Updated as of 3:26 p.m. on Nov. 10 to include comment from Associate Provost for Academic Inclusive Excellence Naeemah Clark.
Hugs, smiles, tears and words of encouragement filled Haggard Avenue on Nov. 6 following the election results between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. In the early hours of Wednesday morning, former President Trump was elected the 47th President of the U.S.
Elon University invited students, staff and faculty to express words of hope on the portion of Haggard Avenue in front of Young Commons — closing the road from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. to showcase and work on their public art display. There were an estimated 200 students who participated in the event, Naeemah Clark, associate provost for academic inclusive excellence, said.
This was the first of four post-election events Elon has planned for the next week, and there are more events to come leading up to Inauguration Day on Jan. 20, Clark said.
These events were planned before ballots were counted for Trump and were announced in a campus-wide email from Jon Dooley, vice president of student life, on Oct. 31. In his email, he also specifically highlighted campus resources including Counseling Services, the Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life and mindfulness programming by Campus Recreation and Wellness.
Uplifting songs played throughout the art event, such as “A Million Dreams” from The Greatest Showman, “We Are the World” by U.S.A For Africa and “Sunday Morning” by Maroon 5.
Sohpmore Aeiris Faloni writes inspirational words Nov. 6 on the asphalt of East Haggard Avenue.
Junior Zachary Diamond said he saw the email about the event and wanted to check it out. He wrote, “Sometimes you have to create your own sunshine” on the concrete.
“Every day is different,” Diamond said. “Some people have good days, some people have bad days — and on days like this where people are so conflicted, it’s important to manage your emotions.”
Diamond said he liked seeing so many people on the street expressing hope about the future.
“I think this is a great community builder where people can come together and share thoughts,” Diamond said.
Clark said planning for the election on campus began back in June, with the creation of a committee — co-chaired by Clark and Dooley — focused on the election.
“Thinking about what emotions could look like from all sides, and making sure that we were having dialogue, that we were really thinking about unity, that we were thinking about connection,” Clark said. “We learned a lot of lessons from 2016 so we made sure that the students would have a creative outlet.”
In 2020, a pro-Trump caravan drove through campus on Haggard Avenue, through Elon’s campus, with about 200 vehicles in support of the presidential candidate at the time. Dooley condemned the profanities, insults and slurs yelled at Elon community members in an email to the student body at the time. This year, Clark said they intentionally planned what events days and weeks after the election would look like.
She and other members of the election planning committee asked professors not to cancel classes on the Wednesday after the election in order to foster conversations about the election. They also encouraged professors to plan ahead for those conversations on Wednesday or Thursday. Dillan Bono-Lunn, Elon’s faculty fellow for student engagement, is working on providing information to students, faculty and staff on how to best have dialogues on the election, Clark said.
“We had the street art. We knew that Counseling Services was going to be ready,” Clark said. “The goal was that we would have class and be able to have good conversations in class.”
Another way Clark said the planning committee tried to encourage events instead of planning everything themselves is offering funds to groups and classes for different events and ideas. For example, communication design professor Shannon Zenner’s two sections of design of visual images course created posters displaying messages focused on civic engagement.
At the public art event, freshmen Sam Rapaport and Grace Hartsell heard the music while walking by Haggard and stopped by to check it out.
“I really think it’s important that as a community here at Elon, we unite around certain values of love and peace,” Rapaport said. “Just pressing that message as much as possible.”
On a chalkboard, Hartsell wrote, “Giving more.”
“Everyone needs a little bit of that, especially since a lot of specific groups are feeling maybe a little empty right now and a little lost,” Hartsell said.
Freshman Olivia Gover said she attended the event as a way to share her opinions and feelings following the results of the election.
“As a woman in America, I deserve the right to choose what I do with my body,” Gover said.
During former President Trump’s first term as president, he appointed three judges to the Supreme Court who overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Gover said she saw a lot of love and support crowding the street.
“There’s been a lot of understanding that we have to use our voice and continue saying what needs to be said,” Gover said.
Clark said staying engaged in the democratic process is something that Elon values and should be a part of what students learn.
“Even though the election is over, we're not done thinking about what we could do as citizens,” Clark said. “Whether you're happy with the results of the state election or the national election, that we still are active citizens and that we have a role to play in the way that we are governed.”