National

NEWS 9/17/23 9:44pm

NC Democrats rally for gun regulations in wake of UNC shooting, lockdowns

By Joseph Navin

Roughly 300 people met at the Halifax Mall in Raleigh beside the North Carolina Legislative Complex to protest gun violence and promote gun control legislation. The “People > Guns” rally was organized by the Young Democrats of North Carolina and comes weeks after University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill professor Zijie Yan was shot and killed on campus Aug. 28. Yet, it only comes four days after UNC's second lockdown of the school year on Sept. 13, where an individual was reported waiving a firearm inside a cafe in the middle of campus.  

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.

SPORTS 9/16/23 1:44pm

Elon University ultimate frisbee team sets sights on nationals

By Alex Sterne

Elon University’s club ultimate frisbee team, appropriately named “Big Fat Bombs,” began an unprecedented run after starting the season being ranked 138th in its division. While this could have diminished the motivation of the team, team president Tyler Myers said he discovered the team’s value didn't reside in the speed or the strength of the individual players. Riding off the progress of last fall, the team looks to improve for this season.

NEWS 9/15/23 8:07pm

Elon Law files application for new Charlotte campus

By Erin Martin

Elon University School of Law submitted an application for accreditation to the American Bar Association to establish a separate location in Charlotte. If the ABA approves Elon's application, it would mark the first instance of a law school operating in Charlotte since the Charlotte School of Law ceased operations in 2017. There will be a press conference Sept.19 at 330 W. Tremont Ave. where the university plans to announce the opening of its new "Elon in Charlotte Regional Center." 

NEWS 9/15/23 2:57pm

Illness spreads through Elon University campus

By Monika Jurevicius

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has seen a spike in respiratory virus hospitalizations, with a 1% increase from the start of the school year, from 5.6% to 6.6%. Elon University Health Services also no longer tracks cases as the state no longer needs them to be reported to NCDHHS, according to Elon’s Medical Director and University Physician Ginette Archinal. Students are encouraged to stay in their living areas and speak to staff on their health status based on current CDC guidelines.

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. 

NEWS 9/14/23 5:44pm

Former Elon University campus police officer promoted to Town of Elon assistant police chief over operations

By Madison Powers

Town of Elon Police Chief Kelly Blackwelder announced the appointment of Lt. Kedrick King as new assistant police chief over operations. Kind is a former officer for Elon University's campus police. According to the police department, King has previously worked as a patrol officer, master police officer, sergeant and lieutenant with the Elon police department before being promoted Sept. 11.

NEWS 9/14/23 8:38am

AI hits the road, high tech highways emerge in NC

By Tucker Price

North Carolina Highway Patrol announced in July it would implement an artificial intelligence-based system meant to catch violations of the Hands-Free Law and seatbelt use in commercial truck drivers. According to the North Carolina Department of Transportation, over 10% of the 1,658 traffic casualties in 2020 involved collision with a large truck. Elon University computer science professor Scott Spurlock said that these innovations in artificial intelligence were previously unheard of, and shared his thoughts about the developing technology.

NEWS 9/13/23 8:06pm

UNC lockdowns spark further concern at Elon University

By Ryan Kupperman

For the second time in roughly two weeks, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill went on lockdown because of reports of an armed and dangerous individual. On Sept. 13, the Alert Carolina system at UNC Chapel Hill reported an individual with a weapon on campus. UNC police later reported the incident to have happened at Alpine Bagel Cafe in the UNC student union just before 1 p.m. Elon University faculty members and UNC students reflected on the recent lockdown regarding an armed and dangerous individual on UNC's campus, as well as advocated for increased policy, legislation and protocol. 

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.

NEWS 9/13/23 7:02am

Hispanic Heritage Month events calendar

By Elon News Network

Hispanic Heritage Month is annually celebrated from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. Elon University hosts a Hispanic Heritage Month Kick-Off Festival in Medallion Plaza each year, with various events throughout the month that celebrate Hispanic food, music, performers and more. Sept. 14 and 15 mark the beginning of community-wide celebration with the kick-off festival and book display beginning Sept. 15. Here is a comprehensive list of Hispanic cultural events on or around Elon's campus over the next month.

NEWS 9/12/23 3:17pm

Lane on N. Williamson Ave. to close Sept. 13 on Elon University campus

By Madison Powers

Vice President for Student Life Jon Dooley sent an email today informing students of a Town of Elon lane closure on North Williamson Avenue Sept. 13, from West Lebanon Avenue to West Haggard Avenue from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dooley originally said the closure would take place on Nov. 13, but sent a follow-up email two hours later clarifying the closure will occur on Sept. 13. Traffic will be one-way due to construction and Dooley advised drivers to allow for extra travel time or take an alternate route.

SPORTS 9/12/23 11:43am

Elon University junior stands against sister as CAA opponent

By Audrey Toscano

Junior Sydney Love is an outside hitter and captain for Elon University's volleyball team. As volleyball kicks off their 2023-24 season, Love prepares to face her younger sister Ryann Love on the opposite side of the net. Though the sisters grew up learning and playing volleyball together, Ryann now plays at William & Mary. Both sisters said they look forward to the competition that comes with playing against each other at the collegiate level. This season, Elon’s first game against William & Mary is Oct. 7.

NEWS 9/12/23 7:31am

North Carolina DMV no longer issues, renews Confederate flag license plates

By Cassie Weymouth

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a 2021 North Carolina Department of Transportation ban on issuing or renewing specialty license plates with the Confederate flag. According to the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles, North Carolina offers three standard plates and over 200 specialty license plates, representing more than 100 civic clubs and interest groups. In 2021 the Sons of Confederate Veterans sued the North Carolina Department of Transportation. A lower court dismissed the case and a federal appeals court agreed with that decision in 2022. Elon Law professors Luke Bierman and Enrique Armijo shared mixed opinions about the Supreme Court refusing to review the case.

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.

SPORTS 9/11/23 7:56am

Athletic scholarship awarded to Elon University sophomore

By Mason Willett

Redshirt sophomore Julian Bumper was rewarded an athletic scholarship after a few years as a walk-on for Elon University's football team. According to Bumper, receiving the scholarship is something he said he will never forget and credits his success to his parents — who graduated from Elon in the '90s. “I just want to say, I thank y'all," Bumper said. "All the sacrifice, all the times bringing me to practice. Believing in me throughout my whole time here, understanding that eventually my time will come and believing that when I get the opportunity, I'll make the most of it."

NEWS 9/10/23 1:29pm

Child care development center to open at Elon University spring 2025

By Madison Powers

Elon University will open a child care development center for children ages newborn to 2-years-old of Elon faculty, staff and students. The center is being created because of a child care crisis in Alamance County due to COVID-19. Williams said phase one of the center is scheduled to open spring 2025. According to Vice President for Finance and Administration Janet Williams, Elon hired Bright Horizons, an educational support systems company, to conduct a study in 2022 on the need for child care in Alamance County. Williams said while the study is not yet published, it further illuminated a local child care deficit.

NEWS 9/9/23 8:04pm

ALCOVETS hosts second hot air balloon festival in Burlington

By Erin Martin

For the second year in a row the Alamance County Balloon Festival is taking place at Cedarock park in Burlington from Sept. 8 to 10. ALCOVETS — a nonprofit and veteran organization based in Graham — is hosting the event through Sept. 10 to raise funds to support local veterans and fund the Chesnut Ridge Retreat campus building, a veterans’ retreat campus at the peak of Bass Mountain. According to Hudson Hot Air Affair, optimal wind speeds are between 4 and 6 mph.

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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NEWS 10/31/2024 5:53pm
Hurricane Helene relief through lens of Black Hawk mission

After Hurricane Helene, rural communities continue to struggle with isolation in western North Carolina. A National Guard Black Hawk crew delivered generators to the Bull Creek community, a valley banding together in the aftermath of the storm, on Oct. 8. The National Guard has been working to sustain the recovery of western North Carolina’s fragmented pockets. After Hurricane Helene hit Sept. 27, much of the infrastructure throughout North Carolina was severed. At the storm's peak, there were hundreds of closures. Sections of I-40 still face significant damage, while power and clean drinking water are still issues.

NEWS 10/31/2024 11:44am
Board of Trustees appoints first graduate program alumna as youth trustee

Elizabeth “Liz” Kwon L’23 has been named the new youth trustee for Elon University’s Board of Trustees. Kwon found out she was nominated by a faculty member when she graduated in December 2023. She is the first alum of a graduate program to be appointed to the board and will serve a two-year term. As the first graduate student to be elected as a youth trustee, Kwon said she hopes to bring the graduate student perspective to the table — as well as her personal experiences in the law program.

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