Magazine of Elon Winter 2016 by University Communications

WINTER 2016

CONTENTS The Magazine of Elon | winter 2016

BY KIM WALKER

CREATING NEW REALITIES BY KYRA GEMBERLING ’14

Fueled by personal experience, Yasmine Arrington ’15 is building a brighter future for children of incarcerated parents.

19 AHEAD OF HIS TIME BY SHAKORI FLETCHER ’16

Meet William H. Maness ’38—fighter pilot, state legislator, lawyer and long-time civil rights movement supporter— who defied the norms of his time.

20 THE ASYLUM CONUNDRUM BY ROSELEE PAPANDREA

Seeking asylum in the United States is not as easy as some might think. Just ask immigration attorneys Natalie Teague L’09 and Allison Lukanich L’12, who know firsthand the complexities of the process.

24 COVER STORY

TELLING OUR STORY BY DAN ANDERSON AND KEREN RIVAS ’04

Learn the five key messages to share when talking about Elon.

30 THE ULTIMATE BRAINTEASER BY ERIC TOWNSEND

A behind-the-scenes look at what goes on inside our brains when making a decision.

2 Under the Oaks 10 Long Live Elon 13 Phoenix Sports

I AM ELON

15 Point of View 31 Alumni Action 35 Class Notes

Watch the full story at

elon.edu/magazine Simone Jackson discovered her calling in middle school. It was field day and she found herself winning all of the racing events. She realized that although soccer was her first love, she was most at home as a runner. “What makes running fun is the high you get,” says Simone, now a sprinter on Elon’s track and field team. “You exert your body so hard and so fast, which hurts, but afterward you have the satisfaction of completion. Pushing your body in ways that you normally don’t is exciting.”

A senior majoring in strategic communications, Simone incorporated athletics into her academic work through her capstone course. She worked with Professor Don Grady to research the portrayal of women in sports fashion brands. She analyzed two years of Instagram posts for Nike and adidas. “It was interesting to me as an athlete to look at those brands with an advertising eye and evaluate their strategies. Women in sports are very multidimensional, and I think they portray that well,” she says. Simone is an internship ambassador for the School of Communications, promoting internships by speaking to classes and advising younger students about the value of real-world work experience. In the summer of 2015, Simone interned at Ogilvy & Mather in New York City, an experience she calls intense but wonderful. “What I learned is that advertising is an industry where you must have thick skin and take criticism,” she says. In competitive track and field, especially the individual races Simone runs, accountability is key. “You’re responsible for winning or losing—you control your destiny,” she says. “Being open to making mistakes and open to learning cannot only make you better as an athlete, but also as a person.”

Simone is Elon. Visit elon.edu/magazine to see more of her story, part of our “I Am Elon” multimedia series featuring Elon students in their own words.

UNDER THE OAKS

▶ from the PRESIDENT

Telling the Elon story

D facebook.com/leomlambert twitter.com/headphoenix

uring a recent lunch with a group of student leaders, many of whom were seniors, I asked them if they were getting prepared to take up their roles as active alumni. After recounting all that entailed—including keeping in touch with mentors and maintaining significant relationships with fellow alumni, joining an alumni chapter in their new home cities, becoming an internship mentor to an Elon undergraduate, accepting an invitation to return to campus to speak in classes and serve on a board or council, and helping to “pay it forward” for a future Elon student by making an annual gift—we spent the vast majority of our time talking about the critical role Elon alumni, parents and friends play in advancing the university by telling the Elon story in powerful and compelling ways.

Elon has burst onto the national scene and is developing important new recruiting markets in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Dallas, Houston, Chicago and internationally. Prospective students and families in your hometown undoubtedly say frequently to you, “Tell me about Elon.” How well these inquirers come to understand the power of an Elon education depends directly on how well people who know Elon best tell their personal stories in authentic and powerful ways. And even more importantly, the value of an Elon degree will continue to rise as the university’s reputation for excellence and graduates renowned for their exceptional preparation, experiences in the world, strong work ethic and humility, becomes even more widely understood among top employers, leading graduate schools and the general population.

What is your 20-second to two-minute “elevator speech” about Elon? Many alumni speak about the relationships they formed at Elon that changed their lives, the influence of a powerful and supportive mentor, and the tight-knit community that forges lifetime personal associations of importance and meaning.

Alumni, parents and friends often reference Elon as a globally-engaged

place, with students learning all over the United States—from New York to D.C. to LA—to global study experiences around the world. Elon takes the idea of global citizenship seriously, preparing graduates to lead with a true global perspective.

2 the MAGAZINE of ELON

UNDER THE OAKS

NEW LAW PRACTICE INCUBATOR ANNOUNCED Elon is the national leader in experiential learning. When U.S. News & World Report surveyed college administrators all across the nation about colleges offering

exemplary high-impact learning practices (study abroad, internships, undergraduate research, service learning, first-year experiences, senior capstone, residential learning communities and writing across the curriculum), only one

institution was cited in all eight categories: Elon.

Many Elon people speak about the campus as a powerful

setting that sparks collaboration and innovation. Yes, the campus is beautiful, but much more important is the idea that the excellent facilities have been designed to foster deep human relationships and 24/7 learning.

Every generation speaks of Elon as restless—but in a good

way—always seeking to be better and taking on higher goals and challenges.

lon University School of Law has created the Elon Law Legal Incubator to support Elon Law graduates who wish to develop solo law practices and to create opportunities for lawyers to provide affordable legal services for low-income Guilford County residents. “The Legal Incubator accelerates our graduates’ professional maturation to ensure that they provide excellent services that are consistent with Elon Law’s commitment as a hub of learning, lawyering and leadership,” said Elon Law Dean Luke Bierman. The Elon Law Legal Incubator is on the same city block as Elon Law and two blocks from federal and state courts that form the legal hub of central North Carolina. Participants are selected through a competitive application process. “The goal for the incubator is to produce successful practitioners who will leave the program after 18 months with a record of accomplishment, pro bono service and financially viable, freestanding practices,” said Elon Law Professor Peter Hoffman, who is managing the development of the program. “The Law School graduates selected as inaugural Elon Law Legal Incubator participants embody the pioneering entrepreneurial spirit of Elon Law students and alumni.” Participants in the Elon Law Legal Incubator develop law practices of their own, but work in a cooperative shared-space environment that is provided by Elon Law and functions as a complete law office. They offer services to fee-paying clients, while also completing 300 hours of pro bono or “low bono” services over the duration of their time with the program.

And my personal favorite message about our university, which I believe with every ounce of conviction in my body and soul, is that Elon prepares the leaders the world

needs desperately at this moment. I hope after reading this column, you will take up the challenge to thoughtfully examine your own Elon message and be ready to deliver it in a succinct, compelling and authentic manner with a personal example that speaks to how Elon influenced your life. It is one of the most important acts of service to Elon and leadership you can demonstrate. Leo M. Lambert President

{ From left: Elon Law Legal Incubator participants Kathryn Corey, Blinn Cushman, Robin Kester and Tyrone Davis. }

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UNDER THE OAKS The Magazine of Elon winter 2016 | Vol. 78, No. 1 The Magazine of Elon is published quarterly for alumni, parents and friends by the Office of University Communications. © 2016, Elon University ED I TO R

Keren Rivas ’04 D E SI G N ER S

Garry Graham Bryan Huffman PH OTO G R A PH Y

Kim Walker ED I TO R I A L S TA FF

Holley Berry Katie DeGraff Roselee Papandrea Eric Townsend CO N T R I B U TO R S

Belk Library Archives and Special Collections Shakori Fletcher ’16 Kyle Lubinsky ’17 Sarah Mulnick ’17 Sarah Collins ’18 V I C E PR E SI D EN T, U N I V ER SI T Y CO M M U N I C AT I O NS

Daniel J. Anderson ED I TO R I A L O FFI C E S

The Magazine of Elon 2030 Campus Box Elon, NC 27244-2020 (336) 278-7415 elon.edu/magazine B OA R D O F T R US T EE S, C H A I R

{ Professor George R. Johnson Jr., far right, with his wife, Dr. Linda J. Morris, & their son, William. }

Dr. William N.P. Herbert ’68

Charlottesville, Va.

IN RECOGNITION OF SERVICE

ELO N A LU M N I B OA R D, PR E SI D EN T

Shannon Moody ’94

Richmond, Va.

YO U N G A LU M N I CO U N C I L , PR E SI D EN T

Scott Leighty ’09 Sterling, N.C.

PA R EN T S CO U N C I L , CO - PR E SI D EN T S

Owen & Beth Dugan P’15 P’16

Wellesley, Mass.

SCHO OL OF L AW ADV ISORY BOARD, CHAIR

David Gergen

Cambridge, Mass.

S C H O O L O F CO M M U N I C AT I O NS A D V IS O RY B OA R D, C H A I R

Michael Radutzky P’12 P’17 Summit, N.J.

M A R T H A A N D SPEN C ER LO V E S C H O O L O F B USI N E SS A D V IS O RY B OA R D, C H A I R

William S. Creekmuir p’09 p’10

Atlanta, Ga.

PH O EN I X C LU B A D V IS O RY B OA R D, C H A I R

Mike Cross

Burlington, N.C.

4 the MAGAZINE of ELON

rofessor George R. Johnson Jr., who served as dean of Elon University School of Law from 2009 to 2014, was named dean emeritus at a special November ceremony. Elon University President Leo M. Lambert paid tribute to Johnson during the event, noting Johnson’s years of service as a member of the university’s senior leadership team. “Thank you for being an outstanding faculty member and a mentor to countless students, and an academic leader not only at this law school but also at Elon University at large,” Lambert said. “This is a stronger law school because of your labor here, and Elon University is a stronger university because you served us as dean and professor.” Johnson joined Elon Law in 2006 as part of the school’s founding faculty. He served as dean of Elon Law for five years, after serving six months as interim dean. Previously, he served as the school’s associate

dean of academic affairs. He was instrumental in the process that achieved accreditation by the American Bar Association. Joined at the ceremony by his wife and son, Johnson expressed appreciation for the university’s support, as well as the support of the Greensboro community. “It is really great to have been a part of the formation of this law school, the very formative years, especially at a time when legal education was experiencing the most severe challenges that any of us have known,” Johnson said. “It was fortuitous, it was a godsend, that the university, when it envisioned this law school, envisioned a law school with a difference.” In honor of Johnson’s service, a portrait created by award-winning artist Michael Del Priore was unveiled during the ceremony. The portrait will hang in Cemala Commons at the law school, the central gathering place of Elon Law students.

UNDER THE OAKS

Dean appointed for Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences

rofessor of Psychology Gabie Smith has been named dean of Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences. Smith served as interim dean of the college for nearly two years and assumed the permanent position in December. An accomplished scholar on the psychologies of health and human sexuality, she brings to the position a wealth of institutional knowledge and a history of assuming progressively more responsible campus leadership roles. She will continue the work she started as interim dean to create a vision for the college that not only reflects Elon’s distinctive institutional characteristics but also addresses national issues facing studies in the arts and sciences. “Dr. Gabie Smith is one of Elon’s most distinguished teacher-scholar-mentors and has

SYLLABUZZ

deservedly earned the highest levels of respect by her students and colleagues,” said Steven House, provost and executive vice president at Elon University. “Her knowledge of campus, her vision for the future of the arts and sciences, and her accomplished leadership as interim dean make her the right person to take Elon College to even greater levels of success.” Smith oversees a college of 19 departments, more than 20 programs, and 260 full-time faculty. Elon College shelters a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest and most prestigious academic honor society in the United States; graduates approximately 670 arts and sciences majors annually; and provides the Elon Core Curriculum for all of Elon University’s undergraduate students.

BY KYLE LUBINSKY ’17

ANT 282 – Anthropology of Babies

aising a child is not on the minds of many college students. Amid classes, jobs and internships, parenthood seems like the distant future. But there are many things infants can teach us about how humans have evolved and developed, which is why Assistant Professor of Anthropology Aunchalee Palmquist decided to offer a new course, “Anthropology of Babies,” this Winter Term. “The course themes focus on shared universals of human evolution and the importance of culture in shaping human development,” says Palmquist. It teaches students that culture is the catalyst for a child’s development—not biology. Palmquist wants students to consider pregnancy, birth and early infancy from the perspective of a baby and ask, “How does this point of view shift the way we think about what babies

need from caregivers alongside cultural expectations for caregiving?” The class encompasses a wide variety of writing assignments, from informal and impromptu response essays to formal research papers to creative writing, which includes writing a lullaby. Lectures help orient students to basic concepts and vocabulary, which are strengthened through film and visits from mothers and their babies. Outside of writing assignments, students have the chance to use infant models and rotate through different learning stations to practice skills related to understanding different facets of biology, evolution, experience of pregnancy, birth, infant feeding and infant care. They also get to practice carrying a baby in a sling and learn how to respond to an infant’s cry. The class gives Palmquist a chance to teach on her expertise, something she’s been wanting to do since joining Elon five years ago. She expects students from a wide variety of majors

to take the class, from anthropology and sociology to those studying early childhood education and biology. “I want students to consider how amazing human infants are and to appreciate all of the things they have to teach us about our evolutionary history, our capacity for culture, our intelligence, and the importance of being emotionally and socially connected to others,” she says.

ABOUT THE PROFESSOR Aunchalee Palmquist is an assistant professor of anthropology and the director of the Program for Ethnographic Research and Community Studies (PERCS). She is a medical anthropologist and an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant. Her research interests include global maternal child health, infant and young child feeding and health disparities.

RECOMMENDED READING • Mother Nature: Maternal Instincts and How They Shape the Human Species by Sarah Hrdy • Our Babies, Ourselves: How Biology and Culture Shape the Way We Parent by Meredith Small • “In the Womb” National Geographic documentary

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UNDER THE OAKS

A SURPRISE TRIBUTE

etired Rear Adm. Edward “Ted” Walker Jr., an Elon parent and grandparent, and one of the university’s most loyal and generous supporters, led secret efforts last fall to rename the commons area of an office suite in the Inman Admissions Welcome Center as a tribute to Barry Bradberry ’75. The two men have been friends almost since the day Walker brought daughters Wendy Walker ’78 and Lynn Streett ’79 to campus for the start of their Elon education and, eventually, his grandson, David Streett ’06. “I just thought it appropriate, in this building and at this

time, after four decades of dedicated service to Elon by Barry, that we take down my name—Walker Commons—and put the name of Barry Bradberry up where it rightfully belongs,” Walker said. “[It will be] in a building which I’m sure he’ll make marvelous usage of in support of Elon, its goals and aims, its mission and its students.” Since graduating from Elon in 1975, Bradberry has been a tireless advocate for his alma mater, personally recruiting thousands of students to the university as a staff member in the Office of Admissions and Financial Planning.

“If you try to make the world a more just place, you will fail and also have some successes, so don’t fear the failure. Do not be afraid because courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you cannot practice any other virtue consistently.” —Author, journalist and MSNBC talk show host Melissa Harris-Perry, during a Jan. 6 talk that kicked off a month of programming at Elon focused on the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

{ Barry Bradberry ’75, front, embraces retired Rear Adm. Edward “Ted” Walker Jr. P’78, P’79 GP’06. }

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

{ Noah Sakin ’16 } 6 the MAGAZINE of ELON

Noah Sakin ’16 received a 2015 Community Impact Award from the North Carolina Campus Compact. The human service studies major was recognized for his leadership and service at the university and in the surrounding communities.

Ashley McGetrick ’16, Corey Shegda ’16, John Curtis ’17, Andrew Feather ’17 and Elizabeth Bilka ’18. In the professional categories, two School of Communications alumni, Neima Abdulahi ’13 and Joe Bruno ’14, were also honored for their work.

Elon Local News, Elon’s studentproduced newscast, received eight awards from the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas in November. Students honored include Ryan Greene ’15, Justin Biegel ’16,

Senior defensive back Miles Williams has been selected as one of 52 winners of the 18th annual Football Championship Subdivision Athletics Directors Association Academic All-Star Team. The human service studies major is the first Elon

player to earn this recognition since running back A.J. Harris collected the accolade for the third consecutive season in 2011. In October, The Pendulum received an Online Pacemaker from the Associated Collegiate Press. It’s the first win for the student-run newspaper, which had been a finalist three previous times. Additionally, Katy Canada ’15, Mackenzie Roberts ’15 and Leena Dahal ’17 were honored with individual ACP awards.

CAMPUS

UNCOMMONS BY KYLE LUBINSKY ’17

One of the first microphones Rick Earl ever laid hands on was a ribbon mic, a style invented in the early 1920s that was known for its smooth, rich sound quality. The original ribbon mics were delicate and expensive, using a thin metal ribbon suspended between poles of a magnet to turn sound waves into electricity. When Earl, the technical director for cultural and special programs at Elon, noticed a resurgence in the mic’s popularity, he decided to built his own. “I was interested in owning one, but like most things I buy, I researched it out quite a bit,” he says. “The more I researched and the more patents I read, I realized I could build my own.” The process was difficult at first, as Earl’s prior experience in building microphones was limited. He had previously constructed simple dynamic microphones and loudspeakers, but they were predominantly used as demonstration tools. As he continued to build the microphones, Earl saw an opportunity to market his product as a kit. “I felt selling a kit would be a good teaching tool,” he says. “It would provide people with an understanding of the manufacturing process and a little more about the nuts and bolts of our industry.” The process requires a bit of trial and error on the part of the creator. For Earl, this often means starting the procedure over if he finds a design flaw. “The overall process is quite rewarding and frustrating at the same time,” he says. “A prototype piece might take two to three hours to print or laser cut and then assemble.” He hopes to make the design an open source product that anyone can access. With the help of his brother, who writes for a maker site, he plans to post instructions as well as a marketplace to purchase various parts of the microphone. The process has been enjoyable for Earl, who already has given away two of the microphones. “Initially, it was a challenge,” he says. “I would have been happy if it just worked, but I got lucky and it sounded good.” What faculty or staff member do you think is uncommon? Send a suggestion to themagazineofelon@gmail.com.

UNDER THE OAKS

CAMPUS HAPPENINGS

calendar

PREVIEW

For a complete list of events, check the E-net calendar at elon.edu/e-net/calendar.

NATIONAL LEADER

TUESDAY, FEB. 23, 7:30 P.M.

Scott Dikkers, “The Funny Story Behind the Funny Stories”

THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 7:30 P.M.

Danielle Keats Citron, “Hate Crimes in Cyberspace: Charting a New Course for the 21st Century”

COURTESY OF NBC NEWS

In his hysterically funny way, Dikkers tells of the struggles to launch The Onion, a University of Wisconsin student-run newspaper that became one of America’s longest-surviving humor publications.

A Lauren Dunne Astley Memorial Lecture

The author of “Hate Crimes in Cyberspace,” Citron provides a systematic account of online harassment, and the personal, economic, professional and social costs to its victims. THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 3:30 P.M.

Spring Convocation: Walter Isaacson, “The Innovators: How a Group of Inventors, Hackers, Geniuses and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution” An author and the Aspen Institute president and chief executive officer, Isaacson will share tales drawn from his recent work about the invention of the computer and the Internet. MONDAY, APRIL 18, 7 P.M.

Jay Bilas, ESPN broadcaster, attorney and author Bilas’ presentation is part of Elon Law’s Distinguished Leadership Series.

8 the MAGAZINE of ELON

Elon’s affordability and its study abroad program receive national recognition

lon has again been recognized as a bestvalue university by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine. In its latest annual ranking of the top values in higher education, the publication ranks Elon #17 in total cost, and #29 in overall best value among the nation’s private colleges and universities. The ranking is the 10th consecutive top-50 best value recognition of Elon by Kiplinger’s. The magazine notes Elon and other top-value schools “combine outstanding academics with affordable cost.” Elon’s total cost is $10,000$20,000 lower than most of the other top-30 private universities included in the ranking, which analyzed the costs at 1,200 schools.

Besides Elon, Duke University and Wake Forest University are the only other schools in the Carolinas and Virginia included in the private universities category. The Institute of International Education also recognized Elon for sending more students abroad than any other master’s-level university in the nation during the 2013-14 academic year. Elon sent 1,346 students abroad during that time, maintaining its long-held #1 position among master’s-level institutions in the 2015 Open Doors Report. The ranking reflects the university’s strategic goal of achieving 100 percent access to a global engagement experience by the year 2020.

FACULTY/STAFF SPOTLIGHT Associate Professor of Education Jean Rattigan-Rohr has been named executive director of community partnerships at the university. In her new position, Rattigan-Rohr will be a permanent member of President Leo M. Lambert’s senior staff. She has been serving on the senior staff in a three-year appointment as faculty administrative fellow and assistant to the president. Pam Brumbaugh, director of experiential education in Elon’s Student Professional Development Center, has been honored with the National Society for Experiential Education’s John S. Duley Lifetime Achievement Award for her contributions to the organization and to experiential learning in American higher education. Brumbaugh, who has worked nearly three decades at

David Gergen to deliver Commencement address David Gergen, one of the most prominent figures in the American political landscape and a longtime friend of Elon, will deliver the undergraduate Commencement address in May to the Class of 2016.

senior political analyst for CNN, Gergen is a professor of public service and serves as co-director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School. He was active in the planning and establishment of the Elon University School of Law, which opened in downtown Greensboro in 2006. He played a leading role in the creation of the school’s National Advisory Board and continues to serve as the board’s founding chair. The law school annually awards the David Gergen Award for Leadership and Professionalism to an outstanding member of its graduating class. Throughout his career, Gergen has been a trusted White House confidante to presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. His New York Times best-selling book, “Eyewitness to Power: The Essence of Leadership, Nixon to Clinton,” captures those experiences. He has twice been a member of election coverage teams that won Peabody Awards and two others that won Emmys.

STAYING FIT Campus Recreation offers quality recreational experiences for the Elon community. In addition to the 60,000-square-foot Koury Athletic Center (fitness center, Jordan Gym, racquetball courts, group exercise studios and Beck Pool) and South Campus facilities (Harden Clubhouse, driving range, intramural fields, South Gym and East Gym), students also have access to the Phoenix Activities & Recreation Center (PARC), a new 14,850-square-foot multipurpose facility that opened Sept. 21 on the north edge of the Danieley Neighborhood. Here is a snapshot of Campus Recreation activities and facility use from fall 2015:

95,591

The total number of visits to the Koury Athletic Center and the PARC.

80,470

The number of golf balls hit at the driving range.

Elon, provides students and alumni with the tools needed to land internships and jobs. She also offers individual counseling sessions for students seeking to narrow their career goals. Elon University faculty Casey DiRienzo, Clyde Ellis and Ashley Hairston have been selected as Senior Faculty Research Fellows for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 academic years. The award provides research funding and other support for a significant project or set of projects that advance an already well established and promising research agenda. DiRienzo, a professor of economics, will use the award to empirically test two hypotheses related to her research on human trafficking. Ellis, a professor of

history, will use the award to write the first book-length account of a 1988 hostage crisis in North Carolina involving two heavily armed Native American activists. Hairston, an associate professor of English, will use the award to complete two literary projects. Janet MacFall and Steve Moore in the Department of Environmental Studies co-authored Environmental Science Lab Manual. The publication features both established and new laboratory assignments to help teach students the most effective approaches to conducting research.

Professor Kirstin Ringelberg in the Department of Art & Art History has been named the recipient of a full-year sabbatical. She will spend 2016-17 working on a book that explores the life and impact of Madeleine Lemaire, a popular French artist whose studio became a site of queer identification in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Rodney Parks, Elon University’s registrar, has co-authored a new book. AACRAO 2016 Academic Record and Transcript Guide serves as a core resource for higher education managers looking to align their policies and practices with the best practices in the profession.

3,490

The number of people who have participated in a group exercise class.

955

The number of students who participated in Elon’s 23 club sports.

148

The number of students who work for Campus Recreation, making it one of the largest employers on campus.

Source: Elon’s Campus Recreation

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LONG LIVE ELON

A NEW GATHERING SPACE

BY JALEH HAGIGH

Elon’s community of donors has responded enthusiastically to plans to build a convocation center, a transformative project that will fulfill the university’s longstanding need for a large gathering space to host academic and athletics events and to attract national and international speakers and performers. Known as the Schar Center, this facility is a key part of the Elon Commitment strategic plan, which calls for continued investments in premier facilities. At 160,000 square feet and with more than 5,000 seats, the Schar Center will be the largest facility on Elon’s campus. The center will host high-profile campus events such as convocations and major speakers, serve as the new home for Elon’s basketball and volleyball programs, and attract other prominent events such as conventions, international performers and athletics tournaments. Elon looks to its alumni, parents and friends to help raise $20 million for this center, 10 the MAGAZINE of ELON

which is named for Elon parents Dwight and Martha Schar of Palm Beach, Fla., who contributed $8 million to the university in 2014 to name the facility. That gift was part of a historic $12 million commitment from the Schars, which is the largest single gift in Elon history and includes $4 million to name Dwight C. Schar Hall, the centerpiece facility in the expanded School of Communications, currently under construction. The Schar Center will be located on approximately 20 acres purchased last fall through a gift from alumnus Furman Moseley ’56 and his wife, Susan. The site is adjacent to Elon’s athletics facilities

{ Jeanne & Jerry Robertson } along North Williamson Avenue, west of Hunt Softball Park. In addition to the gift from the Schars, several of Elon’s most generous benefactors have contributed a total of $3.5 million in new commitments to the project, helping the university reach $12.5 million in gifts toward the $20 million goal. Those benefactors include Elon trustee Jeanne Robertson and her husband,

LONG LIVE ELON

{ Vicky & Sam Hunt } Jerry, of Burlington, N.C.; trustee Vicky Hunt and her husband, Sam, of Burlington; trustee Wes Elingburg and his wife, Cathy, of Greensboro, N.C.; John and Emily McDonald, of Burlington; and Mark and Kelly McDonald, of Sarasota, Fla. President Leo M. Lambert thanked the donors for supporting an important expansion of Elon’s campus. “We are grateful for the leadership and generosity of these families who are helping to make the Schar Center a reality and meet an important institutional priority,” Lambert said. “The Schar Center will be a key academic and athletics facility that will provide generations of Elon students with an outstanding place to learn, compete and grow.” In recognition of the gift from Jeanne and Jerry Robertson, the new court in the Schar Center will be named Robertson Court. The couple are among Elon’s most generous supporters of Phoenix athletics. In addition to endowing several athletics scholarships, the Robertsons have supported renovations to Alumni Gym, where Elon’s basketball and volleyball teams currently compete, and the

{ Cathy & Wes Elingburg } track and field facilities. In 2014, the Jerry and Jeanne Robertson Track and Field Complex was named in their honor. Their son, Bailey “Beaver” Bowline, is a 1989 Elon alumnus, and their grandson, Ryder Bowline, is an Elon junior. Vicky and Sam Hunt are also among Elon’s biggest champions, including generously supporting its student-athletes. They made a major gift to name Hunt Softball Park, which opened in 2013 as one of the premier softball stadiums in the nation. In addition, the Hunts have endowed a scholarship to support students with financial need or special talents and been loyal supporters of the Elon Academy college access and success program. The parking lot surrounding the Schar Center will be named in recognition of their gift. The athletics communications suite and pressroom in the Schar Center will honor Wes and Cathy Elingburg. The Elingburgs’ philanthropic support can be felt across Elon’s campus, including the Student Professional Development Center, Alumni Gym, Alumni Field House, the Elon Academy and the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business. The

{ John & Emily McDonald } couple’s son, Nolan, is a 2011 Elon alumnus and a 2012 graduate of the university’s Interactive Media program. Elon is also grateful for the support from John and Emily McDonald and Mark and Kelly McDonald. The athletics administration suite will be named for the McDonald family, which has supported Phoenix athletics and the Elon Academy. John and Mark are co-owners of Catawba Baler & Equipment in Greensboro, N.C.

winter 2016 11

LONG LIVE ELON

making a difference

{ A sustaining donor, Bonnie Brackett ’08 made her first gift to Elon as a senior. }

Repeat performance W TO LEARN MORE

about Elon’s sustaining donor program, which includes both annual and monthly recurring gift options, visit www.elon.edu/makeagift.

12 the MAGAZINE of ELON

hat could convince a high school senior to leave behind her roots in Georgia and forego one of the substantial scholarships earmarked for high-achieving students who stay in the state for college? Just ask Georgia native Bonnie Brackett ’08, who did just that when she chose to attend Elon. “I loved the way I was able to connect with people right away during the campus tour,” she says. “I wanted that sense of community, that feeling that the campus would feel like home and that I could be who I wanted to be there.” Brackett’s choice was cemented when she earned a spot in Elon’s Honors Fellows Program, an award which included a scholarship that would help offset the cost of leaving Georgia for college. She calls it one of the best decisions of her life. The four years that followed helped shape her both personally and professionally—so much so that she made her first gift to Elon as a senior and hasn’t

missed a year since. As a sustaining Elon donor, Brackett’s monthly recurring gifts maximize the impact of her support. She is also part of Elon’s 1889 Society, which honors alumni for making annual gifts to the university. “I wanted to give back so that other students would have the same opportunities I did to figure out who they are,” says Brackett. “I also wanted to make sure that Elon’s faculty and staff have the funding they need to help those students with their journey. The recurring gift allows me to give a good amount to the university every year but breaks it up in a way that works for my budget.” In addition to past roles on Elon’s Young Alumni Council and her class reunion committee, Brackett sees her financial support as an important way of honoring the Elon community and its influence on her life. She credits her mentors at Elon and the leadership positions she held on campus with guiding her to pursue a career in higher education. After graduating from

BY MEGAN MCCLURE

Elon in 2008, she received a master’s degree in education and now serves as director of residence life and housing at Columbia College in South Carolina. The position provides Brackett with a unique perspective about the importance of alumni support to “fund things like scholarships and extra opportunities outside of the daily operating budget that can really make a difference in a student’s experience,” much like the Honors Program that helped bring her to Elon. While Brackett’s career has taken her a few hundred miles south of Elon’s campus, her support of the university keeps her connected to the community that welcomed her a decade ago. “There is a sense of pride, a sense of belonging and being part of a bigger force,” she says. “I remember feeling that I was there to leave my mark and make an impact on Elon during my time as a student and to challenge those that would come behind me to do the same.”

PHOENIX SPORTS

▶ elonphoenix.com

PASSPORT to SUCCESS

Twenty-six student-athletes from 15 different countries are calling Elon home this academic year. BY SARAH COLLINS ’18

lon’s Division I athletes travel from far and wide to compete in the university’s athletics programs. But some athletes travel a bit farther than others. This academic year, the school is home to 26 international student-athletes from more than 15 countries around the world competing in eight different sports. It’s a reflection of the globalization of sports and the school’s efforts in recent years to recruit internationally. Elon men’s basketball coach Matt Matheny says Elon { Karolis Kundrotas } has developed a global network of high school basketball coaches to assist in the recruitment process and continues to grow that network each year. “Basketball has become a global game,” Matheny says. “Years ago you would recruit in your neighborhood and region, but today we look for players from around the world.” { Hilda Kristjansdottir } Forward Karolis Kundrotas grew up in Lithuania. After playing basketball at a competitive London high school, he was recruited by Elon’s basketball program. Although basketball was a large part of Kundrotas’ motivation for moving to America, it actually wasn’t the biggest factor in his decision. “I definitely chose Elon because of the education I can get here,” he says. “Basketball can give me the opportunity to get the education I wouldn’t have gotten at home.” Kundrotas is leaning toward a major in sport and event management, a field that would cater to his love of athletics. As a first-year student, he has to navigate the challenges of college life while playing for a Division I program thousands of miles from home. “I probably won’t have the chance to go home to see my family until next summer,” he says. “But the coaching staff and my teammates, we’re a very close group. We’re just like a family, to be honest. They make Elon feel like home away from home.” The same is true for golfers Hilda Kristjansdottir and Sunna Vidisdottir. The Icelanders were drawn to Elon not only by its academic accolades but also by the region’s climate. “Due to the weather in Iceland, golf courses are only open five months of the year,” says Vidisdottir, a senior who is majoring in finance and

{ Sunna Vidisdottir }

statistics. “Playing at Elon gives me the opportunity to compete and play all year at great courses.” While the two are from the capital city of Reykjavik and attended the same high school, they didn’t know each other prior to coming to Elon. The school system in Iceland allows schools to offer either a two- or a four-year program, and the school Kristjansdottir and Vidisdottir attended offered the former. “That made it possible for both of us to start our college career earlier than most people,” says Kristjansdottir, a sophomore. The biggest hurdle for Vidisdottir has been the nuances of the language, particularly in the classroom. Being so far from home has also been hard. “It’s not like they can jump on a plane or drive a couple of hours and be home,” says head women’s golf coach Chris Dockrill. “They depend on their coaches; I’m always there and the other coaches and the administrators are always there to give them support.” Matheny enjoys inviting his players into his home for team dinners throughout the season. “Sitting down at the dinner table with them, no matter where they’re from, they have so many diverse backgrounds, whether they’re from Charlotte or Lithuania or Pittsburgh or Germany. We have conversations about childhood, their home countries or just what’s in the news that day. … The flavor of the conversation is enjoyable.” He values the dedication of players who are eager to be educated in America and willing to leave their families behind to study internationally. “That kind of commitment is something that works in the classroom and on the court,” he says, adding Elon’s American players have a lot to learn from their international counterparts. “Bringing on international athletes really opens up the eyes of our players.” winter 2016 13

PHOENIX SPORTS

▶ elonphoenix.com

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT JOSEPHA MBOUMA ’16 BY SARAH MULNICK ’17

fter joining the Elon women’s basketball team in 2012 as a walk-on, senior Josepha Mbouma has become a rising star for the program. Playing less than 30 minutes through both her first and second years, Mbouma didn’t let that stop her from giving the game everything she has, and her record for the 2014-15 season reflects that. Known for her scrappy defense, Mbouma started eight games and played in 25, earning new personal records in points scored in a single game, field throws, rebounds and assists. Her contributions helped the Phoenix collect victories in the Colonial Athletic Association, propelling the team farther into the postseason tournament than ever before. But she’s more than her stellar basketball record, and the cinema and television arts major sat down with The Magazine of Elon to share five things about herself.

While she doesn’t really have any pre-game rituals, she does arrive at the court at least two hours ahead of game time. She likes to get on the court and throw some shots, just to be in the environment and prepare for the game. “It helps me get my head straight,” she says.

14 the MAGAZINE of ELON

She is a fan of Shonda Rhimes’s TV shows. She enjoys most of her shows, but her favorite is “How to Get Away with Murder.” Now that the team is on the road again, Mbouma says she doesn’t have a lot of time to watch TV, but she plans to get caught up on the shows in hotel rooms across the country.

When she was younger, she wanted to be a teacher. “I had great teachers as influences in elementary school,” she says. That’s changed now: Mbouma is looking at graduate schools in the United Kingdom to continue both her education and her basketball career.

She loves to watch documentaries. The last one she watched is “Bowling for Columbine.” The director, activist Michael Moore, is one of her favorites. “[The movie] is trying to affect change,” she says. “It doesn’t focus on the tragedy but on what can be changed.”

“I’m a foodie,” she admits. The youngest of three sisters, Mbouma says that while she loves most cuisine, her favorite type of food is her mom’s home cooking—but McEwen dining hall is her favorite on-campus offering.

The forgotten realities of Syria’s war BY DAN LAYMAN ’12

F “The situation on Syria’s battlefields is far less clear-cut than headlines may suggest.”

ollowing the events in Paris, public awareness of the Syrian conflict now rarely extends beyond the topic of the Islamic State. Many a Syria scholar have abandoned straightforward analysis in an attempt to define its strategy and ideology, to project its downfall, and to explain “what it really wants.” But to focus our attention only on the Islamic State is to forget the other, much more significant elements and realities of Syria’s war(s) that affect the lives of individuals on the ground. One such element is the huge number of armed groups participating in the conflict. While Syria’s myriad rebel armies have long suffered from a pattern of forming, fragmenting and forming again under new titles and leadership, it will indeed be these non-IS factions that control the largest portions of Syria at war’s end. Among the most powerful of these factions is the formidable Jabhat Al-Nusra, the official Al-Qaeda branch in the Levant, which has entrenched itself in Syria’s heavily populated western spine. Since Al-Nusra’s split with the Islamic State in 2013, it watched and learned as IS replicated the sins of Al-Qaeda’s own Iraqi affiliate in the early 2000s, recruiting foreign fighters en masse and using violence as a substitute for governmental legitimacy. Al-Nusra has instead developed a keener sense of what it takes to build a firmly grounded insurgency; it has filled its ranks with Syrian revolutionaries desperate for salaries and supplies, developed social services for civilian communities, and established ties with more moderate rebel units who command their own share of popularity. While the largest of these groups are strained in constant combat against multiple opponents, many of them, including Al-Nusra, possess a certain “organic” Syrian identity that affords them the staying power IS does not have: real support and respect from communities around them. If our hope is to better understand the war in Syria and its consequences for the region, we will be better served by pragmatically analyzing the groups that are building such a broad base of support. A second—and more important—forgotten element is the role of the actual individuals involved in the fighting. We in the United States are removed from the Middle East’s wars both geographically and politico-historically, which makes it easy for us to fall into conceptual traps about the region’s conflict. These include the assumptions that Middle Eastern wars are more or less sectarian in nature and that the region itself is more prone to conflict simply by virtue of its cultural characteristics. With Syria’s war, we run a similar risk of perpetuating half-baked conceptions of battlefield actors. Analysts often build outlines of armed units “from a

thousand feet up,” producing highly simplified overviews of groups’ ideological tendencies and their relationships with other factions. Such metanarratives undermine the role of individuals and the environmental factors that affect their behaviors, which, in my own experience, have proved to be far more relevant than ideology. While at the Washington, D.C.-based Syrian Support Group, my colleagues and I advocated for certain rebel armies that we identified as compatible with U.S. interests. On more than one occasion, certain groups with whom we maintained contact splintered into multiple factions, and some of these factions joined the ranks of Al-Nusra or other radicals. But this rarely had anything to do with ideology. Rather, it was almost always the result of a lack of much-needed supplies flowing from the U.S. and its allies to these moderate units, compared to the abundance of supplies available to Al-Nusra and the other radicals. An ugly catch-22 emerged in which rebel armies would remain under U.S.-backed structures only if they received the supplies they needed to remain effective, but the U.S. and its allies would provide supplies only if the armies exhibited long-term trustworthy behavior under those structures. Though the situation is somewhat different at present, the same truths remain: the majority of Syria’s combatants cannot be neatly compartmentalized into categories like “moderate” and “radical.” Rather than black and white collectives, they are groups of individuals who react and respond to environmental factors, and their actions are driven first and foremost by their personal interests in survival. The situation on Syria’s battlefields is far less clear-cut than headlines may suggest. Beyond the tens of thousands of fighters in the ranks of the Islamic State, there are hundreds of thousands of others who have taken up arms to fight it, the Assad regime and other groups they believe threaten their homeland’s future. As for us, the informed U.S. public, the most responsible thing we can do—whether we hope to educate others or to effect real change in the region—is to read past Syria’s topic du jour and appreciate the roles played by more nuanced realities on the ground. A graduate student at Georgetown University, Dan Layman graduated from Elon in 2012 with a degree in international studies and minors in Middle Eastern and German studies. After graduation, he worked with the now-defunct Syrian Support Group, a high profile U.S.-based advocacy group that supported the moderate factions of Syria’s armed opposition. His analyses of the Free Syrian Army and the broader Syrian conflict have been featured in The New York Times, BBC, NPR and other media outlets. winter 2016 15

CREATING

NEW REALITIES Fueled by personal experience, Yasmine Arrington ’15 is building a brighter future for children of incarcerated parents.

BY KYRA GEMBERLING ’14

16 the MAGAZINE of ELON

t’s been a long journey, but Yasmine Arrington ’15 can honestly say she’s forgiven her father. The Washington, D.C., native hadn’t seen Tony Ray Arrington for nearly 15 years before they were reunited her first year at Elon University. At the time, he was working as a cook near campus after just getting out of prison. In fact, Tony has been in and out of prison for burglary and other crimes throughout most of his daughter’s life, causing financial strain on his family and deepening a void in Arrington’s life—she regrets missing daddy-daughter time most. To this day, Tony still struggles to stay out of trouble. He landed himself back in prison this past fall. While one could expect Arrington to be angry and bitter toward her father, it’s just not in her nature. She regularly writes to Tony and speaks to him on the phone, getting to know him and making up for lost time. One of her happiest moments was having her father witness her Elon graduation last May, especially because she didn’t think he would make it. “It’s disappointing when he finds himself in these predicaments, but at the same time, I’m thankful to know who my father is and have the ability to talk to him,” she says. “We have a mutual understanding that we love each other, and that’s what matters to me.” But Arrington’s story isn’t defined by her father’s absence. Even after her mother passed away her first year of high school, Arrington has always found a way to rise above loss. These experiences were merely springboards to launch what is arguably her most important project to date, and the one she holds closest to her heart: ScholarCHIPS, a nonprofit organization she founded that provides college scholarships and a support network for children of incarcerated parents.

Choosing the path to success

cholarCHIPS, which has received honors from Teen Vogue and BET, started as part of Arrington’s Gold Award project for her Girl Scout troop her senior year of high school. She wanted to establish a forum to inform the community about the struggles of children with incarcerated parents, and to encourage donations to a scholarship fund for them. The Washington Post published an article about her efforts and donations started pouring in, giving viability to what Arrington once considered a dream. But her work had only just begun. Arrington spent the next two years establishing ScholarCHIPS as a permanent organization. She applied for grants to assist with startup costs, organized volunteers, planned and held

community events, engaged with a public relations firm and more, all while applying for college and securing scholarships of her own. Even during her first year at Elon, ScholarCHIPS was never far from Arrington’s mind, as she continued to raise funds and promote the organization. In fall 2012, her efforts paid off. ScholarCHIPS presented its first four $2,500 scholarships and four $250 book awards, and it established a mentorship program for recipients. In January 2013, ScholarCHIPS was incorporated in the District of Columbia, and in October 2014, it received its 501(c)(3) nonprofit designation. The organization now operates under the leadership of a sevenperson volunteer board of directors who work directly with Arrington. It celebrated its first set of college graduates this past fall and expects a few more scholars to cross the stage in the spring. “I knew from the beginning that Yasmine

was someone special who was put on Earth for a special reason,” says Vida Anderson, who led Arrington’s Girl Scout troop and now serves as board chair for ScholarCHIPS. “She has a mission of great social responsibility. I believe that with Yasmine at the helm, this organization will grow even further in its influence on society—it is desperately needed in this country due to the increasing number of children with one or both parents in prison.” According to a 2010 report by The Pew Charitable Trusts, 54 percent of inmates in the U.S. are parents with children under the age of 17, including more than 120,000 mothers and 1.1 million fathers. Roughly 2.7 million children in the country have an incarcerated parent. This reality only fuels Arrington’s desire to continue developing her nonprofit. winter 2016 17

“She could’ve been a statistic herself. But she has the

will and determination to change society, and I plan on continuing to be there every step of the way to encourage and support her.” –Veronica Wright

{Yasmine Arrington ’15 & her grandmother, Veronica Wrightt}

Pursuing all passions

n 2015, Arrington received a slew of prestigious awards that will continue to pave the way for the organization for many years. In the spring, she received $15,000 as a distinguished recipient of the Samuel Huntington Public Service Award, as well as $10,000 from the D.C. Commission on the Arts & Humanities. In the fall, she received the Peace First Prize, which awards $25,000 over two years, and the JM Kaplan Fund’s J.M.K. Innovation Prize, which awards up to $175,000 for three years. On the latter, Arrington was one of 10 recipients chosen from thousands of applicants. These two record-setting fellowships allowed Arrington to officially become full-time executive director of ScholarCHIPS in January 2016. “I am tremendously excited to see Yasmine make strides in this organization that were never possible before, now that she has more resources and time to devote,” Anderson says. “When she worked [for ScholarCHIPS] part-time, she had amazing outcomes, so I can’t wait to see what she’ll do now.” Arrington credits her alma mater for helping her develop the skills she needed to accomplish her goals. As a strategic communications and history double major, Arrington honed her writing, public speaking and analysis skills in the classroom. She took advantage of co-curricular opportunities to explore her professional and personal passions. She participated in the Center for Leadership’s LEAD program, the Gospel Choir, the 2015 Ghana Periclean Scholars, the Elon College Fellows and the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., to name a few. “I found Elon to be an incredibly supportive community,” Arrington says. “I established so many great relationships during my time at Elon—it is truly a home away from home for me.” In particular, Arrington is grateful to her 18 the MAGAZINE of ELON

campus mentors, including Assistant Professor of History Amy Johnson, who she had for “Introduction to Caribbean History” her first semester. “Yasmine arrived at Elon with passion, motivation and a sense of self-worth,” Johnson says. “It truly sets her apart that she is able to overcome her personal obstacles to achieve so much. I am happy to be a partner in her joy.” Since graduating from Elon, Arrington divides her time between various pursuits in addition to ScholarCHIPS, ranging from plus size modeling to cultivating her dream of becoming a TV talk show host. She is pursuing a Master’s of Divinity at Howard University. Her faith has been profoundly important to her since she was young, as it has helped her get through challenging times. Religious values were instilled in her by her maternal grandmother, Veronica

{Yasmine Arrington ’15, center, at the ScholarCHIPS annual Life Skills Conference with some of the nonprofit’s college scholars and high school participants.}

Wright, who raised her and her two younger brothers in their father’s absence. “One of the biggest motivators for me is my goal of allowing my grandmother to retire, and to retire well,” Arrington says. “She’s been such an amazing caretaker to me and my brothers, and I want to give her back everything she has given us.” But according to Wright, watching her granddaughter overcome all obstacles and beat the odds has been one of the greatest gifts she could receive. She regards Arrington as a “millennial Mother Teresa,” emphasizing the power of choice behind Arrington’s success. “She could’ve gone down another path,” Wright says. “She could’ve been a statistic herself. But she has the will and determination to change society, and I plan on continuing to be there every step of the way to encourage and support her.”

From the ARCHIVES

Ahead of his time Meet William H. Maness ’38—fighter pilot, judge, state legislator, lawyer and long-time civil rights movement supporter—who defied the norms of his time. BY SHAKORI FLETCHER ’16

istory gives us the opportunity to look at people with a richer perspective only provided by the passage of time. Take William H. Maness ’38, for example. By early 20th century standards, the Erwin, N.C., native was most likely categorized solely based upon race, gender, geography— white, male, raised in the South. But a look at his lifelong journey gives us the true essence of the man: His legacy in Jacksonville, Fla., as a fighter pilot, circuit judge, state legislator, lawyer and long-time vocal civil rights movement supporter. Maness graduated from Elon in 1938. He worked in insurance and briefly returned to Elon as a special assistant to President L.E. Smith before being drafted by the military during World War II. Following a distinguished career as a naval aviator, he enrolled in Stetson University School of Law, graduating in 1948, and practiced law until 1957, when he was appointed as a judge in the Fourth Judicial Circuit. In 1963, he stepped away from the bench and returned to private practice, continuing to work until 2010. He died the following year at age 94. Among a personal collection he donated to Elon University’s Belk Library Archives & Special Collections are a variety of materials relating to his tenure as a judge, as well as issues of racism, social inequality, the civil rights movement and the strides people took to promote the well being and equality of all. The collection includes direct correspondence with Langston Hughes, a copy of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech and years of subscriptions to The Crisis Magazine, a NAACP publication founded by W.E.B. Du Bois. Maness’ early documented involvement with the civil rights movement found in the collection dates to a 1964 letter to Howard Rogerson, then staff director for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. At that time, Maness served as the elected chairman of the Community Relations Committee, an entity that, although ultimately unsuccessful, called for an early end to racism in Jacksonville. In his letter to Rogerson, Maness wrote that his first order of business as chairman was to “immediately and cooperatively” desegregate and accept the patronage of all people, “without restrictions based solely on race, color, or national origin.” On Oct. 19 of that same year, Maness turned to poetry to express his frustration over race relations in America. He wrote four poems that day— “Danger,” “Scared to Talk,” “Folly” and “Race”—captioning the poems with this note: “These I wrote on train while agonizing over the NCC and race returning from Washington,” likely referring to the National Council of Churches, which had been lobbying for the passage of the Civil Rights Act.

Seemingly grappling with a call to speak out in the midst of silence, the fourth poem, “Race,” ends with the stanza: Men did hide, find excuses, None good, just all bad. So when time came for action, It was sad, sad, sad! Maness continued efforts in 1965 with elections to councils and commissions committed to civil rights. First came an October nomination to the board of directors of the Human Relations Council of Greater Jacksonville. All of Maness’ council involvements were not seen favorably, however. When elected to the Southern Regional Council, which advocated for equal opportunity for all peoples in the South, SRC Director Paul Anthony accompanied the news with a letter essentially giving Maness the option of “disassociation,” as he knew it would be unpopular for Maness to be associated with the Council as he prepared for an upcoming Senate race. In his response, Maness wrote, “For me to take what appears to be the more tempting and perhaps easier course would be too much like taking the course I urge others not to follow. … I’ll accept membership, for better or for worse, still confident and optimistic that truth and justice will ultimately prevail.” Maness’ Senatorial bid was ultimately unsuccessful. Still, Maness remained steadfast in his convictions. He even took a strong stand in 1966 that would ultimately be recorded in Jacksonville history. In a February meeting of the Jacksonville Bar Association, Maness, then serving as president, nominated Leander Shaw to be the association’s first black member. Shaw would later go on to serve as a Florida Supreme Court Justice. In a 2011 article published by The Florida Times-Union, in a frontpage tribute following Maness’ passing, Shaw said of Maness: “Bill was way ahead of his time. He knew things were wrong and he had to do something about it. And back then, you lost friends. Neighbors would cross the street rather than talk to you. Bill knew this was going to happen.” In another printed work titled “Let’s Write a Better Story of Jacksonville in 1965,” Maness challenged the community to take firm measures to address racial tensions and bring about lasting changes to end any vestiges of segregation. “Such changes at this point will not be drastic, because much progress has been made, but changes in attitudes and practice are nonetheless essential if we are to move further away from the dark ages of injustices and fear,” he wrote. “And just who is the ‘leadership’ that must spark these changes? The short answer is: ‘Everybody!!’” Fifty years later, in communities far and near, Maness’ call to action remains relevant. winter 2016 19

BY ROSELEE PAPANDREA

{ Above: An exterior shot of the Karnes County Civil Detention Center in Texas, which U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement modified in 2014 into the Karnes County Residential Center to deal with the large influx of immigrants. Facing page at bottom: While school was a requirement, classes were held sporadically for two months in the Artesia Family Residential Center before it was closed in December 2014. } 20 the MAGAZINE of ELON

Top and right photos courtesy of U.S. Department of Homeland Security

n most days, mobile phones and laptops are allowed in the attorney work areas at the immigrant family detention centers the U.S. Department of Homeland Security oversees near the Mexican border. Cameras, on the other hand, are not. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents require that attorneys cover phone and laptop cameras with blue painter’s tape. When immigration attorneys Natalie Teague L’09 and Allison Lukanich L’12 spent a week in October 2014 providing pro bono legal services at a temporary detention center in Artesia, N.M., they couldn’t take photos at, near or inside the facility. Heather Scavone, an assistant professor of law and director of the Humanitarian Immigration Law Clinic at the Elon University School of Law, had the same experience when she and six Elon Law students volunteered last March at another federal detention center in Texas, which is operated by a for-profit organization that now faces a class action lawsuit along with Homeland Security for alleged mistreatment of detainees. In both cases, the attorneys volunteering were not permitted to record the faces of the many women and children receiving legal services. In media reports, government officials have said cameras are not allowed to protect the privacy of the children. Teague thinks otherwise. “I feel like the decision to not allow cameras was calculated on the part of the government so that these women and children could remain in the shadows and that the struggle these women are facing would seem distant and abstract,” she wrote on a blog that she, Lukanich and two other immigration attorneys kept to document their time in Artesia. That detention center opened quickly in summer 2014 after an unprecedented surge of immigrant women and children fleeing gangs and sexual and domestic violence in Central America crossed U.S. borders in the Rio Grande Valley seeking asylum. Some had entered the

{ Natalie Teague L’09 spent a week in October 2014 providing pro bono legal services at a makeshift immigration detention center in Artesia, New Mexico. } country illegally under the cover of night, hoping to avoid complicated legal proceedings or, worse yet, deportation back to a home they feared. Others presented themselves to ICE officers at the border, and while they didn’t have documents, they were afraid for their children’s lives and their own. Lukanich and Teague say much of what they witnessed in Artesia seemed to have an air of secrecy and a disregard for the legal process, despite the number of attorneys volunteering to assist the families navigate immigration laws. And while that detention center closed in December 2014, similar centers remain open— a constant reminder of the complexities of the immigration process, particularly when it comes to asylum seekers. “If someone truly understood our immigration laws and understood how difficult it is to come into our country and the vetting process,” Lukanich says, “they would have full confidence in the safeguards put in place.”

AN INTRICATE PROCESS In fiscal year 2013, U.S. Customs and Border Protection apprehended 21,553 unaccompanied children and 7,265 families along a 320-mile portion of the border the U.S. shares with Mexico. In fiscal year 2014, those numbers skyrocketed with a more than 100 percent increase in the number of unaccompanied children apprehended and a 500 percent increase in the number of families that were stopped. A total of 13,370 families were apprehended in June alone, according to federal figures. The massive influx of people strained Department of Homeland Security’s resources

and operations, including that of ICE, and also changed how officials handled them. Prior to the surge, undocumented immigrants who sought asylum at the border were allowed to enter and stay with family in the U.S. until they could plead their case at one of eight asylum offices in the country or before an immigration court, Lukanich says. That changed in summer 2014, she adds, when the U.S. government decided instead to hold undocumented people in detention centers, including the center in Artesia. Undocumented people who crossed the border but didn’t express a fear about returning home were automatically deported. More than 500,000 unauthorized immigrants were deported in fiscal year 2014, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The facility in Artesia, made up of a fleet of trailers on gravel surrounded by barbed wire, was located 3.5 hours northeast of El Paso, Texas, and 45 minutes south of Roswell, N.M., in the middle of the desert on undeveloped land inside the perimeter of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. It was an isolated facility and with no legal services nearby or proper representation, Lukanich says, deportation of detainees, even the women and children with viable claims for asylum, happened quickly. The language barrier, she adds, also made it nearly impossible for these women to adequately tell their stories to an asylum officer or a judge and move beyond initial interviews. “If someone comes to the border and says ‘I have a fear of returning home,’ we can’t legally turn them away because of our asylum laws,” Lukanich says. “Anyone winter 2016 21

{ The Salvation Army in McAllen, Texas, sets up a feeding truck for Central American women and children seeking refuge. }

says. “I tried to prepare a woman for a video court appearance, and she couldn’t concentrate because her child was despondent due to an extremely high fever.” One thought continually repeated in Teague’s mind: We can do better. “I had several moments where I thought this cannot be happening in my country,” she says.

A HARD REALITY

Photo: David Davies

who expresses a fear is given the opportunity to present a case.” That’s not to say the process is a simple one. After asylum seekers prove in an interview that their fear of returning home is credible, they are no longer mandatory detainees. And even though the cases are civil—the detainees are not charged with any crimes—asylum seekers are placed under bond so they’ll return for hearings. For many, that bond can be as high as $20,000 per person, and they have to pay 100 percent of it before they can stay with family in the United States while they go through a process that can take years due to delays, paperwork requests, hearings and appeals. Most can’t afford the bond so they are required to stay in the detention facility until they at least have a merits hearing, which often take months to schedule. On the other side, Department of Homeland Security lawyers argue that prolonged detention is necessary to deter others from crossing the border.

A LEGAL TRAUMA UNIT In August 2014, the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) gained access to provide pro bono legal services at the detention center in Artesia. Teague and Lukanich were among the many attorneys from across the country who participated in AILA’s project. “Artesia was one of the hardest things I’ve done,” says Teague, whose career goals were very heavily influenced by the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11. After witnessing that tragedy from her apartment in Brooklyn, she became interested in international politics and helping others. She went backpacking in Guatemala, earned a bachelor’s degree in Latin American Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 22 the MAGAZINE of ELON

and worked with a women’s sewing cooperative in Nicaragua. “My common theme became speaking Spanish and working with immigrants.” That new focus led her to pursue a law degree at Elon. Before she graduated, she logged more than 675 hours of pro bono service in immigration-related internships and in December 2013, she opened Teague Immigration Law Office in Asheville, N.C. Like Teague, Lukanich’s career path was shaped after having a transformative experience in Mexico while she was an undergraduate at Wake Forest University. Her father was in the Air Force and they moved a lot, but she had not been exposed to immigrant populations, or even communities outside of the military, until she went to Mexico. Her experiences at Elon Law and in Elon’s Humanitarian Immigration Law Clinic in Greensboro, N.C., solidified her goals. “Immigration law was where I saw myself from a public standpoint, and the relationships I was able to build really cemented where my career was headed,” says Lukanich, who plans to take the exam necessary to become a board certified immigration specialist. The week of pro bono service the two attorneys provided at Artesia was overwhelming. With 400 open cases, no privacy and no prior relationship with any of their clients, they described the experience as a legal trauma unit. “We were doing all we could to put Band-Aids on; given the nature of what these people have gone through, most of them have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder,” Lukanich says. Some of the time Teague spent representing clients was often cut short for reasons beyond her control. “It was really, really hard to be a legal advocate and do complex legal work in these conditions with minimal privacy,” Teague

eanwhile, a legal battle is underway involving the government and the women and children being housed in the detention centers. A lawsuit filed against the Department of Homeland Security last year for abuse, neglect and trauma allegedly suffered at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley is still pending. Also pending is a lawsuit for alleged mistreatment at the Karnes County Residential Center, filed in April 2015 against ICE and the GEO Group, the for-profit organization that built, finances and manages the center. In addition, a judge in federal district court ruled in 2014 that the government’s policy of incarcerating children with their mothers at family detention centers violates the Flores Settlement Agreement, which has been in place for almost 20 years and establishes standards for the detention and treatment of immigrant children in government custody. According to the agreement, children should be released to family members when possible and if detention is necessary, children must be held in the least restrictive setting that meets basic child welfare standards. In August 2015, the court ordered the government to implement remedies by Oct. 23. The government appealed the decision and has yet to comply with the order. Even so, on Jan. 2, ICE agents arrested 121 women and children who had lost their cases and were ordered deported by immigration judges, according to The New York Times. Of the 905 cases involving parents with children that went before judges as of Nov. 24, immigrants were granted asylum in only 156 of them. In most cases, those women and children who were allowed to stay in the U.S. were those represented by attorneys, according to AILA. The situations allegedly experienced at Dilley and Karnes were similar to Artesia and conditions were challenging for the detainees as well as the attorneys, who felt like they were being prevented from doing their jobs at every turn, Scavone says. When she and six Elon Law students went to Karnes through the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services pro bono project, they were caught

The number of unaccompanied children and families apprehended after crossing the 320-mile Rio Grande Valley border the U.S. shares with Mexico.

Fiscal Year 2013 Fiscal Year 2014 Percent change

Families

Unaccompanied Children

Citizenship

Families

Unaccompanied Children

7,265 52,326 >500 %

21,553 49,959 132%

El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Mexico

14,833 12,006 34,495 5,639

16,404 17,057 18,244 15,634

Source: U.S. Border Patrol

off guard when their legal services were allegedly obstructed by the GEO Group. “We were prepared from the legal advocacy side,” Scavone says, referencing all the work she and Elon Law students do in Elon’s Humanitarian Immigration Law Clinic. “We work with survivors of torture and sexual violence in the clinic so that was not new to us. What we were not prepared for was the obstructionism by the employees of the detention facility.” On one occasion, Scavone says, GEO staff refused to allow the group’s clients to use the restroom that is in the visitation area. The staff, she adds, made it difficult to get psychological

evaluation records released and denied requests to get a detainee a prescription for needed asthma medication. On one day that Scavone and her students were meeting with clients in the facility from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., they were not allowed to bring in food or drink. “We were told that if we left the building to get our food, we would not be permitted to re-enter,” Scavone says. Attempts to reach GEO Group officials were unsuccessful before press time, but they have maintained in media reports that allegations of wrongdoing made by attorneys and detainees are false and that the Karnes center offers a “safe, clean, and family-friendly environment.”

{ Allison Lukanich L’12 has provided pro bono legal services at both the Artesia Family Residential Center in New Mexico and the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley. }

A LASTING EFFECT Regardless of the detention facility visited, many volunteers walked away with similar reflections. It was the hardest thing they had faced, but it was also rewarding and life-altering. After spending a week in Artesia, Lukanich was compelled to volunteer her services a second time. In January 2015, she went to the Dilley center. While there, she met a woman who said she had endured years of sexual abuse and gang violence and was seeking asylum for herself and her 3-yearold daughter. It’s a case that Lukanich, who is an immigration attorney with Melo & Rojas in Raleigh, is still fighting. “Part of proving an asylum case, is proving the reasons for asylum are credible,” she says. The first step in the process is preparing clients for credible fear interviews with an immigration officer. “I didn’t speak to a single woman who had not been raped or severely beaten by a partner or a family member,” she says. “They were victims of incest or their children were victims of incest or their children witnessed brothers and cousins shot in the middle of the street by gang members because they didn’t give them money.” As Lukanich worked to gain the trust of her client, she realized the woman was sharing a lot more with her than she initially had with the ICE officer. “I asked her why her story wasn’t the same,” Lukanich says. “She told me that her 3-year-old daughter was in the room with her when she was interviewed, and she didn’t want her to hear that her mother had been raped by her stepfather for 12 years or that a gang had put a gun to her head.” There is no telling how long it will take for her case to be resolved, but Lukanich is resolute to see it through. “This is where my passion is and what drives me to do this work to the best of my ability every day.” winter 2016 23

COVER STORY

Telling our

STORY

Five key messages to share about Elon

BY DAN ANDERSON AND KEREN RIVAS ’04

Every member of the Elon family experiences it—that moment when someone says, “Tell me about Elon; I’d like to know more about it.” It’s an opportunity to spread the word and be an ambassador, but how do you begin to describe the people, academic programs and opportunities that make our university unique? The best place to start is with your own experience, explaining how Elon has transformed your life in powerful ways. In most cases those personal stories will reinforce five key distinctions of an Elon education. To help you get started on creating your personal “elevator pitch” about Elon, The Magazine of Elon provides this outline, with examples of students who are rising to new challenges, pushing beyond expectations and preparing to become the leaders our world needs.

24 the MAGAZINE of ELON

Student Centered We are a tight community: student-to-student, student-to-professor, student-to-alum.

On any given day, senior Zachary Fisher can be found in one of the labs in McMichael working on his Lumen Prize research with Associate Professor of Biology and Japheth E. Rawls Professor Yuko Miyamoto. Since Fisher first started studying the molecular signaling role of fibroblast activation protein in cancer cell migration, Miyamoto has been by his side guiding every step of his research journey. “She has helped me learn to develop focused research questions, experiment with techniques to get successful lab results and most recently present my research story to audiences,” he says. So far, the biology major has been able to verify the presence of the protein on a cell line—taken from a non-affected region of a cancer patient—he purchased for his project. Though he says his finding is just the first step, identifying the protein in a purchased cell line is significant because it allows him to perform his research in new ways. Outside academic conversations, the two often discuss Fisher’s non-science interests, which revolve around his passion for service, career and life goals. Having such an ally has been priceless. “Dr. Miyamoto has been a terrific mentor, academically, professionally and personally,” he says. “I feel that I can share all my thoughts and concerns with her, which is an invaluable quality in a mentor. She truly embodies the Elon professor model as a teacher, researcher and mentor.”

winter 2016 25

Globally Engaged You’ll find Elon students learning in every corner of the world.

When senior Alyssa Adler signed up for January’s “Field Biology in Belize” course, she had one goal—say “yes” to everything. Within the first few days of her stay at the La Milpa EcoLodge and Research Center deep in the tropical forest, that personal commitment meant joining her classmates in holding a tarantula. The terrifying experience was followed by completing lab exercises on plant species and leaf cutter ants, taking an intense night hike while searching for poisonous snakes and scorpions, learning traditional dances from a teacher and her students at an elementary school, and visiting the Lamanai archaeological site to learn about the ancient Mayan culture. The Belize course was Adler’s third Winter Term study abroad experience, following previous courses in Costa Rica and Samoa. She is an environmental science major and a student manager for Elon’s Loy Farm, and she is considering entering the Peace Corps following graduation. She says study abroad has provided essential cultural and scientific experience in other countries as she prepares for a career related to the environment and agriculture. “It’s so easy to get caught up in the Elon bubble and just think about yourself in this college,” Adler says. “But being able to study abroad and get a world experience opens up your mind to new perspectives and ideas. Then you can take them home and implement them in your own life and gain a better understanding of how the world works and how we should interact with people.”

26 the MAGAZINE of ELON

TELLING OUR STORY

Experiential

We learn through experience, so we make sure an Elon education is filled with opportunities.

Senior Michael Bodley and junior Leena Dahal spent a week in November conducting video interviews with world technology leaders as part of Elon’s Imagining the Internet team that covered the Global Internet Governance Forum in Brazil. The experience was just the latest of many opportunities the two have had during their time at Elon. Besides traveling to New Orleans, Philadelphia and Austin for college media conferences representing The Pendulum student newspaper, Bodley completed an internship at The Baltimore Sun in 2014 and spent 10 weeks last summer as part of the CarnegieKnight News21 investigative reporting initiative, with work published by major national publications, such as The Washington Post and NBC News. “Elon has ensured that I’ve

learned a great deal outside the classroom, providing me with the kind of real-world, real-life experiences that are a true difference-maker in the job market,” Bodley says. Dahal is an Elon Lumen Scholar studying post-disaster communication strategies in her native nation of Nepal. She is also researching refugee resettlement in Greensboro, N.C., with her mentor, Assistant Professor of Anthropology Mussa Idris. As an International Fellow, she has traveled to several cities to learn about American culture, politics and society. “At Elon, engaged learning isn’t just a phrase on a website or classroom syllabi. It’s intrinsically woven into everything we do,” Dahal says. “All of these real-world and hands-on experiences I’ve gained here have supported my growth as a student, scholar and most significantly, as a human being.”

winter 2016 27

Environment for Learning

Our campus is more than a pretty place. It’s a setting that breeds powerful collaboration and sparks bold ideas.

When Kayla Harvey first came to Elon, she was immediately struck by the beauty of its campus. But as time went by, she discovered there is more to Elon than a great first impression. “I recently met up with a family who was touring Elon and I realized that while walking around, I wasn’t focused on showing them the gorgeous locations on campus, but rather on all the wonderful opportunities I’ve had while at Elon,” the senior public health major and Elon College Fellow says. Opportunities like the concussion research she has conducted with Professor of Exercise Science Eric Hall, which has allowed her to develop her own question, collect data, analyze results, present her

28 the MAGAZINE of ELON

findings at conferences and write a paper for publication. In addition to research, Residence Life has been an integral part of her Elon experience. Having worked for two years as a resident assistant and a year as a residence area coordinator, she has not only helped other students grow, but has also grown herself. “It has taught me to be a leader, to think critically and to challenge myself to be the very best I can be,” she says, adding her Residence Life experiences convinced her to pursue a master’s degree in higher education. “It has truly been the out-of-theclassroom opportunities I have had that have defined my Elon experience and paved the way for my future.”

TELLING OUR STORY

Ambitious

We’re restless, in all the right ways. And we are creating leaders the world needs in the process. she has what it takes to set herself apart in a competitive job market. In her time at Elon, she has interned in the Office of Admissions, worked as a sales associate for The Pendulum, served as a sales intern for EMC Corporation, Turner and NBCUniversal, and completed a fellowship with the International Radio and Television Society Foundation. She has also successfully competed in regional and national sales competitions. “My time at Elon has taught me to focus on doing the things that matter, for reasons that matter,” she says. “It’s about finding your passions, chasing your passions and diving in headfirst at the sight of things that you truly believe will make a difference.”

Photo: Ball State Photo Services

Shakori Fletcher ’16 remembers arriving on campus as a first-year student and feeling inspired by the drive, dedication and passion of faculty, staff, students and alumni. “It’s as if college being a time to find yourself takes on a new meaning at Elon,” she says. “There are always incredible stories of how someone perfectly found their niche and is excelling in the perfect marriage of their passions and abilities.” These experiences emboldened Fletcher to combine her passion for business, media and sales and create her own path. When she walks on stage in May to receive her diploma—she majored in broadcast and new media and minored in professional sales and statistics—she will do so confidently knowing

winter 2016 29

The Ultimate Brainteaser A behind-the-scenes look at what goes on inside our brains when making a decision.

BY ERIC TOWNSEND

rap your mind around the fact that you decided to read this story about a second before you think you “chose” to do so. Now chew on this: If that decision was already made before you consciously started to read, was it truly free will? Or do your actions represent nothing more than a programmed response by the brain based on stimuli and biological need? The brain is a complex organ that no one fully understands. The “how” and “why” of our decision-making processes remain a mystery to neuroscientists, but in recent years, a fuller picture is starting to emerge of what goes into the choices we make. Assistant

Professor Eric Bauer in the Department of Biology has shared with students and the public the fascinating workings of the brain through programs like “Tectonic Plates: Alamance County’s Science Café,” which aims to bring science to the masses in a relaxed atmosphere without all the technical jargon. The development of nervous systems is among his secondary research projects as a neurobiologist. Scientists know that based on functional MRI scans, certain regions of the brain activate about a second before test subjects report making simple choices in a lab setting. Does that mean a choice is already made before we think it is? It would appear the human brain’s approximately 100 billion neurons create trillions of synapses that “think” for us for such simple choices. Bauer points out that the brain is processing realtime stimuli, and reaching back into memories of past experience, in ways we couldn’t possibly control, no matter how hard we try. So if the brain makes a decision without someone’s conscious awareness, is that person responsible for his actions? Where does free will begin? “This is where neuroscience and philosophy meet the real world,” Bauer points out. And those are just the easy questions. Most brain research examines simple actions or choices in a controlled environment. What happens when humans contemplate complex quandaries is unknown, for a very understandable reason. “No one is going to sit in an fMRI machine for five days while they make an important ethical decision. Relative to the rest of the universe,” Bauer says, tapping his finger to his temple, “this is more complicated.”

1 Regions of the brain linked to the senses, memory,

motivation, emotion and rules provide input to decision integrator. 2 After accumulating enough evidence/input, a decision threshold is reached and the result of the decision is sent to movement planning regions of the brain. 3 Movement planning regions determine what muscles to contract and when in order to accomplish the action dictated by the decision. 4 Signals are sent to muscles and movement begins; the first outward sign that a decision has been made.

30 the MAGAZINE of ELON

Elon University’s neuroscience minor provides students with knowledge and training needed to pursue careers and post-graduate studies in fields related to cognitive science, behavioral medicine, human development and aging, health and disease, rehabilitation, biomedical research, humanmachine interactions and many other emerging disciplines.

ALUMNI ACTION

#ElonDay 2016 is coming Dear Elon alumni,

t’s a feeling that never gets old: the surge of pride I experience every time I see a familiar maroon and gold sticker on a passing car or I cross paths with someone wearing an Elon T-shirt. These moments are born of a common bond that spans both geography and generations, one that forms instantly whenever I meet a fellow member of the Elon family. So it is only fitting that #ElonDay, a global celebration of our pride in the university, has become one of my favorite days of the year. This new tradition began just two years ago and, in true Elon fashion, has quickly become an anticipated event. Last year’s #ElonDay brought a remarkable show of support from alumni, parents, friends, students, faculty and staff who came together to contribute more than 2,700 gifts and $702,000 to the university. Those of us on social media also remember our feeds being flooded with posts about #ElonDay, which became a top-six Twitter trending topic nationwide that day. This year’s #ElonDay celebration on March 8 promises to deliver just as much excitement. Alumni will have plenty of ways to get involved,

perhaps none more important than giving back to any area of Elon that made a difference in our own student experiences. #ElonDay is the perfect example of our ability as an alumni body 30,000 people strong to make a collective impact with gifts of every size, the ultimate expression of our love for this place. To that end, the Elon Alumni Board is excited to play a bigger role in #ElonDay this year than ever before in an effort to raise alumni support for our alma mater to even greater heights. I hope all alumni will celebrate #ElonDay by making a gift and sharing that support on social media to encourage other alumni in our networks to do the same. Alumni near and far from campus will also be able to track our progress on the #ElonDay website and participate in the events our regional alumni chapters and clubs will host. I hope you will mark your calendars for March 8 and start thinking about how you can make an impact during this year’s celebration. With our help, it’s sure to be another #ElonDay to remember. I can feel the surge of pride already.

Shannon Moody ’94 Elon Alumni Board President

A BANNER DAY FOR ELON

. . 3 8 16

our support makes it possible for Elon to achieve amazing things every year. On #ElonDay 2016, show your pride in your alma mater by making a gift and join in the fun on social media by sharing why Elon is so special. Be on the lookout for more information about this exciting day!

CELEBRATE YOUR PRIDE IN ELON. MAKE A GIFT.

#ELONDAY winter 2016 31

ALUMNI ACTION

on the town

Chapter & Club #ElonDay Celebrations #ELONDAY 2016 is around the corner, and your local chapter/club is looking forward to helping you celebrate your alma mater wherever you are! All 36 of Elon’s chapters and clubs nationwide and in London will be hosting #ElonDay parties on the evening of Tuesday, March 8. Look for more information in February about events near you.

{ Pittsburgh } { New York City }

Evenings for Elon spring dates announced The Evening for Elon series with President Leo M. Lambert will travel to seven cities this spring. Alumni, parents and friends of Elon are invited to attend these events featuring a campus update from President Lambert, a faculty speaker and a reception. Save these dates and look for more information in your mailbox and inbox closer to the event:

32 the MAGAZINE of ELON

ՔՔAtlanta – Tuesday, Feb. 9 ՔՔDallas – Wednesday, Feb. 17 ՔՔSan Francisco – Tuesday, March 15 ՔՔLos Angeles – Wednesday, March 16 ՔՔCharlotte – Wednesday, May 4 ՔՔRaleigh – Thursday, May 5 ՔՔBoston – Thursday, May 12

ALUMNI ACTION

CHAPTER & CLUB HAPPENINGS

lumni chapters and clubs were busy toward the end of 2015 hosting tailgates, service projects, holiday parties and more. If you’ve never been to an event in your area, make it your New Year’s resolution to give it a try. Visit www.elon.edu/alumni to find a chapter or club near you and stay tuned for events being planned for 2016. ✪✪A group of Seattle alumni got together for a park clean-up service event before an

Elon v. JMU watch party in October.

✪✪The brand new Cleveland Alumni Club hosted its first holiday party in December. ✪✪The Atlanta Alumni Chapter gathered for a brewery tour at Red Brick Brewing

Company in October.

✪✪Alumni in Washington, D.C., gathered for the chapter’s annual service event

in December at Arlington National Cemetery to participate in Wreaths Across America.

{ Washington, D.C. }

Are you interested in volunteering for your Homecoming 2016 class or affinity reunion? Let us know. Below are the groups and classes celebrating milestone reunions during Homecoming weekend, Oct. 21-23: CLASS REUNIONS:

1961 – 55th reunion 1966 – 50th reunion 1971 – 45th reunion 1976 – 40th reunion 1981 – 35th reunion 1986 – 30th reunion 1991 – 25th reunion 1996 – 20th reunion 2001 – 15th reunion 2006 – 10th reunion 2011 – fifth reunion 2016 – reunion zero

AFFINITY REUNIONS:

{ Atlanta }

If you have recently moved or changed jobs, make sure to update your information at www.elon.edu/alumniupdate to receive information about upcoming events in your area.

VOLUNTEERS!

Contact Jordan Bacharach ’09 (jbacharach@elon.edu) or Chandler Thompson (cthompson39@elon.edu) to learn how you can volunteer for your class reunion.

{ Cleveland }

KEEP ELON IN THE KNOW

CALLING for

TO FIND A CHAPTER NEAR YOU, GO TO www.elon.edu/alumni.

Phi Mu – 45th reunion Zeta Tau Alpha – 45th reunion Delta Sigma Theta – 35th reunion Alpha Phi Alpha – 25th reunion Elon Black Alumni Network (EBAN) – 20th reunion Hillel – 20th reunion ontact Deidra Smith, assistant C director of alumni engagement, at dsmith79@elon.edu to learn how you can get started as an affinity reunion volunteer, or if it is your reunion year and you don’t see your group listed.

winter 2016 33

HONOR ROLL

2014-2015 Young Alumni Elon Society The Young Alumni Elon Society comprises 2004 through 2009 graduates who made gifts of $1,000 to $1,499 and 2010 through 2015 graduates who made gifts of $500 to $999. Jeremy N. Allen ’07‡ & Katherine E. Gosney ’09 L’12‡ Keenan M. Benjamin ’06‡ Elaine C. Bixby G’12‡ & Dr.Walter R. Bixby ◆ Megan M. Borgaard ’05‡ ◆ Bonnie A. Brackett ’08‡ Martin X. Burke ’10‡ Jeffrey N. Casullo ’09‡ Nina Ruth Dagbjartsson ’11‡ Tyler L. Diamond ’10◆ Kathleen M. Donohue ’05‡ & Jim Donohue Brian R. Dudiak ’12‡ ◆ David F. Dziok ’05‡ ◆ Nolan H. Elingburg ’11 G’12‡ ◆

Top 10 Under 10

ALUMNI AWARDS The Young Alumni Council and the Office of Alumni Engagement will celebrate the accomplishments of 10 talented young alumni during the sixth annual Top 10 Under 10 Alumni Awards Ceremony on Saturday, April 2. The awards recognize undergraduate alumni of the past decade who have achieved major professional success, serve as difference-makers in their local communities, and loyally support Elon as partners, advocates and investors. For more information, contact the Office of Alumni Engagement at alumni@elon.edu or toll free at (877) 784-3566.

34 the MAGAZINE of ELON

Patrick A. Elliott ’07‡ Peter P. Falcone ’04‡ Victor D. Galloway, Jr. ’09‡ & Durice N. Galloway ’09 G’14‡ ◆ Alexandra K. Gatter ’10‡ Jennifer A. Hiltwine ’09‡ ◆ Jillian H. Hollis ’13‡ Brian E. Hooper ’06‡ & Kelly Hooper ◆ Mark A. Horsburgh ’07‡ Jason R. Kahn ’09‡ & Laura A. Kahn ’09‡ Dylan S. Ketcham ’11‡ Carolyn A. King ’09‡ Sydnie C. Krause ’11‡

Scott D. Leighty ’09‡ & Kimberly W. Leighty ’08‡ ◆ Gabrielle L. McGee ’06‡ & Luke McGee John J. McMackin III ’08‡ Jarrett G. Meadors ’07‡ & Kara Meadors ◆ Nicole A. Morillo ’12‡ Josh J. Norris ’11‡ Marcus E. Olivieri ’15‡ ◆ Kathryn B. Parker ’05‡ Casey S. Pickler ’10‡ & Claudia R. Pickler ’10‡ Joe W. Purgason ’10‡ ◆ Matthew W. Richardson ’11‡ ◆ Mary B. Safrit ’12‡ Mark A. Schwartz ’06‡ & Meredith P. Schwartz ’08‡ William P. Simon ’13‡ Ross J. Simpson III ’07 L’10‡ & Kimberly C. Simpson ’08‡

Kyle G. Smialek ’07‡ ◆ Kristin D. Smith ’07 G’12‡ ◆ Kyle F. Smith ’08 G’14‡ & Meredith L. Smith ’08 G’12‡ ◆ Jozi E. Snowberger ’07‡ ◆ Scott D. Stevens ’03 G’12‡ & Gavin S. Stevens ’07 G’12‡ ◆ Jeremy W.Teetor ’10 G’15‡ Patricia A.Teter ’13‡ Christen E.Trivette ’06‡ & Proctor Trivette Catherine G.Valero ’13‡ Jarvier T.Young ’08 Blaire A. Zachary ’13‡

‡ the

1889 society

◆ phoenix

SAVE THE DATE FOR M HOMECOMING 2016

club

ake plans to come back to campus Oct. 21-23 for Elon Homecoming 2016. The weekend will include a new festival-like event featuring entertainment for the entire family, plus some of our staples: community-wide celebrations, class and affinity reunion events, a free concert and an unparalleled game day experience as the Phoenix take on the Richmond Spiders.

CLASS NOTES

CLASS 63| NOTES

Charlie Frye won a silver

97|

medal in the state finals at the North Carolina Senior Games in the basketball shooting contest. The Oak Ridge Military Academy baseball Hall of Famer and former Elon baseball player also placed fourth in the cornhole competition. Including the Greater Greensboro games, Charlie won nine medals in 2015.

66|

Mary Coolidge Ruth and Bill Ruth participated

in the Hydrocephalus Association Walk held in Charlotte, N.C., on 9/26/15. The couple attended the event with their granddaughter, Ashley. The event, which featured hundreds of walkers and many children and adults suffering from the disease, raised $50,000. Mary retired from Elon University as director of alumni and parent relations. Bill is a retired financial planner from Travelers Insurance Co. They live in Pleasant Hill, S.C.

74|

Robert S. Jones was recently

elected to the Board of the North Carolina Native Plant Society. He and his wife, Ruth, propagate rare and endangered native plants in Greensboro, N.C., where they live.

Patrick Singleton has been re-elected as treasurer for the World Olympians Association. He was first elected to the position in 2011 for a four-year term. A School of Communications graduate, Patrick worked in broadcasting and print journalism for Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper and Bloomberg News in Tokyo and London, among others. He competed in the men’s singles luge in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, and the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City. In the 2006 Olympics, he competed in the skeleton in Turin, Italy.

89|

Since 1990, Ray Walden has been a full-time music teacher at Epiphany Catholic School in Miami, Fla., teaching grades 2-8. He also coached girl’s high school soccer at Lourdes Academy in Miami for 17 years. Throughout his career, he has been named the Miami-Dade County Coach of the Year four times and Coach of the Year for the state of Florida once. He lives in Miami with wife Nancy and daughter Jillian.

90|

David Meeler was recently

named Harry & ’Becca Dalton Endowed Chair of Environmental Sciences and Studies at Winthrop University. He lives with his wife, Anita Case, and their two children in Rock Hill, S.C. • Gregg Riggs and Susan Koser were ALUMNI ALBUM

married 11/25/15. Susan is a teacher for Montgomery County (Md.) Public Schools and Gregg owns and operates Carpet Green Clean. They reside in Germantown.

91|

Evey Wooten was named the 2015 Mid-Atlantic Region Line Officer of the Year. The award is presented annually to honor officers for their significant contributions and outstanding service. Evey is a 24-year veteran with the U.S. Probation Office in the Middle District of North Carolina. She and her spouse, Marty Weems ’89, live in Hillsborough, N.C.

92|

Trevor Moon received

her master’s degree in education and teacher leadership at the University of Phoenix through a full scholarship program. Trevor works at William Monroe Middle School as a sixth grade language arts teacher. She lives in Charlottesville, Va. • Anne Stavely recently accepted a new job at Florida Gulf Coast University. She and her husband, Mike, live in Naples, Fla.

96| Charlie Frye ’63

Bill Ruth ’66, Mary Coolidge Ruth ’66 & granddaughter Ashley

Joe Ferrell ’96

Joe Ferrell, principal of Williams High School in Burlington, N.C., was named the 2016 Wells Fargo Principal of the Year by the Alamance-Burlington School System. He has taught in schools across North Carolina since 1996. Joe will advance to the regional competition with other school district award recipients from the Piedmont Triad/ Central Region of North Carolina. Eight regional finalists across the state will be named, with one principal selected in the spring as the 2016 North Carolina Wells Fargo Principal of the Year.

00| James Pflaum ’00, Kelly Pflaum & daughter Grace Mackenzie

Kim Eagens ’02, Derek Maul & friends

Mike Lunney was recently

promoted to senior director of assessment scoring for the College Board. He is responsible for overall scoring operations of the SAT and PSAT assessments. He winter 2016 35

CLASS NOTES

The ELON Connector BY SARAH COLLINS ’18

ome alumni know him as “the Elon guy,” but few may truly understand the impact alumnus J. King White ’80 has had on the Elon community. “He is one of those rare people who is always looking to help and improve his community, and does so genuinely and diligently,” says Mital Patel L’09, an attorney who lives in Raleigh, N.C., and who is among the countless alumni who have benefited from White’s advice. That’s because White is passionate about connecting likeminded people and advocating for his alma mater. He regularly meets with Elon alumni to offer professional advice and support, and with the help of his impressive personal network, he is constantly initiating meaningful connections. Just this past holiday season, he arranged for Elon’s Triangle Alumni Chapter to support a holiday fundraiser for Triangle Spokes Group, a nonprofit organization cofounded by Elon alumnae Jenn Nowalk ’99 that donates bicycles to children in need. Two other Raleighbased alumni—Paul Breeding ’99 of Lonerider Brewing Company

and Emily Grey Sexton ’07 of The Flourish Market—also supported the fundraiser by donating a percentage of their sales to the nonprofit. The event was a success. “[The chapter] raised enough money to donate about 11 bikes to Triangle Spokes Group,” says Rich Nowalk ’97, Jenn’s husband and an active member of the alumni chapter. More importantly, he adds, the event inspired a younger demographic to get involved in the nonprofit’s work. White’s desire to make meaningful connections can be traced back to his Elon years. As a student from Maryland, White

became heavily involved on campus as the vice president of the Student Government Association, a brother of the Kappa Sigma fraternity and a contributing member of both The Pendulum, the student-run newspaper, and Phi Psi Cli yearbook. Upon graduating with a degree in English, he was asked to assume the position of director of alumni and parent relations. In this role, White revamped the traditional methods of connecting with young alumni by focusing on personal relationships, something Elon continues today. After serving in that role for five years, he transitioned into the private sector to work for a Raleighbased company that launched the Triangle’s first commercial cellular phone network. His entrepreneurial mindset helped him overcome the obstacles associated with working for a start-up company, and as a result, his company enjoyed considerable success. After nearly two decades in the wireless industry, White made a decision to shift from a focus on “professional self-advancement” to a work style that allowed him to follow his passion for people and ideas. Today he spends his time and efforts promoting worthy community initiatives and helping a new generation of thought leaders pursue their professional and life objectives. “I have simple needs and have what I need to be happy,” he

ALUMNI ALBUM

says. “Rather than focusing on selfindulgence, I much prefer spending my remaining years supporting others and doing what I can to make our world a better place.” As a dedicated altruist, he enjoys providing guidance for members of his community. He serves as a mentor for North Carolina State University’s Entrepreneurship Mentor Program. He is also a

{ J. King White ’80, left, has been a mentor and friend for Mital Patel L’09, right. }

member of Innovate Raleigh’s task force and serves as a board member for Elon’s Triangle Alumni Chapter. White says he continues to be inspired by the accomplishments of the Elon University community and “proudly waves the Elon flag” whenever possible. “Here in Raleigh I’m always looking for a way to shine a spotlight on my alma mater,” he says. “After all, I began my professional career at Elon. This institution prepared me for a wonderful life journey.”

is working on a redesigned version of both; the PSAT launched in October, while the SAT will launch in March. He lives with his wife, Angelica, and their two sons in Leesburg, Va. • James Pflaum and wife Kelly welcomed daughter Grace Mackenzie on 5/16/15. The family lives in Raleigh, N.C.

01| Luke Flynt ’02 36 the MAGAZINE of ELON

Caroline Sage ’02, Louis Garafola & dog Toby

Kara Falck Bolling ’03, Cameron Bolling & friends

In June, Katie Padgett was appointed director of Soles of Steel, a youth tap performance company in Washington, D.C., for advanced and pre-professional tap dance students who want to improve their technical and improvisational skills,

CLASS NOTES

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.

rates as of april 17, 2015 ONE BENEFICIARY

T WO BENEFICIARIE S

AG E

ANNUIT Y R ATE

AG E

ANNUIT Y R ATE

60 65 70

4.4% 4.7% 5.1%

60/65 67/67 71/73

4.0% 4.4% 4.7%

Annuity rates are subject to change. The annuity rate remains fixed once your gift is made.

To calculate a gift annuity for you, your spouse or a family member, visit elon.plannedgiving.org.

and work on creative, historical and contemporary choreography. Katie lives in Vienna, Va. • Sally Rich and Paul Furlong were married 10/24/15 in Baltimore, Md. Alumni in attendance included Becca Murray Barker, Matthew Bastoni, Mary Hatjis Furer, Kristan Schaaf McGehee, Catie Krol Morici, Pam Braccini Pizani, Lauren Fernicola Till, Cynthia Maynard Ward and Nathaniel Woods ’02. They live in Washington, D.C.

02|

Kim Eagens and Derek Maul were married 11/15/15 in Playa Mujeres, Mexico. Alumni in attendance included Jordan Groomes Collier ’01, Emily Tucker Barzee, Shannon Bonezzi Granatelli, Kristin Abbamonte Kocher, Kristen Swift Lynn, Aubrey Matulevich, Adam Merten and Lindsay Allman Merten. Kim is a commercial real estate underwriter

for Wells Fargo and Derek is a chiropractor. They reside in Charlotte, N.C. • Luke Flynt was elected secretary/treasurer for the Florida Education Association. His duties include collecting, safeguarding, reporting on and dispensing funds. Luke lives in Sebastian. • Caroline Sage and Louis Garafola were married 9/26/15 in San Diego. They live in Imperial Beach, Calif.

03|

Kara Falck and Cameron Bolling were married 9/6/15. Melissa Hersh served as the maid of honor. Other alumni in attendance included Robin Beers, Charlotte Curry McGhee and Kathryn Lemmond O’Brien. Kara works as a psychotherapist at the Jewish Social Service Agency & Private Practice. They live in Baltimore, Md. • Jenny Brown Flaherty and husband Matthew welcomed son Dylan Hayes on 7/1/15. The family lives in

ALUMNI ALBUM

Talk with us today about how you may benefit from a life income gift to Elon and other gift planning opportunities. please contact: Carolyn DeFrancesco, Director of Planned Giving 336-278-7454 ■ cdefrancesco@elon.edu ■ elon.plannedgiving.org

Jenny Brown Flaherty ’03 & son Dylan Hayes

Heather Trant Mullane ’03, Patrick Mullane & daughter Edie Rose

Danielle Wilson Nashold ’04, Blaine Nashold & friends

{ Students using the language lab in Carlton building during the 1940s or 1950s. } Lillian Ciany Apple ’04, Mark Apple & daughter Lennon

Laura Guido ’05, Joe Guido ’05 & sons Grant & Smith Everett winter 2016 37

CLASS NOTES Brooklyn, N.Y. • Heather Trant Mullane and husband Patrick Mullane welcomed daughter Edie Rose on 6/18/15. They live in Alexandria, Va.

04|

Lillian Ciany and Mark Apple were married 7/26/15. Their daughter, Lennon, served as flower girl at the wedding. Alumni in attendance included Jackie Sgambati ’98, Clara Urquhart Blanchard and Erin Wallace McQueen. Lillian is a physics instructor at Ashley Hall and Mark is a grants administrator at the Medical University of South Carolina. They live in Mount Pleasant. • Becky Peterson and Joe Magyar ’05 were married 6/27/15 at Elon Community Church. Alumni participating in the wedding party included Ben Peterson ’02, Beth Luedeke Peterson ’02, Michael Ransom ’05 and

Nicole Valenti ’05. Becky is a media

specialist with Orange County (N.C.) Schools. They live in Burlington. • Danielle Wilson and Blaine Nashold were married 10/2/15. Alumni in attendance included Michelle Wilson John, who served as the matron of honor. Danielle is a senior vice president with Bank of America. They live in Charlotte, N.C.

05|

Laura Guido and husband Joe welcomed son Smith

Everett on 8/26/15. He joins big brother Grant, who is three. They live in Owings, Md. • Kristin Simonetti and Dan Hanson met as first-year Communications Fellows at Elon in 2001. After years of being “just friends,” the couple began dating, got engaged and celebrated their wedding on 9/19/15, in the bride’s hometown of Sterling, Va. The

wedding had a distinct Elon reunion vibe with more than 25 alumni in attendance. Zack Pund and Craig Whitham served as groomsmen, and Angela Herrick ’03 and Jenn Tucci ’09 served as bridesmaids. Other Elon alumni in attendance included Keith Brewer ’99, Jamie Sclater ’02, Kate Glasnapp Fairchild ’03, Ryan Fairchild ’03, Chris Gaylor ’03, Lindsey Goodman Baker ’04, Sharon Anderson Davies ’04, Zac Palmer ’04, Kristin White ’04, Tammy Yates ’04, Brett Cooper, Dave Dziok, Brittiny Dunlap Lenz, Barbie Pace, Brian Pickler, Ashley Condict Tanner, Mica Ball Thomasson, Kara Anderson Pickler ’06, Bill Primrose ’06, Britten Ginsburg Pund ’06, Pat Jeffries ’07 and Janice Spearbeck ’13. ALUMNI ALBUM

Michael Aceto ’06

Becky Peterson Magyar ’04 & Joe Magyar ’05

Kristin Simonetti Hanson ’05, Dan Hanson ’05 & friends

Jameson Dion ’06, Jamie Eisler & friends

Zach Morris ’06, Ashley Feibish Morris ’07 & friends 38 the MAGAZINE of ELON

Betsy Joyce-Koch ’07 & Katharine Koch

Grace Masquelette Ramsdell ’07, Keith Ramsdell & children Olivia & Hudson Abbott

CLASS NOTES

SAM ROBERTS/THE TIMES-NEWS

a sense of appreciation for the community he has adopted as his own. “I absolutely loved walking across campus and seeing someone I knew; that sense of community is incredible. When I moved to Burlington, I saw that it’s present there as well,” he says. “I’d love to grow our community but keep that small-town feel. My goal for running was to spark conversations about the community and emphasize that we all have a role in building a better future for Burlington.” Grassroots campaigns in Burlington’s 2012 election initially sparked Baltutis’ interest in politics. Prior to the mayoral race, he unsuccessfully ran for a state House seat in 2014. He is committed to continuing his grassroots effort throughout his tenure as mayor and is intent on implementing ideas that will further engage Burlington residents. “We want to continue to reach people in every demographic and every neighborhood, to talk with them about their role in Burlington,” he says. “We want to welcome new residents to Burlington and get them engaged in what they’re passionate about—I want to get them connected as soon as possible so we can build the community.” Baltutis’s innovative spirit and sharp business acumen—he has several Six Sigma Black Belt certifications, a data-driven approach for eliminating deficiencies in any business process—have influenced much of his personal and professional life. From 2007 to 2011, he successfully implemented new manufacturing technologies at Honda Power Equipment Manufacturing in Swepsonville, N.C., which resulted in multimillion-dollar savings for the plant. At Vibration Solution, his leadership has allowed the company to reach and profit from hundreds of niche markets worldwide while creating jobs locally. He has also served on the Board of Advisors for Elon’s Doherty Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership since 2012, and says his business experience has taught him the importance of using money effectively and connecting with customers. But his biggest impact might come through his focus on service. An Eagle Scout, he mentors youth through the local Boy Scout Venture program, which he helped establish, advises Elon’s chapter of the Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity, and routinely tutors fifth- and sixth-grade students in math and science. He is a firm believer that service develops leadership skills, something he says will influence his tenure as mayor. “That’s been a major driver in my initiative to serve the community, and to identify and mentor leaders,” he says. “That’s building the success of the future generation; we all have something to contribute as mentors.”

Determined LEADERSHIP SHAKORI FLETCHER ’16

an Baltutis ’08 thinks like an entrepreneur. When, as an Elon student, he co-founded Vibration Solution LLC, which designs and manufactures vibration isolation products for noisy household appliances, he and business partner RJ Yozwiak ’08 created a local business with a global reach that maximizes leanness and efficiency. This “think large, act small” mentality will now surface in Baltutis’ latest day job: Mayor of Burlington, N.C., a position he assumed Dec. 1. At age 30, he is the youngest mayor in the history of the City of Burlington. But youth doesn’t mean inexperience. “One of the biggest barriers I’ve faced has been age; some people thought, ‘We can’t have a mayor this young,’” he says. ”We all realize opportunities at different stages of our lives. Whether it’s civic engagement, or anything else, we need to make sure folks of all ages have an opportunity.” One of his first orders of business has been to partner with the Alamance County Libraries to implement the Mayor’s Book Club. The idea is for residents to recommend books for others to read in order to jumpstart in-depth community conversations. The Minnesota native says attending Elon gave him

winter 2016 39

CLASS NOTES

06|

Michael Aceto recently

accepted a position as associate attorney for Segal McCambridge Singer & Mahoney, Ltd. His main concentration is toxic tort, product liability and commercial litigation. He lives in Philadelphia. • Jameson Dion and Jamie Eisler were married 9/6/15 in Estes Park, Colo. Alumni in attendance included Justin Bollenback, Victoria Bollenback, John Dugan, Kevin Richters and Molly Dugan Ebert ’07. They live in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. • Zach Morris and Ashley Feibish ’07 were married 10/10/15 in Atlanta. Alumni in the wedding party included Neil Albritton, Zach Denton, Sam Payne, Charles Schoch, Leigh Shipley ’07 and Alissa Wilke Ward ’09. Other alumni in attendance included Patrick Dowling, Bert Krieger, Anne Taylor, Sarah Hetherington Kenny ’07,

Brian McElroy ’07, Bernie Coston ’08 and Parks Ward ’09. Ashley works as

09|

Alaina Artin and John

Sauser were married 10/24/15. Cara Goering served as a bridesmaid. Other alumni in attendance included Megan Daly, Emily Kinman, Jen Hill Nelson and Alissa Richards Weathers. Alaina works at a magazine in New York, Carolyn Fiala and Aaron while John serves as a captain in Wright were married the Pennsylvania Army National 9/19/15. Carolyn works as Guard. They live in Philadelphia, Pa. a marketing specialist for Compass Group. They live in Charlotte, N.C. • • Megan Kirkpatrick and Todd Van Betsy Joyce and Katharine Koch were Etten were married 5/30/15. Alumni in attendance included Patrick married 6/19/15 in Kona, Hawaii. McCamy ’08, Olivia Allen-Price, Betsy works as the division director of Kelley Anderson, Bana McCamy IT search for Robert Half Technology. and Stefanie Meyers. Megan works They live in Henderson, Nev. • Grace as the senior manager of media Masquelette Ramsdell and husband relations for the United States Keith Ramsdell welcomed son Chamber of Commerce. They Hudson Abbott on 10/12/15. He joins reside in Washington, D.C. • John sister Olivia. The family lives in New Planisek and Jeffrey McLaughlin were married 9/9/15. John works York City. marketing director for Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty and Zach works as a financial adviser for J.P. Morgan. They live in Atlanta.

07|

A DREAM

COME TRUE BY KEREN RIVAS ’04

dreamed of performing. But she never thought one day she would play one of Disney’s most popular female characters for audiences around the world.

“

t’s so much more wonderful than I ever could imagine,” says Haglund, who portrays Elsa from the hit movie “Frozen” as part of Feld Entertainment’s “Disney On Ice presents Worlds of Enchantment.” “Being able to do this with Elsa, is a dream.” Growing up in upstate New York, where ice skating is prominent, Haglund attended many shows and had the “performance bug” from an early age. “I loved being out on the ice,” she recalls. As an undergraduate studying psychology at Elon, she maintained her passion alive by coaching at the nearby Greensboro Ice House. As graduation neared, and still desiring to continue skating, she decided to audition for “Disney On Ice” the winter of her senior year. Shortly after graduation, she learned she had been chosen to be a cast member for the “Worlds of Enchantment” company. Her first year she played Vidia, a strongwilled fairy who was one of the lead characters in the “Tinker Bell” portion of the show. When characters from the movie “Frozen” replaced that segment in 2014, Haglund landed the role of Elsa on the company’s newest version of the show that is currently touring in Europe.

40 the MAGAZINE of ELON

Though she has a very busy schedule—the company often performs nightly shows during the week and three shows a day Friday through Sunday—Haglund has managed to explore many European cities, including Dublin, Glasgow and London. And while she has enjoyed the sightseeing opportunities, it’s the interactions with the public she cherishes the most. “It is so fun to be able to be on the ice and close enough to see the kids’ faces,” she says. “[Elsa] is a beloved character and it’s truly an honor to be able to portray her on the ice.” The most memorable part of her performance is when she takes the ice for “Let It Go,” the movie’s hit song. “I can hear the entire audience singing the song,” she says. “It’s something I’ll never forget.” Haglund says she is thrilled to be a part of the Disney family and where it has taken her. She is also thankful to Elon for the experiences it has afforded her. “I wouldn’t be the person I am now without Elon,” she says. “Elon was such a great part of my life. It’s really cool to fully enjoy this experience with Elon as my foundation.” Visit www.disneyonice.com/tickets to find the “Disney On Ice” show nearest you.

CLASS NOTES

13|

Grant Buckner {Law’13} was named the Supreme Court of North Carolina’s first director of the Office of Central Staff, a new office created by the Administrative Office of the Courts to increase the efficiency of the Supreme Court in adjudicating cases. Grant holds a psychology degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a master’s degree in industrialorganizational psychology and human resources management from Appalachian State University.

included David Wells ’08, Becky Von Dem Hagen ’09, Chelsea Anderson ’10, Phil Bartholomew ’10, Christopher Peele ’10, Christopher Dragoon, Holland Felts, Caleb Luther, Kristen Marcickiewicz, Christopher Markwood, Matthew Morales, Jeff Siatti, Matthew

10|

Bo Davis and Kinsey Spencer ’11 were married

works as a management consultant

and Steve works in venture capital business development. They live in Philadelphia. • Nolan Elingburg {Interactive Media ’12} visited the White House in September with members of the Duke University basketball team. He is the associate director of the Blue Devil Network.

ALUMNI ALBUM

Carolyn Fiala Wright ’07 & Aaron Wright

as a dental assistant for Smile First Family Dental Studio. They live in Chicago. • Seanna Baird and Chris Reeg were married 9/5/15. Alumni in the bridal party included Christia Murphy ’08, Danielle Gilbert Reno {DPT’12} and Kara Cowdrick ’10. Seanna is a physician assistant. They live in Westerville, Ohio. • Ben Klein {Law ’09} has been promoted to partner at Benson, Brown & Faucher, PLLC in Greensboro, N.C. He joined the firm in 2012 and focuses on all aspects of civil litigation, with an emphasis on car accidents and business disputes. Prior to joining the firm, he worked as an attorney at Crumpler Freedman Parker & Witt in Winston-Salem.

Trucksess, Elizabeth Baldwin Wells, Alesandra Abramoski Woolley, Wyatt Brady ’12, Lauren Girvan ’12, Will Misko ’12, Ryan Potts ’12, Kevin Woolley ’12, Michael Botto ’13, Tony Gurry ’13, Jay Rosencrans ’13 and Siaolan Wong-Albigese ’13. Nicole

Alaina Artin ’09, Capt. John Sauser & friends

Seanna Baird Reeg ’09, Chris Reeg & friends

Bo Davis ’10, Kinsey Spencer Davis ’11 & friends

Ben Klein G’09

Megan Kirkpatrick Van Etten ’09 & Todd Van Etten

Nicole Deering Dressel ’11, Steve Dressel ’11 & friends

6/6/15. Alumni in the wedding party included Brian Fisher, Ryan Mackay, Amanda Ketner ’11, Chelsey McElwee ’11, Caroline Peckels ’11 and Natalie Sayag ’11. Other alumni in attendance included Becky Darby, Justin Darby, Jessica Gray ’11, Scott Hockemeyer ’11 and Sam Jennings ’11. They reside in Raleigh, N.C.

11|

Nicole Deering and Steve Dressel were married 10/3/15.

Alumni in attendance

Nolan Elingburg ’11 G’12

Grant Sigmon G’11

Sam Jennings ’11, Hannah Jennings & friends winter 2016 41

CLASS NOTES

(Translation: Like Elon on Facebook and Twitter!) ElonUniversity, ElonAlumni Elon University, Elon Alumni

• Sam Jennings and Hannah Jennings were married 10/10/15. Alumni in attendance included Bo Davis ’10, Kinsey Davis, Amanda Ketner, Chelsey McElwee, Jordan McNeill, Natalie Sayag and Brandon Walters. Sam is a teacher for Brunswick County (N.C.) Schools. They live in Southport. • Grant Sigmon {Law ’11} has been promoted to partner at Benson, Brown & Faucher, PLLC in Greensboro, N.C. He first joined the law firm as a clerk in 2009 and transitioned into an attorney role in fall 2011. Grant’s practice focuses on family law, personal injury and business litigation.

12|

Mark Barry and Alyssa Abel were married 7/25/15. Alumni in attendance included JC Cross, Zach Gillis, Rob Hackett, Dave Hirsch, Tim Igo, Cambridge Lestienne, Tyler Lynn, TJ O’Malley, Kyle Packert, Nate Randazzo, Chris Roithmayr, Gary Wilson, Jay

Yaworsky, Cherelle Hunter ’13, Alex Spitz ’13, Mike Moeller ’14 and Travis Sprague ’14.

13|

William Burke and Katie Nelsen were married

8/15/15 in Florham Park, N.J. Celebrating with them as bridesmaids and groomsmen were Mary B. Safrit ’12, Lauren Bambino, Jackson Brodie, Jo Ann Crum, Robert Dean, Andrew Krech, Sarah Lentz, Kathleen Pate and Tyler Tucci. • Rebekah Carmichael started a new business called Raleigh Room Escapes LLC, in Raleigh, N.C. This new venture specializes in team building and group activities. Trapped in a room with a zombie, you and your friends or co-workers will have to work together to solve the clues and puzzles that will enable your escape. For more information, check out the website at www.raleighroomescapes.com. • Ginna Claire Mason has joined the

Broadway cast of “Wicked” as the standby for Glinda. Prior to that, she had performed in the national tours of “Flashdance” and “Newsies” and regionally in Las Vegas.

14|

David Lambert {Law ’14} was

elected town commissioner of Robbins, N.C., in November. He also graduated from the Institute of Political Leadership in 2015. David and his wife, Desiree, live in Robbins.

15|

DeShawn Bowens is

journeying around the seas performing in the Norwegian Cruise Line’s production of “Legally Blonde.” Prior to that, he was part of the “Peter Pan” ensemble at Artpark in Lewiston, New York. • Leah Greene is traveling the seas touring on the Disney Magic Cruise Line. She is playing Anne Marie in “Disney Dreams,” Drizella in “Twice Charmed” and in the ensemble of the world premiere of “Tangled.” ALUMNI ALBUM

TURN YOURSELF IN! Elon.edu/classnotes Mark Barry ’12 & Alyssa Abel

Rebekah Carmichael ’13 42 the MAGAZINE of ELON

William Burke ’13 & Katie Nelsen Burke ’13

Ginna Claire Mason ’13

DeShawn Bowens ’15

Leah Greene ’15

CLASS NOTES

Becoming part of the

STORY BY KYLE LUBINSKY ’17

After working in broadcast journalism for more than 15 years, Emily Matesic ’99 is used to being in the spotlight.

ut nothing compares to the media attention she has received since Dec. 18, the date Netflix released a new crime series, Making a Murderer. The 10-part documentary follows the case of Steven Avery, a Wisconsin man who spent 18 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Two years after his release, Teresa Halbach disappeared, and Avery’s freedom was again in question. Because Matesic was the lead reporter for Green Bay’s ABC affiliate, the outlet that initially covered the story, she is featured extensively in the documentary, which has stirred some controversy. “I am really shocked at all of the attention that’s come with the release of the series,” she says. “I’ve gotten lots of interview requests from publications and shows around the world.” The Magazine of Elon asked Matesic to share some insights into the case, the series and what it all means for her as a reporter. How did you initially get involved in covering the Steven Avery case? I started working at WBAY-TV in Green Bay, Wis., in

August of 2005. Teresa Halbach was reported missing in November of that year. I was working the day her vehicle was found on the Avery salvage yard property. A week later, authorities said they would be charging him with her murder. The following day, I conducted a jailhouse interview with Avery about the impending charges and from there on out, I led my station’s coverage of the case. I covered every pre-trial hearing, all six weeks of his trial as well as his sentencing. How did you feel when you found out there was a documentary being made about the case? I knew the two producers of the Netflix series were hoping to create something out of the Avery case. They relocated to Wisconsin from New York to cover the story back in 2005. After the trials and sentencing for both Steven Avery and his nephew, Brendan Dassey, I honestly didn’t think much of the two women and their project. Needless to say, I was shocked when Netflix put out a news release saying the series would be released—10 years after the fact. Did you feel the documentary accurately portrayed the facts of the case? I’ve said from the very beginning, the story of Steven Avery and his wrongful conviction followed by his exoneration, only to be charged with yet another violent crime is very compelling. I give the Netflix producers credit. They condensed hundreds of hours of testimony and nearly a thousand pieces of evidence into 10 hours. That could not have been easy. With that said, they only had 10 hours and, therefore, couldn’t and didn’t include everything that was presented at trial. The juries at both trials heard all of the evidence and reached their verdicts based on that, not just what’s included in the Netflix series. What did covering the Avery case teach you about being a journalist? I had been working as a reporter for more than five years when I started to cover the Avery case. I don’t know if it necessarily taught me anything about being a journalist because I like to think I do a pretty good job of that every day, but I guess this situation has taught me that you never know where a story you cover is going to lead you.

IN MEMORIAM Kathleen Chrismon Bowman ’47,

Burlington, N.C. 10/11/15.

Margaret Rice Bouldin ’48,

Burlington, N.C. 10/10/15. Jackie Royals Manzi ’50,

Greensboro, N.C. 10/4/15. Howard “Holt” Thornton ’50,

Zebulon, N.C. 9/25/15.

Elizabeth “Liz” B. Overman ’57,

Peterborough, N.H. 9/10/15. Harold Gene Hayes ’58,

Burlington, N.C. 9/19/15. Henry Landon Kivett ’58, Harrisburg, N.C. 9/30/15. Helen Evans Misenheimer ’61,

Greensboro, N.C. 10/25/15.

Anderson Lucian Lowe ’62,

Seven Lakes North, N.C. 9/20/15. Paul Herman Huey ’66,

Elon, N.C. 10/24/15.

Wanda Edwards King ’68,

Raleigh, N.C. 9/9/15.

Martha Alice Pope Jones ’70,

Portsmouth, Va. 10/4/15.

Nancy Cummings Skeen ’72,

Norfolk, Va. 9/28/15.

Robert Ray Voyles ’72,

Colfax, Ohio. 9/26/15.

Hughes Jennings Rhodes III ’73,

Virginia Beach, Va. 11/8/15. Hope Amick Gregory ’77,

Burlington, N.C. 10/3/15.

Bobby Jerome Hedrick ’83,

Greensboro, N.C. 11/1/15. A football legend at Elon, Bobby powered the school’s first NAIA national championship team in 1980 and held the school’s alltime rushing record. Kyle Mathew Krzywicki ’01,

Suffolk, Va. 11/2/15.

Brady Patrick Nelson ’01,

Bethesda, Md. 11/6/15.

Rebecca Elizabeth Rijavec ’08,

Alberta, Canada. 11/7/15.

Douglas Paasch Cooper ’10,

Groveland, Fla. 8/14/15.

Demitri Monquez Allison ’17,

Cornelius, N.C. 11/11/15.

friends Armecia Eure Black P’76, P’79, P’80, P’84 GP’09, a loyal Elon parent and

grandparent, died October 21. She was the daughter of the late N.C. Secretary of State and Elon Trustee, Thad Eure.

winter 2016 43

A GLOBAL REACH

Students in the Interactive Media masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s degree program traveled to the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Belize and Ireland in January to complete international projects for the public good as part of their Winter Term fly-in experience. Prior to travel, the students were divided into groups and assigned to regional nonprofits or nongovernmental organizations in need of a Web presence or redesign. The teams then spent 7-10 days gathering content, which they brought back to campus to complete their projects.

Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Durham, NC Permit # 104

Office of Alumni Engagement PO Box 398 Elon, NC 27244 Toll Free: (877) 784-3566 www.elon.edu/alumni Change Service Requested

{ Students perform in Oklahoma!, the Department of Performing Artsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; fall production that ran for two weekends at McCrary Theatre. }