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Elon News Network
THE PENDULUM
Wednesday, September 1 2021 Elon, North Carolina Volume 51, Edition 3
& G N I L L O R EN : S N O I T P M EXE
CCINE MANDATE A V E TH H IT W G COMPLYIN
NYAH PHENGSITTHY | MANAGING EDITOR
In the more than two months since Elon University mandated students to receive a COVID-19 vaccine to return to campus, all students have either documented proof of immunization or filed an approved exemption form.
Elon University touts a 96% vaccination rate among undergraduate students and reports no student disenrollments due to the mandate Nyah Phengsitthy | Managing Editor | @nyahphengsitthy
V
ACCINE EXEMPTION FORMS ROLLED into Dean of Students Jana Lynn Patterson’s email when the university declared a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all students. While the university reached 96% of its undergraduate students fully vaccinated, 307 vaccine exemptions were approved. There’s an additional number that Elon has reached zero
student disenrollments after the vaccine requirement. Unlike University of Virginia’s disenrollment of over 200 students who didn’t meet the school’s vaccine mandate, Elon students complied with mandatory vaccinations by either getting immunized or filling out an exemption form. Students who would not comply would have been disenrolled prior to
the start of the school year, according to Patterson. “I talked through this with lots of parents this summer, and they said, ‘We want to see how we can make this work,’” Patterson said.
See ENROLLMENT | pg. 7
Class of 2020 to return for in-person commencement The university will host 2020 graduates and their families Under the Oaks on Sept. 5 Madison Powers Elon News Network
Like other universities across the country, Elon University’s class of 2020 was unable to hold an in-person commencement ceremony because of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, after a year and a half of planning, the class of 2020 will return to campus for the long-awaited event on Sept. 5 Under the Oaks.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing those people that I was supposed to graduate with, but more importantly, I’m looking forward to seeing the professors that I never got to say goodbye to,” Katie Heit ’20 said. Heit, along with class of 2020 president Noor Irshaidat, will be part of the commencement ceremony and bring the class together after almost two years of waiting to walk across the stage. “It was so easy to remember those moments that I shared with people, all the people who left a mark on my life,” Irshaidat said.
See COMMENCEMENT | pg. 4
KYRA O’CONNOR | EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
After having their first commencement online, the class of 2020 will finally have their commencement in person Under the Oaks on Sunday, Sept. 5.
NEWS • PAGE 6
LIFESTYLE • PAGE 11
SPORTS • PAGE 15
SPDC sees increase in class of 2021 employment numbers
Paramount Theater opens its doors to community again
Rhodes Stadium celebrates its 20th anniversary