An internship for the town of Elon may not be the most obvious choice for Elon University senior Kai Whiteside, who is pursuing an English major with a focus in creative writing.
But that’s exactly what he did this summer.
Elon town manager Richard Roedner said he hosts interns to give them the opportunity to comprehend local politics, as well as connect with students himself.
“I hope to share what some of the concerns or the community concerns or community obstacles are out there for students as they leave campus and move into the community,” Roedner said. “That kind of dialogue is invaluable and I think we need to have a lot more of that.”
Whiteside pursued the internship opportunity because of his previous experience with the town of Elon. In 2022, Whiteside and a group of Elon University students went before the town council to petition for the creation of a skate park. Since, they’ve received preliminary funding and hope to open the park in 2026.
Whiteside said the community he found while skating was fundamental to the park’s creation.
“I’ve played different sports, I’ve done different things, but I’ve not found that same kind of feeling and involvement outside of skateboarding,” Whiteside said. “I’m trying to kind of take the energy within skateboarding and skate parks and push it outside into the world because I think it’s something everybody could benefit from.”
This same aspect of community building is fundamental in Whiteside’s internship projects. He’s especially hoping to implement Instagram takeovers, meant to highlight civil service officers, in the town’s Instagram account.
“I think that will create some kind of foundational root within Elon,” Whiteside said.
Roedner said he appreciates Whiteside’s drive toward community engagement because it’s a critical aspect of local government.
“It’s an ever-evolving mechanism and we’re always a day late and a dollar short,” Roedner said. “That’s something we’re always continually striving for.”
Whiteside said he enjoys implementing community engagement aspects into local government because of the large role it plays in citizens’ lives.
“Tomorrow, I can’t run for the Senate or do any major change in America,” Whiteside said. “But I can start somewhere small, and that’s Elon. I can try and push for a skate park, or I can try and push for better sidewalks. These ideas end up amounting to something ginormous because it ends up inviting other people to jump into the same cause, and I think more hands and more minds are better than the one.”