The Pendulum, March 31, 2021 Edition

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THE PENDULUM

Wednesday, March 31, 2021 Volume 50, Edition 23 Elon, North Carolina

WOMEN REMAIN OUTNUMBERED IN NCAA COACHING

COURTESY OF ELON ATHLETICS

In women’s sports at Elon, women make up just above 50% of all coaches and 44% of head coaches. In men’s sports they represent about 3% of all coaches. These percentages follow national trends as 40% of Division I head coaches for women’s sports teams were coached by females, according to the Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sports.

The number of female coaches at Elon has stayed stagnant as women’s college athletics grow Grace Terry

Managing Editor | @gfterry6

Mary Tendler Elon University’s volleyball head coach, doesn’t often think about working in a male-dominated profession. However, her not thinking about it doesn’t change the fact that Tendler is one of four female head coaches

of 16 hired by the school across all sports.

“I don’t think, ‘Man, I’m a female in a male profession,’” Tendler said. “I just think of it as a coach, and that’s who I am, and I do the best I can each day.”

Currently at Elon, approximately 26% of non-volunteer coaches are women — double counting for coaches who are on staff with multiple teams. In women’s sports, they make up just above 50% of all coaches and 44% of head coaches.

Only one of the 28 Elon men’s varsity sports coaches is female: assistant track and field and cross country coach Laura Iguana, the coach

for both men’s and women’s cross country and women’s track and field.

Elon and the Colonial Athletic Association are not the exception to this trend, according to the Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sports. In 2020, about 42% of Division I head coaches for women’s sports teams were female, while that number rose to 48% in the CAA. In 2017, approximately 3% of men’s Division I head coaches were women, according to the NCAA.

See COACHES | pg. 6-7

Elon University announces in-person graduation this spring A limited number of guests will be allowed to attend the ceremonies with live streams available for others Jacob Kisamore

Elon News Network | @jacob_kisamore

When senior McKenzie Miller opened her email inbox on Friday morning, she saw a message from Jeff Stein, the chair of the Ready & Resilient Committee, regarding graduation. She was relieved to read that Elon University will host an inperson commencement for the class of 2021.

“I immediately smiled. I was so happy,” Miller said. “It made my day when I saw it.”

The university announced they will host multiple ceremonies on May 21 to comply with state mass gathering guidelines. Students will be assigned one ceremony to attend and will receive at least two guest tickets. A final decision on the time and locations will be determined by April 16.

Stein, who worked with the senior class officers in the decision-making process, said that students were adamant in their desire to have an in-person ceremony with guests in attendance.

“They were loud and clear in their requests to be in-person with friends and family,” Stein said. “So, our goal was to figure out how we could meet those requests within the state requirements.”

NEWS • PAGE 4 Q&A with Elon’s new police chief

See GRADUATION | pg. 3

Students from the Class of 2017 celebrate commencement.

ABBY GIBBS | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

LIFESTYLE • PAGE 8

SPORTS • PAGE 12

Elon’s version of

Elon’s only feature

Tiny Desk

twirler

2

extras

Wednesday march 31, 2021

THE PENDULUM MACKENZIE WILKES A PUBLICATION OF

GRACE TERRY JACK NORCROSS ELLIS CHANDLER

Established 1974 Volume 50, Edition 23 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.

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ANNEMARIE BONNER

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In the March 24, 2021 edition of Connie Book is at Elon was misstated.

The Pendulum, Ethan Gabriel’s racial Connie Book is the ninth president. identity was misstated. Gabriel is Elon News Network regrets this error. multiracial with a Chinese, Filipino and Across Black background. Elon News Network 1. Beach shade? regrets this error.

In the March 24, 2021 edition of 5. Bridge seats The Pendulum, the number president

The Pendulum publishes weekly on Wednesdays

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Ted Thomas, Andrew Zagari, Henry Zinn, Caroline Bunder, Ranya Russo, Livy Smith and Emma Farrell contributed to the design of this edition. Amelia Arcaro-Burbridge, Thomas Denome, Ellis Chandler, Kyra O’Connor, Olivia Romano, Miranda Ferrante and Sophie Rosenthal contributed to the copy editing of this edition.

corrections

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NEWS

Wednesday march 31, 2021

3

Elon finalizes plans for in-person graduation ceremonies GRADUATION | from cover Other North Carolina universities, such as the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University, will also host in-person commencement ceremonies with a limited number of guests, while Duke University will allow only students to attend its ceremony in-person.

Stein said the university waited to make a final decision to ensure that guests could attend the ceremonies and activities in-person.

According to Stein, the university would like to increase the number of guests allowed for each graduate if it is safe to do, and it will monitor the state’s COVID-19 guidelines over the next few weeks to determine an appropriate number.

“If there is a possibility to do more, then we would do our best to do more tickets, but we want to guarantee at least two,” Stein said.

“

THEY WERE LOUD AND CLEAR IN THEIR REQUESTS TO BE INPERSON WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY. SO, OUR GOAL WAS TO FIGURE OUT HOW WE COULD MEET THOSE REQUESTS WITHIN THE STATE REQUIREMENTS. JEFF STEIN CHAIR OF THE READY & RESILIENT COMMITTEE

Stein said the university has not yet decided on where the ceremonies for the class of 2021 will be held nor whether they will be indoors or outdoors.

“We will really be studying this closely in the next few weeks to determine what will be allowed and where will be the best spaces,” Stein said.

Having an in-person ceremony was very important for Miller, who said she could not imagine what it would have been like to have a fully virtual celebration.

“I can’t even imagine the struggle of not

ABBY GIBBS | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Students from the class of 2017 celebrate commencement.

having an in-person commencement. I would have been so heartbroken,” Miller said.

Miller said that if she is only allowed to bring two guests in-person, she will have her parents attend the ceremony. She is thankful they will be there to see her walk across the stage.

“They’ve really pushed me and supported me throughout college, and I want them to be there to congratulate me afterward and give me a hug,” Miller said.

In February, the university presented three possible commencement options for the class of 2021 — a fully virtual ceremony, an inperson ceremony for students with no guests and an in-person ceremony with a limited number of guests.

Senior Payton Byrnes preferred the inperson options, but understands that many students in her class would have been more comfortable with a fully virtual celebration.

“I know that, for a lot of students, an inperson ceremony would mean a lot,” Byrnes said. “But I think it is definitely different for every person.”

Byrnes said she trusts the university’s choice and believes the school did their best to consider the health and safety of students, staff

COMMENCEMENT SCHEDULE

Class of 2021 undergraduate ceremonies: May 21 (Location TBD) Class of 2021 graduate ceremonies: May 18, Alumni Gym Class of 2020 ceremony: September 5, Schar Center

and faculty throughout the decision-making process.

“I trust that if we are having an in-person ceremony, it’s because [the university] thought deeply about it and wanted to make sure it was safe in doing so,” Byrnes said.

Additionally, the university will host activities for the class of 2020 on Sept. 4 and 5, 2021, including events associated with a Phoenix football game at Rhodes Stadium and formal commencement exercises in Schar Center. Further details on the event schedule will be announced by May 31.

Stein said the university’s senior staff has been collaborating with the officers from the class of 2020 over the last year to organize an in-person celebration.

“They really liked the idea of trying to create some similar opportunities to what they would have had last May,” Stein said. “They wanted to have both informal time where they could just hang out with their classmates and formal gathering, so we tried to create space for both of those.”

Noor Irshaidat, president of the class of 2020, said she is excited to have the opportunity to return to campus this fall to celebrate with her classmates.

“I think this is a great opportunity for everyone to just enjoy each other’s company and be able to bond over the great four years that Elon has provided us with,” Irshaidat said.

With the events scheduled for Labor Day weekend, Irshaidat is hopeful that attendance will be strong and is encouraging members of her class who are still undecided on coming to consider participating.

“For those of you who are still hesitant, I would say think of all the things you are going to miss out on,” Irshaidat said. “I think once you’re there, you’re going to feel glad you’ve come.”

Rafael Picó contributed to the reporting of this story.

Elon eases COVID-19 restrictions, schedules campus vaccine clinics The university has increased capacity limits and scheduled more vaccination clinics for the beginning of April Jess Baker

Elon News Network | @jessmbaker_

Elon’s first wave of on-campus vaccine rollout quickly followed Gov. Roy Cooper’s March 23 announcement that North Carolina COVID-19 restrictions are being eased.

Cooper hosted a press conference during which he announced increases on indoor and outdoor gathering sizes, increases on capacity limits for certain businesses and on-site alcohol sale. In addition, he announced that Group 4, which includes those living in group housing, will be eligible to receive vaccinations beginning March 31.

The order went into effect March 26, and Elon followed the announcement with an email from Vice President of Student Life Jon Dooley, which said that indoor gathering limits will be raised to 25 and outdoor gatherings will be raised to 50 for town of Elon residents. Jeff Stein, chair of the Ready & Resilient committee, believes that as more people get vaccinated, these restrictions will ease further.

“If we could get to 80% of the campus

vaccinated, we know that gets us closer to herd immunity, and that would allow us to ease the restrictions,” Stein said.

The university was allocated 500 vaccines, a mixture of the Pfizer two-dose and Johnson & Johnson single-dose, available to student workers or high-risk individuals. South Gym hosted clinics on Saturday, March 27, and Monday, March 29, and Stein said Elon hopes to repeat the success of these clinics when vaccines become available for all of Group 4 on March 31.

“The fact that students can now be vaccinated on March 31 — and … we think we’re going to get more doses and be able to have on-campus clinics — suggests all those things are moving in the right direction,” Stein said.

Students who were able to get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on Monday will be fully vaccinated by April 12. Freshman Cole Carney, a public health major and Maker Hub staff member, said even though he knew he was likely to experience symptoms afterwards, he still went ahead and received the vaccine the moment he was able to.

“I’m very thankful that Elon has decided to provide students with an opportunity to go to a clinic,” Carney said. “Because so many students are living on campus in close quarters and that there is a danger of student gatherings, I’m glad we’re taking an initiative.”

A vaccine from a vaccine clinic in an Alamance clinic offered at the beginning of 2021 .

According to a March 29 email sent to student volunteers by Assistant Director of Parent Engagement Will Roberson, Elon has scheduled five additional vaccination clinics, though this had not yet been officially confirmed by the university. According to Roberson, the clinics will be held in South Gym April 6-9 and 12.

Despite the progress Elon and North Carolina have made, Stein warned students

CLARE GRANT | PHOTO EDITOR

that mask wearing and physical distancing are still essential. The on-campus COVID-19 positivity rate has been increasing since March 17, with more daily cases and students in quarantine and isolation this past week than the rest of March. Increased testing options have been encouraged through the Ready & Resilient Committee, and weekly emails from Dooley encourage students to continue to stay safe in the pandemic.

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NEWS

Wednesday march 31, 2021

Q&A with Joseph LeMire, Elon University’s new chief of campus security and police Joseph LeMire began his new role as Elon University’s new chief of campus safety and police Monday, March 29. LeMire entered the field 28 years ago after he was inspired in high school by his uncle, who worked for the Chicago Police Department. LeMire comes to Elon from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he served as the chief of police and the incident commander for COVID-19 response.

LeMire began his career in the Hannahville Indian Community in Wilson, Michigan. He

then spent 13 years in the department of public safety in Escanaba, Michigan, where he served in multiple roles. Before going to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, LeMire was a lieutenant at and then chief of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh police department.

Elon News Network spoke with LeMire about his plans for his first days on campus, his thoughts on the mutual aid agreement and how he will connect with the Elon community.

The former University of WisconsinMilwaukee police chief comes to Elon with 28 years of policing experience Kyra O’Connor

Enterprise Story Coordinator | @ko_reports

What do you hope your first few days look like here on campus?

It’s really going to be a little bit about listening and taking tours to learn as much as I can about Elon, so I can apply my input and my experiences to: how do we make campus successful; how do we make the police department successful; and how do we get us to that collaboration point that I’d like to be at? So, a lot of meetings to start off, but I think that’s important to make sure that … I can’t come in with preconceived notions that I’m going to change any one thing, because what worked at UW Milwaukee may not work at Elon. I think it’s important for me to keep an open mind and listen to the people that are already in that position because Elon is a successful place. It’s a great university.

What are your thoughts about the surrounding community and how the surrounding areas will impact your job here?

In Milwaukee … we created a plan where we worked with the local police department to: one, make sure its students were safe; two, address quality of life issues — parties or things of that nature; and then, through the university, there was an educational piece that if students needed help with their landlord, students needed help with local police department, you know, things that they need. So, we had this three-legged stool … We didn’t over-police the students or anything like that; we just treated it more as an educational component. At times, there was enforcement, but it was those cases where there were multiple contacts with somebody and things like that. So that compassionate approach, but also involving our dean of students and things like that really was successful. We want to make sure that we’re always a resource and [we] provide help, provide education, work with local authorities — whether it’s a town of Elon, Burlington, Graham — where a student might be involved.

From a Title IX perspective on a campus, if the student was sexually assaulted, sexually harassed, things of that nature, [we want] to make sure we have those contacts, so resources could get to the student … The police department is one of the best contacts with those local authorities to hear about if they had contact with a student. And how do we make sure when they come back to campus that — whether it’s counseling, whether it’s health, whether it’s something within the residence hall system, maybe the person involved in the sexual assault is also a student — how do you make sure the person is safe? How do you make sure

PHOTO COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MILWAUKEE

Joseph LeMire began his role as Elon University’s new chief of campus safety and police March 29.

they have the resources they have? So my contacts with local authorities, I think, are very important. As [are] the other people are my staff, and I really advocate that we keep those levels of communication open and work with them for the benefit of the students.

What are your thoughts on Elon’s role in the mutual aid agreement, and what do you see as your department’s role in that?

I think where some of the discussion came up for Elon was it was a pre-planned event … In a pre-planned event, I think what’s important to say — in that case I think they’re talking about a protest event — the police department’s not taking a stand on any particular position of a protest. It’s more the safety of the area and those local residents.

So if the police department from Elon came over to help another city, we should be going over maybe to help other services, maybe a block road, maybe help with something else while the local police department deals with the event itself, as opposed to the police department going in to deal with their event. And I think that’s an important, distinguished piece to that.

Now, ... I haven’t been there, so I don’t know exactly what was behind the whole story, but it’s something I would have a discussion with people just to find out the parameters of that [memorandum of understanding] agreement. Because what I’m finding a little bit is ... the pendulum has swung, and people are talking about, maybe severing ties with other law enforcement agencies for MOUs, and contacts and sharing of information. And if people remember back to Virginia Tech when they had the shooting at the university, one of the after-action reports talked about how there wasn’t sharing of information, even on campus. There was silos of information and nobody shared, and had that been shared [and the departments] worked together, the event and the shooting could have been prevented. So, I’m very cautious of that piece: that other police departments, and even Elon, need the help of other agencies.

When helping a student who may be experiencing either a sexual assault situation and or a situation like a mental health crisis, the police department may be notified and asked to help. What do you see as the university police department’s role in situations like that?

There’s a lot of discussion on whether police would handle mental health type calls. And I think there’s still a spot for that because the police are a 24/7 operation.

I would say probably 80% of my staff in Milwaukee have been trained in CIT — crisis intervention training. And those are the talents and the ideas of how to handle something or somebody that’s in a crisis: how do you talk to them, how do you deal with them, how do you get them into a safe situation or how do you move them on to somewhere where they get the help that they need? And I think that’s always going to be important. I think the police

are always going to be involved in that, but the police need to have specialized training for that.

Right now, I’m working with a couple of faculty members on campus, and I think those opportunities would exist in Elon. We’re looking at the intersection of police and dealing with autistic people and students. We’re also taking a look at the intersection of race and autism in creating a situation where a number of officers — I think we have up to four — they’re going to become instructors, along with others, on how to train police on dealing with that. So I think we’re always going to be there. But then there also needs to be the after-action communication ... So if we dealt with somebody that was in crisis — that maybe they had suicidal ideation, but it wasn’t to the point where they had to go to the hospital, they [the student] had a safety plan, the officers work with them, the residence hall staff was aware that the person was okay, there wasn’t an imminent danger — we still share that information, say, with the counseling center … It’s really the specialty of the police to deal with such a crisis intervention, but then sharing it with the appropriate people to also have a follow up, to make sure that the student is taken care of.

What do you think the connection with Elon students looks like in your new position? How do you hope to interact with the student body?

One of the pillars of what I do as a police chief is a real heavy focus on community engagement. And I think there’s a difference between the community engagement and community policing. I think sometimes people meld those together, but they’re really two separate things. The community engagement [is] the police being involved in events and attending events or creating events that we partner with students on.

The community policing side, it’s based on those relationships you build: how do you address problems that might occur on a campus where you’re working with those partners and those partnerships that you built up? And those are the two different things. But you can’t do community policing unless you’ve built up partnerships. So the model that I brought with me to UW Oshkosh, and UW Milwaukee and I bring with me to Elon is the motto of building relationships [and] protecting community.

And I train my staff to know that you can’t be successful in law enforcement without building relationships.

Sir Robert Peel came out in the beginning and said that the police are the community, the community are the police.

It was really that initial idea that you are part of the community, but you can’t police a community without that partnership with them. So, working with the police department on the community engagement side and creating those events. And I think even in my interview, I talked about coffeewith-a-cop type events. And those are really important because it builds those positive connections where we’re not seen because somebody called us and there’s

a problem. We’re there because we want to partner, and we usually target different groups and say, ‘Hey, will you partner with us on this event?’ And we target different student groups; we’ve done everything from Asian Student Union, Black Student Union, Student Government, African American Faculty Staff Council, and then we build off of those.

We have those coffee-with-a-cop [events]; it doesn’t mean others can’t attend. But we always have core groups that we work with, and then police officers show up, and you have these unofficial, low stress conversations so people can get to know the police by who they are — their first name. The police get to know them personally. And then you can build partnerships off of that, where if you’re going to do a community policing thing — say there’s a problem where there’s thefts on campus, or harassment, or you have an event or even a speaker coming — you already have these core people that you’re working with, and say, ‘How do we address it? How do we make sure students are safe?

How do we work with them to plan the event,’ that type of thing. So I’m really big into that collaboration partnership piece.

And how do you plan on connecting with marginalized communities on campus?

I think it’s important early on, and I know the pandemic will impact this some because you’re just not as free to meet, … but I think what police departments and police chiefs have to do is work on that in the front end. I think what police departments run into sometimes is they manage by crisis. So, something happens on campus, and then you decide that you’re going to go meet with … marginalized groups and things like that on campus.

I think it’s important to reach out, have those partnerships and have those positive partnerships, where, if something does happen on campus, they already know that they can reach out to Chief Joe, or to the captain, or an officer — they know them personally, and you reach out. We’re not only there when something is poorly happening or something’s in crisis. We’re there all the time, 12 months a year. But then we’re especially there if something was going on.

When you go to events, you’re not there only for security. Sometimes we go to those events because we’re supporting whatever the event is. I used to get invited and go to lavender graduation for the LGBTQ Resource Center — they had a special lavender graduation — show up and support, congratulate their success, congratulate their graduation. Sometimes you’re there to participate in events, sometimes you’re there to support the event. I think that goes a long way toward letting people know that [we] care as a police department. Sometimes we have to enforce the law, sometimes we have to investigate things that happen, but we’re also here to make sure you’re safe, and you’re successful, and your goal is to graduate and move towards whatever your career might be after college.

NEWS

Wednesday march 31, 2021

FEMALE REPRESENTATION ON CAMPUS IS CRUCIAL BUT ONLY ONE STEP, LEADERS SAY Making up the majority of the undergraduate population and 50% of the faculty population, women are represented but still face inequity

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FEMALE UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT POPULATION GROWTH AS COMPARED WITH TOTAL POPULATION, 2008-2021

Kyra O’Connor

Enterprise Story Coordinator | @ko_reports

Of every 10 undergraduate students who walk Elon University’s brick pathways, six identify as women.

From being 60% of the undergraduate population to 50% of the faculty population, female members of the Elon community are represented across academics, clubs, organizations and in leadership positions — including leaders like President of Elon University Connie Book, and juniors Chloe Yoon and Hailey Jurgens, both of whom are executive members of Student Government Association.

Jurgens is one of 3,761 female students on campus this spring. She started out in SGA her freshman year at Elon. Now executive secretary, Jurgens said she didn’t speak up that much that first year — she said she didn’t feel like her voice mattered.

“I think [that] speaks to a lot of the females on this campus, who are constantly being spoken over,” Jurgens said. “Our voices aren’t heard as often as men. Even though we are 6040 on this campus, most of the time the people asking questions, the ones talking in class, are our male counterparts.”

According to the 2021 registrar’s report, the number of female students has increased proportionately to the overall student population since 2010 from 2,710 female students to 3,761. Over the last 10 years, women on campus have made up anywhere from 61% of the population to 59%, according to the 2021 university factbook. This academic year, the undergraduate student ratio is 60% women to 40% men.

Yoon centered her campaign for executive vice president on diversity on campus. She said serving as executive vice president allows her to show students from underrepresented groups that being in leadership positions like hers is possible.

“I wanted to seek to make every student who felt uncomfortable in any way at Elon because of an identity they held to feel comfortable and to feel at home at Elon,” Yoon said. “As a university, Elon tries to push the whole rhetoric that we automatically belong here, when that’s not always the case.”

While representation on campus is important, it is not the only step workplaces and universities alike can take to make more equitable environments for female community members, said Siri Chilazi, a gender and organizations researcher and speaker at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Chilazi studies the gender gap in workplaces and identifies ways organizations can close the gender gap. She joined this field after experiencing the impacts of gender discrimination herself.

From seeing a professor who looks like their students to even how a classroom is decorated, representation at all levels can and will change how female students interact and succeed on campus, Chilazi said.

“Seeing is believing, and who we see around us, unconsciously and consciously, affects what we envision to be possible for ourselves,” Chilazi said. “If you don’t see anyone who looks like yourself in that nature or in that department or in that academic context, it’s so much harder to envision yourself there.”

For Elon President Connie Book, who stepped into her role as the university’s first female president in 2018, it is important for the campus community to see a woman holding the position of president.

“I do think it’s really great for women to see me in this role because I think it’s the same reason it’s important to have people who look like us in the classroom or in the job in the workplace,” Book said. “It shows you if I want,

DATA FROM REGISTRAR’S OFFICE

From 2008 to 2021, the number of female students has increased when looking at the raw numbers. However, in proportion to the total undergraduate population, the female population has stayed at the same percentage of the total population.

“

SEEING IS BELIEVING, AND WHO WE SEE AROUND US, UNCONSCIOUSLY AND CONSCIOUSLY, AFFECTS WHAT WE ENVISION TO BE POSSIBLE FOR OURSELVES. IF YOU DON’T SEE ANYONE WHO LOOKS LIKE YOURSELF IN THAT NATURE OR IN THAT DEPARTMENT OR IN THAT ACADEMIC CONTEXT, IT’S SO MUCH HARDER TO ENVISION YOURSELF THERE. SIRI CHILAZI GENDER AND ORGANIZATIONS RESEARCHER AND SPEAKER AT THE HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL

I can do it, that’s a possibility.”

Seeing women of the Elon community in leadership roles, whether in a club, organization or classroom, helps students see themselves in many capacities across campus, Book said.

In clubs and organizations, there are 3,333 female student members during the fall semester, according to data from PhoenixCONNECT provided by Jenny Ciesiulka. Of those 3,333 female members, 991 of them hold leadership positions within their club or organization.

Provost Aswani Volety said the representation of women in both faculty and students is important to Elon, and the university works to promote diversity in gender and “across the board.” To promote diversity within faculty, Volety said the university aims to recruit applicants by posting in “targeted areas” such as in journals and at conferences that reach underrepresented groups.

“When we put a committee together, we want to make sure that different voices are at the table, and that could mean that we have female representation, we have people of color, or people of underrepresented groups,” Volety said. “Just having people around the table changes the conversation.”

However representation is only one piece of the puzzle. Chilazi said more representation of female students and faculty across campus is “tremendously important,” but if the culture on campus is not inclusive and equitable, that representation could plummet.

For female students on campus, being the majority in the undergraduate population eliminates neither the possibility of feeling unsafe on campus nor any inequities and inequalities female students may face, Yoon said. To ensure female students are represented, Yoon said it is important for the university to support female students once they arrive on campus.

“It’s following through all the way with making sure that when they’re on this campus, yes, it’s great that you got women to this campus, but then how are you following through with them to make sure that their identity as a female is being protected and represented?” Yoon said.

Jurgens said she saw men speaking more

BY THE NUMBERS

3,333

female student members in clubs and organizations during the fall semester, according to data from PhoenixCONNECT provided by Jenny Ciesiulka.

991

female students hold leadership positions within their club or organization, according to data from PhoenixCONNECT provided by Jenny Ciesiulka.

than women in SGA, and since she noticed the difference, she has made it a goal to come prepared to speak at each SGA meeting.

Jurgens said she was inspired by previous women leaders in SGA as well.

“I think that does speak a little bit to society’s norms, that men feel that they can go up and speak about anything, whereas females feel like we need to think things through and we need to be eloquent in what we say and supportive,” Jurgens said. “The stereotypical male thought is, ‘My voice matters,’ where females think, ‘My voice doesn’t matter as much as someone else’s.’”

Similar to the culture within organizations, the culture in classrooms impacts students as well. If a student has a female professor for math, but is still the only female student in the room, there are disadvantages and hurdles that student still faces, Chilazi explained.

“You might see close to gender parities in faculty and even in the student body, but let’s say there’s a really toxic culture, where the male faculty actually make all the decisions, and they sideline the female faculty, and maybe there is sexual harassment that’s rampant, women’s contributions are systematically sidelined, they are less likely to get promoted and get tenure,” Chilazi said. “Then you’re not going to see a 50-50 in faculty for very long because it’s a toxic environment for those women, and they’re going to leave.”

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NEWS

Wednesday march 31, 2021

UNDERREPRESENTATION OF — FEMALE COACHES — AT ELON AND ACROSS NCAA DIVISION I TEAMS

COACHES | from cover Same-gender role modeling is important to development into adulthood, according to Katie King, a professor of psychology at Elon who works in the women’s, gender & sexualities minor, making gender representation significant in areas like sports.

“We all follow models, but we also are more motivated to follow models that look like us,” King said. “Then their success becomes our success, it becomes reinforcing to us. So same gender models just provide an extra motivation that says you can do this, you can do this.”

Elon women’s basketball head coach Charlotte Smith said the biggest inspiration in her career is Sylvia Hatchell, her former college basketball coach at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

“She’s one of the most humble people I know, but one of the most hungriest people in terms of equity and equality for women,” Smith said. “She’s never shied away from taking a stance and making her voice be heard and fighting for the rights of her players.”

Female collegiate coaches have not always been underrepresented in women’s sports. The trend started when Title IX — a law, which prohibits federally funded institutions from discriminating on the basis of sex — was enacted in 1972 and greatly increased representation of female athletes.

During that year there were fewer than 32,000 women competing in collegiate sports representing 15% of college athletes.

In 2018, more than 216,000 women competed in the NCAA, representing 44% of all college athletes, more than six times the number from 1972.

The law has done the opposite for female coaches. In 1972, about 90% of head coaches in womens’ collegiate sports were women. That percentage dropped by about 50%.

NUMBER OF FEMALE AND MALE CAA HEAD COACHES DURING 2019-20 IN WOMEN’S SPORTS 4

5

FEMALES MALES

5

7 7

6

4

6

4

5 5

5

5

6 7

6 7

3

5

0

3

6

6

9

12

15

The total number of female and male CAA head coaches at Division 1 universities.

SOURCE: TUCKER CENTER

The Title IX effect

The year before Title XI was enacted, Elon added its first women’s varsity team: basketball. Kay Yow, who would go on to coach the U.S. women’s Olympic basketball team in 1988, was the first head coach of women’s basketball.

After the implementation of Title IX, female varsity athletes at Elon and schools around the country would compete in the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women. The goal of the organization, according to the University of Maryland’s archives, was “to provide governance and leadership in the assurance of standards of excellence” in women’s sports.

“The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics of Women, which is essentially the NCAA but for women, so the men are over at the NCAA and women are competing in the AIAW,” said Courtney Boucher, a research assistant at the Tucker Center.

However, as the implementation of Title IX began and the NCAA took over hosting women’s sports completely in 1982, more men began to coach and the percentage of female coaches in women’s sports dropped by about 40%. This decrease was seen at Elon as well.

In 1979, there were three female head coaches for Elon’s three women’s varsity sports and throughout the ’80s and ’90s,

Charlotte Smith, head coach of Elon women’s basketball is one of four female head coaches at Elon out of 16 total coaches.

CLARE GRANT | PHOTO EDITOR

NEWS

Wednesday march 31, 2021

GRACE TERRY | MANAGING EDITOR

Kathy Bocock, head coach of Elon women’s lacrosse, has been a mentor for her athletes. Bocock is one of four female head coaches.

this number decreased.

According to Boucher, this decrease in representation happened because more men began to filter into women’s sports — coaches in women’s sports were finally being paid a livable salary.

“Men are infiltrating women’s sports to coach that because now they’re getting funded, where before Title IX, there wasn’t any money in it,” Boucher said. “You have this history of PE teachers just kind of doing it more out of the goodness of their heart because they’re passionate about women being physically active, so they’re giving that but not for any sort of financial gain. Then, all of a sudden, you have Title IX and the NCAA, and then it becomes a viable career pathway.”

TOTAL NUMBER OF FEMALE AND MALE CAA COACHES DURING 2019-20 IN WOMEN’S SPORTS 13

15

22

Going forward

Tendler believes that some of the lack of representation is due to the hours it requires to be a head coach.

18 14

18 17

16

15

17 17

18 20

15

19

19

12

0

5

10

19

15

20

25

30

35

The total number of female and male CAA head coaches at Division 1 universities.

“I think it’s hard for females to get into coaching to be head coaches just because, you know, it’s hard to have a family and to coach at the same time,” Tendler said. “I’ve been married for 28 years now, but … my husband and I have no kids so my husband is a coach as well for North Carolina A&T, so have a little bit easier time as far as balancing stuff.”

According to a 2020 study from the Tucker Center, women largely outnumber men in assistant coaching positions for women’s teams, and that number increases until women hit the age of 27, when the number of female assistant coaches declines rapidly until about the age of 31.

“All of a sudden [women] decline, and the men stay there. Up to this critical zone of attrition, this is when women are leaving the pipeline,” Boucher said. “I don’t think that we know the reason why I think that we can speculate, right what’s typically happening with women around that time.

Typically they’re starting to think about marriage and families. It’s oftentimes that

FEMALES MALES

14

18

Importance of representation

Boucher said she feels weird about being asked about the importance of women coaching.

“No one asks that about men,” Boucher said. “I think that’s an interesting way to position that because we have 98% of men coached by men, and no one questions that.

And all of a sudden we have a majority of men coaching women, ‘Why should women even be coaching women?’”

Despite that, Boucher said the biggest reason for the importance of female leadership on sports teams is the same reason why it’s important in all other careers.

“Especially college and high school-aged women are more positively affected when they have better self perception, when they have a same-sex role model,” Boucher said.

“It’s an, ‘if you can see it you can be in that type of situation.’”

For softball head coach Kathy Bocock, she treats the athletes on her team like her parents taught her.

“There are four boys in our house and four girls in our house, so I was very fortunate to have the parents that I have that were never ‘the girls’ and ‘the boys,’” Bocock said. “I never felt less.”

Senior softball player Ally Repko feels Bocock has helped her learn more about the sports and has also been able to relate to her.

“I have had a lot of male coaches, especially during my time in high school, but for softball I have always had female coaches,” Repko said. “Which is really awesome because they’ve played before, so they can relate to you, not only like how the sport and like, techniques and stuff, how that’s going, but also just what we experienced off the field, like the struggles that women face.”

7

responsibility is displayed on the woman.”

Emily Gann is the head coach for the Guilford College women’s volleyball team and was a varsity athlete on Elon’s volleyball team under Tendler. Gann is the only mother in Guilford College Athletics, with the exception of their interim athletic director.

“Many get out when they have children, and it’s not easy, and I think just with the culture of the sport and the culture of departments,” Gann said. “Today is the first time I’ve seen my children in three days. We traveled, we played Saturday and I recruited all day Sunday. I’ve really [only] seen their faces today. So, within college athletics, just understanding that there’s a different grind and just being supportive of that.”

Another large factor is the priorities of the athletic departments that hire coaches, according to Boucher, who specifically studies the hiring practices of NCAA Division I athletic directors. Over 90% of Division I athletic directors are men,

40 SOURCE: TUCKER CENTER

according to a report from the NCAA in 2012. Boucher studied the practices of schools that have a high percentage of women head coaches.

“What we found with The Tucker Center is that those athletic directors are very explicit about valuing and supporting women,” Boucher said. “Sometimes women coaches have different considerations maybe than male head coaches. They value that and they’re gonna create a culture of whatever that looks like maybe that’s familial or maybe just different thoughts in terms of recruiting. “ To increase women representation in collegiate sports, Charlotte Smith said there needs to be transparency within the department.

“I would like to see equality,” Smith said, “but there can be no equality without transparency.”

Elon Athletics did not respond before publication to Elon News Network’s email or call for comment on its hiring practices and how it supports female coaches.

Wednesday, march 31, 2021 | page 8

LIFESTYLE

TINY DORM DOCUMENTS

ELON MUSIC SCENE

Elon seniors create at-home concert series based on NPR’s Tiny Desk Ellis Chandler and Miranda Ferrante Elon News Network

From a screened-in porch on the second floor of an off-campus apartment building, Burlington-based folk band Love & Valor prepare to play their set on Elon Tiny Dorm.

The space isn’t large enough for an audience, but neighbors in surrounding apartments came outside once they heard music playing.

Tiny Dorm concerts are filmed in cofounder and Elon senior Brendan Steuart’s apartment. He grew up in the Washington, D.C. area and said he enjoys driving past the NPR studios where NPR Music hosts the Tiny Desk video concert series.

Knowing how many famous artists had made an appearance on Tiny Desk led to Steuart to create his own version on a more local level.

Steuart and senior Andrea Peters previously worked together on the executive team at WSOE 89.3, Elon’s student-run radio station. The pair had a vision of doing their project through WSOE, but ended up not going through the school at all.

Steuart said Tiny Dorm concerts have been occurring at other universities, but he and Peters wanted to create an established project for the Elon music scene.

“The issue that we see with those is that they usually get started up, and then they end up falling apart after a couple semesters and maybe a couple of years,” Steuart said. “We’ve kind of modeled ours after the best parts that we found in each of those Tiny Dorms, what we like about Tiny Desk, and then we’re doing our best to make this sustainable.”

Since Steuart and Peters are graduating in May, they hope to pitch Tiny Dorm to the School of Communications at the end of the semester. If the project doesn’t get picked up, they said they would like to see it become a subset of WSOE 89.3, since that is where it started.

Steuart handles most of the pre-concert planning while Peters helps with day-of duties like getting the musical group set up on the porch and recording video for their Instagram page, @elontinydorm.

“The creative freedom is really up to the artists that come in, and so we ask them to come with two to three songs prepared,” Peters said. “We’ll film a full set all the way through, and that’s what you see on YouTube. It’s not edited very much.”

Senior Eli Wheeler performed on Tiny Dorm and knew Steuart and Peters prior to being a guest. He said working with the duo was an easy process and would

Love & Valor, a Burlington-based folk band, is one of the local artists Tiny Dorm is highlighting this semester.

“

IT’S DIFFICULT TO FIND OPPORTUNITIES, AND HAVING THIS HOLISTIC EXPERIENCE FOR PEOPLE IS REALLY SPECIAL AND SOMETHING YOU DON’T GET IN A LOT OF OTHER ORGANIZATIONS. IT DOESN’T MATTER WHETHER YOU’RE A MUSIC MAJOR, OR YOU HAVE A BAND THAT TOURS — ANYONE’S WELCOME TO COME PLAY. ANDREA PETERS TINY DORM CO-FOUNDER

perform again if asked.

“We just had a good time and played music,” Wheeler said. “It was super laid back.”

The duo said because they’re on a college campus, they sometimes face obstacles while recording.

“We always say that this is very DIY, and this is a college campus,” Peters said.

“We’re still in the college community, so we have the exterior sounds that come in.

If we’re filming on weekends, parties are happening, so I’m working with what we’ve gotten. It’s been interesting.”

Wheeler said he appreciates the duo’s creative vision.

“I think it’s a fun kind of medium to do sort of a stripped back acoustic version of stuff that you play,” Wheeler said.

The team checks out all of their equipment from the Gear Room, so Peters said production varies week-to-week based on what’s available. Sometimes, that means using whatever is available as a tripod — even an empty beer box.

When the two have musical guests over, they said their goal is to create a warm and inclusive environment — even though a majority of sessions have been filmed outside in the cold. Peters said she loves their project because it gives performers an opportunity for recognition but gets students in all disciplines involved.

“It’s difficult to find opportunities, and having this holistic experience for people is really special and something you don’t get in a lot of other organizations,” Peters

ELLIS CHANDLER | SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR

said. “It doesn’t matter whether you’re a music major, or you have a band that tours — anyone’s welcome to come play.”

Full sets of the Tiny Dorm concerts are available on YouTube. For more information visit @elontinydorm.

The duo said they’re fully booked with guests for the rest of the semester.

SCAN TO VIEW ELON TINY DORM CONTENT OR VISIT BIT.LY/2PDFLJV

1. Open your phone camera 2. Focus on the QR code 3. Click the pop-up link

lifestyle

Wednesday march 31, 2021

SUSPENSION OF BROADWAY LEAVES

9

ELON MUSIC THEATRE MAJORS IN LIMBO Following graduation, Elon performing arts students’ next hurdle is the job market Cate McCahill

Elon News Network | @CMcCahill21

When seniors in Elon’s music theatre department began college, no one expected in four years to graduate into a stagnant job market, after more than a year of virtual performances.

Music theatre students have not only adjusted to physically classes and the loss of live theater, but program seniors seeking postgraduate employment are facing an additional burden — the shutdown of Broadway.

Last October, The Broadway League extended Broadway’s hiatus, which began March 12, 2020, through at least May 30, 2021.

Elon senior and music theatre major Sarah Liddy said she is scared of how this will affect her post-graduate career.

“This is not what anyone thought was going to happen, and so to look at what my dreams are to be on Broadway, and Broadway is completely shut down right now, it’s really difficult,” Liddy said. “I think it’s difficult for many of my peers.”

Elon senior and music theatre and arts administration double major Katie Brnjac was interning on Broadway when the pandemic hit and said the abrupt shutdown came as a shock.

Brnjac has even considered different career paths following graduation due to the fear and uncertainty of Broadway not reopening.

“I’ve been exploring all my options looking at, do I take a full-time job and wait until Broadway comes back? Do I go to grad school?

Do I just wait it out and hope I can get a side job and stay at home?” Brnjac said. “It’s a lot of just unknown factors, and I think that’s the worst part.”

The uncertain future of live theater also weighs heavily on underclassmen. Junior music theatre major Zion Middleton said it feels like he is working toward a career that doesn’t exist right now, which can get discouraging.

Several music theatre students have grown fatigued of the differences and difficulties they

have faced the past year with virtual learning, auditioning and performing. Shifting to completely online classes when the pandemic hit was especially difficult for the music theatre program and its students, according to Middleton.

“A lot of our work and our art is so communicative, and we need to do it in person, so having to adjust to acting classes and even singing classes on Zoom has been a really big change,” Middleton said.

For the Fall 2020 semester, more music theatre courses returned in person but with restrictions. Students attend singing classes outdoors and must dance physically distanced within a box outlined by tape, all while wearing masks.

Brjanic described studying performing arts during a pandemic as “odd” and said she is “done with it.”

“Masks are weird,” Brnjac said. “So is spacing, and a lot of partnering and certain dance styles that we used to do — it’s hard to do it, or you can’t do it.”

At Elon, auditions for shows, musicals and other performances have remained virtual.

Brnjac, Liddy and Middleton all said virtual auditions have brought additional responsibilities, much of which fall on the student. Students must reserve a space to record their audition, check out or buy video equipment such as ring lights, microphones and cameras and, then, edit and submit their audition video.

The financial burden of completing these virtual auditions is also placed on the student, and it can cost a lot of money, according to Liddy.

Middleton said she believes virtual auditions have been more stressful, but they help students adjust and prepare for auditions in the professional industry.

“We’re making it work because, as of right now, the real-world industry is operating like that, and everything is being recorded,” Middleton said. “There aren’t really any live auditions right now, so it’s kind of like we’re just adjusting to what our industry is adjusting to.”

Brnjac said she hopes the industry as a whole moves toward virtual self-tape auditions in the future , despite the cost of technolgy. The move makes theatre more accessible, especially

PHOTO COURTESY OF SARAH LIDDY

Elon senior and music theatre major Sarah Liddy prepares for her senior seminar performance, “Footloose.”

“

THIS IS NOT WHAT ANYONE THOUGHT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN, AND SO TO LOOK AT WHAT MY DREAMS ARE TO BE ON BROADWAY, AND BROADWAY IS COMPLETELY SHUT DOWN RIGHT NOW, IT’S REALLY DIFFICULT. SARAH LIDDY MUSIC THEATRE MAJOR

PHOTO COURTESY OF SARAH LIDDY

Senior Sarah Liddy performs in her senior seminar project, “Footloose,” wearing a clear mask to show her facial expressions.

for those who cannot afford to fly to New York for every audition and callback, but could afford a camera and ring light.

Performances have also remained virtual since the pandemic began and are streamed or uploaded online. Brnjac said that virtual performances without an audience are not comparable to a live performance.

“That’s the weirdest thing is it just feels like a rehearsal,” Brnjac said. “In live theater, especially, you thrive off of the audience. There’s such an energy pool and a share of energy you just don’t get.”

However, Brnjac, Liddy and Middleton all said that virtual theater offers some unique benefits. For example, performers are relieved of some of the pressure and stress that come with live performances. They have been able to focus on their technique without the distraction of an audience, and recording productions has provided students with high-quality videos of their performances to use when applying for future jobs in musical theatre.

According to Liddy, adjusting to the ways of virtual musical theatre and performing arts aligns with what it means to be an artist.

“It’s kind of just going with the flow and being open to everything that comes your way.

As an artist, you are already learning that, in general, to be vulnerable and to be open,” Liddy said. “The best way that I’ve been able to adjust to all these things is just to try it, even though it’s really weird and sometimes super awkward.”

And as Elon and the rest of the nation continue distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine, there is hope that live theatre will be coming back soon, Brnjac said.

“Now that vaccines are rolling out, and there’s whispers of shows starting to open I’m confident that … everything will end up fine,” Brnjac said. “It’s just right now, it still feels just far off.”

10

lifestyle

Wednesday march 31, 2021

Burlington-to-Berlin transplant creates sitcom

“The Finellis” follows the lives of divorced couple Tony, potrayed by Mark Janicello, and Tina, along with their daughters Lola and Lena.

“The Finellis” is the latest project from former Burlington resident and Williams High School graduate Mark Janicello Miranda Ferrante

Lifestyle Editor | @ferrantemiranda

Mark Janicello has been on stage since he was four years old. Now 58, he hopes to make people laugh with his latest project, “The Finellis.”

The sitcom, written by and starring Janicello, follows the lives of divorced couple Tony and Tina Finelli and their two daughters, Lola and Lena. The personalities of the characters are based upon people in Janicello’s real life, and the show features live music and animated cartoons.

“People forget their problems when they start to laugh,” Janicello said. “Most peoples’ lives are not terribly happy, and I took all of the problems of my own life, and I’ve made a fictionalized version of it.”

Janicello stars as Tony, the character based on himself, and said he hopes that as Tony learns about his own life in the show, his audience can learn alongside him.

“I believe more in ‘The Finellis’ than anything I’ve ever done,” Janicello said. “My hope is that the story of Tony and the rest of the Finellis will bring hope to people all over the world.”

Janicello, a former Burlington resident and Williams High School graduate, said his career has taken him to more than 40 countries. He has completed many projects in his lifetime: 100 stage productions, more than 90 film projects and over 30 albums.

He said while his family owns Colfax Furniture and Mattress, a home goods store with a presence in the Triad area for more than 50 years, he knew his heart was in entertainment.

After graduating from University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1984, Janicello moved to New York, and a decade later, he found himself in Europe seeking more opportunities in entertainment.

Janicello has lived in Berlin since 2015, but he has tried to stay involved in the Burlington community in recent years. In 2017, he performed at his “Rock Legends”

concert to raise money for the AlamanceBurlington School System’s backpack program.

A gym in Berlin was not the place Janicello thought he would find his next colleague, Marco Bischof, but now, Janicello and his old training partner are co-producing “The Finellis.” When Janicello and Bischof, a former investment banker, met in 2018, they seemed like an unlikely match. But Janicello believes the sitcom would not be where it is today without the help of his new friend.

Together the pair has produced almost four complete episodes, and as of March 31, “The Finellis” has acquired 20 awards from 60 nominations, both in the United States and internationally. Bischof said he is proud to have a role in this project.

“This is much more of a human interest story. It’s something that the wider bandwidth of people can identify with and draw strength from,” Bischof said. “If I can help Mark produce this and put it out to the world, I’ve done something good.”

“

MY HOPE IS THAT THE STORY OF TONY AND THE REST OF THE FINELLIS WILL BRING HOPE TO PEOPLE ALL OVER THE WORLD. MARK JANICELLO CREATOR OF “THE FINELLIS”

Bischof said he enjoys the opportunity to collaborate with Janicello and the duo hopes to continue to share their show with a wider audience.

Beaming with pride, Patricia ‘Trish’ Osmond, who portrays Nonna in “The Finellis,” said her character is her favorite on the sitcom.

“I have the best character in the show,” Osmond said. “I sit in the corner and knit, but my head is full of dreams. I absolutely love being Nonna.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF MARK JANICELLO

PHOTO COURTESY OF MARK JANICELLO

From left, director Joris Hermans, Mark Janicello and Marco Bischof display some of their awards.

Osmond first met Janicello five years ago at a general audition and said they immediately connected. After seeing a Facebook post for the sitcom a few years later, Osmond said she knew she had to reply.

“Mark said he had been desperately trying to find me,” Osmond said. “He wanted me for the role — there wasn’t a question about anybody else.”

Like Janicello, Osmond believes in the show and its future. However, she said she worries that when the show gets picked up by a distributor, the distributor will want its own cast.

“I’m completely petrified that they’ll decide to bring in their own cast,” Osmond said. “I want to be Nonna. If it means going anywhere in the world, I’ve got my suitcase packed already.”

Osmond said “The Finellis” encapsulates Janicello’s personality and admiration for the arts, and she believes he and the cast are a family.

Janicello said winning awards for “The Finellis’’ was a validating experience, both for him and his team, and he believes the recognition proves the show’s worthiness to bigger corporations.

In late 2018, Janicello founded and incorporated Marjan Content Productions, which partnered with Buffalo 8 Productions in January 2021 to produce “The Finellis.”

The pair hopes to fulfill their goal of reaching

a global audience by making a sale with an international streaming service within the next three months.

“Nobody was expecting us, this little company, to get a show that at the end of the day would win all these awards all over the world,” Janicello said. “It is an extraordinary amount of work, and it’s not anything that just happens on its own, but I believed in this. Now we’re about to be able to share this story with the entire world.”

lifestyle

Wednesday march 31, 2021

11

Transfer organization sets out to support Elon’s pool of students switching schools The Transfer Student Organization hopes to help incoming Elon students meet new people and bond over shared and past college experiences Julia Diemand

Elon News Network | @juliadiemand

Elon sophomore Kyle Brody knows from personal experience that transferring from one college to another isn’t easy. Now, as secretary of the new Transfer Student Organization, he has found a way to apply his past experiences to create a brighter future for transfer students.

“The Transfer Student Organization felt that transfer students weren’t as prioritized as freshmen coming into Elon,” Brody said.

“We honestly felt left in the dark at times. We didn’t really know where we were supposed to go.”

Though the university sets up an extensive orientation for freshmen, some transfer students have been disappointed by the introduction they were given to the school.

Sophomore Kyra Fanelli, the mentor director of TSO, transferred in Fall 2020 and said there was no established group for transfer students at the time. “[We were a] group of incoming students who saw a lot of flaws in the way Elon dealt with the transfer process,” Fanelli said.

Last semester, Brody, Fanelli and a couple of their peers decided to create that group themselves. James Thurnes, director of transfer and special admissions, and Rebecca Krylow, assistant director of academic advising, recommended they reinstate an organization that used to exist on Elon’s campus that gave transfer students an opportunity to help each other adjust.

“We decided to rebuild it basically from the ground up in hopes of having an easier transition by implementing a mentor system,” Brody said. “Yes, they’ve already been to college, but it’s a totally new area. They don’t really have the same things they might have had at their old school, or they might have more things and they’re just overwhelmed, and that’s why we want to try and make it an easier process.”

The TSO wants to help students not only have an easier transition, but also meet new

COURTESY OF THE TRANSFER STUDENT ORGANIZATION

The logo for Elon University’s Transfer Student Organization.

“

THE GOALS OF THE NEW TRANSFER STUDENT ORGANIZATION ARE TO BOND OVER PAST COLLEGE EXPERIENCES. KYLE BRODY TRANSFER STUDENT

people and bond over shared and past college experiences. Despite the pool of transfer students being small — there are currently 63 transfer students enrolled this year at Elon, according to the 2020-21 Elon University Fact Book — the organization was able to gather 32 members, though not all attend every meeting.

TSO hosted its first virtual meeting March 11. The organization plans to use social media as a way to get more transfer students to come to the meetings.

According to Brody, the organization’s Instagram has been effective. He said other Elon Instagram accounts have been helping repost their information to get their name out to Elon transfer students.

The organization’s first in-person meeting was on March 23, and it plans on continuing these meetings every Tuesday. Brody said he

and other members of the organization find it easier to connect with each other in-person.

“Being a startup organization, on their own, they’re going in blind,” Brody said. “It is a cool experience but difficult not having to go off the background of the past.”

Brody said being a new student is hard, so the TSO hopes to have exciting and interactive plans for the future. It hopes to hold more events in addition to weekly meetings, including catered events and movie nights so transfer students can meet each other and connect.

The TSO is hopeful more events and connections will happen soon.

To learn more and get involved, visit the Transfer Student Organization on PhoenixCONNECT or visit their Instagram @elontransfer. Meetings are held each Tuesday at 6 p.m. in upper Lakeside 213.

THE ELON BITE IS A COLUMN THAT REVIEWS RESTAURANTS AND FOOD VENDORS IN THE LOCAL AREA

THE ELON BITE

Sandwich from iI Centro Alimentari exceeds expectations

Jack Chambers

Senior

IF YOU GO iI Centro Almentari Where: 3290 S Church St, Burlington, NC 27215 When: Tuesday Friday, 11:30 a.m. 6:00 p.m. Saturday, 11:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

This week on the Elon Bite, I took a short drive into Burlington to il Centro Alimentari and had one of the best sandwiches I have had in a long time. The sandwich, called a Sopra, was a delicious combination of savory, sweet and rich.

To begin, I must mention that the menu at il Centro is limited in that they run out of ingredients before the end of the day, and I had to change my order from what I was originally planning to try. Instead of their Affumengato sandwich, which has a variety of meats, cheeses and toppings, I changed to the Sopra, which is a goat cheese smear topped with truffle honey, prosciutto and a sweet pepper relish all sandwiched between two delectable slices of focaccia bread.

The sandwich was delicious. All the flavors played nicely with each other, as the sweet honey and relish paired well with the creamy cheese spread, and the saltiness of the prosciutto took it to another level.

Not only that, but the bread it was sandwiched between was to die for.

This sandwich was the definition of beauty in simplicity. Each ingredient

was strong on its own, but the confluence of flavor made this better than the sum of its parts.

The quality of the ingredients was quite high, too. When it comes to beautiful, simple ingredients, anyone who knows me knows how much I value good bread. The focaccia was fresh and felt homemade. It had a crisp exterior garnished with rosemary, which I think elevates any oily bread like focaccia to the next tier. Even better, the focaccia, which is a traditional, dense, oil-heavy Italian bread, retained its crust while eating instead of disintegrating into a pile of greasy mush. The meat was salty, fatty and tender, making it a savory filling. On top of that was the truffle honey, which elevated the goat cheese spread and the prosciutto.

And finally, the pepper relish was light and sweet, and when used sparingly on a sandwich like this, it just enhances the unique qualities of the other individual components and shines on its own.

Overall, I would highly recommend il Centro. It has some very nice Italian dishes that are not simply pasta and sauce and offers a

il Centro Alimentari’s Sopra sandwich comes highly recommended.

high level of quality. The prices are somewhat high, but for a special occasion or a picnic, the sandwiches and charcuterie boxes make for great takeout. All in all, I award il Centro an eight out of 10.

If you have any questions or an idea for a place to review, please reach out to me at jchambers5@elon.

JACK CHAMBERS | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

JACK’S SCORE

8 of 10

Every week the restaurant reviewed is given a score out of 10.

Wednesday, march 31, 2021 | page 12

SPORTS

PLAYING WITH Fire: Elon University’s feature twirler embodies the phoenix, using fire batons in her halftime performances Anna Terry

Elon News Networks | @elonnewsnetwork

Growing up, many children are warned not to play with fire. But Elon University junior Jill Ford did just the opposite.

Ford has a position in Elon’s “Fire of the Carolinas” marching band dancing with batons as the school’s feature twirler.

Throughout her performances Ford can be seen simultaneously twirling up to three — sometimes flaming — batons.

The first time Ford tried twirling was at the age of 11 after watching one of her friends perform. She attended a lesson at Gwen’s School of Champions in Saxonburg, Pennsylvania and

COURTESY OF JILL FORD

Ford meets with other twirlers.

ELON’S ONLY FEATURE TWIRLER

was immediately hooked.

“It’s addicting,” Ford said. “As soon as you pick up a baton, you can’t put it down.”

At the start of high school, Ford made use of her twirling skills by joining her school’s marching band. It was not until the summer before her sophomore year that she was introduced to fire batons at a camp run by Twirling Unlimited in Clarion, Pennsylvania. Now, it’s a regular part of her routine.

Small injuries are not uncommon when working with the lit batons, Ford said. After performances, her arm hair is often singed off from the open flame. She has burnt herself on her leg a few times and once on her back. While Ford has not suffered any major twirling injuries, she said black eyes are a common occurrence.

“Sometimes you just don’t get to see where it’s coming, and then it gets you right in the face,” she said. “You just got to pick yourself up and move on.”

Injuries aside, Ford said she loves the

Junior Jill Ford prepares for a performance, applying makeup before stepping on the field.

sense of reward that the sport provides her with.

“I think there’s an excitement about making that catch or learning that new trick,” Ford said. “I like that there’s always room for improvement with it.”

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the marching band is not allowed on the field and is restricted to the stands during football games. This has led Ford to taking the season off from performing. But despite her absence from Rhodes Stadium this season, Ford is continuing to practice every week.

Elon’s color guard coach Amber Smith works with Ford during practices and said that during a normal season, Ford’s twirling is definitely a crowd pleaser.

“I definitely think that’s one of people’s most favorite parts of the halftime show, when she can pull out [the] fire baton,” Smith said. “It represents ‘Fire of the Carolinas,’ which is the marching band, and obviously your mascot, phoenix. And it’s just very exciting to watch.”

When Ford joined Elon’s marching band in 2018, Kellie Kaufman ‘20 was also a twirler. As the only two specializing in

COURTESY OF JILL FORD

baton, Ford said she was nervous that she would be an outcast from the rest of the band. But her concerns disappeared fast; Ford said the team embraced her as a new addition from the first day of band camp.

Jonathan Poquette, Elon’s marching band director, said Ford actively works to further improve its sense of community.

“Jill is one of those students that brings not only a passion for what she does, but also a desire to make the ensemble more of a family,” Poquette said.

Ford went through an audition process to earn her position as feature twirler at Elon, a role that allows her to receive a tiered scholarship from the university. Elon also pays for Ford’s game day outfit each year. Ford designs each of these costumes herself with the help of a seamstress from her hometown of Pittsburgh.

“I love being able to put the phoenix pride into a uniform and wear that,” Ford said.

In the coming years, Ford said that she would love to see more twirlers join the band.

“The more the merrier, and I’d be happy to share that spotlight,” Ford said.