Beaten. Stabbed. Shot. Suicide. Run over by car. These words seemed out of place next to the names, ages, photos and heartfelt stories of the 67 transgender and genderqueer people memorialized in Numen Lumen. Elon students, staff and community members honored National Transgender Day of Remembrance with a Remembrance and Resilience ceremony, during which people could read stories and see faces of those whose lives have been lost to transphobic violence or suicide in 2024 so far. Transgender Day of Remembrance was first established in 1999 on the last day of Transgender Awareness Week in memoriam of Rita Hester, a trans woman who was killed in Massachusetts.
If the Elon women’s basketball team’s 9-21 and 11-21 records over the past two seasons taught them anything, it would be resiliency, according to head coach Charlotte Smith. It’s been a tough couple of years as the Phoenix only won eight home games over the last two seasons. Last season was marred by the season-long injuries of two of the team’s brightest stars: redshirt sophomore Raven Preston and redshirt junior Kamryn Doty. Smith said the absence of Doty and Preston taught the team some valuable things.