Lifestyle

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LIFESTYLE 4/7/25 3:35pm

Downtown Gibsonville hosts 4th annual Gibsonville Girls Night

By Lilly Molina

A line of pink could be seen down West Main Street as local women gathered for Gibsonville Girls Night on April 4. With shops open until 8 p.m., attendees dress in pink and go shopping. Chelsea Dickey, a contracted economic development director for the small town; Wanda Small, owner of Just be You; and Maghon Taylor, owner of All She Wrote Notes; noticed that there were many female-owned small businesses in downtown Gibsonville. “We were looking to come together and do something fun as girls,” Dickey said. “But also do something fun for the girls of Gibsonville.”

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LIFESTYLE 4/6/25 6:24pm

Elon University prepares for its most colorful event: Holi

By Rachel Holley

A Hindu tradition dating back to the fourth century, Holi, also known as the “festival of color,” is about to be celebrated at Elon. While the actual date of Holi was celebrated on March 14th, Elon decided to celebrate the holiday during Elon’s Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. The national API month is in May, but because students aren’t on campus for the entire month of May, API month is celebrated in April on Elon’s campus.

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LIFESTYLE 4/6/25 9:37am

Elon town farmers market brings community, university together

By Virginia Vance

An 18-year tradition returned to Elon on April 3: the Elon farmers market. Students, such as Elon senior Lauren Dathe, have been anticipating its return. “I’ve been counting down the days,” Dathe said. Elon senior Sam Hinton proudly displayed a sticker purchased at the market. “It’s great to see people from the community come out,” Hinton said, “especially because I think Elon can be so separate from the rest of Burlington and Alamance, so it’s really sweet to see more intermingling.”

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LIFESTYLE 4/5/25 5:14pm

Elon University celebrates Asian Pacific Island Heritage Month with annual kickoff

By Lilly Molina

On April 3, students celebrated Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month at the third annual kickoff event. API Heritage Month is usually celebrated in May, but the Center for Race, Ethnicity and Diversity Education plans events for April due to the semester ending in the next month. The event featured various Asian cuisines, Asian owned businesses and dance performances. This year's theme is “Building Bouquets: Coming Together,” where the CREDE hopes to bring people together within the community to celebrate Asian and Pacific Islander culture and heritage.

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LIFESTYLE 4/4/25 7:49pm

Elon University lecture celebrates impactful professor, encourages expression in challenging times

By Abby Gravely

Frederick Lawrence believes that telling someone they can’t speak is equivalent to cutting off their oxygen. Lawrence, the secretary and CEO of Phi Beta Kappa honor society and First Amendment scholar, spoke to the Elon community Thursday evening in Whitley Auditorium. The James P. Elder Lecture marked the final event of the 2024-25 speaker series, and this year's installment of the endowed James P. Elder lecture series at Elon. Lawrence knows that it can be hard to determine the line between free speech and hate speech. And with recent debates involving this line on college campuses, it feels more relevant than ever.

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LIFESTYLE 4/4/25 10:53am

HealthEU center construction brings excitement, concerns

By Kate Gray and Ruby Burckle

Construction on the new HealthEU center began unexpectedly for some students. Construction began in January, raising both excitement and concerns among Elon students. The project was announced in the spring of 2024, with the goal of being completed by summer 2026. However, the building will now be completed that fall instead, according to David Haught, senior director of planning, design and construction management. According to Haught, construction is currently in phase one, which involves tree removal, utility work and reshaping land to prepare the site.

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LIFESTYLE 4/2/25 10:03pm

Eid al-Fitr celebration at Elon University brings faith, culture together

By Gaby Maldonado

Students, faculty and community members of all ages gathered in the McBride Gathering Space of the Numen Lumen Pavilion on April 2 to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the Islamic holiday marking the end of Ramadan. Also known as the "Festival of Breaking the Fast," Eid al-Fitr is a time of communal prayer, celebration and generosity for Muslims worldwide. Hosted by the Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life, Elon Muslim Society and Muslim Life at Elon, the event featured a shared dinner and reflections on the significance of Eid al-Fitr.

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LIFESTYLE 4/2/25 2:17am

Persnickety Books embraces change in its new location after leaving downtown Burlington

By Abigail Hines

When Persnickety Books packed up its shelves and moved to a new location co-owner Ian Baltutis wasn’t sure what the new space would hold for them. But after a month at its new location, Baltutis said the store has only grown from where it used to be. “It is a relief to know that as we took this change, took this risk of moving, we feel like we didn’t lose a stride, and we have a nice solid foundation to build from,” Baltutis said. 

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LIFESTYLE 4/1/25 1:23pm

AI enters Elon courses as a classmate

By Katharyn MacDonald

As a response to the questions raised today surrounding AI’s role in higher education, Elon University created six principles of its own in October 2024: human-centered work, overcoming the digital divide, information literacy, responsibility, learning evolving technology and using AI as a tool rather than a replacement were the goals set. Nearly a year and a half later, these principles have led some faculty to incorporate AI tool use and experimentation, from the brainstorming stage to final edits. Some professors have opted to use ChatGPT in their classes for assignments in order to work with AI instead of against it.

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LIFESTYLE 3/31/25 8:24pm

Elon University students differ on AI use in school

By Virginia Vance

According to a March 12 survey from Elon’s Imagining the Digital Future Center, 52% of U.S. adults now use AI large language models like ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini. The survey noted that twice as many respondents said they used AI mostly for personal learning or planning compared to those who mostly use AI for work. A common thread among Elon students was that AI should be used for the right reasons. But which reasons are the right ones is less consistent.

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LIFESTYLE 3/31/25 9:08am

Elon SPDC continues to use AI platform for student alumni connections

By Evan Cooper

With under three months until graduation, the Student Professional Development Center has continued to use Elon Q&A, a new tool implemented in the fall semester, utilizing AI to connect students with alumni. Elon Q&A was implemented in September 2024, and Elon Q&A uses AI to search for keywords in a student’s question, then searches the alumni database for a relevant connection. Once a match is found the AI sends the question, then sends a response back to the student when the question is answered.

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LIFESTYLE 3/30/25 4:18pm

Senior aims to show off the stars using virtual reality

By Nia Bedard

Senior Aubrey Spicola’s honors thesis is a virtual reality planetarium app that allows users to see stars and planets as well as listen to an instructor, who is guiding the user through the VR planetarium. As an honors fellow, part of the program includes students engaging in the study of some sort of defined problem or question over the course of one and a half to two years. With Spicola’s major in astrophysics and her love of planetarium education, she was able to develop her thesis with the help of her mentor and professor Dr. Anthony Crider. 

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LIFESTYLE 3/30/25 1:02pm

Technology creates Oklahoma in Elon for production of ‘Grapes of Wrath’

By Megan Walsh

Dust storms, the Colorado River, a large thunderstorm and a flood — all major plot points of Elon University’s production of “Grapes of Wrath” where technology plays a large role. Lighting and sound are important for the show as it sets the mood of scenes. establishes where onstage audiences should be focused and portrays dust storms, the Colorado River, a large thunderstorm and a flood. The show, based on the novel by John Steinbeck, will be performed April 3 to 5 in McCrary Theatre.

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LIFESTYLE 3/30/25 12:27pm

Kiki Ball brings Elon University’s LGBTQ+ communities together

By Alice Morrissey

Lights dimmed and music blasted as the College Street Taphouse prepared for one of the Gender & LGBTQIA Center’s favorite events of the year — the Kiki Ball. The theme of the ball was out of this world, and participants brought their own flair, drawing inspiration from ballroom culture, voguing and freestyle dance. Competitors captured the audience with their confidence and creativity; some executed dramatic floorwork, while others commanded the space with sharp, precise movements, each performance adding to the vibrant atmosphere of the event.

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LIFESTYLE 3/29/25 12:19pm

Elon University’s Liberal Arts Forum hosts Maysoon Zayid

By Alannah Klingsporn

Students filled Whitley Auditorium on Thursday evening, March 27, as the Liberal Arts Forum hosted Maysoon Zayid as the second speaker of its 2025 spring Speaker Series.  Zayid, a comedian, actress and disability activist living with cerebral palsy spoke about a number of topics, ranging from her personal experiences to choosing her identity. Zayid also focused on the representation of disabilities in the media. Zayid is the founder and co-executive producer of the New York Eric Comedy Festival and the Muslim Funny Fest. She has also written for Glamour Magazine and appeared on 60 Minutes and ABC news. 

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LIFESTYLE 3/28/25 9:47am

Elon hosts Datafest to advance data competency on campus

By Sarah T. Moore

From making curated recommendations on streaming platforms to targeted advertisements and weather forecasts, there is a growing demand for data competency. From April 10 to 14, Elon University’s Data Nexus will host its second Datafest. The four-day event will contain workshops, a “Hack-a-thon,” a creative artificial intelligence contest, a keynote speaker, networking opportunities and the American Statistical Association’s DataFest Data Challenge. Elon is one of over 100 colleges and universities across the world participating in ASA’s DataFest this year. Workshops, a hack-a-thon and other elements of this year’s Datafest are expansions from Elon’s inaugural event last year. 

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LIFESTYLE 3/24/25 8:41am

3 Burlingtons compete in ‘Battle of the Burlingtons’

By Anjolina Fantaroni

Burlington, North Carolina; Burlington, Massachusetts; and Burlington, Wisconsin; are facing off in an epic battle — of reading. With 27 Burlingtons across the United States, these three are logging readers’ minutes to claim the title of the most book-loving Burlington in the country. Participants from each town are tracking their reading and submitting their minutes, contributing to their hometown’s total. There are over 57,000 library card holders in Alamance County, and as of Thursday, March 20, Burlington, North Carolina, has the most logged reading minutes with 147,314 minutes but is ranked third overall. 

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LIFESTYLE 3/19/25 2:12am

Limitless trailblazes hip-hop out of scarcity

By Alex Nettles

Limitless started at Elon University because of a drought of hip-hop and R&B on campus, now it has blossomed into a scene running alongside an institution where 78% of Elon Undergraduates are white. Nailah Ware and Chris Murphy brought culture and creativity to Elon despite barriers of doubt. Limitless is Elon University’s student rap and R&B organization. It took two years for Limitless to grow from a handful of beatmakers, rappers and stage technicians to a community of 40 members. After its genesis in a predominantly white institution, Limitless seeks to expand to other North Carolina colleges. 

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LIFESTYLE 3/17/25 9:08am

Elon Milk Club milks meanings of humor, philosophy

By Megan Walsh

Milk is known to help strengthen bones and muscles, but for Elon sophomore Jacob Bradshaw, it has also helped him build a strong humor-filled bond with his classmates. It all started at Elon’s 2024 fall organization fair where Bradshaw jokingly walked around with a piece of notebook paper asking people if they wanted to join a then-nonexistent milk club. He walked away with 70 signatures. From those 70 signatures, milk club has grown from its joke state to a legitimate organization. 

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LIFESTYLE 3/14/25 2:06pm

‘You have permission to engage’: Vernice Armour encourages Elon community to pursue passions

By Sarah T. Moore

Vernice “FlyGirl” Armour — the first African American female combat pilot — gave an high-energy, interactive lecture March 13 as part of Elon’s 2024-25 Speaker Series. Throughout most of her presentation, Armour had the words “You HAVE permission to engage” projected onto the screen behind her. It was a phrase Armour heard from ground controllers when she served in the United States Marine Corps, and it is a sentiment she has embraced ever since. Throughout the lecture, Armour shared anecdotes from throughout her career and personal life. 

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