Lifestyle

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LIFESTYLE 10/1/23 11:27am

One-man show brings African American stories to Elon University

By Erin Hroncich

Mike Wiley has dedicated his career to sharing stories of Black Americans in the form of educational theater. He found that there were limited roles for African American men and took matters into his own hands by creating his own performances and production company. Wiley’s unique approach to theater demonstrates an immersion of education and performance. One-man shows leave the bulk of the pressure on the shoulders of the main performer. Wiley performed in McCrary Theatre on Sept. 18 and said he alleviates this by involving the audience. 

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LIFESTYLE 9/28/23 12:55pm

Elon University ensemble performs contemporary classical music

By Emilio Nunez

Elon University’s Contemporary Chamber Ensemble performed this Sunday at the Center for the Arts Black Box. The band played four songs that fell under the “contemporary music” style. The ensemble was created by director Jonathan Poquette as a way for contemporary music to be a part of Elon’s musical culture. The group consists of a cello player, a violinist, a flute player and a percussion player. The ensemble included four performers outside of the Elon faculty and also featured students in the Elon Wind Ensemble for the final piece.

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LIFESTYLE 9/28/23 9:24am

Southern Maryland-based musician drops single for debut EP at Elon University

By Betsy Schlehuber

Elon junior Tabby Spell released the second single for her upcoming debut EP Sept. 21. The song is called “Fallin’” and Spell said it tells the story of a boy she fell for in her freshman year at Elon, even though people around her were telling her it was a terrible idea. Spell describes the track as “poppier” and “peppier” than the rest of the EP, titled “Young.” Spell said while there is not an exact release date for the project, she is aiming for the end of this year.

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LIFESTYLE 9/24/23 10:47am

Multimedia artist highlights work through exhibit, presentation at Elon University

By Rachel Levine

Raleigh-based multimedia artist Todd Jones inspired students, faculty and young creators through his talk Sept. 11 in Arts West. About 25 audience members listened intently as Jones took them on a journey through “The Forgotten.” Jones zeroed in on this collection, which is on exhibit in Arts West until Oct. 19. Jones’ exhibit tells a captivating story of consumerist culture and his artistic career. Attendees were able to view pieces of “The Forgotten” as Jones explained the stories and process behind his work. 

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LIFESTYLE 9/23/23 7:31pm

International Tango Obsession explores the world of Spanish culture at Elon University

By Ruth Cruz

The Camarada Tango Quartet explored a world of passion, mystery, and beauty in McCrary Theatre on Sept. 14. A powerful and smooth melody entranced the audience as the quartet dove into Latino Culture from Buenos Aires, Argentina and brought it to Elon University. The passionate tango dance was a mysterious obsession with intricate movements. The group drew attention with a jarring mix of seductive and smooth notes. The Camarada Tango Quartet was founded in 2020 to expand the complex dynamic of the Spanish tango.

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LIFESTYLE 9/23/23 6:09pm

Carolina Cowboys make homestead debut in Greensboro

By Sarah T. Moore

The Carolina Cowboys, North Carolina’s professional bull riding team, made its homestead debut at the Greensboro Coliseum Sept. 22 — the first night of a three day team series tournament called the PBR Cowboy Days. The Carolina Cowboys is now ranked fourth in the league, moving up one spot after winning against the Arizona Ridge Riders with a 4.5 point lead Sept. 22. 

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LIFESTYLE 9/23/23 10:33am

Elon University junior uses comedy to bring positivity to campus

By Lilly Molina

Junior Jesse Riback said he is no stranger to making people laugh on Elon University’s campus. Head writer of Elon Tonight and founder of JRibs Entertainment, Riback said he enjoys making comedy content, whether it is through music or videos. His TikTok, @jribscomedy, consists of videos of him walking around campus, interacting with Elon students and promoting his songs. Riback said he wants his music and his content overall to exhibit a positive message through the lens of comedy. 

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LIFESTYLE 9/22/23 8:12pm

Elon University ensemble to perform this weekend

By Emilio Nunez

Elon University’s Contemporary Chamber Ensemble will be performing at 2 p.m. Sept. 24 in the CFA Black Box. The performance will have a focus of music under the category of “contemporary music”. The ensemble was created in 2021 by director Jonathan Poquette, who said he was inspired by artistic advisor for the ensemble, Andy Hudson, and the restrictions they both felt when it came to performing contemporary music. “Contemporary music isn’t really championed or put forth in this part of the region,” Poquette said. “How can we make it more of a culture here on campus, in Elon?”

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LIFESTYLE 9/22/23 2:06pm

El Centro kicks-off Hispanic Heritage Month at Elon University in celebration

By Alex Nettles

El Centro welcomed the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month at a kick-off event in Medallion Plaza. The student-planned surge of culture marks the beginning of the celebration Hispanic Heritage Month on Elon’s Campus. Hispanic Heritage Month is a national celebration of Latinx and Hispanic culture that includes the independence days of many Hispanic countries, running from Sep. 15 to Nov. 15. The event’s planning was spearheaded by a group of passionate student coordinators, including sophomore Cristina Mariné. Mariné said she started volunteering with El Centro because it gave her a reinforced sense of identity. 

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LIFESTYLE 9/21/23 1:16pm

Hillel, Chabad celebrate Rosh Hashanah, bring Elon University community together

By Nia Bedard

Elon University Jewish student organizations Chabad and Hillel gathered from Sept. 15 to 17 to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Rosh Hashanah — which means “head of the year” — consists of many different practices throughout the weekend, including community dinners, services and holiday’s traditions. The blowing of the shofar — a ram’s horn — as well as dipping bread and apples into honey to signify the desire for a sweet new year are just two of the many traditions for the holiday.

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LIFESTYLE 9/17/23 4:46pm

Elon University a cappella group, Sweet Signatures, releases album “Bitter Sweet”

By Rachel Holley

Two years in the making, Elon University’s all-female a cappella group Sweet Signatures released their fifth studio album, Bitter Sweet. Sweet Signatures was first established in 2001 by 15 women ready to entertain, compete and further develop their love of singing. It has since grown into the reputation as Elon’s premiere all-female a cappella group. The new album released Aug. 31 and is composed of 12 songs — four of which are live. It can be found on Apple Music and Spotify.

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LIFESTYLE 9/15/23 9:41am

History of El Centro, Elon University's Latinx, Hispanic center

By Lilly Molina

Located on the first floor of Carlton, El Centro is an immersion space on campus for Latinx and Hispanic students to feel supported, according to Center of Race, Ethnicity and Diversity Education Director Sylvia Muñoz. Muñoz came to Alamance county from Costa Rica in 1995 and, in her free time, taught Spanish to the Board of Trustees. Muñoz said she later shared the idea to create an Hispanic immersion space at Elon University, which soon became El Centro de Español. 

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LIFESTYLE 9/13/23 2:24pm

Huepa! celebrates cultural expression through traditional Colombian dance

By Madison Powers

Yholima Vargas, born in Bógota, Colombia, has danced since she was young and found safety and self-expression through traditional Colombian dance while living in Montreal, Durham and Burlington. She said as she dances, she yells the Colombian expression “Huepa!” — a declaration of exhilaration. When Vargas moved to North Carolina in 2015, she founded Huepa! Culture and Arts Institute, a dance academy that promotes Colombian performing arts and cultural identity through the CityGate Dream Center in Burlington.

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LIFESTYLE 9/11/23 12:17pm

Elon University professor publishes award-winning poetry collection

By Nia Bedard

Shaina Jones came to Elon University as an English professor in fall 2022. Though she wrote her initial manuscript in 2022, which won the Millers Williams Poetry Prize and allowed her to be published through the University of Arkansas press, she later published her collection "To Be Named Something Else" as a book under the name Shaina Phenix. Jones celebrated her book's publication Sept. 5 in the Numen Lumen Pavilion. According to Jones, Black "femme-hood", celebration and Harlem are common threads throughout her work.

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LIFESTYLE 9/9/23 10:22am

Elon University senior researches Black history in Alamance County

By Mollie Lund

From the moment Elon University senior Jasper Myers first opened L’Tanya Richmond’s master’s thesis earlier this summer, she said she knew she had found something remarkable. Through Myers’ work at Elon’s Archives and Special Collections, she was first introduced to Richmond’s thesis, titled “Elon’s Black History: A Story To Be Told." Myers dove deeper into Black history at Elon and discovered that, before Richmond wrote her master’s thesis, she received her undergraduate degree from Elon University in 1987. After working in the admissions office, Richmond became the director of Elon’s multicultural center, which would later become the Center for Race, Ethnicity & Diversity Education. 

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LIFESTYLE 9/8/23 10:48pm

Buddhist monk completes sand mandala at Elon University

By Jenna Rudolph

Tibetan Buddhist monk Geshe Sangpo of the Kadampa Center joined Elon University for three days from Sept. 6 to 8 to create a Green Tara Sand Mandala — only to destroy the piece after completion. According to the Kadampa Center, the Green Tara sand mandala is created for compassion and peace. The sand mandala specifically is an ancient form of Tibetan Buddhist art and represents the wholeness and harmony of the universe. The act of destroying it represents the universe’s state of impermanence. This was Sangpo’s 11th creation on Elon’s campus.

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LIFESTYLE 9/7/23 2:07pm

Elon University students create, publish video game

By Sarah T. Moore

Six Elon University students worked together to create “Samira: Taken From Time” for their game design minor capstone during their Winter Term class at the start of 2023. What started as ideas written on sticky notes, became a published video game just a few months later. “Samira: Taken From Time” is a free, narrative-driven, puzzle-solving adventure game featuring an animal companion, a post-apocalyptic world, time travel, ancient gods, supernatural powers and futuristic technology. Interactive media student Morgan Chisholm said the most rewarding part of creating the game was figuring out how to incorporate everyone’s ideas and seeing it all come together in the final product.

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LIFESTYLE 9/5/23 9:06am

Elon University engineering students to build a race car from scratch

By Naomi Washington and Sophie Rosenthal

At the start of the 2023-24 school year, eight Elon University engineering students spent their time each day after classes and throughout the weekend working on a project in the Innovation Hall lab. What they’re building: a race car. Elon’s chapter of the Formula Society of Automotive Engineers, or Phoenix Racing, is a student-run engineering team who are currently collaborating on building an electric Formula 1 race car. With the completed car, the club intends to compete against other universities in the collegiate electric division of FSAE. 

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LIFESTYLE 9/1/23 8:51am

Elon University students, professors value syllabus despite Moodle, courseware sites

By Betsy Schlehuber

Students have historically relied on syllabuses for assignments, readings, due dates and more. But with the introduction of coursework technology such as Moodle, where students can check assignments and due dates virtually, School of Law professor Sara Ochs said she mostly relies on trusting her students to read the syllabus.  Since she started teaching six years ago, Ochs said she has observed that college syllabuses have gotten longer and more complicated — tempting students to skim or skip reading vital information.

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LIFESTYLE 8/28/23 8:22am

Elon University alum shares accomplishments, journey as a professional musician, producer

By Betsy Schlehuber

Elon University alum Matthew Clanton ‘18 shared with Elon News Network his accomplishments and journey as a professional musician and producer in Los Angeles. Clanton is Elon a cappella group Rip_Chord's former music director and vice president. He said he attributes his skills and his role as a freelance, self-employed musician to his time and experience in Rip_Chord. In 2021, Clanton collaborated with German EDM artist Neptunica, which blew up and is now sitting at roguhly 39 million streams. The two collaborated again in 2022 on a song that now sits at around 11 million streams.

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