The Pendulum, April 26, 2023, Edition

VP,

PENDULUM THE

VP

VP, Advancement

VP, Communications

VP, Strategic

Dean, Arts and Sciences

Dean, Education

Dean, Business

Dean, Communications

Dean, Health Sciences

Dean, Law

Athletics Director

SENIOR STAFF MEMBERS’ LEAVING SHAKES UP UNIVERSITY

Wartburg College.

staff in the 2022-23 school year is 22.2%.

Elon University said goodbye to four senior staff members in the last year, all of whom have become presidents at other universities.

The most recent to announce their departure is Vice President of strategic initiatives Jeff Stein, who will be leaving after serving Elon University for 21 years. Stein will become the president of Mary Baldwin University beginning in July, after announcing his departure April 14.

Senior staff members leaving and beginning other roles isn’t new to the university. This trend started when former Dean of the School of Health Sciences Rebecca Neiduski announced her departure March 21, 2022, after starting her role at Elon five years earlier to become president of

Former Dean of the School of Communications Rochelle Ford, who worked at Elon since 2018, followed May 24, 2022, and announced she was becoming president of Dillard University. Former Provost Aswani Volety announced his departure May 26, 2022, to become the chancellor of the University of North Carolina, Wilmington.

Turnover in higher education is not just an Elon issue, though. The University of North Carolina System had a 75% higher turnover rate in summer 2021 compared with the four years prior, partly due to COVID-19, according to Ithaka S+R, a research organization specializing in higher education.

“There’s more turnover, but this is sort of a natural aspect of Elon’s community that people are either moving up, or they’re taking big jobs elsewhere and it speaks to the leadership that is provided,” Stein said.

In 2017, a study published by Business and Economics Horizons found that private higher education institutions have an average turnover of 18%. Elon’s turnover rate for senior

Neiduski said with the rate of turnover in university presidents in the U.S. in recent years, the amount of recruitment for these positions from Elon makes sense.

“It’s a hard job. It’s a difficult market in higher education right now from an admissions perspective,” Neiduski said. “A lot of colleges and universities are looking for people who might be willing to try to consider the job.”

Senior staff are a role head of a department or division and typically report directly to the president. Presidents head the entire university and oversee long-term plans.

Volety joined Elon University in 2019 as provost after Steven House left in 2018. Volety said the jump from senior staff at Elon to a president at another university makes sense, as it’s typically the next step in a senior staff member’s career.

“When you look at the duration of these and other senior staff, it’s not uncommon for them to look at other opportunities,” Volety said. “For example, when you look at Jeff

Stein, who has been at Elon for a long time, it has been a vice president and that’s a logical next step.”

Neiduski also acknowledged how the work being done at Elon is being looked at by other universities.

“You always run the risk when you hire great people to have them continuing their career.” Neiduski said. “The experiences and opportunities that you are privileged to be a part of at Elon really helped you to prepare yourself for your next steps in your career.”

“When you look at the duration of these and other senior staff, it’s not uncommon for them to look at other opportunities,” Volety said. “For example, when you look at Jeff Stein, who has been at Elon for a long time, it has been a vice president and that’s a logical next step.”

Neiduski also acknowledged how the work being done at Elon is being looked at by other universities.

LEO LAMBERT CONNIE BOOK

GERALD FRANCIS STEVEN HOUSE ASWANI VOLETY REBECCA KOHN

JANET WILLIAMS GERALD WHITTINGTON

SUSAN KLOPMAN GREG ZAISER JON DOOLEY SMITH JACKSON

NAN PERKINS JIM PIATT

JIM PIATT

KEREN RIVAS DAN ANDERSON MIKE HASKINS JEFF STEIN

STEVEN HOUSE GABIE SMITH ALISON MORRISON-SHETLAR

GERALD DILLASHAW ANN BULLOCK DAVID COOPER DEBORAH LONG

JOHN BURBRIDGE MARY GOWAN SCOTT BUECHLER RAGHU TADEPALLI

PAUL PARSONS ROCHELLE FORD KENN GAITHER

ELIZABETH ROGERS

MAHA LUND REBECCA NEIDUSKI ALAN WOODLIEF

LEARY DAVIS GEORGE JOHNSON LUKE BIERMAN

ALAN WHITE DAVE BLANK

Provost VP, Finance

Enrollment/Admissions

of Student Life

Initiatives

Gray denotes a vacant/ nonexistent positions, asterisks denote positions combining or changing titles over time.

PENDULUM THE Elon designated voter-friendly campus

Elon News Network is a daily news organization that includes a newspaper, website, broadcasts and podcasts. Letters to the editor are welcome and should be typed, signed and emailed to enn@elon.edu as Word documents. ENN reserves the right to edit obscene and potentially libelous material. Lengthy letters may be trimmed to fit. All submissions become the property of ENN and will not be returned.

KYRA O’CONNOR

Executive Director of Elon News Network

ABIGAIL HOBBS

Managing Editor of The Pendulum, Copy Chief

MIRANDA FERRANTE

Managing Editor of elonnewsnetwork.com

ELLIS CHANDLER

Executive Producer of Elon Local News

ERIN MARTIN

Executive Producer of ENN On Air

RYAN KUPPERMAN

News Editor

AVERY SLOAN

Politics Editor

SYDNEY SPENCER

Sports Editor

BETSY SCHLEHUBER

Lifestyle Editor

ERIN SOCKOLOF

Opinion Editor

ERIN HRONCICH

Photo Editor

ABBY SHAMBLIN Analytics Director

ANJOLINA FANTARONI

Social Media Coordinator

COOPER LYON

Digital Brand Manager

For the second year in a row, Elon is one of 14 North Carolina schools to earn this designation

Avery Sloan & Ellis Chandler Elon News Network | @elonnewsnetwork

For the second year in a row, Elon was designated a voter-friendly campus in a project started in partnership with Fair Election’s Center’s Campus Vote Project and Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. Elon was one of 14 North Carolina schools given this designation and one of 258 schools nationwide.

transported people to the polls during elections. This was also the first year the early voting site on Elon’s south campus was available.

Now, Elon Votes is working on its 2024 election plan. Radis said they have been looking at what worked in years past and what’s worked at other campuses. Radis said even though 2023 isn’t an election year for Alamance County, their plan for 2024 elections starts now.

Sophomore Allison Durand, director of outreach for Elon Votes, said this certification is important as it helps the rest of campus stay engaged with voting.

an event with a different topic each semester that gives students, faculty staff and community members a chance to discuss a policy issue.

Radis said this semester the topic was, “How Should We Prevent Mass Shootings in Our Communities?” This event brought over 70 attendants, and Radis said this allowed her to hear different perspectives on how to answer the prompt.

“It’s super important that everyone knows that Elon Votes exists because it’s not only an organization to try and get people to vote but also to answer questions,” Radis said.

EDITORIAL POLICY:

ENN seeks to inspire, entertain and inform the Elon community by providing a voice for students and faculty, as well as serve as a forum for the meaningful exchange of ideas.

CORRECTIONS POLICY:

ENN is committed to accurate coverage. When factual errors are made, we correct them promptly and in full, both online and in print. Online corrections state the error and the change at the top of the article. Corrections from the previous week’s print edition appear on this page.

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The Pendulum publishes weekly on Wednesdays

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CORRECTIONS

There are no corrections from the last edition of The Pendulum.

Elon Votes announced this designation April 16 and Co-lead Voting Ambassador freshman Ruby Radis said this designation was earned in part due to the work her organization put into making voting easier for students.

“While it seems like a given here, a lot of other campuses that don’t have that kind of access, voting can be really hard,” Radis said.

Elon Votes had events leading up to Election Day to help students register to vote and get absentee ballots and

SUDOKU

“We talk a lot about how to maintain the amount of votes being relevant, especially in semesters where we don’t have elections,” Durand said. “I think that this certification will definitely give us a boost in the public eye. So in that sense, I think it’ll really help us engage with our student body.”

Radis said some of her favorite events Elon Votes put on this past year involved the conversations they facilitated, not just driving people to polls and filling out absentee ballots. One of the events Elon Votes hosted was in collaboration with Deliberative Dialogue. Deliberative Dialogue is

Within the grid are rows and columns which form 9 smaller grids, made from 3 x 3 spaces. The goal is to fill out each row, column and square (9 spots each) with the numbers 1-9, without any repeating within the row, column or square.

IT’S SUPER IMPORTANT THAT EVERYONE KNOWS THAT ELON VOTES EXISTS BECAUSE IT’S NOT ONLY AN ORGANIZATION TO TRY AND GET PEOPLE TO VOTE BUT ALSO TO ANSWER QUESTIONS

RUBY RADIS ELON VOTES CO-LEAD VOTING AMBASSADOR

COMIC S.U.R.F. DAY

WHAT DID YOU DO ON SURF DAY?

Hannah Sharpe, Sarah T. Moore and Harry Silber contributed to the design of this edition. Nyah Phengsitthy and Sarah T. Moore contributed to the copy editing of this edition.

AVERY SLOAN | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Elon Votes Co-lead Voting Ambassador Ruby Radis sits in the Elon Votes office. The work her and the rest of Elon Votes put into making voting accessible helped secure Elon the voter-friendly campus desgination.

JACK PRAHINSKI STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Assistant tennis coach Daniel Christian comforts freshman Helen Sarikulaya after Elon’s 4-3 Colonial Athletic Association Tournament semifinal loss to William & Mary University on April 22 at the Mackesy Tennis Center in Williamsburg, Virginia.

North Carolina

Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson throws autographed hats to attendees after his speech at Ace Speedway in Alamance County, where he announced his bid for state governor April 22.

University brickmason Cody Watson uses a mallet to place a brick into the sidewalk under the oaks during the class of

ANJOLINA FANTARONI | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

A local farmer attends the university’s Earth Week celebration, “Party for the Planet,” on April 20 beside Lake Mary Nell.

of Elon community members gather alongside North Williamson Avenue on April 21 to get their faces painted at the social district block party.

Senior staff members leave in search for new opportunities

SENIOR STAFF | from cover

“You always run the risk when you hire great people to have them continuing their career.” Neiduski said. “The experiences and opportunities that you are privileged to be a part of at Elon really helped you to prepare yourself for your next steps in your career.”

Vice President for student life Jon Dooley, who has worked at Elon for almost a decade, said the rate of faculty being recruited is a testament to the university’s work.

“It certainly speaks to the quality of the leadership we have at the institution,” Dooley said. “We know that there are lots of institutions that are looking at the work that’s happening here at Elon and so it’s no surprise that they would want to invite senior leaders at the university to be a part of their university.”

According to the Work Institute’s 2022 Retention Report, losing an employee voluntarily costs approximately 33% of their base pay, which includes finding and training a replacement and the loss of productivity of other employees. In 2021, the cost of turnover on all employers in the U.S. exceeded $700 billion — more than double 2009.

Despite many of her colleagues leaving, or have left, Jana Lynn Patterson, dean of students, has worked at Elon for 37 years and said she is proud of them and their promotions.

“They have the opportunity to grow and thrive, and then they become highly marketable as senior leaders,” Patterson said. “I’m proud of that. I’m sad to see these are my longtime colleagues, … but it is a great testament to our community’s ability to help talented professionals grow and thrive to their fullest potential.”

In an email to Elon News Network from Patrick Noltemeyer, chief of staff, and Kelli

Shuman, chief human resources officer, Noltemeyer and Shuman said though staff are being recruited due to Elon’s reputation, it is also attracting strong faculty.

“Elon has consistently demonstrated its role in higher education as a community that develops leaders through a deliberate process of continuously and strategically envisioning a stronger university model, and we expect that this reputation will enable us to continue to attract and retain the best administrators, faculty and staff,” Noltemeyer and Shuman wrote.

Twenty years ago, there were seven positions on senior staff. Now, there are 25 senior staff members including deans, according to the university’s administration website, a testament to how the university has grown.

Vice President for university advancement Jim Piatt will take some of Stein’s responsibilities — including managing the Student Professional Development Center and Office of Cultural and Special Program, among others — and become senior vice president for university advancement and external affairs, university President Connie Book announced April 25.

“Retention of all employees is a top priority for Elon, which is why we continually seek to examine, enhance and strengthen our salary and benefits structure to ensure that we are attracting and retaining exceptional employees at all levels of the organization,” Noltemeyer and Shuman wrote.

Stein and the other senior staff who have left are looking to tackle greater challenges and larger opportunities.

“We have always prepared our faculty and staff and students to take on greater challenges, so you are seeing a little bit more in a concentrated period, probably because there’s more openings out there at higher levels,” Stein said.

North Carolina proposed house bill will further limit abortion

The Human Life Protection Act will ban all abortions except in cases where a mother’s life is at risk

Powers

The Human Life Protection Act of 2023, proposed in the North Carolina House, would ban nearly all abortions, except when a mother’s life is in danger.

Republican Rep. Keith Kidwell was joined by Reps. Ben Moss and Ed Goodwin in filing House Bill 533 last month, which prohibits abortion except in cases that would result in a mother’s death or “impairment of a major bodily function.”

Liz Barber, senior policy counsel at the North Carolina American Civil Liberties Union, said she was unsurprised when this bill was filed.

“Abortion bans have been filed in North Carolina — what seems like every session. Some were even before Roe had fallen,” Barber said.

According to a Meredith College poll conducted in March, over half of North Carolinians want to keep or expand the current law on abortion access, which allows abortion up to 20 weeks and six days. Women who want abortions must wait 72 hours — or three days — after requesting one, must undergo an internal ultrasound at six weeks and obtain parental consent if they are 17 or younger.

Barber said the lawmakers who filed the legislation used language like “unborn child” instead of “fetus” in the proposed bill because it provokes a reaction.

“It is inflammatory,” Barber said. “They want to see this as something other than taking away a woman’s bodily autonomy because that’s ultimately what it is.”

She said while the proposed bill includes exceptions to the ban, like if a mother’s life is at risk, this caveat is ineffective.

“Exceptions don’t work,” Barber said. “Time and time again, there will be situations that come up that don’t fit into an exception.”

Barber said the decision to have an abortion or not should be between a patient and their physician.

“There’s no substitution for the judgment of a medical professional and the patient in front of them,” she said. “The government really has no place entering the exam room.”

Elon religious studies professor Rebecca Todd Peters said North Carolina’s abortion laws also require counseling for women who want abortions. She said this counseling is moderated by state counselors who use scripts.

“The scripts often include incorrect information about links with cancer,” Peters said. “These ideas that abortion can be linked with cancer later have been completely debunked by science and medicine, but they continue to be perpetuated by pro-life propaganda.”

Near Elon, there is only one Planned Parenthood clinic in Greensboro — 35 minutes away — and several others in the Research Triangle and Winston-Salem.

Peters said this presents a problem for university students who want abortions but lack transportation.

“For college students in particular, if you don’t have access to a car, it becomes a much larger burden,” she said.

Peters also said the idea of abortion regret is used as a scare tactic to discourage women who want abortions.

“These scripts are often framed as being beneficent for patients,” she said, “but they are really part of intimidation tactics by the state to convince women not to use their legal rights to abortion.”

In 2020, the University of California San Francisco conducted a study of nearly 1,000 women who sought abortions and found that five years after abortion, 95% said it was the right decision, with 84% reporting positive feelings or no feelings at all.

Rylei Smith, a senior public health and statistics double major, said she was disappointed when she heard about the proposed bill.

“It’s not a good decision. Abortion is healthcare,” Smith said. “There have to be ways that we compromise because people will suffer from laws like this.”

She said the bill will deteriorate trust between doctors and patients, especially those from various racial or ethnic backgrounds.

“There are already issues with people

trusting the health care system, especially if you’re a person of color. There is just such a long history of issues with ethics,” Smith said. “And this is just going to make it worse for all women.”

Smith also said while some women may be able to find obstetricians — doctors specializing in pregnancy and childbirth — who will perform abortions, these are unlikely in a conservative area like Alamance County — where Republicans won all but one race on the midterm ballot last November.

“Some providers might be willing to do it despite the risks just because there are some really amazing people in the industry,” Smith said. “But it’s going to be terrifying.”

Smith also said the proposed bill will increase occurrences of abortion tourism, where women travel to other states or even countries where abortion is legal.

“This law will disproportionately affect women who are of a low socioeconomic status because they won’t have that option,” she said. “Wealthy women will.”

Smith said governmental policy must be improved to support mothers and children after birth.

“A child should be considered just as valuable after they are born as before they are born,” she said. “We lack a lot of social programs that would give them access to

WHEN IS ABORTION BANNED?

TN: TOTAL BAN

GA: 6 WEEKS

NC: 20 WEEKS, 6 DAYS

SC: 21 WEEKS, 6 DAYS

VA: 26 WEEKS, 6 DAYS

good food, quality education, college and health care after they’re born.”

Madison

& Anjolina Fantaroni Elon News Network | @elonnewsnetwork

Four senior staff members have left Elon University in the last year to become presidents of other universities. According to Ithaca S+R, the University of North Carolina higher education system had a 75% higher turnover rate in summer 2021 than the summer 2017. Elon’s turnover rate for the 2022-23 academic school year of senior staff is 22.2%.

with a color corresponding to the restrictiveness.

MEET THE 2023 LUMEN PRIZE SCHOLARS

15 students were selected to receive

$20,000 for research

Abigail Hobbs

Managing Editor of The Pendulum | @abigaillhobbss

Every year, 15 rising juniors win $20,000 for research and scholarship through the Lumen Prize. Established in 2007 by former Elon University President Leo Lambert, the goal of the Lumen Prize is to give students an opportunity to pursue research and support other experiences such as international travel, service projects and workshops. For the next two years, the Lumen Scholars will work closely with their mentors to complete their research.

LAUREN BEUERLE

Project: Mathematical Modeling of COVID-19

Transmission with Focus on Asymptomatic Carriers and Vaccination Schedules

Mentor: Karen Yokley

“I’m very passionate about it because I’ve wanted to do this since COVID happened. … I find it incredibly interesting.”

CORAL CLARK

Project: Silenced and Sidelined: Examining the Intersectional Impact of Ableism and Racism on Maternal Health Mentor: Yanica Faustin

“This research means a lot to me because it’s studying a population that I’m a part of. … I’m looking forward to actually be able to analyze the data and bring some answers to people.”

“

GABBY CONOVER

Project: Interactions Between the Blood Brain Barrier and the Gut-Brain-Axis and its Impact on Brain Development and Behavior in Zebrafish

Mentor: Jen Uno

I’ve always been a really curious person and fascinated by the way the world around me works.”

RYAN GIBBONS

Project: Soil Carbon Sequestration in Elon

Forest: Role of Past Land Use, Forest Age, and Landscape and Soil Characteristics

Mentor: Kelsey Bitting

“I value the world we live in, and I value the both natural beauty and the resources that it gives us so that we can live as society.”

SAMANTHA HINTON

Project: Service Provider Perspectives on Barriers to Healthcare Utilization of Latinx Immigrants in Post-ICE Alamance County

Mentor: Molly Green

“This project is really, really close to my heart. My goal as a researcher and as a person is to make a tangible difference in the world around me, and I feel like this project will give me the ability to really make a difference in people’s lives.”

OLIVIA LANCASHIRE

Project: Intersections Between Christian Ideas of Hell and Religious Trauma

Mentor: Lynn Huber

“I’m really passionate about kind of helping people that adopted this topic in early age, because I can’t imagine what even just experienced on a small scale how that would kind of translate on a much larger scale.”

COREY MCCALL

Project: Assessing the Effects of COVID and the COVID Vaccine on the Cardiac Health of the General Population: A Heart Rate Variability Study

Mentor: Robert Vick

“I actually was diagnosed with myocarditis in February so the project became really personal after that, taking on like a whole different meaning because the way it started and the way it is now is completely different.”

SAM PERRI

Project: Shedding Light on the Surface Composition of Aqueous Aerosols

Mentor: Anthony Rizzuto

“This research is an incredible opportunity to just get started in the whole world of research because it is a huge world and so many moving pieces and it’s a big part of my future, I know already. So it’s also an amazing opportunity to take ownership of my own project and call the shots.”

BAILEY REUTINGER

Project: Increasing the Accuracy of TreeRing Data Processing to Improve Models for Predicting Future Climate

Mentor: Nicholas Bussberg and David Vandermast

“I’ve known I want to do research for quite a while. ... I think a few of the things that I’m really looking forward to are like some supplemental activities, like experiences and coursework.”

ANIYA SCOTT

Project: Centering the Black Community in the Pittsboro, N.C. Water Crisis

Mentor: Jessica Merricks

“This project actually means a lot to me because I do identify as a member of that community, so knowing that I am actually giving back to them and helping them in terms of their health is something that really brings joy.”

HENRY SEARLE

Project: Who Is Being Real Versus Who Is Not: Correlates, Cues, and Accuracy of Perceptions of Others’ Authenticity

Mentor: Katrina Jongman-Sereno

“I’ve had a kind of a complex relationship with authenticity, never really understanding. People always say, ‘Be authentic, be yourself.’ That’s what people are looking for. But no one ever says what that means.”

JACKSON SPAETH

Project: Intercropping as a Method to Reduce the Concentration of Toxic Metals in Cash Crops

Mentor: Dan Wright

“I wanted to study this because chemistry was really intimidating to me at first ... I decided to focus on this project because it’s the chemical analysis of a biological system.”

CHRISTINA STAFFORD

Project: Abolition in the Modern U.S.: Media and Identity Influence on Perceptions of Prison Abolition

Mentor: Jessica Carew

“I really want to be able to take this research back to my community. ... We can help to better inform other people and hopefully move towards progress.”

CARTER STOKE

Project: Exploring the Power of Theacrine: Assessing the Impact of High Theacrine Doses on Hemodynamic Measures, Cognitive Measures, and Physiological Stress

Mentor: Titch Madzima

“It’s a really just an opportunity for me to get a step into the research field, I’m really excited about it.”

ARCHIE Z.H. TAN

Project: Improving Early Diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer with Synthetic Data

Mentor: Scott Spurlock

“It’s a great start of my research journal. I think my research will be very helpful and useful, especially to the computer science field, like people can start realize the power of synthetic data.”

PHOTOS TAKEN BY STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS ABIGAIL HOBBS, SARAH T. MOORE AND ERIN MARTIN

Next cohort of Multifaith Scholars selected for 2023-25

The seventh cohort will recieve grants to support their research, academics

Anne Thyfault Elon News Network | @Amthyfaulted

The Multifaith Scholars consists of juniors and seniors who will participate in a mentored undergraduate research program related to interreligious studies. Scholars design their own research project to devote time to and undertake a major or minor in religious or

Grace London

Sophomore Grace London is Jewish and grew up having religion as a prevalent part of her life. She said she was exposed to different viewpoints when she attended a Christian high school. Since she is a biochemistry major, she said she didn’t plan on having an interreligious studies minor, but was interested in it when provided the opportunity.

Hunter Siegel

Sophomore Hunter Siegel grew up as a Reform Jew, attending Jewish high school, did youth group programming and led Sunday School. He said that Judaism encourages questioning what you know. Judaism’s tenet of questioning and investigating the world, has given him the attitude and skills of a researcher.

“I’m a very curious and investigative

Jasper Serenity Myers

“The Secret History,” a book by Donna Tartt, combined with a passion for history, inspired junior Jasper Serenity Myers to become a classical studies major. She also has minors in Asian and interreligious studies. Myers said she values learning from history, emphasizing her interest in Greek and Roman mythology.

“History is cyclical and we must do the

Kaelyn Rosenberg

Sophomore Kaelyn Rosenberg developed an interest in fantasy and horror through watching TV as a kid. She said she observed the programs she watched to see how they related and influenced the world. Freshman year, she took a class that spiked her interest in religion and applied the same observational mindset to interreligious studies, which ended up being her minor.

“I’ve always been really interested in

Kiara Cronin

Sophomore Kiara Cronin’s passions lie in learning social policy and social justice. Cronin, a human service studies major and interreligious studies, leadership studies and French triple-minor, said that her own religious identity has helped form her value of community and that learning about diverse religions and cultures is crucial to helping people.

“I think that learning about different religions, people’s cultures and different places around the world is important if

Sandoh Ahmadu

During the COVID-19 pandemic, sophomore Sandoh Ahmadu began struggling with his mental health, and tried a variety of coping mechanisms, until he came upon mediation, which has since stuck with him. Ahmadu said that it was originally more secular, or non-religious, meditation until he began reading and adapting more Buddhist perspectives, which he said helped him.

“Meditation was really the thing that centered me for my senior year, especially also

interreligious studies. Scholars receive $5,000 grant annually to support their research and academic development.

“I often see a great deal of growth and transformation over the course of the two years,” Director of the multifaith program

London said that her minor in interreligious studies is relevant to her premed studies as she’ll be working with people from different backgrounds.

“I think medicine has a lot to do with interreligious studies because when you’re working with people, you can’t always separate the religion from the person,” London said.

Since Elon’s nursing program is new, London’s research focuses on ways to improve and further develop the program. Her project

person in the way that carries over to religion,”

Siegel said. “The Multifaith Scholars program is an amazing way to learn more about the world, the people and cultures within.”

Titled “Examining the Relationship between Religious Identity/Ideology, Political Identity/Ideology, and Pro-Environmental Orientation in American Christians, Muslims, and Jews,” Siegel’s research will investigate how environmental values are affected by religious and political identities.

due diligence of looking back before we can move forward,” Myers said. Myers’ research — “Between the Monstrous and the Modest, a Symposium of Female Same Sex Erotic Encounters in the Ancient Mediterranean Religious Landscape” — examines the way that lesbian relations and sexuality were portrayed in Greek and Roman religious and astrological texts, specifically mythology. She will investigate two types of female homoeroticism —

the way that society is reflected in the art it makes,” Rosenberg said. “Before Elon, I don’t think I’ve really ever thought about how much influence religion has over American society and the rest of the world.”

A cinema and television arts major, Rosenberg said her research surrounds the occurrences of Christianity being used and sometimes weaponized to portray vampires in video media and how it applies outside of media. Her plan for her project, “Vampire Media as a Reflection of Christian Values and

you want to serve people,” Cronin said, “because you need to be able to understand people, recognize differences and respect differences.”

Cronin was raised Catholic and is currently part of the Catholic Campus Ministry. She said that religion has strengthened many aspects of her life.

“It gives me a sense of purpose,” Cronin said. “It gives me a sense of just meaning and that what I’m doing here on this earth is important.”

Cronin’s research, “How Generation Z is Deconstructing Traditional Faith

for freshman year coming into Elon because I graduated from a very small school,” Ahmadu said.

Now, Ahmadu is a psychology major with minors in neuroscience and interreligious studies.

Ahmadu’s research looks at the seven chakras, well-known through Buddhism and Hinduism, as a connection to different emotions. Titled “Bridging West & East: An Alternative for Emotional Regulation,” he will see the extent that Buddhist traditions tie to European and American neurobiological

Amy Allocco said. “I’m really excited to work with this particular cohort of students as they advance their projects and begin that transformational learning that happens at the confluence of deep mentoring, undergraduate research and global engagement.”

is titled “Elon Nursing on Spirituality and Religion” and will review how Elon Nursing teaches religion and spirituality with the hopes of suggesting improvements for the program in the future.

“I’m hoping I can really influence Elon to make some changes in their curriculum, obviously, if those changes are needed,” London said. “Cultural competency is such a hot topic right now for good reason, so Elon is looking to make these changes.”

Siegel is a double-major in international & global studies and political science, as well as a triple-minor in peace & conflict studies, Spanish and interreligious studies. Aside from excitement about beginning research and learning of a variety of religions and cultures, Siegel said he is looking forward to getting to know other Multifaith Scholars.

“It just seems like a very tight-knit community and I’m excited to be a part of that,” Siegel said.

masculine and feminine women who love women — and why masculine lesbians were considered bad.

Myers said she has personal stakes in the matter because of the way the trend has persisted into modern day.

“Not just as an academic, but as a lesbian, I owe it to my fellow sisters to do this work of uncovering social biases that have existed long before they were born and is ultimately not their fault,” Myers said.

Prejudices,” is to create a mini-documentary covering her findings.

Rosenberg herself is not very religious, but she said she sees it as a way to express fears and desires. She hopes to become a filmmaker in the future and wants to gain a deeper understanding of diverse cultures and faiths.

“It really does say so much about what people do and why,” Rosenberg said. “Having that understanding is very useful as somebody who wants to make films for a wide audience.”

Practices,” will culminate into a podcast mini-series, where she looks into the ways that Generation Z has pulled away from the Christian faith. She will compare Gen-X to Gen-Z, observing different values and the role that media has played in the shift, as well as conducting a literature review, which is research based on previously published works.

“It’s very much happening around us right now,” Cronin said. “Also, the information that we collect in the research that we find is going to be very valuable and understanding other aspects of our generational differences.”

findings.

“My research is finding a way to bridge the language of the east with the language of the west so that we can all find a way to just be mentally and emotionally okay,” Ahmadu said.

Ahmadu plans on traveling to India as part of his research and said he looks forward to learning and growing as a person.

“I’m also really excited to meet different people and connect and learn how they live and hopefully reach a lot of people that might need this information,” Ahmadu said.

‘Tú Lo Tienes:’ a student’s journey to teaching Spanish

When junior Dejour Banks was in middle school, he took Spanish as one of his required classes, and found that he had a gift.

“I kind of noticed I was head and shoulders above my peers — not in an arrogant way — but just as far as how passionate I was about the language,” Banks said. “So I kept learning and learning.”

Banks grew up in Raleigh, which he said only contains pockets of Spanish speakers, so it wasn’t until years of practicing grammar and concepts when he had his first conversation with a fluent speaker. Banks said he couldn’t understand the speaker, but the experience is what pushed him to learn everything he could about the language.

“I got to master this language,” Banks said. “I can’t just let this failure keep me down.”

It’s been five years since that interaction, and now he has his own YouTube channel teaching viewers Spanish. The channel is called “Tú Lo Tienes,” which translates to “You’ve got this.” In its three months of existence, the channel has amassed 48 subscribers with 19 videos published weekly.

Banks’ friend and fellow YouTuber, sophomore Grayson Thompson, encouraged him to make the channel after seeing Banks’s passion for Spanish.

“When it comes to social media and putting stuff out there, not a lot of people can do it,” Thompson said. “But I think social media and YouTube is a great way to find people.”

Banks’ most recent YouTube video is titled, “BARBERSHOP Terms in Spanish! (Términos de LA BARBERÍA EN ESPAÑOL!).”

In this 3 minute, 55 second video, Banks teaches viewers terms

commonly used in a barbershop or in reference to hair care, such as cabello, or hair on top of the head, and la barba, or beard.

The video uses humorous barbershop experiences and slight self-deprecation to teach the terms in the context of a sentence. Banks said this strategy of teaching is one of the “creative ways for people to learn and get the terms stuck in their head.”

In Banks’ videos, he speaks at a normal-to-fast pace in Spanish, unless he is teaching specific words. He said speeding up his speaking is more realistic to what Spanish speakers actually sound like in real life and in other media.

“It’s important to be able to comprehend quickly because when you get to the real world, people aren’t gonna slow down for you all the time,” Banks said.

Banks sometimes uses English subtitles in his Spanish videos so that viewers can make connections between English and Spanish words, but Banks doesn’t think people should be depending on them.

The videos on his channel with the most views — from 43 to 81 — consist of “story times” from his own life in Spanish and engaging with Spanish speakers in public, with one video even being shot in Miami, Florida, a city where 70% of its residents speak Spanish, according to Lingua Language Center.

WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/@LOTIENES

in Raleigh where he would have to seek out Spanish-speaking stores and neighborhoods to grab content. He said being able to speak Spanish has provided him with connections, and he loves seeing native speakers’ faces light up when they hear him speak their language.

For example, Banks met a Cuban man in Miami when they were riding all-terrain vehicles, and decided to say something in Spanish to him. He got excited and the two spoke in Spanish with each other for a while, forming a connection. Banks, an entrepreneurship major, said he aims to move to Miami in the future for his career. Eventually though, he wants to move to Costa Rica and learn more languages, to become a polyglot. Banks said Mandarin is one language he is interested in learning.

at Elon who speak Spanish. Banks said he’s “been able to bond with them.”

At the moment, Banks is not looking for income, but rather, he wants to “create value for people” and serve as a resource for those learning the Spanish language, not the “end all be all.” Monetization is not at all why he started the YouTube channel, he said.

“I was feeling a lot of cognitive dissonance because I know all this Spanish and I’m not really using it on a big scale,” Banks said.

With YouTube’s 868.4 million users worldwide in 2023, according to Statista, Banks hopes to reach people beyond Raleigh, beyond Elon, beyond North Carolina.

with monetization as a byproduct of his efforts. He urges people who want to learn Spanish to “make it a lifestyle.”

While in Miami, Banks said there was a Spanish speaker every 10 seconds of the video, rather than

Here at Elon, Banks has also established connections with people who work at the university, but not with professors of the Spanish department — with custodians and those who work behind the scenes

Banks’ plans for the channel are to collaborate with other YouTubers, make videos in different countries and find ways for his videos to be more creative, like keeping the camera rolling as he walks up to potential on-camera guests.

The ultimate goal for him though is to “break the language barrier”

DEJOUR BANKS ELON JUNIOR

“My phone is in Spanish, my TV is in Spanish, when I play video games, those are Spanish, my laptop is in Spanish and the people I’ve talked to are Spanish speakers,” Banks said. “There are no excuses as to why we can’t learn. Bring the language and the culture to you.”

ERIN MARTIN | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

YouTuber and junior Dejour Banks plans out his videos on his laptop and ensures he has essential elements laid out before uploading his videos. For each video he edits, he creates a thumbnail and a transcript.

ERIN MARTIN | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Dejour Banks skims over his edited vlog to find a key image to select and later edit into the thumbnail for the Youtube video.

THERE ARE NO EXCUSES AS TO WHY WE CAN’T LEARN. BRING THE CULTURE AND THE LANGUAGE TO YOU.

SCAN FOR TÚ LO TIENES OR VISIT

Bilingual Elon student started YouTube channel to educate others in Spanish

Betsy Schlehuber

Lifestyle Editor | @BetsySchlehuber

A teaser for online content goes here and here and herey

Football alumnus takes his talents off the field, into the classroom

especially as a marketing major with a minor in leadership studies. In 2010, Walker was awarded the Phillips Perry Black Excellence Special Award, having the highest GPA of all male athletes on campus. He said juggling between class and football as a full-time student-athlete was demanding.

When Khirey Walker graduated from Elon in 2011, it would not be the last time he stepped on campus. The Elon football defensive lineman would return to the Phoenix 11 years later, but this time as a professor of sport management.

“Being back here with people I know, just being able to establish old relationships with people that were so beneficial to me to get to this point is something I’m so grateful for,” Walker said. “It’s been an outstanding feeling. I think once summer hits and I’m able to reflect a little bit, I’ll sit back and say, ‘Wow, that just happened.’”

His return came after earning his Ph.D. from Louisiana State University and teaching for five years at Ball State University. Now, he’s working with students and athletes in the classroom. Being close to finishing up his first year, Walker is now reflecting on his journey that got him to return home.

Donning maroon and gold

Walker first stepped onto Elon’s campus June 17, 2007, the day after he graduated from Kempsville High School in Virginia. Walker immediately transitioned to attending summer classes and intense preseason football practices. Over his four years at Elon, one in which he redshirted, Walker said he was very proud of his football career and the people he played with.

“I was part of a great team, some great teammates and outstanding young men at the time — who are now fathers, who are business owners, who are just doing great things,” Walker said. “I’m very proud of what we did on the field.”

During his time at Elon, Walker helped lead the team to its first-ever NCAA playoff banner in 2009. In that same season, Walker recorded 20 tackles and 3.5 sacks.

“I was able to be a part of a group that was outstanding,” Walker said. “I played hard. I gave it everything I had.”

But, Walker

“You learn very quickly that college, as far as the expectation and demands of being a studentathlete, is much different than I could have ever expected,” Walker said. “Taking certain classes during the season ... and trying to fulfill that expectation of not only just being OK in the classroom, but meeting my expectation and being great in the classroom — it was tough.”

Walker said despite the challenges, he always loved learning, which has stuck with him to this day.

“It built a lot of character and I think really developed a level of discipline in me in addition to what I did on the field, to just try to make me the best student-athlete that I could possibly be,” Walker said.

Returning to higher education

Walker’s initial goal after graduating from Elon University was to become a football coach. He also toyed with the idea of becoming an elementary educator, but he ended up attending LSU to pursue a master’s degree in sport administration.

“My goal was to maybe teach in an elementary school fourth, fifth grade, p.e. wearing a whistle and breakaway sweatpants everyday playing tetherball,” Walker said. “That would have definitely been the dream. But I never once thought that higher education and teaching in higher education was going to be my path. But it has been the perfect fit.”

Walker then began to pursue a different realm of sport: research. After realizing how much he enjoyed it, he stayed at LSU and earn his Ph.D. His education then pushed him to become an assistant professor of sport administration at Ball State.

“I would not trade my five years in Muncie for anything in the world,” Walker said. “I learned a lot about myself as a teacher, as a scholar, as a mentor, as an adviser. But, just as I would tell any student, there comes a moment where it’s time to take a chance.”

And that he did, as he applied for a position at Elon as an assistant professor of sport management in 2022. As the academic school

surreal, as he was returning to the place he once called home for four years. His former experiences as a student-athlete would soon be shared with Elon students today.

“I was able to utilize those experiences to say, ‘Hey, this is something that I could do and enjoy and wake up every morning excited to be a part of,’’’ Walker said.

Over his year at Elon, Walker has taught SPT 3510: Sport Marketing, COR 3060: College Athletic Administration and SPT 2120: Contemporary Sport Management, which is an introductory course to the sport management major and minor. Through these courses, Walker is able to be part of student’s first experiences on campus.

“We get to laugh,” Walker said. “We get to be serious. But they get introduced to academic life here at Elon.”

During football season, Walker can be found in the broadcast booth as the color commentator for Elon football. Walker said he had no prior experience with commentating and was terrified during his first broadcast, but he’s enjoyed his new

“Once I got into the booth I just had fun,” Walker said. “It is such a fun experience to be able to sit and analyze the game from that perspective and watch these young men with the Elon across their chest represent our university so well.”

Walker is often found cheering in the stands at any home athletic event. He said his passion and support stems from his time on

“I just love seeing people support us and for me, whether it was a faculty member or staff member, if I saw them at our sporting event, it meant something to me because they took time out of their day to support us,” Walker said. “If I’m teaching a student-athlete, I want them to know that I’m there for them. That’s not just in the

classroom, but also at their athletic events. … I’m going to support you in the things that you do because I want the best for you.”

Walker said it’s not just studentathletes that he cares for.

“We have to showcase a level of care and compassion to our students and showcasing support for them,” Walker said. “I try to support all our student-athletes or all of our students here at Elon, regardless of what they do so they know that I have their back in any situation, and I want to see them successful or succeed at anything that they do.”

Two student-athletes Walker has impacted have come from his Contemporary Sport Management class. Both freshman lacrosse midfielder Anna Hackett and freshman women’s soccer midfielder Rachel Buckle said they love Walker’s enthusiasm in the classroom.

“He’s very energetic, very high energy all the time and I love it,” Buckle said. “I love how positive he is when we come into class and always trying to start a conversation before class starts, but I think at the same time he’s very informational and giving us the tools that we need to succeed in the sport world.”

Hackett said seeing Walker support her during her games has been a motivational factor throughout the season.

“I definitely remember during major points in our game, we were tied, and I saw him cheering with his cute little bulldog — it was awesome,” Hackett said. “He’s just really a big part on the sidelines.”

Buckle and Hackett said they are both able to relate to Walker being a former student-athlete at Elon.

“He really wants to help studentathletes, not only people in the sport management department to just get better and to grow,” Buckle said. “He understands what studentathletes are going through, but at the same time how engaged and how involved you have to be in the sport

management department in order to be successful.”

Due to her intense regular season schedule, Hackett said she has missed classes, but Walker has been nothing short of understanding.

“I’m able to relate to him because he understands the 20 hour schedules and the busy weeks,” Hackett said. “With traveling, I have sadly missed a few classes, but he sets your own individual office hour time which I think is really personable because each week you are able to go to him during office hour time, so when I miss class I am able to go and talk with him to catch up.”

Buckle said that although Walker only just started this year, she believes he is instrumental on campus and in the athletic department.

“He’s the type of person you see on campus and you want to say hi to him and you want to have a conversation with, which I think is awesome,” Buckle said. “I can’t say that for every professor at Elon that I’ve had, so that’s why I think he’s made a really big impact here.”

Buckle said she’s looking forward to her season in the fall, where she knows she will find Walker cheering her on in the stands.

“I think with how much Dr. Walker’s already helped me, it’s going to be cool to go and play and be on the field and playing for people that have done so much for you already in such a short time,” Buckle said. “And I feel like Dr. Walker has been one of those people.”

Walker said his biggest role on campus is to not only help each student succeed, but make sure they know they are loved and cared for.

“I know this experience,” Walker said. “I’ve lived this experience. I’ve loved this experience. And I just want our students to be able to walk across that stage in Schar in May and be able to say, ‘I gave my best effort. I had a great support system of individuals at Elon behind me, and I can go attack the world.’”

Sport management professor Khirey Walker ’11 inspires student-athletes to grow both on, off field

Sydney Spencer

Sports Editor @SydneyASpencer

SYDNEY SPENCER | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Former Elon University defensive lineman Khirey Walker ‘11 is now a professor of sport management at Elon. Walker teaches SPT 2120: Contemporary Sport Management April 24.