Hurricane Florence Coverage

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NEWS 9/12/24 6:20pm

Elon University sees 7.4% decrease in first-year enrollment

By Charlotte Pfabe and Ryan Kupperman

The Office of the Registrar released its fall 2024 report Sept. 12, which revealed a 7.4% decrease in first-year enrollment with 1,719 students in the class of 2028. The last time first-year enrollment was below this number was in 2021. Last year, the class of 2027 accounted for 1,857 students. The report includes data on student admissions; religious tradition demographics; county, state and country breakdowns; and enrollment by major. Notably, total undergraduate enrollment increased by only 50 students from 6,402 in fall 2023 to 6,452 in fall 2024.

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NEWS 9/12/24 5:36pm

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at Greensboro focusing on healthcare, cost of living

By Avery Sloan

Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to speak at 7 p.m. at the Greensboro Coliseum. This event is a part of her campaign’s New Way Forward battleground tour, with the goal of reaching undecided voters. This is her second event in North Carolina today and both campaigns have already visited North Carolina multiple times this month. But, in a recent YouGov poll conducted after the presidential debate this week, Harris is ahead in the polls among voters who said they watched the debate. Notably, 54.4% of voters asked in the poll felt Harris won the debate, 31.3% felt Trump won and 14.3% were unsure.

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LIFESTYLE 9/12/24 3:28pm

Buddhist monk creates annual sand mandala at Elon University

By Sarah T. Moore

For Hillary Zaken, Elon’s sand mandala tradition is an important piece of starting the fall semester. The Green Tara sand mandala is created by Geshe Palden Sangpo, a Tibetan Buddhist monk of the Kadampa Center in Raleigh. Sangpo began working on the design Sept. 11 and will finish — and destroy — the mandala at 3 p.m. Sept. 13 in the Numen Lumen Pavilion. Zaken is the interim assistant dean of multifaith engagement at Elon and said beyond bringing greater multifaith understanding to campus, the sand mandala shows students that nothing is permanent.

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SPORTS 9/12/24 10:16am

Elon University soccer program remains undefeated, stands atop Division I

By Miles Hayford

Elon University’s soccer program is red-hot right now. The first few weeks of games have gone extremely well for the Phoenix, and both soccer teams are playing incredible on the field. Between the men’s and women’s combined 9-0 record, the program is on a tour of wins as the soccer season begins. Elon soccer is the only current program in all of Division I to be undefeated and untied. Additionally, men’s soccer is ranked No.  20 in the nation by the United Soccer Coaches Poll — the first time the team has reached the top 20 since 2015.

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NEWS 9/12/24 9:34am

Elon students struggle to find parking on campus

By Fiona McAllister and Abigail Hobbs

For three years, senior Ashland Sutton has been commuting to Elon’s campus with no issues. Now, she is accustomed to the sight of the full Innovation Quad parking lot and cars circling the lot. Living half an hour away, Sutton now gets up at 6 a.m. to guarantee a spot before her 8 a.m. class or risk parking further away in the Danieley parking lot. Sutton contacted Campus Police so they would be aware of the problem, Chief of Police Joe LeMire sent photos of available parking spaces throughout the day with timestamps.

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LIFESTYLE 9/11/24 1:37pm

Elon University’s bingo tradition brings students together

By Sarah T. Moore

When Bunny Ingram first became an Elon student, they knew they were going to play bingo. They had initially heard about the monthly games from their older sister, who had also attended Elon. Since freshman orientation, the now-junior has only missed games for three reasons: attending a funeral, having COVID-19 and studying abroad. On Sept. 5, Ingram was one of 333 players at the first bingo night of the 2024-25 academic year. Swarms of students filed into McKinnon Hall after swiping their Phoenix Cards to receive bingo boards.

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NEWS 9/11/24 12:39am

Elon Votes hosts presidential debate watch party

By Nia Bedard

Fifty-six days away from the election, Elon Votes hosted a watch party for the first 2024 presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris in Moseley Student Center on Sept. 10 to get students engaged in the general election. This is now the 10th year that Elon Votes has hosted watch parties for Elon students, Lindsay Bialecki, Elon Votes student coordinator, said. Bialecki said Elon Votes was excited by the student turn-out for the event; around 100 students were at the event — with both the student center and the Oak Room filled with people.

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NEWS 9/10/24 9:57pm

Elon Town Hall tackles community growth, unity

By Cassie Weymouth

The town of Elon held a town council meeting on Sept. 10 to address community events and ongoing initiatives. Key highlights include the approval of a five-year agreement which outlines staffing support and possible funding for downtown development, upcoming community events, progress on designing and building a local skatepark and hiring for an administrative position within the Elon Police Department. A resolution was also approved to investigate an annexation petition, which is a petition to add an unincorporated piece of land to the town. This step is crucial for obtaining any approval on upcoming construction projects.

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SPORTS 9/10/24 9:09pm

Elon University volleyball pulls out four-set win

By Miles Hayford

Elon volleyball defeated Norfolk State University in a difficult, four-set affair on Sept. 10 at Schar Center. The Spartans got off to a hot start, jumping to a quick 7-3 lead thanks to a flurry of kills to begin the match. A lengthy point at 8-6 got Elon’s motivation back up, and after a strong serve by senior Sydney Love, the Phoenix tied it up. After Elon tied it up, the two teams traded points in a back-and-forth volley. Despite Elon’s comeback to tie it up, Norfolk State didn’t relent their attack, notching 11 kills to Elon’s three halfway through the first set.

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NEWS 9/10/24 3:51pm

Class of 2028 candidates campaign for SGA elections

By Alexa Citrin

Three weeks into their first year on campus, 24 freshmen have decided to run for Student Government. Voting opens on Sept. 17, and students will have the opportunity to vote for their president, treasurer and six senators. Elon News Network spoke to each candidate and asked what their motivations were for running. Official campaigning will take place for the rest of the week.

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NEWS 9/9/24 10:26pm

Elon Athletics investigates football player for alleged offensive remarks

By Anjolina Fantaroni

Elon University Athletics is investigating a football player after accusations that he yelled racial slurs and curses at a North Carolina Central student during an away game Sept. 7. NC Central freshman Samihya Love, who is Black, said she was watching from the stands when a white Elon player repeatedly shouted at her from the sidelines. Associate Athletics Director of Strategic Communications Jason Knavel wrote in an email to Elon News Network that Elon Athletics is aware of the accusation and is looking into it.

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LIFESTYLE 9/9/24 8:47pm

Artist showcases consumption habits through art

By Abigail Hobbs and Megan Walsh

David Hamlow has been collecting his own trash for almost 40 years, taking up space in his attic, basement and storage locker. He uses the trash — typically clear plastics, paper cardboard and thicker cardboard — to create art installations. Hamlow said he considers these pieces self portraits because most of it is his personal trash. Hamlow created an art installation for Elon’s Arts West Gallery 406 and hosted an artist talk Sept. 9. The exhibit will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday until Sept. 27.

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LIFESTYLE 9/9/24 11:53am

Nonprofit hosts book sales to fund library programming in Alamance County

By Sarah T. Moore

After moving to Alamance county from Long Island 30 years ago, Debbie Gunyan was quick to notice the differences between the public libraries. Long Island has over 200 public libraries across the Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk county systems. Alamance County has four public libraries — one in Graham, one in Mebane and two in Burlington. Friends of the Libraries next book sale will run from Sept. 6 to 15 at the May Memorial Library in Burlington. Friends of the Alamance County Public Libraries is a nonprofit that funds the library system’s programming.

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LIFESTYLE 9/9/24 10:17am

Squirrels to songbirds: Elon professor shares tips to observe wildlife

By Sarah T. Moore

While they are frequently seen across Elon, squirrels aren’t the only critters on campus. For those interested in learning more about local wildlife, biology professor Dave Gammon said getting familiar with songs and calls is a good way to identify the animals on campus, especially the birds. American robins, eastern bluebirds, cardinals, northern mockingbirds, Canada geese, mallard ducks, tufted titmice and crows are some of the birds Gammon said he commonly spots. Beyond bird calls, Gammon said once people know the sounds and stop to listen, they’ll often hear cicadas and “Katydids galore.”

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NEWS 9/8/24 2:47pm

ABSS hires new chief finance officer amid financial crisis

By Monika Jurevicius

The Alamance-Burlington School System hired Tony Messer as its new chief finance officer immediately following a financial crisis that came to the forefront in summer 2023 and continues to impact the school system. Messer was previously the CFO for Chatham County Board of Education before joining ABSS. ABSS also recently announced that it is in a $2.4 million deficit for the 2024-25 school year — as it overspent its budget for last year, according to a report released July 22. Former ABSS CFO Kim McVey left her position Feb. 19 after investigations began for the financial crisis. 

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NEWS 9/7/24 7:04pm

Elon Volunteers partners with Rise Against Hunger

By Abby Gravely

Over 23,000 meals were shipped from Alumni Gym to South Africa on Sept. 7, according to campus kitchen student director junior Lillian Argabrite. The meal packing marked this year’s edition of a tradition started in 2008 — Elon University’s partnership with Rise Against Hunger. The event was sponsored by Elon Volunteers! and featured two shifts of meal packing. Over 190 students and community members helped pack the meals, including teams from Elon Athletics.

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NEWS 9/7/24 6:20pm

Photo gallery: scenes from the weekend at Elon

By Elon News Network

The Elon Community came together in multiple ways on Friday, with the Town of Elon hosting its 2024 Social District Block Party. On Sept. 6, members of the university and town came together from 6 to 9 p.m. for live music, food and vendors, an inflatable obstacle course, face painting and more. Later that evening, the Student Union Board hosted its annual carnival, where students enjoyed similar festivities of games, food and more.

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NEWS 9/5/24 10:47pm

Elon community voices concerns amid election season

By Monika Jurevicius

At the student issues forum hosted by the Student Government Association and Elon News Network on Sept. 5, students and faculty discussed concerns they had about the election and what was at stake for them personally. Political science professors moderated and provided further commentary on responses about media, immigration and DEI initiatives. The forum was described as a way to engage in topics focusing more on issues and less on candidates. Political science professors Julianne Liebenguth and Matthew Young moderated the session, beginning with questions about the emotions felt during this presidential election.

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SPORTS 9/5/24 4:48pm

2024 Fall Sports Preview

By Benjamin Berfield and Miles Hayford

Elon University's football team seeks to claim a conference title alongside starting quarterback Matthew Downing — who just started his seventh year in collegiate football. Men's soccer also has its sights set on conference, while women's soccer welcomes back graduate student defender Katie Lowe for her fifth year. The volleyball team prepares to make the 2024 season better than last year's, while the cross country team adapts to a new head coach. And after a first place finish at nationals in 2022, followed by two, consecutive second place wins in 2023 and 2024, the dance team seeks to continue its momentum. Check out Elon News Network's fall 2024 sports preview for more insight.

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NEWS 9/5/24 9:14am

Oak House celebrates 10 year anniversary

By Fiona McAllister

The Oak House, a popular Elon coffee house and bar, is celebrating one decade of being in business. Ten years ago on Sept. 5, owner Phil Smith opened its doors to the public. He said time has flown by faster than he could have imagined. This celebration is set to have specials all day, including birthday cake and some “trinkets” to give away, Smith said — along with “Cheers to 10 years” pint glasses and coasters. “The goal would be to keep going until it's ready for somebody else to take over. But it's been a great 10 years and I could see another 10.”

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