in the Odyssey Program in 2017 and their gifts supporting Rhodes Stadium, Alumni Field House, the Ernest A. Koury, Sr. Business Center and the Numen Lumen Pavilion. The Inman Reading Room was named in honor of their support of Lindner Hall, home of Elon College, the College of Arts & Sciences. Bill Inman was elected to the Elon University Board of Trustees in 2005.
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Announcing Elon Next
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lon Next, a new professional education program, will launch in winter 2020. As part of the program, members of the Elon community will be able to take one of six modules in areas including cybersecurity, personal finance, video production, AI and machine learning, art and data analysis. Future phases in March and June will provide a wider array of offerings with continuing education credits. “We want to continue to be part of the professional journeys of our alumni and professionals in our area,” said Haya Ajjan, Gordon Professor in Entrepreneurship and director of the Center for Organizational Analytics, who is helping organize Elon Next. Featuring in-person and online courses, the pilot program within the School of Education fits into Elon’s mission to support lifelong learning among its students, alumni and the broader community. Elon will use its dedication to academic rigor and innovation to help professionals keep up with changing workplace needs and learn new personal enrichment skills. The learning modules, which range from six to 15 hours of class time, are also open to the general public, allowing Elon the opportunity to build new relationships through education. For more information, visit elon.edu/next.
Two professors in Elon College, the College of Arts & Sciences and a professor in the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business were appointed to distinguished professorships this fall. Amanda Chunco, associate professor of environmental studies, was named the Japheth R. Rawls Professor for Undergraduate Research in Science, a two-year professorship that supports the efforts of faculty engagement with students in the scholarship of scientific discovery. Andrea Sinn, assistant professor of history, was named the Stella S. and John O’Briant Developing Professor in History in recognition of her scholarly work and dedication to teaching. The award supports ongoing scholarly projects that shape the way professors teach and inspire their students. Steve DeLoach, professor of economics, was named the Love School of Business’ Martha and Spencer Love Term Professor, working to facilitate a richer culture of faculty scholarship within the school and promote scholarship as the foundation for transformative teaching and mentoring.
{ From left: Andrea Sinn, Steve DeLoach & Amanda Chunco }
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STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
A BETTER WAY TO READ ELON NEWS
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lon University has a new all-encompassing news source for students, faculty, staff, parents and alumni: Today at Elon. The development of the more visual and engaging news site comes as the university retires E-net, which served as Elon’s source of news and engaged community members in current events for more than 20 years.
The new portal covers an array of news and information about Elon, including: • Updates pertaining to students, faculty, staff and alumni • Urgent bulletins and all-university announcements • A calendar of upcoming campus events • Highlights of Elon members featured in the media • Top posts from Elon’s social media and video channels • Magazine of Elon stories • Want ads submitted by members of the Elon community for the Elon community. Visit the new site at elon.edu/news.
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Elon’s student-run strategic communications agency, Live Oak, won nine awards at the 32nd American Graphic Design and Advertising Awards. Design and advertising work created by Live Oak for local companies received awards in nine categories: logo and trademarks, photography, in-store posters, print and online advertising, direct mail, brochures and catalogs, and environmental signage and graphics. The agency has received multiple recognitions in recent years, including from the American Advertising Federation and the Go Green Awards. In September, four senior journalism students who are part of Elon’s Imagining the Internet recorded documentary video interviews with global inductees of the 2019 Internet Society’s Internet Hall of Fame in Costa Rica. Anton Delgado, Jared Mayerson, Alexandra Roat and Maria Ramirez Uribe were led in the project by Alex Luchsinger, assistant professor of journalism in the School of Communications. The team also recorded the honorees’ acceptance speeches during the induction ceremony. Mikayla Ford ’22 and Sarah Loos ’22 founded Design for America Elon, an affiliate of Design for America, which is dedicated to developing social innovation projects that benefit local communities. Elon students completed their first project for DFA, which included an accessibility map for visitors to Elon’s campus. Elon representatives traveled to Northwestern University to be recognized at the national level in the annual Design for America Summit. With the acquisition of a $50,000 grant, DFA Elon is now aiding the 2019 YMCA Innovation Project by implementing innovative approaches to recruiting and retaining quality lifeguard staff. Anton Delgado ’20, a journalism and international and global studies double major, received two Green Eyeshade Awards. Delgado, who serves as the managing editor of The Pendulum, Elon News Network’s student newspaper, was named Best News Reporter in the South and Best Feature Writer in the South after submitting three feature stories for consideration. The Green Eyeshade Awards are judged by professional journalists and educators and recognize the best work in print, television, radio and online. Delgado has also earned a Mark of Excellence award from the Society of Professional Journalists for his breaking news photography.
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A consummate teacher, Professor of English Jean Schwind is known for finding new and creative ways to make course materials relatable. She encourages students to take part in class discussions while challenging them to think critically. Her passion and dedication in the classroom have earned her the 2006 Daniels-Danieley Award for Excellence in Teaching and admiration from countless students whose lives she has touched throughout her 29 years at Elon.
Jean Schwind BY JACQUELINE ALNES ’13
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uring my first year at Elon, I began experiencing neurological issues that produced symptoms of blurred vision, aphasia and memory loss. While the cause of these symptoms was — and still is — a mystery, their presence was all too real. Reading and writing became difficult. In classes, formerly quick to raise my hand and contribute, I feared my voice slipping into a series of incoherent words. When I took Dr. Schwind’s course about the writings of Mark Twain and Willa Cather in the spring of my sophomore year, I was afraid, both of becoming symptomatic in class and of never regaining my love for language. I had no reason to fear either. Through a variety of inclusive and engaging teaching strategies, Dr. Schwind not only fostered deeper understanding of an array of texts, but also cultivated a healthy, supportive community within the walls of her classroom. In Twain and Cather, and a year later in American Literature II, we played charades based on readings, participated in supportive yet rigorous peer-review sessions and gave presentations that prepared us for conferences. When my neurological symptoms returned, Dr. Schwind reassured me by her actions that she remained sure of my ability to succeed. I will forever remember Dr. Schwind’s classes as being dynamic and accessible to a variety of learners, traits I now try to emulate when I teach. My experiences were not only meaningful because of the scholarship I produced, but also because I regained confidence in my own potential, a gift I’ll never fail to be grateful for. In addition to her exceptional teaching practices, Dr. Schwind is a mentor who has always challenged me to grow. As a research adviser, she read innumerable drafts, asked productive questions and challenged me to continue honing my critical-thinking skills. She taught me how to write an abstract so I could present my research, and in later years wrote letters of recommendation for graduate schools and reviewed my résumé when I entered the job market. Above all, Dr. Schwind has always made it clear that she cares about me and all of her students as fully complex humans, a kind of care that has sustained me in many ways throughout my years in academia. Because of who Dr. Schwind is and all that she taught me, I am a more empathetic and innovative professor, someone who hopes to nurture the same self-confidence in my students as she did — and continues doing — for me.
Jacqueline Alnes ’13 is an assistant professor of English (creative nonfiction) at West Chester University in Pennsylvania. Among other places, her work has been published in The New York Times, Guernica, Tin House, The Boston Globe and Longreads.
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“I’m optimistic about your generation’s ability to do the right thing, to be advocates for the rights we have, not by virtue of what country you were born in, but by virtue of our humanity. … We must always strive to be a better people.”
“I hope that we can remember that no one is right all of the time; that while conflict is inevitable, cooperation always works better; and that in the end, what we have in common is far more important than our differences.”
— Nikki Haley, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina governor, during Elon’s Fall Convocation on Sept. 27
— Free speech advocate and writer Zachary Wood delivering the 2019 Community Engagement Lecture on Oct. 1
COR 431A Investigating Crime Fiction
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f you get funny looks because of your obsession with murder mysteries, and the people around you just don’t seem to get why you constantly read about death, then COR 431 might be the right class for you. The course, taught by Associate Professor of Strategic Communications Jessica Gisclair, lets students read and explore various crime fiction stories, from “Sweeney Todd” to “The Hound of the Baskervilles,” and consider the role law and investigative methods play in solving crimes. “I kind of kept it a secret for a long time because I think people were concerned about me always reading about murder mysteries,” Gisclair says. “But I just love the clue puzzle, and I love the problem solving and trying to figure out who really did it.” Students taking this course come from a variety of majors, but they are all just as passionate about crime fiction as Gisclair. “It’s very much a collaborative environment where we’re learning from each other and sharing ideas about our favorite authors, concepts we’ve picked up on, new themes that are emerging that we hadn’t thought about before,” she says. “Then we’ll start investigating that as a class.”
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BY OLIVER FISCHER ’20
Gisclair makes students think beyond the crime itself by discussing the social status of individuals as well as stereotypes that occur in real and fictional crime. “People in minority groups tend to be accused of crime more than people in majority groups,” she says, adding white-collar crime is also often viewed as less significant than blue-collar crime. While reading “The Hound of the Baskervilles,” Gisclair focuses on the scientific methodology that Sherlock Holmes uses. “How does that relate to present-day crime solving and investigation, and how is that influencing decisions of the outcome of the trial?” she asks. Later in the semester, students move into the legal processes of investigating, bringing evidence forward and learning how that evidence unfolds at trial. But there are certain questions students will always consider throughout the semester. “We keep coming back to what is the crime, what is the perception of it, what legal ramifications are we going to look at in this particular story and what is the socioeconomic piece that we need to consider,” Gisclair says. Since students come from a variety of disciplines, Gisclair tries to incorporate the different majors into her course content. “It’s a very diverse group
MORE THAN A MEAL Whether it includes locally sourced products in Clohan Hall, freshly baked cookies after dinner in Lakeside Dining Hall or an impromptu lemonade bar outside of Moseley Center, Elon Dining offers students a dining experience that leaves them with more than a full stomach. Read more about this new way of experiencing food on page 26.
“The idea that a very powerful person decides they are above the law and can take bribes and can do terrible things—and who can stop them because they’re big and powerful—that’s anathema to every ordinary American.”
24%
The amount of Elon Dining food that comes from North Carolina farmers and growers
— Former U.S. attorney and author Preet Bharara delivering the Elon Law Distinguished Leadership Lecture on Oct. 10
35,079 lbs The amount of local produce purchased during the 2018-19 academic year of students coming from many different areas,” she says. “My job is to get my arms wrapped around all those disciplines and see if I can integrate them into the course and into conversations.” Regardless of major, Gisclair hopes students realize there is more to crime fiction than the entertainment aspect and intellectual challenge. She wants students to look at the political system that might be at play or the socioeconomic issues that might reflect societal problems. “Through readings and videos, students learn to appreciate the role of law in society, recognize how judicial values are linked to the personal lives of citizens and how literary works can help our understanding of personal and social responsibility,” she says. ABOUT THE PROFESSOR Jessica Gisclair served as the department chair for Elon’s School of Communications from 2010 to 2019 and was promoted to tenured associate professor in 2005. She received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award and will teach in China at the Shanghai International Studies University in spring 2020.
1,697,413
The number of patrons served by Elon Dining in the 2018-19 academic year
191
The number of events held by Elon Dining for clients and guests
RECOMMENDED MATERIALS • “Three-Day Town” by Margaret Maron • “Roadside Crosses” by Jeffery Deaver
Source: Elon Dining
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For a complete list of events, visit elon.edu/culturalcalendar.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19
UPCOMING EVENTS
THE ELON UNIVERSITY
SPEAKER SERIES 2019-20 SEASON
FOR
Elon Orchestra Fall Concert Director Thomas Erdmann opens his 16th season as director with guest soloist and Elon faculty member Cora Palfy.
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. COMMEMORATIVE ADDRESS
SONIA MANZANO “Multi-Racial Latinos & the Civil Rights Movement” TUESDAY, JAN. 14, 6 P.M.
A first-generation American of Latino descent, Sonia Manzano has inspired, educated and delighted millions through her role as Maria in “Sesame Street.” She is the author of “Becoming Maria: Love and Chaos in the South Bronx.”
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3
Festival of Holiday Lights
BAIRD LECTURE
Lights and luminaries, hot chocolate, cider and merriment mark Elon’s annual holiday festival.
JIMMY WALES TUESDAY, APRIL 7, 7 P.M. A leading technology futurist and the founder of Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales was named one of Time’s “100 Most Influential People” and has been recognized by the World Economic Forum as one of the top 250 leaders around the world. JAMES P. ELDER LECTURE AND PHI BETA KAPPA LECTURE
FREDERICK M. LAWRENCE
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4
Elon Music Ambassadors, “American Road Trip: Coast to Coast”
THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 6:30 P.M. A renowned author and civil rights scholar, Frederick M. Lawrence is the secretary/CEO of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. His book, “Punishing Hate: Crimes Under American Law,” examines bias-motivated violence in the U.S.
Enjoy a musical inspired by the great cities, mountains and plains of the United States as well as the varied cultures represented by their people. SATURDAY-WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18-22 TUESDAY-SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4-8
PLUS, A PANEL DISCUSSION
Department of Performing Arts presents “The Wolves”
ABOUT WHAT THE NATIONAL
This fresh and raucous script chronicles one season of a girls’ indoor soccer team.
CAROLINA
In partnership with
ELECTIONS MEAN TO NORTH
For more information, visit elon.edu/speakerseries. 10 of
PHOENIX SPORTS
▶ elonphoenix.com
A hammer’s throw
AWAY
PHOTO: GUNTIS BERZINS
BY OLIVER FISCHER ’20
{ Assistant Track and Field and Cross Country Coach Laura Igaune represents Latvia in international competition. }
A “You have three to four turns, and if you make the most minor mistake in one, you are done.”
ssistant Track and Field and Cross Country Coach Laura Igaune had the experience of a lifetime in September when she represented her home country of Latvia in women’s hammer throw at the International Association of Athletics Federations World Championships in Qatar. With a distance of 67.77 meters, Igaune placed 12th during qualifying. Although she didn’t advance to the finals, she learned a lot from competing. “It was a giant experience,” Igaune says. “It was a steep learning curve for me because it’s a level of competition that I have never done in my life.” Igaune got into hammer throwing as a high school senior in Latvia. After participating in various track and field events, including throwing javelins, her coach suggested trying something new: hammer throwing. “‘Well sure, looks scary enough for me to try,’” she remembers telling herself. “So here I am. That’s all it took.” She may have discovered the sport by chance, but Igaune has been intentional in her training ever since. She knows that to do well, it takes more than raw strength. “I like the technicality. It’s a very technical sport. You can’t just be big and strong and go out there and throw far. Those days are long gone,” Igaune says. “You need to really work on your body to get this thing going.” But preparation isn’t everything when it comes to hammer throwing. Individual throws can also drastically affect the outcome of an entire session. “I like that it’s complex,” Igaune says. “You have three to four turns, and if you make the most minor mistake in one, you are done.”
After earning degrees in physical therapy and health care from Rigas Stradinas University in Latvia, Igaune competed at Western Kentucky University at the NCAA level, where she also received her master’s degree in exercise physiology. Before coming to Elon, Igaune served as assistant track and field coach at Tiffin University. In her native land, Igaune claimed the Latvian Junior Championship title in the triple jump. She holds the Latvian national record in hammer throw and was a European Championship qualifier in hammer throw in 2012. In addition to great competition, Igaune faced many cultural, physical and environmental challenges in Qatar. Not only did she have to perform on an eight-hour time difference, but the extreme climate was just as tough to cope with. “It’s Qatar. It’s Doha. It’s desert. It’s 110 degrees,” Igaune says. Although the stadium was open, it had air conditioning that was kept at around 70 degrees. The temperature differences were difficult to handle. “It’s just a huge shock for your body,” she adds. Igaune says her success comes from hard work and an excellent support system, including her Elon colleagues and students, her husband and other family members, and many friends. She also has a holistic training schedule that she sticks to. During a regular week, Igaune has six practice sessions to refine her throwing technique. She also has four weight-lifting sessions, two sprinting sessions and two medicine ball training sessions a week. After participating at the world championships, Igaune has qualified for next year’s Olympics, which she hopes will be equally rewarding. “I think it’s a very good learning lesson for me and a good background experience I can teach to my student-athletes,” she says.
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PHOENIX SPORTS
▶ elonphoenix.com
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT BREANNA MITCHELL ’20
BY NOAH ZAISER ’20
SENIOR BREANNA MITCHELL is a seasoned competitor. The four-year forward of the Phoenix women’s soccer team has been named twice to the Colonial Athletic Association Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll, which recognizes student-athletes who have distinguished themselves both in the classroom and in the athletic arena. When the Virginia native isn’t busy practicing or competing on the pitch, she enjoys the simpler things in life. She shared more about herself with The Magazine of Elon.
She loves honey buns. Aside from pasta to fuel up before practice and matches, she prefers ham, turkey and barbecue sandwiches, always accompanied by a honey bun. “I love honey buns. I always have, and always will. I’m pretty sure I’ve had one about every day since I was 5.”
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Soccer was not in her plans. “My mom wanted me to play a sport early because I always had so much energy,” she says. “I was so scared to play soccer, and I always thought the ball was going to hit me in the face. Then I found out I was pretty good at it and fell in love with it.”
Her parents are her biggest inspiration. “My dad wrestled and my mom ran track, so I’ve always appreciated their balance between sports and encouraging me to figure out what I like to do best. I’m motivated by their example.”
She loves Nicholas Sparks movies. She enjoys reading the books first and watching the movie adaptions later. Of course, soccer-themed movies are always a must — “Bend It Like Beckham,”“Kicking and Screaming” and “She’s the Man” are among her favorites.
She’s uncommonly fast. “I’ve always been a fast runner. I can thank my athletic family for that,” she says. “Speed is something my coaches have always set aside for me, and it’s always been something I’m proud of.”
TAKING NOTICE
TAKING NOTICE Elon debuts as a top-100 National University in U.S. News & World Report rankings BY OWEN COVINGTON
top
100
A
fter six years as the No. 1 Regional University in the South, Elon made the step up to the National Universities category in the 2020 U.S. News & World Report “Best Colleges” guide released in September. Now ranked alongside the nation’s most prestigious universities, Elon earned a host of accolades, including being ranked No. 1 for study abroad, No. 2 for excellence in undergraduate teaching and No. 11 for innovation. “Elon has assumed a new level of national leadership,” said President Connie Ledoux Book. “We are especially proud that U.S. News & World Report and higher education leaders across the country have recognized Elon for quality teaching and mentorship and highlighted the excellence of Elon’s academic programs that prepare students to thrive and succeed.” For the fifth straight year, Elon leads the nation for excellence in all eight categories of high-impact academic programs. Schools in the National Universities category offer a full range of undergraduate majors, plus master’s and doctoral programs. Elon moved to the category after it was classified as a Doctoral/Professional University by the Carnegie Classification of Colleges. Elon ranked No. 84 overall in the listing of nearly 400 schools, led by Princeton, Harvard, Columbia, MIT, Yale and Stanford. The U.S. News rankings followed Elon’s recognition in a number of other college rankings released this year.
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The National Leader in “Student Success” U.S. News National Universities: Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching 1. Princeton University 2. Elon University 3. Brown University 4. Georgia State University 5. College of William & Mary 6. Dartmouth College 7. Boston College 8. Miami University-Oxford (Ohio) 9. Rice University 10. Arizona State University-Tempe
U.S. News & World Report ranks Elon No. among the nation’s most prestigious universities. The school is the only one in the nation recognized in all eight categories of high-impact academic programs.
#1 #1 #2 #2 #4
Study Abroad Learning Communities First-Year Experiences Service Learning Undergraduate Research/ Creative Projects
#4 Internships/Co-ops #5 Senior Capstone #10 Writing in the Disciplines
2 11
UNDERGRADUATE TEACHING
14
MOST INNOVATIVE UNIVERSITIES
TAKING NOTICE
#1 #2 #6 #7 #9 #17
WALL STREET JOURNAL / TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION
Most beautiful campus Study abroad program Theater program Career services Best college dorms Happiest students
30
BEST-VALUE PRIVATE UNIVERSITY
34
BADGES FOR EXCELLENCE IN ACADEMIC PROGRAMS
top STUDENT
20
ENGAGEMENT
15
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COVER STORY
A university transformed Exploring the legacy of the Elon Commitment Strategic Plan BY DAN ANDERSON
T
EN YEARS. An investment of more than $800 million; more than 40 new academic majors, programs and centers; a 25 percent increase in enrollment and 63 percent increase in facility space; and contributions to Elon of more than $220 million. These are a few simple ways to measure the impact of the Elon Commitment Strategic Plan. But mere numbers do not adequately explain the most transformative decade in our university’s history.
“Elon was an excellent university when we began the Elon Commitment,” said Ed Doherty p’07, chair of the board of trustees. “But through the hard work of thousands of members of the Elon family, we have achieved a level of quality that surpasses what we dared to dream back in 2009.” “The Elon Commitment was perfectly named, because it challenged us to be relentless in our efforts to promote student success,” says President Connie Ledoux Book. “Every member of our extended community should take pride in what we have accomplished together.” As the Elon Commitment concludes and the university prepares to launch the plan for the next decade, this issue of the Magazine of Elon is a celebration of the 2010s. The results of our work have been breathtaking and Elon has achieved a position of national leadership.
17
The road to “National University”
W
hen the board of trustees launched the Elon Commitment in December 2009, U.S. News & World Report ranked Elon No. 2 among Regional Universities in the South. There was considerable pride in that position, because Elon had been ranked No. 16 in the South when the previous strategic plan, NewCentury@Elon concluded in 1999. But what would it take for Elon to make the jump from the regional category to be considered a National University? That question was answered in this, the final year of the Elon Commitment, when Elon debuted among the top 100 of the most prestigious National Universities ranked by U.S. News (see page 13). The meticulous planning and disciplined execution of the plan has caught the attention of higher education leaders across the nation. The engine behind this institutional transformation has been a remarkable community spirit. The people of Elon reach ever higher, always looking for ways to better fulfill the university’s mission. Faculty and staff have dedicated their professional lives to teaching and mentoring students. And parents, alumni and friends of the university have invested generously to provide resources for Elon’s growth in size and quality.
BY THE NUMBERS Enrollment growth Graduate
Full-time faculty
Undergraduate
From 343 to 446 (+30%)
446
6,277 4,995
343
671
811
2009
2019
Total annual financial aid
2009
2019
Admissions Undergraduate Applications (+16%) First-year class size (+28%)
$50
10,500 $49.4
9,041
$25
“Elon committed to what I believe were historic ‘long plays’ during the Elon Commitment years. We committed to endowment building, principally for student aid, and made the Odyssey Program a national model. We committed to having more students and faculty families living on campus, because the best universities are highly residential. We succeeded in becoming the preeminent university in the nation for engaged and experiential learning. Not only has student diversity doubled, but we have built a programmatic infrastructure to support student success. Competition in the Colonial Athletic Association places us with academic peers such as William and Mary, Northeastern and Richmond. We have created outstanding programming for young alumni who are the very embodiment of Elon’s future. Above all, we invested in making Elon a place where lifetransforming relationships between students and mentors matter most of all.” —President Emeritus Leo M. Lambert 18 of
$22.6 1,659
1,291 $0
2009
2019
2009
2019
RANKINGS AND RECOGNITION 2009
U.S. News & World Report
Princeton Review
#2 Regional University – South
#16 Best-run college #11 Most beautiful campus University – South
2019
#84 National Universities #2 Undergraduate teaching # 11 Innovation Top university for “Student Success” #1 Best-run college #1 Most beautiful campus #6 Best college theater #7 Best career services
New rankings achieved: Kiplinger: “Best-Value Private University” Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education: #16 Student engagement
THE ELON COMMITMENT
“The dark days at the beginning of the Great Recession were, indeed, an odd time to start an ambitious program of investment and expansion at Elon. However, we knew there were several fundamental things that would work in our favor going forward. Besides taking advantage of low interest rates, we were disciplined in keeping tuition cost the best value we could provide. Thus, Elon remained an in-demand ‘hot college’ and we took pains to make sure, financially, we could deliver on our value proposition by completing the initiatives in the Elon Commitment.” —Gerald Whittington, senior vice president and former vice president for business, finance and technology
“President Emeritus Leo Lambert once described Elon students as smart students with good hearts. In other words, our students are academically strong and really care about the world. That’s a constant with our students. We see this more today than ever before. Elon is a more diverse community today than a decade ago. The Elon Commitment has created a vibrant campus full of change makers. We can be really proud of that.” — Greg Zaiser, vice president for enrollment
“As an alumna and trustee, I am so proud of this great university. Through every generation, the Elon community has shown a remarkable commitment to always be better — to make plans and achieve goals that seem to be beyond our reach.” — Kerrii Anderson ’79, trustee and board chair from 2016 to 2018
PHILANTHROPY
Elon has received generous gifts totaling $221 million during the Elon Commitment. The $107 million Ever Elon Campaign concluded in 2011 and the Elon LEADS Campaign was launched in 2019 with a goal of raising $250 million by 2022.
Annual giving participation Parents Faculty/staff Senior Class Alumni
2009 29% 34% 18% 16%
2019 33% 80% 56% 26%
Endowment value $300 $250
$269.9
$200 $150 $100 $ 50 $0
$82.1
2019
2009
ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT
Among the Elon Commitment priorities have been efforts to engage alumni as partners, advocates and investors in the university. The number of alumni chapters across the nation has more than tripled. Particularly important have been programs to connect with young alumni and help them continue their relationships with their alma mater. Elon has established the Young Alumni Council, along with affinity groups for black, LGBTQIA, Latinx/Hispanic and Jewish alumni. Annual program highlight events include the Top 10 Under 10 Awards and Distinguished Alumni Awards.
6,827 2,500
Engaged Alumni
2009
2019
ATHLETICS
Elon moved from the Southern Conference to the Colonial Athletic Association in 2014, and during the Elon Commitment, student-athletes claimed 19 conference championships. Phoenix Club membership grew by 58 percent and generous donors provided funds to construct premier facilities to support athletics excellence, including Schar Center, Alumni Fieldhouse and Hunt Softball Park.
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A more diverse and inclusive community
T
heme One of the Elon Commitment declared an unprecedented commitment to diversity and global engagement. As a result, Elon is measurably better across many dimensions and is more inclusive and representative of our world. This impressive progress has created a strong foundation for the critical work ahead in the university’s next strategic plan.
Underrepresented racial diversity Students of color
Faculty of color
30 24%
20
associate director for the Center for Race, Ethnicity and Diversity Education and director of El Centro de Español
Percentage
18%
“The Elon Commitment facilitated difficult conversations that hadn’t happened before. By making diversity and inclusion part of the strategic plan, Elon sent the message that everybody on campus had a role and responsibility in this effort. Everyone gains from having this as a priority.” — Sylvia Muñoz,
Staff of color
10
11%
19%
20%
11%
2009
2019
Visa-holding international students 150 134
100
50 49 0
“It was important for Elon in its strategic plan to articulate not only the importance of diversity and inclusion, but the necessity of working to recruit a more diverse faculty, staff and student body. We have seen the efforts of those initial intentions taking shape in the past years. This focus on diversity, equity and inclusion is essential to an empowering liberal arts education, which, at its core, requires the views and integration of multiple perspectives.” — Jean Rattigan-Rohr, vice president for access and success
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2009
2019
“Alumni are engaged at Elon more than ever before, thanks to the strategic vision laid out in the Elon Commitment. We are able to better connect with one another through tailored affinity networks and with university leaders through alumni boards and councils that provide an open channel for all our voices and concerns to be heard.” — Jasmine Turner ’15, member of Elon's Young Alumni Council
THE ELON COMMITMENT
STORIES OF PROGRESS In 2014, Elon’s Multicultural Center was renamed the Center for Race, Ethnicity and Diversity Education, providing a vibrant home in Moseley Center and expanded support and programming for Elon’s African American/Black, Latinx/Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander, Native American, Alaskan Native and multiracial communities. The CREDE includes the DEEP Social Justice Education, El Centro de Español, the S.M.A.R.T. Mentoring Program, the Phillips-Perry Black Excellence Awards and many other initiatives.
The Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life got a new home when the Numen Lumen Pavilion opened in 2013 as Elon’s multifaith center. Four associate chaplains support Catholic, Jewish, Muslim and Protestant life; Sklut Hillel Center opened in 2012 and Jewish enrollment has doubled to 8 percent of the student body; interfaith dialogue meetings are held weekly; new student organizations support Greek Orthodox Christians, Presbyterian and Methodist Christians, secular students, Buddhist students and Yoga as a spiritual practice; and interfaith student leaders work through the Multi-Faith Engagement Program.
Elon’s active and growing Gender & LGBTQIA Center has earned four straight years of recognition by Campus Pride as one of the nation’s top-30 LGBTQ-friendly universities.
The Center for Access and Success opened in 2014, bringing together:
“Through the Elon Commitment, we greatly increased our capacity to cultivate a campus community of inclusive excellence through additional staff positions, faculty hires, community resource rooms, and diversity centers where people express their authenticity, build community and join together. Thanks to these connections, our campus embodies a powerful symbolic message: people of diverse intersectional identities across race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disabilities, national and linguistic backgrounds truly belong at Elon.”
• Odyssey Program for talented students with financial need, including first-generation college students • Elon Academy college access and success program for Alamance County high school students with no family history of college attendance • “It Takes a Village“ Project literacy and tutoring program serving hundreds of children in the Alamance-Burlington School System
— Matthew Antonio Bosch, dean of student inclusive excellence
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A national leader in student success
A
s the nation’s pioneer and leader in experiential learning, Elon moved the standards of excellence even higher during the past decade. Study abroad and internship participation grew significantly, new undergraduate majors (including a four-year engineering program) were joined by additional graduate programs and the university put a special emphasis on revamping career services programs and demonstrating the powerful outcomes of an Elon education. With a new Elon Bound program for incoming students, an enhanced Core Curriculum and an institution-wide Writing Excellence Initiative, Elon’s faculty demonstrated their unequaled commitment to student learning and success.
UNDERGRADUATE MAJORS CREATED DURING THE ELON COMMITMENT Applied Mathematics
Communication Design
Arts Administration
Media Analytics
Astrophysics
Early Childhood Education
Dual Degree Engineering Options
Adventure Based Learning
Engineering (four-year degree)
Economic Consulting
Environmental/Ecological Science
Entrepreneurship
Environmental & Sustainability Studies
Finance
Professional Writing and Rhetoric
International Business
Public Health Studies
Management
Statistics
Marketing
GRADUATE EDUCATION Elon University School of Law achieved full accreditation from the American Bar Association in 2011, and in 2015 the school adopted a groundbreaking 2.5-year, highly experiential curriculum that modeled a new approach to legal education. Applications to the law school doubled in the past four years, and Elon Law reached a new enrollment record in fall 2019.
GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT
Elon’s signature global engagement programs evolved over the past decade with a major expansion in the number of students who spend a semester abroad. Semester programs staffed by Elon faculty were established in Florence, Shanghai, Dublin and Dunedin, New Zealand. Study USA launched in 2012 with semester and summer programs, including internships in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Washington, D.C. A special initiative for student-athletes ensured that members of all teams have a university-funded study abroad experience.
Study abroad participation
Semester study abroad
2,000
2,000
1,706
1,500 1,000
1,500 1,000
996
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500
500
0
0
2009
2019
807 374 2009
2019
New graduate programs created during the Elon Commitment • Master of Arts in Interactive Media • Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies • Master of Science in Management • Master of Science in Accounting • Master of Arts in Higher Education
“The Elon Commitment empowered the Global Education Center to promote global engagement like never before. In years, Elon has more than doubled the number of students studying away, in part through expanding Study opportunities and collaborating across campus to engage student-athletes and historically underrepresented groups.” — Woody Pelton, dean of global education
THE ELON COMMITMENT
“Elon University is like no other institution in higher education. The Elon Commitment affirmed Elon as the preeminent community for engaged and experiential learning. Our commitment to mentoring relationships is the true disruptive innovation in education. We are proud the Elon educational experience transforms students to be informed global citizens, awakens a passion for learning and prepares students to deal with messy, unstructured problems and, yes, to be able to handle failure. This is the essence of an Elon education, and we believe our graduates will change the world.” — Steven House, executive vice president
“The Elon Commitment led to the creation of exceptional undergraduate and graduate programs. It is a powerful expression of our ongoing pledge to pursue academic and inclusive excellence.” — Gabie Smith, dean of
Elon College, the College of Arts & Sciences
OUTCOMES OF AN ELON EDUCATION
Elon’s Student Professional Development Center was established in 2012, expanding staff and services and locating Elon’s career programs at the heart of campus in Moseley Center. Students engage with the SPDC, gaining career skills during their first year and continuing to receive support as alumni.
Outcomes 100 91%
80 78% 60
67%
75%
40 20 0
32%
2009
2019
88%
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH
After a decade of progress, Elon is ranked No. 4 in the nation for undergraduate research and creative projects that engage students in work with faculty mentors on challenging projects in a wide range of fields.
Spring Undergraduate Research Forum (SURF) and Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) projects 300 285 200
100 0
136
2009
2019
“It is remarkable to see the progress Elon has made since the Student Professional Development Center was established. For example, in , organizations hired Elon graduates, with Teach for America being the largest employer. By , we had organizations hiring our graduates, with global companies PwC and as the largest employers of Elon graduates. In fact, we see an annual change in recruiting trends, with more nationally known organizations hiring Elon graduates.” — Tom Brinkley, executive director of the Student Professional Development Center
Employed at nine months after graduation First job is career related Internship participation
23
The nation’s finest environment for learning and living
W
hen historians write the story of the 2010s, the growth of Elon’s campus will certainly be a major focus. More than 75 buildings were built, acquired or expanded, and the total square footage of campus facilities grew by 63 percent. Students who live on campus are better positioned to thrive both academically and socially, so Elon built four new residential neighborhoods and two dining halls during the decade, adding more than 1,100 beds and increasing the percentage of undergraduates living on campus from 58 percent to 64 percent. Across campus, new academic facilities were designed to support faculty-student interaction and experiential learning. Flexible classrooms, studios and labs, maker spaces and small group study spaces make up a dynamic learning environment, set on the nation’s most beautiful college campus.
“Facilities like Sankey Hall allow us to bring together students and faculty from all across campus to collaborate with industry partners to imagine new innovative solutions to enterprise challenges. These spaces are true game changers.” — Haya Ajjan, Gordon Professor in Entrepreneurship and director of the Center for Organizational Analytics
RESIDENTIAL CAMPUS DEVELOPMENT • Colonnades Neighborhood • The Station at Mill Point • Global Neighborhood and Global Commons 2 • East Neighborhood • Park Place at Elon • Clohan Dining Hall
• Lakeside Dining Hall and meeting rooms • McEwen Dining Hall expansion • Phoenix Activities & Recreation Center • South Campus Gym • LaRose Student Commons
ACADEMIC AND SUPPORT FACILITIES • Martha S. and Carl H. Lindner III Hall 3 • Gerald L. Francis Center • Psychology and Human Service Studies building • Numen Lumen Pavilion 5 • Sklut Hillel Center • Dwight C. Schar Hall, Steers Pavilion, Snow Family Grand Atrium 6 • Koenigsberger Learning Center • Richard W. Sankey Hall
• Music Production and Recording Arts Studios • Scott Studios • Inman Admissions Welcome Center 1 • R.N. Ellington Center for Health and Wellness • Martin Alumni Center • The Inn at Elon • Elon Town Center • Loy Farm • Elon University Forest
ATHLETICS FACILITIES • Schar Center 4 • Alumni Field House and Hendrickson Football Center • Hunt Softball Park
• Tennis Pavilion • Worsley Golf Training Center • Rudd Field facilities
“Over the past decade, living and learning at Elon has been transformed with the addition of residentially linked courses, the creation of new living-learning communities and an increase in the number of faculty living on campus. These experiences create a campus culture that more deeply engages students of all class years around intellectual and personal development and advances Elon’s strong sense of belonging and community.” — Jon Dooley, vice president for student life
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THE ELON COMMITMENT
1
2
3
4
5
6
“ The Gerald L. Francis Center was masterfully designed with a true emphasis on engaged and collaborative learning. Well-appointed classrooms and laboratory spaces support education for graduate students as well as continuing education courses for health care providers. These spaces are complemented by advanced research equipment and laboratories that serve as the backdrop for scholarly collaborations between faculty and students in the School of Health Sciences and the College of Arts & Sciences.”
“Seeing the expansion of the School of Communications during my time at Elon has been amazing. Getting to work in studios with professional equipment has not only prepared me for life after college but has also given me an edge over my peers at other universities. I’ve had internships in real newsrooms that closely mirror the work we do in our facilities, and the experience has been nothing short of incredible.” — Grace Morris ’20, broadcast journalism major and news director at Elon News Network
— Becky Neiduski, dean of Elon’s School of Health Sciences
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Harvest Table focuses on five culinary commitments. That means the dishes created and ingredients used are responsibly sourced, freshly made, nutritionally balanced, locally procured and additive free.
{ Students participate in a farm table dinner at Elon’s Loy Farm. }
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Food A
EXPERIENCE Elon’s dining hall cuisine has evolved to provide organic, sustainable and locally sourced ingredients for a better dining experience. BY ROSELEE PAPANDREA TAYLOR
S
picy tacos made with humanely raised beef on handmade tortillas. Creamy macaroni and cheese just like grandma used to make. A cornmeal pancake topped with braised pork cheek, fried collard greens, a pimento cheese fritter and local apple chutney.
It sounds like a foodie’s dream, right? It’s also what’s for lunch or dinner at McEwen, Lakeside or Clohan — Elon’s three dining halls. From locally sourced, simple ingredients to weekly menus created by onsite chefs, restaurant takeovers, food trucks, impromptu pop-ups, teaching kitchens, chef ’s tables and farm table dinners, dining hall cuisine has evolved from the standard meat and two (canned) vegetables served cafeteria style. “We are serving food the way it is meant to be served,” says executive chef Jay Vetter of Harvest Table Culinary Group, an independent division of Aramark, which operates Elon Dining. Two years ago, Elon was part of a pilot program with Harvest Table. Six months into the program, Harvest Table officially took over Elon Dining. “We needed a premium brand that fit premium schools, and we went out and created that brand,” says Laura Thompson, regional district manager with Harvest Table. “This generation of students expects more.”
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{ Executive Chef Jay Vetter during one of the many pop-up events Elon Dining has held this year. Below: Food trucks are a favorite meal option for students. }
H
arvest Table strives to deliver what Elon’s students, who are part of the technology- and social media-savvy Generation Z, are seeking — trendy food choices, international cuisine and Instagram-worthy dishes made from organic, sustainable and locally sourced ingredients. If given a choice, this generation opts for street cuisine or a unique food truck experience over an inexpensive hamburger from a fast-food restaurant. Harvest Table focuses on five culinary commitments. That means the dishes created and ingredients used are responsibly sourced, freshly made, nutritionally balanced, locally procured and additive free. “Our chefs all ask those questions. We do a lot of label reading,” Thompson says.
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A TRENDY FOOD EXPERIENCE
Attaining this level of commitment meant that the team of eight chefs initially had to find some replacements for pantry ingredients. “We had all these Asian sauces,” Vetter recalls. “We started looking at them and said, ‘Oh. We can’t serve that. It has preservatives in it.’” The chefs make their own sauces now, and instead of using pre-breaded chicken tenders, for example, they bread the poultry themselves. The taste and quality of dining hall offerings are important to students. Daniela Nasser ’20, an admissions tour guide, says prospective students frequently ask if the food in the dining halls is good. “I can always say that it is,” Nasser says. “We have multiple dining halls and a lot of diversity within those, and the menus switch from day to day.” When she’s giving a tour, Nasser loves to pull up Elon Dining’s social media accounts to show off some of the featured dishes. She recently experienced some Instagram-worthy moments herself when she was selected to participate in a farm table dinner hosted by Elon Dining. The dinners, offered a few times a semester, are held in various scenic spots on campus. Interested students are randomly selected through social media. The popularity of the free multi-course meal, which begins with an amuse-bouche (a single-bite hors d’oeuvre) and ends with dessert, has tripled since the dinners started last fall. The meal Nasser attended was at Elon’s Loy Farm on South Campus and showcased locally sourced apples. While they munched away on delectable morsels prepared and plated right in front of them, students learned that the dishes were made from the same ingredients used in Elon’s dining halls. “The students are interacting with the chefs, seeing how the food is prepared, and we are talking about where the food came from,” Vetter says. “And, of course, they are taking photos and posting on Instagram. It brings an upscale restaurant feel to the students and gives the culinary team a chance to collaborate and do something different.” One of the dishes featured fresh rainbow trout. “It was unreal,” Nasser says. “I love fish, but this was next level.” Learning about Elon Dining’s community partnerships was also a highlight of the dinner. “I appreciate an organic, locally sourced
“I appreciate an organic, locally sourced meal that really does benefit the world and community. I like the idea of supporting local businesses and not using a lot of greenhouse gases to deliver my food. It makes me happier knowing that.” — Daniela Nasser ’20
meal that really does benefit the world and community,” Nasser says. “I like the idea of supporting local businesses and not using a lot of greenhouse gases to deliver my food. It makes me happier knowing that.” Elon Dining is committed to supporting local farmers and businesses. Preference is placed on purchasing food grown within a 250-mile radius of Elon whenever possible. In the spring, Elon Dining will begin sourcing some of its produce from Loy Farm, Elon’s sustainable farm that houses the Elon Environmental Center. Last year, Elon Dining brought a cow from Carolina Culture, a Bahama, North Carolina-based company that specializes in artisan yogurt, kefir and smoothies, to campus. Students were able to interact with the cow and take photos outside of Lakeside Dining Hall — an opportunity to learn about where the yogurt offered in the dining halls comes from. “Carolina Culture is a small business that we found through our local produce company,” Thompson says. “And just with our partnership alone, the owner was able to grow her business.” From the quality of the food to the importance of customer opinions, the dining hall experience has definitely evolved since Tisha Davidson ’96, Elon Dining’s director of operations, was a student at Elon. At the time, there were two dining halls, Harden and McEwen, and both were set up like a cafeteria with limited food choices — usually hot dogs and hamburgers — on the weekends. “We didn’t think about where the food we were eating was coming from,” Davidson says. “It was a filler. Now, when you are in a dining hall, it’s an actual experience.” While hamburgers, made from a blend of grassfed beef and plant-based protein, are definitely still a dining hall option, the range of choices available to students continues to expand. Food stations that include rotisserie meats, made-to-order pasta or omelets, homestyle foods, vegetarian and vegan options, or international cuisine are popular. It is not unusual to see an area restaurant take over a food station a few times a year in order to showcase local fare. Elon Dining’s chefs also create special menus centered on dishes they love that they feature at a chef ’s table on occasion. Last year, Vetter created a station with three different nut butters and homemade jams that he served up on bread made locally. “They’re not just plopping food on your plate and sending you out the door,” Davidson says. “It gives the chefs an opportunity to shine and the students a chance to try something that’s outside the box.”
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From the ARCHIVES
making MAKING film FILM history HISTORY Remembering Hollywood actor, director and producer Martin Ritt ’34, whose films often touched on the social issues of the day BY OLIVER FISCHER ’20
{ Actress Jane Fonda and film director Martin Ritt ’34 during the filming of “Stanley & Iris” }
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artin ritt ’34 came to Elon College in the early 1930s with two goals in mind: play football and become a teacher. But shortly after arriving on campus, he gave theater a try, awakening a new passion he fueled by becoming active in Elon’s drama department. “Whatever kind of theatrical production was going on, I’d hang around,” Ritt said in a 1983 issue of The Magazine of Elon. Despite his interest in theater, Ritt went on to study law at St. John’s University in his hometown of New York City. He never completed his Elon degree, although he returned to Elon to receive an honorary degree in 1968. His passion for theater followed him to St. John’s, where the drama coach talked him into playing a role for the school production of “Porgy and Bess.” Ritt went on to participate in several more college plays before leaving school and jumping head-first into the entertainment industry. He soon became involved with the
New York City theater scene where he met a young director, Elia Kazan, part of The Group Theatre collective. Kazan cast Ritt in a leading role for “Golden Boy” after working as an understudy for a summer. “New York is the opinion maker of the country,” Ritt said in a 1984 interview with The Pendulum. “Most of the good writers gravitate there.” But no matter how good the writers were, they could not write themselves out of their financial situation. It was the late 1930s and many in the entertainment industry struggled to find jobs during the Great Depression. It was during this time that many writers, actors and producers became influenced by Marxist principles. As the son of Jewish immigrants, Ritt always sympathized with the underdog, and although he distanced himself from the Communist Party, he did find common
ground with its ideology. During World War II, Ritt served in the U.S. Air Force for four years but never stopped acting and directing. He directed a production of Sidney Kingsley’s play “Yellow Jacket,” while also acting in the Air Force Broadway play “Winged Victory.” By 1952, Ritt was acting and directing live television plays, but like many contemporaries who shared his views on social issues, he was blacklisted as part of the campaign led by U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy to eradicate those with communist leanings from films and entertainment. As a result, his contract with CBS was terminated, and he was out of work for years during the Red Scare era. Ritt was accused of directing a show for a trade union, and a Syracuse grocer accused him of donating money to communist China. “I was never subpoenaed before the House Un-American Activities Committee or named a Communist sympathizer,” Ritt said in a 1984 article in The Pendulum.
FROM THE ARCHIVES
the spy who came in from the cold { Below: Martin Ritt ’34, far left, with Walter Latham ’34, far right, and Latham’s daughter, Lou, and actor Fredric March during the filming of the movie “Hombre.” Above: Ritt directing a scene from the movie. }
HUD
SOUNDER “No one had any concrete evidence. People were being tried and convicted with no legal base.” Thanks to the connections he had established in the industry, things started to look up for Ritt in 1957 when producer David Susskind asked him to direct the full-length film “Edge of The City,” which followed the relationship between a black man and a white man over the span of 28 days. “It was a double gamble because I was on the blacklist and I had never directed a film before,” Ritt said in the 1984 Pendulum article. The film was a success. In the years that followed, he worked on many other successful films including “The Long Hot Summer,” “Sounder,” “The Front,” “Norma Rae” and “Hud,” which earned him an Academy Award nomination in 1963.
Fellow alumnus Walter C. Latham ’34 visited Ritt in California on several occasions, including while Ritt was filming “Hombre” at the 20th Century Fox movie studio in 1966. The two had played football and boxed together during their time at Elon and kept in touch throughout the years. In one of the many letters the two men exchanged, Ritt explains how his film “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold” had opened to “critical success,” something that pleased him greatly. “My father was proud that his Elon College friend had achieved such success,” says Latham’s son, Trustee Emeritus Bryan Latham, adding that his father had great respect for Ritt’s work and considered him a “director’s director.” Ritt often referred to his films as “human dramas” because he liked to focus on the motivations and social constructs that led to the development of everyday working men and women who often served as the main characters in his stories. Movie critic Roger Ebert once wrote that Ritt’s films “almost always explored social issues close to his heart. He made comedies and thrillers and melodramas, but his surest touch was for movies about little people who went up against the system.” This focus earned him distinction inside and outside the industry, including the Bill of Rights Award from the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California in the 1980s. When Ritt died in December 1990 with 26 movie credits under his belt, The New York Times summarized his career well: “Most of his films were quietly moving studies of human relationships, punctuated by periodic hits that gave the husky, tough-minded director freedom to deal with social issues and the alienation of outsiders.”
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A DRIVE FOR
Gia Gaster’s determination has led her from driving a school bus to obtaining a law degree. BY ERIC TOWNSEND
O
n the chilly Monday morning after her law school graduation, Gia Gaster L’18 walked up to bus No. 1438 in a Guilford County Schools parking lot, wearing the black robe and purple hood she donned at Commencement. She then climbed the steps of the small bus, marked with the familiar blue-and-white wheelchair logo, and settled into the driver’s seat, gripping the wheel with both hands. No. 1438 was the last bus Gaster drove for the school district. When she exited the bus one final time, her thoughts were already on the bar exam preparation that awaited. Later that day, she shared a photo of her diploma in a popular Facebook group, where she recapped her journey and offered advice. “Never give up on your dreams. It’s never too late, or too early, or too anything. Always live for your dreams, and for each other. We are all we’ve got!!’’
Twenty thousand people liked the post. It was a moment Gaster never thought she would savor. After all, she barely graduated high school. It’s not that she disliked learning — on the contrary, she enjoyed poetry and she discovered a love for history — but printed words didn’t make much sense. Like many teenagers, Gaster recalls,
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{ Gia Gaster L’18 was sworn in to practice law in May. }
she never sought help. She was embarrassed. Nor did anyone ever stop to ask if she might need a hand. No one seemed to notice her struggles. Gaster drifted through school in the 1980s thinking herself “stupid.” Three decades later, Gaster would swear an oath to join the legal profession in North Carolina. She no longer considers herself stupid. She instead lives with one goal as an Elon Law graduate: “I want to help other people find their own voices.”
A DRIVE FOR SUCCESS
I learned so much about resilience and getting knocked down, only to get back up. Born in Asheboro, North Carolina, to a mother who ran a daycare and a father who worked as a route salesman for a magazine publisher, Gaster moved to Greensboro as a toddler. The only child kept largely to herself but enjoyed music and writing poetry. She found the latter therapeutic as she struggled in the classroom. In high school, Gaster would “pray that I wouldn’t get called on because I didn’t do the homework.” She later took courses that emphasized composition, not comprehension, at Guilford Technical Community College but fell short of earning an associate degree in the early 1990s. Newly wed to a high school sweetheart, Gaster instead accepted a job offer to drive buses for Guilford County Schools. She said she was on the verge of quitting when a transportation supervisor offered her a route for special needs children. It was a natural fit that lasted two decades, through the birth of a son and an amicable split with her husband. “They are some of the most determined, strong-willed humans on earth,” Gaster says. “I learned so much about resilience and getting knocked down, only to get back up.” Gaster’s career driving buses coincided with the rise of the internet. At night, after work, she would log on to chat forums and other websites where she discovered others like herself. People who were thoughtful. People who wanted to learn. People who simply couldn’t understand a printed page. She determined her struggle had a name: dyslexia. Over time, without a formal diagnosis, she gleaned tips that helped her develop her own strategies for reading. She’ll be the first to tell you she doesn’t read fast. But she does read thoroughly. And she kept writing poems. Hundreds of them. All the while, she saw the struggles of the students she saw every day on the bus — immigrants who couldn’t speak English, victims of domestic violence, children bullied because of their differences. “She loved driving special needs kids,” recalls her son, Nicolas, today a sergeant in the U.S. Army. “Some weren’t in the best situations with parents who weren’t always responsible, but when they were on her bus? They were taken care of.” If the children she drove to school could persevere, why couldn’t she?
By 2012, Gaster was ready to reconsider a college degree. She typed “Guilford Tech” into a search bar and accidentally clicked on a “Guilford College” link where the college’s website was highlighting its peace and conflict studies program. She never looked back. The former bus driver returned to school and immediately identified academic resources to help students succeed. She soon made the Dean’s List and graduated in 2016 from Guilford College near the top of her class. She already knew she needed a law degree to advocate in a way she believed would make the greatest impact on others. Attending Elon Law wasn’t without its struggles. It took Gaster two trimesters to begin to fully grasp some legal concepts and to start mastering the basics of legal writing. Her perseverance is what most impressed those who tutored her. “It was intellectual honesty. It was personal honesty. There was no blaming others, no denial, no resistance,” says Chuck Splawn, assistant director of the Office of Academic Success. “That is Gia. It’s personal responsibility. It’s ‘what can I do to get better?’” Gaster graduated in December in the top half of the class. She completed a residency-in-practice with Elon Law’s Humanitarian Immigration Law Clinic and traveled to Manhattan with classmates as part of a U.N. conference on refugees. Then she cut back on social media, spent hours every day in the law library and studied for the February North Carolina Bar Exam. She passed the bar exam on her first attempt last winter and was officially licensed to practice law during a May 23 swearing-in ceremony in Greensboro. She recently joined the Joel G. Bowden Law Office in Guilford County. “I think she’ll end up doing something with either disability law or immigration, but I think she might one day also think about becoming a politician and making a difference within the system,” says Beth Kincaid, Gaster’s fiancé. “She’s eager to find a mentor to teach her how to get there.”
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Life-changing philanthropy
{ Trustee Ed Doherty P’07, longtime sponsor of the annual Evening for Elon event in New York, takes a selfie with Dora Muratovic ’19 during the Sept. 5 event in Lincoln Center. }
Carrying a powerful message about the importance of philanthropy, President Connie Ledoux Book took the Elon LEADS Campaign on the road this fall, inspiring the Elon community to join the effort to raise a historic $250 million to fuel the university’s upward trajectory. Close to 2,000 alumni, parents and friends attended campaign launch events in New York, Washington, D.C., Boston and Charlotte, where they learned more about the campaign’s top funding priorities and how everyone can make an impact with their gifts. Each launch event featured vocal performances from alumni or students, as well as inspiring messages from the president and others about the impact of the campaign on the university’s future. To date, donors have contributed $176 million toward the $250 million goal for Elon LEADS. The campaign seeks new investments in scholarships, to increase access to engaged learning programs known as the Elon Experiences, to support faculty and staff mentors, and to continue developing the university’s iconic campus. “The Elon LEADS Campaign represents a historic opportunity to solidify our leadership position in higher education and to drive our university ever higher to new levels of national prominence,” Book said. “I am asking each of you to lead by committing yourself to the success of this campaign and to our common goal of preparing future leaders who will make our world a better place. Elon leads as an institution because we lead as individuals.” Jim Piatt, vice president for university advancement, shared the importance of annual giving in the campaign, noting that 40 percent of the scholarship goal will come from annual gifts alone. He challenged alumni in each city to set new records in annual giving. “Elon’s greatest investment is exactly what it should be — in its people,” Piatt said. “This campaign is inspiring unprecedented growth in scholarships to support our efforts in assembling the finest community of learners who will become the graduates our world needs.”
Read on to experience the impact of Elon LEADS and how
the campaign is bringing our community together around one common goal — to provide a life-changing experience for students who will lead our future.
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ELON LEADS ON THE ROAD
Lincoln Center, New York
All gifts to the university for any purpose count as part of the Elon LEADS Campaign. Visit elonleads.com to learn more about the campaign and how you can make an impact through your gifts.
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The Newseum, Washington D.C. “Elon leads as an institution because we lead as individuals.” — President Connie Ledoux Book
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ELON LEADS ON THE ROAD
Museum of Science, Boston “It has been a privilege to be part of the Elon family and to watch the rise of our incredible university. I support Elon because I believe that education is vital to success.” — Dave Porter p’11 p’19, Elon trustee and Elon LEADS campaign chair
Upcoming Elon LEADS events
DEC. 4
Raleigh, N.C.
The Pavilion at The Angus Barn
MARCH 18
Baltimore
American Visionary Art Museum
MARCH 31
Tampa
Armature Works
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Beyond the Numbers: Your Impact
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student’s time at elon begins and ends with two simple gifts: an acorn at New Student Convocation, representing their starting point, and an oak sapling at Commencement to symbolize their intellectual and personal growth. Wherever those saplings are planted, the roots remain firmly a part of the Elon community. Our community is built on connections stretching beyond the alumni body to include students and their families, faculty and staff, friends, neighbors, corporations and nonprofit partners. The Elon LEADS Campaign will be successful because of the impact of all of these community members whose gifts ensure the continued growth and vibrancy of Elon.
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“The foundation we gained at Elon has helped us achieve success, live a life we love, and build the community we call home.” — Jaime Roberts Kilby ’05 and Justin Kilby G’08, support Elon’s Greatest Needs
Allison Fox ’15 opens doors for women As a banking industry manager for Wells Fargo Securities, Allison Fox ’15 sometimes walks into corporate meetings and finds that she is one of the few women in the room. To change that dynamic, she decided to invest in future women business leaders by endowing the Allison B. Fox ’15 Elon Engagement Scholarship. The scholarship will provide support to women studying in the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business, with first preference for women from underrepresented backgrounds. “Diversity is key for innovation in the workplace; however, women are still underrepresented in business leadership positions,” she says. “I want to encourage more women to pursue education and careers in business.”
To date, donors have contributed $176 million toward the $250 million goal for Elon LEADS. ‘Education is our most important resource’ Rich Johnson ’87 p’17 was shaped by his Elon experience, and he and wife Laurie p’17 witnessed the powerful effect of an Elon education on their daughter, Grace ’17. It’s no wonder, then, that these experiences have influenced the family’s philanthropy. To make sure future Elon students enjoy the same experiences that enriched Grace’s life, the Johnsons made a major gift to support The Inn at Elon and create the Richard S. and Laurie L. Johnson Elon Engagement Scholarship. The Inn at Elon, an 80-room hotel scheduled to open in early 2020, will be an endowmentowned asset of the university, with profits going toward financial aid and scholarships like the one the Johnsons are providing. “The idea of having profits from The Inn go into the endowment to fund scholarships for students who need them is a win all the way around,” Rich says. “I think education is our most important resource.”
➤ View
a searchable honor roll of 2018–19 donors at elon.edu/honorroll
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2018–19 Participation by the Numbers 26% Alumni Participation 7,995 Alumni Donors 780 Donors from Elon’s Class of 2019
80% Faculty/Staff Participation
2,390 Donors to Athletics 3,300 Parent and Grandparent Donors $6.5 Million from Planned Giving 206K Square Feet in New Facilities Dedicated
WHY DO YOU SUPPORT ELON?
“In honor of my children, who are beginning their educational journey. I want to make sure Elon is around for generations to come.” — Jill Medhus DeLorenzo ’09, contributes to Elon’s Greatest Needs, Elon Student Scholarships and Project Pericles
“To support the organization that sparked my passion for shining a light in dark places.” — Alex Rose ’14, contributes to Phoenix 14 News/Elon Local News
Go to elonleads.com to learn more about the campaign and how you can make an impact. Elon leads through you!
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The Impact of Loyal Donors Elon Trustee Bill Smith and his wife, Sue, are among the newest members of the Numen Lumen Society, which honors donors who have given $1 million or more in cumulative gifts to the university. Devoted benefactors to Elon, the Smiths have supported the Koury Business Center and the Numen Lumen Pavilion, home of the Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life. Most recently, the Smiths created the Bill and Sue Smith Odyssey Program Scholarship. “The future of our country depends on how successful we are in providing access to a quality education for all,” says Bill. “Having seen the educational experience that Elon offers and ensuring that the best and the brightest have access to it, that’s the best investment you can make.”
“Elon prepared me to be a leader by exposing me to internships and other professional experiences that allowed me to realize my dream of working at Univision. … I am proud to say that I’m an Elon graduate and a donor.” — Maity Interiano ’07, contributes to the Elon Latinx/ Hispanic Alumni Network
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Class of 2019 – 780 Young Philanthropists “I chose to give back to the School of Communications because of how much time I put into the school and how much time the school put into me. I grew as a person, a student and as a journalist there.” – Matt Holzapfel ’19, Senior Class Giving Committee member
Giving back to Elon is how Elizabeth Ainger ’19 shows gratitude to the faculty, staff and departments that shaped her into the person she is today. “I made my recurring gift to the Department of History and Geography because I walked away from my history classes as a scholar,” says Elizabeth, who co-chaired the 2018–19 Senior Class Giving Committee. “I learned valuable skills about asking questions, embracing interpretations and communicating my ideas. “Giving is not about the amount you are able to give but about coming together for a cause. I was honored to serve the Elon community and bring together the Class of 2019 for a cause that meant the world to each and every one of us.”
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An economics and finance double major, Regina Mendoza ’19 gave to the Love School of Business and the Elon Latinx/Hispanic Alumni Network. Her mentor, Martha and Spencer Love Term Professor and Professor of Economics Steve DeLoach, has a recurring gift to support the Department of Economics.
“Giving is what we do at Elon. Whether we give through a service project or invest financially, giving is a value that binds us as a distinctive community where teaching, learning and service are intertwined in so many meaningful ways.” — Kenn Gaither, associate dean of the School of Communications and professor of strategic communications
80% Faculty/Staff Giving Participation Associate Director of Institutional Research Rhonda Andrews Belton ’87 g’92 p’04 p’13 values the growth and development that occurs in an educational environment. “I love to sit through each New Student Convocation and watch the new class walk through the faculty lines excited to see what Elon has to offer them,” she says. “And I love to sit through graduation each year and watch the exiting senior class walk through the same faculty lines to see what they, with Elon’s help, can offer the world.” Rhonda also supports the Elon Academy because of the opportunities it offers to local talented first-generation students and/ or those with financial need. ➤ View
a searchable honor roll of 2018–19 donors at elon.edu/honorroll
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For Rich ’97 and Jenn ’99 Nowalk, Elon was a special place, one that set a strong foundation and springboard for their lives. “Our entire Elon journey — the people we met, the experiences in and out of the classroom we had and the confidence instilled — shaped us into the friends, business professionals, parents and community leaders we are today,” says Rich, who, together with Jenn, co-chairs the Elon LEADS Raleigh Regional Campaign Committee and belongs to the Phoenix Club Advisory Board. “When something is that impactful on your life, it’s only natural to want to give back.”
$5 Million+ for Elon Athletics “I am getting a world-class education at Elon from professors, administrators and coaches who truly care about me and who push me to be the best I can be. For that, I am truly grateful.” — Jaylan Thomas ’22, Phoenix Club scholarship recipient
“Being a member of the Elon women’s soccer program in the late ’90s impacted me in the most profound ways. I will always give back!” —Jen Brand Mann ’00, supports women’s soccer
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$6.5 Million from Planned Gifts Lee C. Leckie ’98 describes his time at Elon as transformational. “Not only is it where I got my degree, it was my one-stop shop,” he says. “I found my internship with the state of North Carolina as well as my first and only job through Elon’s Career Services. That first job was with Bank of America, then NationsBank, and I’m still there some 21 years later.” Lee sits on the Elon Alumni Board and the Elon LEADS Charlotte Regional Campaign Committee. He considers these roles as opportunities to help Elon thrive in the future so other students have the same great experience he did. That’s why he and wife Angie Leckie have worked to solidify a long-term commitment to Elon through a planned gift to endow a Global Engagement Scholarship. “Study abroad wasn’t necessarily an option for me when I was in school because of financial considerations, and I’d love it if we could make it so a future Elon student won’t have that as an obstacle,” Lee says.
“I have been blessed in my life, and I feel it’s up to me to give back and help those who need it. Elon’s focus on scholarships will pay big dividends for the university and for society in the future.” — Elon Trustee Chris Baker g’88, formalized an Elon Engagement Scholarship to be funded through her estate
2018–19 PLANNED GIVING HIGHLIGHTS: Rich Salvatierra ’95 and Julie Salvatierra made a bequest to endow a Global Engagement Scholarship. Sam Troy ’67 made a bequest for future Troy Scholars in the Love School of Business. Jo Watts Williams ’55, vice president emerita (pictured right), created a Global Engagement Scholarship to be endowed through her estate. The scholarship will support members of the Elon men’s and women’s basketball teams who need assistance to travel abroad.
➤ View
a searchable honor roll of 2018–19 donors at elon.edu/honorroll
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3,300 Parent and Grandparent Donors Attending Elon University has been a transformative experience for Rachel Brown ’20. “She has received an excellent education and been blessed with many opportunities to lead, grow and develop,” says her mom, Toni Brown p’20. “For that, we are grateful. We commend Elon for its commitment to diversity and inclusion, and we are pleased to donate so that students from all socioeconomic backgrounds can experience all that Elon has to offer.” Toni and husband Michael Brown p’20, who serve as the 2019-20 Parents Council chairs, have supported Elon’s Greatest Needs in the past and say they will continue to do so. During fall 2018, the couple had the opportunity to travel to Denmark to visit Rachel while she was studying in Copenhagen. “We observed firsthand the positive impact that experience had on her,” Michael says. “As a result, we decided to establish a Global Studies Endowed Scholarship to provide financial assistance to students who desire to pursue global engagement opportunities abroad or in the United States.”
“Listening to my son [Matthew Rubloff ’22] on WSOE makes me so happy. Through this creative outlet made possible by the ‘you can try/do anything you want to’ atmosphere at Elon, he is finding his voice.” —Nikki Korsen p’22, contributes to WSOE radio 46 of
KOENIGSBERGER LEARNING CENTER For Gail Miller p’19, Richard Morris p’19 and their son, James ’19, a first impression of Elon would shape four years of their lives. “My son has a learning disability and we knew that would be a factor in his college experience,” Gail said. “When we arrived, we went directly to the Office of Disabilities Resources before taking the official tour to see if the college had the right type of support for him. They were all so welcoming. They answered all of his questions and really made the choice of Elon very easy.” That first impression inspired the family to serve future students through a generous endowment for the Koenigsberger Learning Center. The MorrisMiller Endowment for Learning generates funds to obtain or update assistive technology in the KLC.
KLC’s first year • 4,500+ tutoring sessions • 4,000+ academic visits • 1,000+ students registered for disability services • 2,600+ tests and exams proctored on site • 50 peer academic coaches delivered 400 mentoring sessions
Y O U R I M PA C T
206,000 Square Feet of New Campus Facilities Dedicated Three new campus spaces were dedicated in the 2018-19 academic year: the Koenigsberger Learning Center, Schar Center and Richard W. Sankey Hall. Built with generous support from the entire Elon family and committed corporate and foundation partners, these facilities have changed the game in ways that benefit every Elon student.
Schar Center was named by Dwight and Martha Schar ’ ’ as a venue for major events and home to Phoenix basketball and volleyball. Lead gifts from nearly Elon families, individuals and corporations named spaces within the ,-square-foot facility, including Robertson Court, the Maurice J. Koury Practice Facility and the Robert V. Gill Room.
Richard W. Sankey Hall was named by Jim and Beth Sankey ’ ’ ’ in memory of Jim’s father, a business leader from Canton, Ohio. At , square feet, Sankey Hall houses the Design Thinking Center; the Chandler Family Professional Sales Center; the Doherty Center for Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship; and the Financial Education Center.
Funded by a generous gift from Robert and Dilek Koenigsberger p’17, parents of Amber ’17, the KLC was inspired by the family’s desire to enable every student to take full advantage of all that Elon has to offer. “We are honored to partner with Elon to ensure that engaged learning opportunities can be anchored in one centralized center with optimal access for the entire Elon community,” Robert said. The Cannon Foundation contributed funding to complete construction of the Koenigsberger Learning Center, a 16,000-square-foot facility that is the central location for academic advising, disabilities resources and learning assistance. ➤ View
a searchable honor roll of 2018–19 donors at elon.edu/honorroll
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Thank You! T
here’s strength in numbers. Since the start of the Elon LEADS Campaign, more than 23,000 donors have joined the still-growing number of individuals and families from all walks of life who are giving at every level to ensure that Elon students become the graduates our world needs. Your support counts for more than you can possibly imagine. Gifts don’t arrive at Elon and stop here. They keep Elon University moving forward, in a nearly endless chain of advancements as Elon graduates take what they learned here and use it to confront global challenges and create change for the common good. Numbers are useful in demonstrating growth and success in our fundraising, but the true power behind the numbers is the world of people whose lives are changed forever by an Elon graduate. Our highest campaign priorities are designed with that in mind. Investments in those priorities — through increasing access to scholarships and high-impact learning experiences, adding resources for innovation and mentoring, and building a vibrant academic and social environment where lifelong relationships can take root and flourish — will produce graduates who can lead with intelligence and compassion. Elon LEADS through you — the heroes who are preparing our students for the work that lies before them. From my heart, I thank you.
Connie Ledoux Book President
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“I can see in the acorn the oak tree.” —Maya Angelou
“I’m entering my senior year as the managing editor of The Pendulum, and I hope to pursue a career in investigative journalism and work in conflict zones around the world.” —Anton Delgado ’20, journalism major with minors in peace and conflict studies, Middle East studies and Jewish studies ➤ View
a searchable honor roll of 2018–19 donors at elon.edu/honorroll
FALL
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POINT of VIEW
Reframing and Redefining Poverty BY JOSEPHINE GARDNER ’17
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t was the summer of 2017 and after 20 hours of flying, I landed at Ethiopia’s Bole International Airport in the capital city of Addis Ababa, where I was born. Though I had completed this journey before, this trip was different. This time, I was not here to study abroad or to conduct research. This time, I was here chasing social change. I had just graduated from Elon and received the Samuel Huntington Public Service Award, a yearlong international fellowship that allowed me to work and live in Ethiopia. For decades, my country’s stories have been told and retold in the media through distorted lenses and old narratives, thanks in part to celebrities like Angelina Jolie (who adopted an Ethiopian orphan), Irish singer Bob Geldof (who galvanized a social movement about starving children through a song, “Do They Know It’s Christmas”) and others who have focused on Band-Aid solutions to deep-rooted problems. If you have given to a charity that promises to feed people in my country, you have contributed to and perpetuated a stereotype and a single narrative of Ethiopia as a poverty-stricken and famine-driven country. Without knowing it, you have become part of the problem. This very notion has been the driving force of my professional career. My passion for social change was fueled by my desire to break the perception of Ethiopia, challenge its status quo and rethink and reframe the challenge my home country is facing. Through my nonprofit, Yenegat Chora, I’ve been able to create a sustainable solution, one that deviates from the traditional form of aid in the form of handouts. I believe empowering community leaders to be self-sufficient is a critical aspect of implementing sustainable solutions to extreme poverty. In Addis Ababa, unemployment is a significant problem — roughly 81 percent of the population lives on less than a dollar per day. In my undergraduate research, which examined urban poverty, I discovered that impoverished women lack access to adequate education and employment opportunities. In many parts of rural Ethiopia, food insecurity is a structural problem, caused mainly by geography, socio-economic status and chronic dependency on food aid. Add unpredictable natural disasters to the mix and you have
an even greater crisis. In Ethiopia, 82 percent of the population lives in rural areas where they are more susceptible to natural disasters. According to a recent United Nations report, climate change will have devastating consequences for people in poverty. Studies show developing countries will bear an estimated 75 to 80 percent of the costs of climate change. This is an astonishing statistic. Failure to take action inflicts injustice on the poor. Addressing the world’s greatest and most complicated problems will require different approaches, input from various sectors and partnerships to systematically eradicate them. I believe lasting solutions to extreme poverty must evolve from the communities being affected, by enabling community leaders to create, manage and invest in and grow businesses. My organization, Yenegat Chora, helps women achieve self-sufficiency through vocational training, teaching them how to weave and helping them launch their businesses. This approach is an integral part of promoting sustainable development. My work in Ethiopia mobilizes local communities, particularly women, to produce products, directly receive income and increase their earning power, making them change agents instead of beneficiaries of aid. When individuals are empowered, they then empower communities. My fundamental belief has always been to solve African problems with African solutions. Instead of giving handouts and solving poverty-related issues with temporary solutions, we need sustainable alternatives. We need a new approach that is environmentally, socially and economically sustainable and that offers culturally informed and community-based interventions. Some efforts are already underway, but if we truly care about social justice, we need to be empathetic to the problem. We need to create solutions that address the root causes. We need to uncover the complexity of the problem and use a human-centered design approach. This requires us to immerse ourselves within poverty-stricken communities to understand the problem through the perspectives of its inhabitants and co-create solutions with community members. From a social justice perspective, society has the moral and ethical obligation to help those trapped in extreme poverty because they have been denied their fundamental rights as laid out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The old narratives have plagued Ethiopia and stunted its development. We need solutions that disrupt the status quo.
A public health studies major, Josephine Gardner ’17 is the founder of Yenegat Chora, a humanitarian and development-oriented nonprofit based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, that seeks to change the lives of single mothers and children. For more information, visit yenegatchora.org.
ALUMNI ACTION
Learning: a lifelong process Dear alumni,
Elon is investing even more in its alumni — starting now. That includes:
eeing the great strides Elon is making in the world of professional development resources for alumni, I start my term as Elon Alumni Board president with great excitement.
• LifelongElon.com, a dynamic new professional
S
Elon prides itself on developing the whole student and preparing leaders the world needs. As alumni, we know that receiving a diploma is just the beginning of this development. Learning is a lifelong process, and Elon is more prepared than ever to serve as a resource we can rely on every step of the way. That goes for alumni who leave Elon with a clear vision for their career path, as well as those who take some time after college to find the best career fit for them. Either way, it is not uncommon to eventually find yourself at a crossroads professionally. Whether you want to look for new job opportunities, learn how to negotiate being paid what you are worth or simply expand your network, Elon can provide the tools to help you grow and succeed.
development network designed to help alumni grow as learners, mentors and connectors. The platform includes a job board, opportunities to find and serve as a mentor, a directory of users and more.
• A series of free professional development webinars
on a range of topics that serve alumni at every stage of their careers.
• Professional development and networking
events hosted around the nation by Elon’s regional alumni chapters.
I encourage you to explore these options as you think about your professional future. Whether it has been a few months or many years since you crossed the Commencement stage, Elon remains a steady beacon ready to provide the guidance and support you seek. Kyriakos Pagonis ’99 President, Elon Alumni Board
EBAN Summit
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embers of the Elon Black Alumni Network met on campus for their annual alumni summit in September. Throughout the day, alumni speakers, student panelists and faculty members discussed ways for alumni to get more involved with the university, with one another and with current and prospective students. Alumni attendees had the opportunity to provide feedback on future EBAN and university initiatives.
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ALUMNI ACTION
Welcome to the City Over the past few months, Elon’s alumni chapters have hosted more than 30 events as part of the Welcome to the City series. Hosted in regions across the country and in London, these socials welcomed 2019 graduates and recently relocated alumni to a variety of cities. Thank you to everyone who attended Welcome to the City this fall, and we look forward to seeing you at the next event in your region! { Denver }
{ Richmond }
{ Triangle }
{ Charlotte }
» On Aug. 8, Elon alumni in New York City pitched
in to help clean and maintain East Village’s Tompkins Square Park. Organized by Andrew Bronsteen ’13, the group included alumni Inkoo Kang ’11, Kevin Amaya ’15 and Ripton { Tampa Bay } Rosen ’16. The group spent the early afternoon weeding, mulching and preserving the park’s gardens.
» The Charlotte alumni chapter hosted its annual
family picnic on Aug. 11. Alumni in attendance enjoyed grilling, yard games and networking with other Elon families.
» On Sept. 14, Elon alumni in Richmond came
together to tailgate with Elon Athletics before the Phoenix defeated the University of Richmond Spiders.
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{ New York City }
» Elon alumni, friends and families enjoyed a
tailgate with President Connie Ledoux Book in Winston-Salem, N.C., before the Phoenix took on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons on Sept. 21.
ALUMNI ACTION
Welcome to the alumni family, Class of 2019!
Y
our Elon experience didn’t end when you walked across the stage at graduation. Now that you are an alum, Elon will continue to serve you in many ways — through job opportunities from fellow alumni, chapter events in your area, professional development opportunities and Homecoming & Reunion Weekend. Help Elon keep you informed by updating your contact information. Visit elon.edu/alumniupdate to ensure you receive information that is relevant to you.
TO FIND A CHAPTER NEAR YOU, GO TO ELON.EDU/ALUMNI
ELON ALUMNI AT THE BALLPARK { Washington, D.C. }
This summer, the Elon Alumni at the Ballpark series debuted with a home run. Elon alumni, friends and families in more than cities enjoyed a day at the ballpark. Thank you to everyone who came out for this exciting game day experience! { Charlotte }
53
ALUMNI ACTION
JOIN ELON’S NEW
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT NETWORK A
lumni and other members of the Elon community can now join LifelongElon, a dynamic new professional development network designed just for you. Join the platform today at lifelongelon.com and access resources that will help you grow as a learner, mentor and connector: Expand your professional network Find or serve as a mentor Engage in industry- and affinity-specific groups Locate new job opportunities and potential hires Access professional development resources and events And much more!
I am thrilled for the launch of the LifelongElon program. I look forward to leveraging LifelongElon’s mentorship program to not only grow as a professional, but help others grow as well. I firmly believe that this program embodies the idea that an Elon education extends beyond your four years on campus, and that the Elon community is one that will be with you for a lifetime.” — Drew Adair ’18 Start tapping into the benefits of the Elon community by visiting lifelongelon.com today!
Enjoy the best of Elon in every season
2020 54 of
Don’t miss the 2020 Elon calendar featuring seasonal photos taken by members of the Elon community. Give to any program or fund by Dec. 3 and receive your calendar early! Your gift will also count toward the Elon LEADS Campaign.
elon.edu/calendargift
CLASS NOTES
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Woody A. Wall was inducted
into the 2019 North Carolina High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame in August for his work coaching men’s and women’s basketball, baseball and softball at Bethany High School and Rockingham County High School. Over his coaching career, he accumulated more than 1,100 wins and 29 conference titles. Woody lives in Reidsville.
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Larry Small is happy to
share that his Greensboro, N.C.-based company, Cranford Consulting Group, won the 2019 Turnaround Management Association’s Small Company Turnaround of the Year Award for bringing Union Metal Industries Corporation back to economic health. Cranford Consulting Group partnered with Dorset Partners to resurrect the 113-year-old company that manufactures steel and aluminum poles. There were more than 100 national and international companies and organizations that competed in that award category. Larry is excited to aid companies needing help and is thankful for receiving this recognition.
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The Rev. Kathy Harper has
been selected to provide prayer blankets and lap robes to cancer patients who are on Medicare at several Duke Health facilities in North Carolina. Kathy crochets afghans and sews fleece and flannel blankets that are later tied with a ribbon featuring a personal message of encouragement and love. Kathy says she does this as a form of pastoral care for those who need support during one of the most difficult times of their lives. “I want them to be warmed with love and know that someone they do not even
Arnold Robertson ’66 was awarded the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, North Carolina‘s highest civilian honor, during a surprise presentation at the Reidsville City Council meeting in April. Arnold was instrumental in launching a successful campaign to get the bond referendum passed that allowed the city to create Lake Reidsville recreational park. Over the years, he also has served on numerous city and charitable foundation boards for the benefit of Reidsville and its residents, including being chairman of the Rockingham County Development Association and the Rockingham/Caswell Salvation Army Board and president of the Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club. Now retired, Arnold worked for more than 40 years in the banking industry. He and wife Janie McIver Robertson ’68 live in Reidsville.
know cares for them,” she says. Kathy lives in Durham.
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Michael “Radar” Robinson
was named a Corning Distinguished Associate by Corning Optical Communications in June. The recognition ceremony took place at COC Headquarters in Hickory, N.C. He has worked with Corning as a global PEX champion for more than 20 years with extensive success in leadership development and performance excellence management as a Black Belt in Lean Six Sigma. Michael manages
the company’s global performance improvement efforts for 25,000 employees. He lives in Hickory with wife Nan Robinson.
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Aaron Chatkin is excited to announce he is retiring after spending 33 years in manufacturing operations finance. For the past 25 years, he served as controller for TE Connectivity. He and his wife, Dawn, live in Gastonia, N.C., and look forward to a future filled with friends, traveling, hiking and enjoying “every day being Saturday!”
elon.edu/classnotes
ALUMNI ALBUM
TURN YOURSELF IN! Help us keep you in touch with your Elon classmates. Michael "Radar" Robinson ’80 (center)
Jennifer McCumber Curtin ’98 & friends
Brad Pinkerton ’03, Emily Pinkerton ’06 & children 55
CLASS NOTES
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Jennifer McCumber Curtin
was one of five alumnae who successfully completed the 208-mile Blue Ridge Relay in September on the Red Hot Mamas team, which has been participating in the event for the past 10 years. The relay is one of the longest running relay races in the United States and takes place in the picturesque Blue Ridge and Black Mountains of Virginia and North Carolina. The team included Jackie Gardner Allred ’94, Melisha Hartman Chamra ’03, Delaine Fowler {DPT ’04} and Hollis Theard ’10. Jenn is director of marketing at Elon University. She lives in Burlington.
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David Brooks completed his doctoral degree in education at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill this summer with dual specialization in global education and social studies curriculum and instruction. He is proud to be in his 20th year working at Broughton Global Studies Magnet High School in Raleigh, N.C. David
serves as the coordinator of the international baccalaureate and global studies magnet programs at the school. He lives in Cary.
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Brad Pinkerton and Emily Pinkerton ’06 welcomed
son Shields Walker on 3/1/19. The family lives in Charlotte, N.C.
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This summer, Laura Bartholomay Childs, Maj. Geoff Childs ’06 and their
three children moved to Amman, Jordan, where Geoff works in security cooperation on behalf of the U.S. Army at the United States Embassy. They recently had the opportunity to represent Elon while visiting the Treasury at Petra. • Dan Hanson and Kristin Simonetti Hanson welcomed son Thomas John “TJ” on 6/4/19. Dan is a change management lead for Under Armour and Kristin is a writer for Johns Hopkins University and Medicine. They live in Baltimore.
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Andrew Iszard and Ashley
Slaughter were married 5/25/19. Alumni in attendance included Tom Halloran, Darren Lafrenier, Ashley Lawson, Press Miller, Ethan Bagen ’08, Brett Schaffer ’08, Brad Whitt ’08, James Williams ’09 and Michael Iszard ’11. Andrew is the director of leasing at Combined Properties. They live in Alexandria, Va. • Corey Loftus and Francesca McGory welcomed daughter Genevieve Victoria on 8/6/18. Corey is the chief three problems officer for hOM, a company he co-founded five years ago. The family lives in New York City. • Taylor Saxe and Taylor Dawson Saxe ’14 welcomed son Smith Christianson on 4/30/19. The family lives in Burlington, N.C. • Timothy Trouche is excited to announce he has opened his own walking tour company in Charleston, S.C., called Heart of Charleston Walking Tours. He is looking forward to connecting with other alumni who own businesses in the area.
ALUMNI ALBUM
Laura Bartholomay Childs ’05, Geoff Childs ’06 & children
Corey Loftus ’07 & daughter Genevieve Victoria 56 of
Dan Hanson ’05, Kristin Simonetti Hanson ’05 & son TJ
Taylor Saxe ’07, Taylor Dawson Saxe ’14 & son Smith Christianson
Andrew Iszard ’07, Ashley Slaughter & friends
Stefanie Meyers ’09
Jennifer Clancy Bambrick ’10 & Jeffrey Bambrick ’08
CLASS NOTES
08|
Justin Kilby {MBA} was
recognized on the 2019 Forbes “Best-in-State Wealth Advisors” list published in February. He is a senior financial advisor in Merrill Lynch’s Greensboro, N.C., office, where he works with high net worth individuals and families to serve their financial planning and wealth management needs. Justin has worked at Merrill Lynch for eight years. He and wife Jaime ’05 live in Greensboro. • Alexandra Flippinger Scovel and Edward Weaver were married 3/11/19 in Charleston, S.C. Alexandra earned her educational specialist degree from the University of South Carolina, where she works as an administrator. They live in Columbia.
09|
Stefanie Meyers was selected for the 2019 NYC Television Week’s 40 Under 40 Awards, which honor young professionals making waves in the media industry. Stephanie is the senior vice president of affiliate distribution at STARZ. In that role, she uses her in-depth understanding of the media industry and competitive television landscape to build a strategic vision to maximize STARZ’s subscriber and revenue growth. Stefanie lives in New York City with her partner, Trista Sordillo.
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Jennifer Clancy Bambrick
received her doctoral degree in urban literacy from The University of North Carolina at Charlotte in May. She and husband Jeffrey Bambrick ’08 live in Charlotte. • Alexa Milan Boschini and John Boschini {Law ’15} welcomed son Jack Robert on 7/7/19. Alexa is the assistant director of publications at Elon University and John is an attorney with the Ricci Law Firm. The family lives in Greensboro, N.C. • Drake Springer and Mattie Springer welcomed daughter Leila Madelyn on 8/15/19. Drake is the creative director for Stand Together. The family lives in Washington, D.C. • Jennine Strange and Stephen Dilger ’11 were married 5/3/19 in Durham, N.C. Alumni in attendance included Andy Rill ’09, Carrie Rill ’09, Mack Gilmor, Melissa Hunter, McNeill Kelley, Pat Kelley, Peyton Lea, John Maconi, Andrea March, Jonathan Rubongoya, Jackie Sapio, Jacquie Beliveau ’11, Clint Collins ’11, Veronica Day ’11, Brad Franks ’11, Ben Lunka ’11, Greg Mader ’11, Kevin Murray ’11,
A STREAMING
SUCCESS BY PATRICK WRIGHT
E
rin Barnett ’09 never expected her work to reach international audiences — she simply wanted a chance to do what she loved. “It was less about who would see it or how many people would see the things I made,” says the broadcast communications graduate. “I was just tickled and excited about the idea that I could make a living telling stories.” As it turns out, Barnett is now telling those stories to audiences around the globe. Her most recent project, “The Great Hack,” which Barnett co-wrote and co-edited, has been viewed in more than 100 countries. In July, Netflix released the documentary that examines the practice of harvesting and weaponizing data as it relates to the Cambridge Analytica/Facebook scandal that influenced the 2016 U.S. presidential election and British Brexit campaign. The film sheds light on the scandal through the personal stories of people connected to the controversy. Some of the documentary’s central figures include Cambridge Analytica employeeturned-whistleblower Brittany Kaiser; New York professor David Carroll, who sued Cambridge Analytica to gain access to the data the company had compiled on him; and British investigative journalist Carole Cadwalladr, who broke the story for The Observer. “It’s really important to understand that the Cambridge Analytica story actually points to this much bigger, more worrying story, which is that our personal data is out there and being used against us in ways that we don’t understand,” Cadwalladr explains in the gripping, 114-minute documentary. Barnett worked with Academy Awardnominated directors Karim Amer and Jehane Noujam on the project. “They sort of pitched me the idea of creating something that equipped society with the tools to have a conversation that we should be having, but previously didn’t know we should be having and didn’t know how to have,” Barnett says. Before trending on Netflix, “The Great Hack” received recognition at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, becoming one of 112 films selected from more than 14,000 submissions from around the world. Being featured at Sundance was a dream
{ Erin Barnett ’09, center, co-wrote & co-edited the documentary “The Great Hack.“ } come true for Barnett. She remembers attending the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in Durham, North Carolina, in the spring and talking with friends about how incredible it would be for her work to be shown at a festival of that caliber. “I think in a way it was sort of like an Elon dream realized being out at Sundance,” she says. Earlier in her career, Barnett received the firstever elondocs Emerging Documentarian Award in 2018. The award recognizes recent graduates who have excelled in the professional documentary field. She has also worked on other notable projects, including “Food Chains,” a documentary about agricultural labor in the United States; “Unseen Enemy,” a CNN documentary exploring global pandemics; and “Steve Jobs: the Man in the Machine,” a film by Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney. Barnett credits her time at Elon for the success she has already found in her profession. “It was a place where I got to think about and explore things about the world, and that informed how I navigated, and how I still do navigate, what I want my place in that world to be.” Barnett, who is now editing an HBO series about true crime author Michelle McNamara and her obsession with the Golden State Killer, compares her experience at Elon to bowling with bumpers. “You can’t really bowl a gutter ball because there are so many professors and students around you to help you get that strike,” she says.
57
CLASS NOTES
Several alumni worked together in September to promote literacy for children in Henderson County (N.C.) Public Schools. Thanks to grants from the Community Foundation of Henderson County and the St. James Charities Foundation, Flat Rock Playhouse employees were able to collaborate with the school system to write, cast and star in the original musical, “Letterland Alive!” The collaboration brought together alumni Lisa K. Bryant ’97, production artist director with Flat Rock Playhouse; John Bryant ’99, associate superintendent for Henderson schools; and Maddie Franke ’11, who directed the play based on Letterland, the phonics program that gives a character and backstory to every letter of the alphabet and that is used by the district’s 1,900 kindergartners and first graders. Molly McGowan Gorsuch ’10, public information officer for the school system, handled marketing for the partnership.
ALUMNI ALBUM
Alexa Milan Boschini ’10, John Boschini G’15 & son Jack Robert
Crystal Moyer Brown ’11, Robert Brown & friends 58 of
Jennine Strange Dilger ’10, Stephen Dilger ’11 & friends
James F. Knox ’11
Stephanie Olsen Azar ‘11 G’12, Stephen Azar ’12 & son Liam
Katie Gettier Orthaus ’11 & E.J. Orthaus
CLASS NOTES Melissa Turowski ’11, Daniel Watts ’11, James Carroll ’12, Drew Gardner ’12, Sarah Lunka ’12, Jordan Neuhauser ’12, Tony Pusateri ’12, Jahan Threeths ’12, Mark Berlin ’13, Gabe Latigue ’13, Jessica Roycroft ’13, Chris Thomas ’13 and Nick Butterly ’14.
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Stephanie Olsen Azar {Interactive Media ’12} and Stephen Azar ’12 welcomed
son William “Liam” Walter on 7/13/19. Stephanie is a project manager for Accella. The family lives in Baltimore. • Crystal Moyer and Robert Brown were married 5/19/19 at the Lightner Museum in St. Augustine, Fla., surrounded by many of their Elon friends. They were excited to visit campus for the 2019 Homecoming & Reunion Weekend as husband and wife. They live in Jacksonville. • Nicholas Dyer is part of the Comedy Central team nominated for a 2019 Emmy for Outstanding Interactive Program for their work on “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.” Nicholas is the director of news and stand-up at Comedy Central. He lives in New York City. • James F. Knox has joined South Carolina-based law firm Turner Padget to form its government relations and public policy service. As part of this team, James will provide legal aid such as strategy development, public policy advice, legislation and amendment drafting to local governmental entities, associations, nonprofits, industries and companies. He is based in the firm’s Columbia office. • Katie Gettier and E.J. Orthaus were married 8/31/19. She is an auto damage adjuster for Geico. They live in Las Vegas. • In May, Manisha Patel {Law} gave the 2019 Commencement address for the Department of Economics at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. She was also named the North Carolina Bar Association’s Young Lawyer Pro Bono Attorney of the Year at the 2019 NCBA Annual Meeting at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, N.C. She was selected for the award for her significant pro bono service through Legal Aid of North Carolina, the North Carolina Justice Center and the power of attorney clinics for immigrant residents, among other efforts. Manisha is based in Greensboro.
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Alexandra Solender Boyd
and Alex Boyd welcomed son James on 4/15/19. Alexandra is a physics teacher at Apex Friendship High School. The family lives in Cary, N.C. • Eileen Burkhardt and Caroline Walker were married //19 surrounded by many of their Elon friends. They will forever be thankful to Elon for bringing them together. Caroline is a manager of mobility partnerships at Gotcha and Eileen is an admissions administrator for Charleston School of Law. They live in Charleston, S.C. • Chelsea Gund and Jonathan Gerald were married //19 in Crete, Greece. Alumni in attendance included Aisha Mitchell, Chelsea Yarborough and Melissa Bing ’13. Chelsea and Jonathan live in Washington, D.C.
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Kristin Downs and Dan Kessler were married //
in Warrenton, Va. They met their sophomore year at Elon and were engaged after six years together. Alumni in the wedding party included Matthew Smith ’11, Jesse Clark, Braelinn Frank, Patrick Lynn and Jacklyn Pen. Alumni in attendance included Sara Krajewski ’12, David Belyea, Joe Kitzinger, Lindsay Richards, Kathleen Kindelan Slater, Krista Kuntz Girelli ’14, Ian Girelli ’14, Ted Otto ’14, Matthew Slater ’14 and Jessika Byrd Smith ’14. Kristin is an event manager for the American Political Science Association and Dan is a project engineer for Rand Construction Corporation. They live in Alexandria with their dog, Oliver, whom they adopted while at Elon. • Claire Gambrell and Robert Khachatryan were married // in Denver, where they live. Bridesmaids included Brittany Barbieri, Kara Johnson and Kayla Warfield. Claire is an alumni engagement coordinator at the University of Denver.
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Charitable Gift Annuities CAN PROVIDE INCOME FOR LIFE
a charitable gift annuity of $10,000 or more to Elon will guarantee a fixed income for the rest of your life. With market interest rates near historic lows, a gift annuity is an attractive way to increase your income and make a gift to Elon at the same time. You will receive immediate tax benefits and can defer capital gains. The payment rate of a charitable gift annuity depends on your age at the time of the gift—the older you are, the higher the rate.
NEW RATES ONE BENEFICIARY
TWO BENEFICIARIES
AGE
ANNUIT Y R ATE
AGE
ANNUIT Y R ATE
60
4.7%
60/65
4.3%
65
5.1%
67/67
4.7%
70
5.6%
71/73
5.2%
Annuity rates are subject to change. The annuity rate remains fixed once your gift is made.
To explore a gift annuity for you, your spouse or a family member, visit elonlegacy.org. Talk with us today about how you may benefit from a life income gift to Elon and other gift-planning opportunities. please contact: Elizabeth Read, assitant director of planned giving 336-278-7474 ■ eread@elon.edu ■ elonlegacy.org
Katie Gonino and Derek Gould were married
// in Charleston, S.C., surrounded by many of their Elon friends. • Michelle Warshany and Wesley Rose were married // by retired university chaplain Richard McBride. Instead of a first dance, the couple opted for a first performance since both were music majors at Elon. Michelle is a music teacher at North Carolina Virtual Academy and Wesley is a network engineer at A Networks. They live in Cary, N.C.
{ Members of the Maroon and Gold student newspaper in 1957. }
59
CLASS NOTES
THEATER with a twist
BY LEILA JACKSON ’22
I
mmediately after music theatre major Ben Redding ’13 graduated from Elon, he got his dream job: a role in the national Broadway tour of “West Side Story.” When the tour was over, Redding settled down in New York to continue pursuing a career in theater, but he soon began to feel unfulfilled. After moving back to his hometown of Columbus, Georgia, Redding reconnected with Austin Sargent, an old friend from middle school and fellow theater lover. They quickly realized they had the same vision for producing. “All I wanted to do in life is to actually help people, to effect change and to do that with my art, and so when I kind of looked at those two factors, it just made sense that I would do something on my own,” Redding says. In May, after a few months of working out logistics, Redding and Sargent launched their own theater company, Muddy Water. The venture isn’t a typical theater company. They don’t have a set location, but rather put on shows in different theaters around Columbus. “We really function as producers,” Redding says. “We don’t have a physical building, we don’t have a theater, we partner with different venues and we put up shows in their facilities.”
I was prepared, and it was because I had people pushing me at Elon and expecting my best, and it just set the course for my whole life for sure. While unconventional, this business model has its advantages. For instance, Redding and Sargent don’t have to worry about electricity bills or potential repairs to a building. “We’re able to invest our money in paying people and giving back to the community,” Redding says. This year, Muddy Water is putting on four shows. So far, they have performed a sold-out show called “Three Act Play,” where they turned an empty venue into a speakeasy. One of their upcoming shows will be “R + J: Theory,” a modern version of Romeo and Juliet. One of Redding’s goals for Muddy Water is to promote diversity and global thinking, two tenets of his Elon education. Even though Columbus is in a period of resurgence in the arts and development, he says, there is still a long way to go. As an openly gay man, Redding says he has often felt like he was on the outside of his local community, and entertainment has not always sought to represent different people. “A lot of our entertainment is geared toward hetero-normative values, and it just doesn’t make for a tightly woven fabric of our community,” he says. He credits Elon with cultivating global thinking and wants to continue that in his work. “I want more than anything to bring that to Columbus and do it in a respectful and insightful way, not just shove it in people’s faces and be like, ‘this is what we should do,’” Redding says. “But I think through the arts we can give examples of how to be better community members and get insight into these demographics that are underrepresented.” Elon also helped prepare him for his career, whether that was being on a Broadway tour or starting his own production company. “I was prepared, and it was because I had people pushing me at Elon and expecting my best, and it just set the course for my whole life for sure,” he says. “I don’t think I’d be doing Muddy Water at all if I hadn’t gone to Elon.”
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{ Austin Sargent & Ben Redding ‘13 have launched Muddy Water. }
CLASS NOTES As part of her job as marketing and communications manager for United Way of Greater Greensboro (N.C.), Lauren Forbis ‘15 worked on the production of Artists United to End Poverty, a benefit album featuring 51 tracks from 50-plus artists who donated their music for the project. The album, produced by the Greensboro nonprofit The Culture Pushers, includes the title track, “Die 4 Love,” which features dozens of artists signing together in true “We are the World” style. All proceeds from the album will go to the United Way of Greater Greensboro’s efforts to end local poverty. The album is currently available on Amazon and iTunes.
ALUMNI ALBUM
Manisha Patel G ’11
Alexandra Solender Boyd ’12, Alex Boyd & son James
Eileen Burkhardt ’12, Caroline Walker ’12 & friends
Claire Gambrell Khachatryan ’13 & Robert Khachatryan
Chelsea Gund Gerald ’12, Jonathan Gerald & friends
Katie Gonino Gould ’14, Derek Gould ’14 & friends 61
CLASS NOTES
15| A STAY WITH PURPOSE
T
Alivia Mattioli and Joe Hodge are now engaged. Alivia is a manager of partner strategy for INDYCAR & the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. They live in Indianapolis. • Thomas McGuire and Kristin Leesman ’16 were married 7/6/19 by Father Gerry Waterman, former associate chaplain for Elon’s Catholic Life, surrounded by their Elon family. Thomas is a teacher and head varsity football coach and Kristin is a special education teacher and cheerleading coach. They live in Ames, Iowa.
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he Inn at Elon, Elon’s new on-campus boutique hotel, opens in early 2020 next to the Koury Business Center on North O’Kelly Avenue. It will feature 80 guest rooms and suites; a year-round, full-service restaurant and lounge; a fitness rooms; and multipurpose event facilities to support a wide range of special occasions, including meetings and conferences, weddings and receptions, and other gatherings. The Inn at Elon will also include an outdoor gathering space and courtyard along with dedicated parking. All amenities will be open to the public and profits will be used to fund student scholarships. For more information and to make reservations, go to theinnatelon.com.
Victoria Phillips Freese and
David Freese welcomed daughter Ella-Grace Margaret on 3/11/19. The family lives in Leominster, Mass.
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Kenneth Brown joined the AJ Fletcher Foundation as the 2019-21 AJ Fletcher Fellow. He is the first fellow under a new two-year model at the foundation. In this role, he leads special projects and various communication strategies to help the foundation better share its story. Kenneth lives in Raleigh, N.C. ALUMNI ALBUM
Michelle Warshany Rose ’14 & Wesley Rose ’14
Alivia Mattioli ’15 & Joe Hodge
Thomas McGuire ’15, Kristin Leesman McGuire ’16 & friends
TURN YOURSELF IN!
Help us keep you in touch with your Elon classmates. elon.edu/classnotes
Victoria Phillips Freese ’18, David Freese & daughter Ella-Grace Margaret 62 of
Kenneth Brown ’19
CLASS NOTES
IN MEMORIAM
AN UNFORGETABLE
RIDE
Geraldine “Jerry” Mangum Horton ’38
Burlington, N.C., 9/19/19 Harold E. Maxwell ’41
Fayetteville, N.C., 9/19/19 Helen Jones Daniel ’50
BY SONYA WALKER ’20
Burlington, N.C., 9/2/19 Col. Edward “Ted” Carney Hackney ’52
Peachtree City, Ga., 11/4/18
I
t all started in Belk Library for Elon alumni Amanda Steinman ’17 and Nick Suarez ’17. Well, the idea of biking across the country did. When Suarez and Steinman faced graduation and realized they had the upcoming summer free before starting their new jobs, they hatched a plan: to bike cross country in support of Bike the US for MS. Untrained. “Nick and I decided to sign up, and we didn’t train at all,” Steinman says. “Which was kind of crazy. We bought our bikes right before the trip and then we were off.” Bike the US for MS is a nonprofit organization that supports research and awareness for multiple sclerosis. Every year the organization offers multiple routes across the nation for bikers to travel, see the country and, of course, raise money and awareness in hopes of finding a cure. The duo loved their 2017 bike trip so much that they embarked this summer on another cross-country journey with the organization. Suarez completed the entire course, and Steinman completed half due to a work engagement. Although Suarez and Steinman began their ride without personally knowing anyone affected by MS, their journeys have helped them make lasting connections with several people who have been touched by the disease in some way. “We were wearing our uniforms and then random strangers rolled down their windows as they passed us, wanting to ask us about our story, why we’re doing this,” Steinman says. “Many would be like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m personally affected by this disease, how can I help? How can I support your ride?’ Sometimes they ended up giving us money or sometimes they hosted us at their house, or they brought us food, that sort of thing.” Suarez and Steinman even attended a wedding in August of a couple they met on their first cross-country ride. But despite the
Daniel Motley ’52
Mocksville, N.C., 6/28/19 Ronald Ewart Black ’54
Rising Sun, Md., 9/29/19 Donald Scott Pennington Sr. ’54
{ Nick Suarez ’17 & Amanda Steinman ’17 biked cross country in support of Bike the US for MS. } friendships and memories the Elon alumni have made over the years, the actual biking didn’t always come easy. “The first couple weeks [of this summer’s trek] we were up in New England, and it was raining the whole time. You wake up, take your tent down and you ride all day,” Suarez says. Throughout the trip, Suarez was reminded of why he was biking and who the ride was really for. All he had to do was read the message on the bracelet he and other bikers received at the start of the ride: “cycling for a cure.” “You just look down at your wrist and you see that bracelet,” Suarez says. “And what it’s supposed to do is remind us of the virtual rider who rides with us. That is somebody who actually has MS.” While the biking was sometimes difficult, Suarez says he feels lucky that his body has the ability to make it across the country. Steinman echoes this sentiment and notes the whole experience has been personally rewarding. “The people you meet along the way and their stories, it makes you so much more incredibly passionate about what you’re doing and who you’re riding for,” Steinman says. “This organization has become a family to us, and I think that’s the biggest reward we’ve gotten out of the experience.”
Westerville, Ohio, 12/6/18. A longtime Elon supporter, Donald established the Nathan and Evie Pennington Memorial Scholarship in 1997 in honor of his parents, who believed strongly in education. The scholarship provides funding for deserving students from Alamance and surrounding counties in North Carolina. Joseph Widdifield ’55
Morristown, Tenn., 5/15/19 James “Jim” Dale Driver ’58
Burlington, N.C., 8/27/19
William “Bill” Lee Turner ’58
Newnan, Ga., 7/20/19
Claude Franklin Dover Jr. ’60
Clarksville, Va., 9/4/19 Clifford B. Hardy ’62
Tampa, Fla., 7/3/19
Diana Lewis Lee ’68
Burlington, N.C., 9/1/19 Janet Martin Winstead ’70
Burlington, N.C., 8/7/19 Bobby Dean Atkins ’71
Mount Airy, N.C., 2/12/19 Daniel Sylvester Thompson ’79
Lexington, N.C., 8/4/19
Barbara “Barbie” Callahan Dixon ’87
Raleigh, N.C., 7/28/19
Jennifer Lynn Tulloch ’87
Rockingham County, N.C., 8/19/19 William “Scoot” Hunter Powell ’89
Long Island City, N.Y., 7/12/19 Joanne L. Davis Queen ’93
Seattle, Wash., 7/1/19
Elliott Antonio Armstrong ’94
Burlington, N.C., 7/4/19
Christopher “Chris” Edwards ’18
Atlanta, Ga., 8/22/19
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A FAMILIAR AFFAIR Thousands of people attended Family Weekend 2019 on Sept. 27-29. Siblings, parents, grandparents and other family members reconnected with students through a wide variety of activities, which included the inaugural Phoenix 4th Friday event in downtown Burlington, tailgating and a packed Rhodes Stadium.
Office of Alumni Engagement PO Box 398 Elon, NC 27244 Toll Free: (877) 784-3566 elon.edu/alumni
{ A composite of the different seasons of Fonville Fountain taken by Kyle Hoganson ’ during his senior year at Elon. This and other images taken by members of the Elon community are featured in Elon’s calendar. Learn more about how to secure a copy at elon.edu/calendargift. }
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