News

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NEWS 11/2/24 12:26pm

Elon Club Baseball dedicates dugouts to former player who died 2 years ago

By Avery Sloan

Scott Yelle said it is always bittersweet returning to Elon’s campus, because he wouldn’t be visiting club baseball’s game Nov. 2 if his son was still alive. His son, Jackson Yelle, was a former junior at Elon who was killed in a hit-and-run in April 2023 on a beach trip with the rest of the club baseball team. Scott and his wife Andrea Yelle have been back to campus multiple times to see members of the club baseball team and other friends of Jackson’s. This time, they came back to see the dedication of the field’s dugouts to their son before the team played against William and Mary.

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NEWS 11/1/24 4:03pm

Town of Elon Police releases statement regarding Halloween festivities at Oak Hill Apartments

By Nia Bedard

Ahead of Homecoming and Halloween festivities, town of Elon Police released a statement to the residents of Oak Hill Apartments stating they have been made aware of a planned, large-scale party rumored to take place within the apartment complex Nov. 2. The memorandum, released Oct. 28, also stated that if such a gathering occurs, those who are responsible may be subject to legal action including criminal charges and fines. Assistant Elon Police Chief Kedrick King said the decision to release the memorandum was based on previous incidents that have taken place at Oak Hill.

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NEWS 11/1/24 3:19pm

Alamance, Guilford juvenile detention rates reach highest in more than a decade

By Ryan Kupperman

Steven Isaiah Bradshaw was 11 years old the first time he went to Guilford Detention Center. He was detained again at 13, 16 and 18 years old for various robbery and gun charges. Matthew Cappello, Alamance County’s lead juvenile court counselor, said recidivism — or the likelihood of criminal offenders reoffending — is one of the state’s biggest concerns within the juvenile and criminal justice systems. In 2023, recidivism reached 80% for prisoners with juvenile records in the United States. To combat this, Cappello said North Carolina has made it a priority to invest in diversion and restoration resources rather than punishment and deterrence techniques such as detainment.

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NEWS 11/1/24 12:34pm

Elon University launches Law Flex, sports management programs in Charlotte

By Leela Cherukuri

Elon University's campus in Charlotte has launched its new Flex Law Flex Program this fall. Alan Woodleif, vice dean of Elon Law, said the program has already exceeded its enrollment goal of 35 students for the first year. Sitting at 36 students, Woodleif said the program projects a class size between 35 and 40 for several years to come. Woodlief also said in order for the program to be successful, he wants to focus on incremental, slow growth.

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NEWS 11/1/24 10:44am

Shots fired in Elon; suspect identified

By Ryan Kupperman

Matthew Dylan Earnhardt, 23, of Winston Salem, was arrested Nov. 1 and faces five misdemeanor charges — including discharging a firearm, concealing a weapon, possession of marijuana and marijuana-related items, and communicating threats. At 1:41 a.m. Nov. 1, an E-Alert reported that shots had been fired in the area of Elon University. A follow up was sent at 1:54 a.m. saying law enforcement had “suspects in custody” and there were no further threats to campus. Court documents also indicate that Earnhardt had made threats to an individual — identified by Elon News Network as an Elon University student.

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NEWS 10/31/24 5:53pm

Hurricane Helene relief through lens of Black Hawk mission

By Alex Nettles

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.

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NEWS 10/31/24 11:44am

Board of Trustees appoints first graduate program alumna as youth trustee

By Megan Walsh

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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NEWS 10/30/24 9:57am

Elon students, staff look forward to Homecoming 2024

By Kate Gray

A busy schedule of tours, reunions and open houses will kick off Nov. 1 at Elon University for Homecoming Weekend 2024. Elon’s Student Union Board runs on-campus programming and one of its divisions — Late Night — offers evening activities for students every Thursday through Saturday. With Halloween parties and Homecoming falling on the same weekend, Late Night chair and junior Katherine O’Connor said their programming for Homecoming will include similar activities. Click here for a comprehensive calendar of the weekend's events.

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NEWS 10/28/24 12:04pm

Elon University’s ResFest shows off neighborhood competitions initiative

By Megan Walsh

Festival foods, crafts, partnership tables and live music filled Young Commons for Elon University Residence Life’s first ResFest event. ResFest was created as part of a new Residence Life initiative to increase engagement between the different residential neighborhoods on campus. The event took place Oct. 25 and featured a competition to see which neighborhood and Living Learning Community had the highest attendance while fostering pride in students’ individual neighborhoods and meeting new people.

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NEWS 10/28/24 10:50am

Burlington Police use AI to monitor unchecked body camera footage

By Fiona McAllister

The Burlington Police Department is the first station in North Carolina to use artificial intelligence in its body camera footage. The department’s partnership with Truleo is meant to help officers on their daily routes. Truleo scans hundreds of hours of body camera footage and highlights key points. Captain Dalton Majors of the Burlington Police Department said Truleo has saved Burlington Police Department millions of dollars and is helping both victims and officers. Majors said one aspect of this tool that has been helpful is reviewing the actions of officers.

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NEWS 10/26/24 9:49pm

Elon volunteers pack meals for hurricane relief

By Charlotte Pfabe

“Everyone deserves to eat” is painted on the warehouse wall of the Second Harvest Food Bank in Winston-Salem. Volunteers from Elon University took that motto to heart as they packaged meals and supplies on Oct. 25 for those impacted by Hurricane Helene — including disaster relief workers — in western North Carolina. In a partnership between Elon University’s Kernodle Center for Civic Life and Second Harvest, students, faculty and staff boarded a bus and traveled to the central center of Second Harvest in Winston-Salem. Assistant Registrar Hannah Southern ’22 volunteered alongside her colleagues from the Registrar's office.

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NEWS 10/26/24 3:39pm

Elon ’24 alumna remembered as devoted friend, hard worker

By Avery Sloan

Juliana Kuhno ’24 is remembered as fearless, adventurous and a fierce friend by her father Chuck Kuhno. Her mother Deana Kuhno said she was creative and always involved — whether she was working on her own passion projects or leading student organizations at Elon. Juliana died Oct. 19 after complications from surgery. She was 22 years old and living in Wake Forest with her family after having graduated from Elon in May. At Elon University, she was involved with Limelight Records, Net Impact and The Edge Magazine on campus.

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NEWS 10/25/24 9:06pm

Elon community supports Breast Cancer Awareness Month with mobile screenings, local fundraisers

By Gaby Maldonado

Every October, communities worldwide support Breast Cancer Awareness Month, raising awareness, promoting early detection and contributing to research. Elon University partnered with Cone Health, a nonprofit healthcare network, to bring a mobile screening van to bring awareness and resources to campus. The cancer screening unit, stationed at Koury Parking Lot during HealthEU Day, provided mammograms to 45 individuals. Local restaurant Pandora's Pies also supported breast cancer awareness by donating 10% of its October, garlic knot sales to breast cancer research for the 12th year in a row.

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NEWS 10/25/24 4:10pm

Greek Dance marks end of 2024-25 Greek Week

By Cassie Weymouth

Oct. 24 marked the end of Elon University’s 2024-25 Greek Week with a dance competition consisting of 16 chapters of Elon’s greek organizations. The performance was held in the Schar Center and chapters were judged on creativity and theme, performance and overall stage presence. Judges were senior Robin Falkow from SGA, Elon Mayor Emily Sharpe, the women’s basketball head coach Charlotte Smith and Elon basketball players Laila Anderson and Isaac Harrell. Greek Week also fundraised over $20,000 for Habitat for Humanity and allowed free admission to Greek Dance for the first time.

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NEWS 10/23/24 11:54pm

Elon Mayor discusses community engagement with university

By Liya Rike

Town of Elon Mayor Emily Sharpe joined Elon University students in McKinnon Hall on Oct. 23 for a town hall discussion hosted by the Student Government Association. Alongside Burlington City Manager Craig Honeycutt and Alamance Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Reagan Gural, Sharpe addressed questions and concerns from students — with the event aiming to strengthen the connection between the university and the local community. The discussion also provided a platform for students to engage with local leaders and explore ways to collaborate on community issues.

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NEWS 10/23/24 10:53pm

Data Nexus 'Power of Women in Data' series continues with Elon alumna

By Kate Gray

Maggie Macdonald ’15 spoke at Elon University on Oct. 23 as part of the Data Nexus Power of Women in Data series to discuss the role of district boundaries and social media in elections. The assistant professor of political science at the University of Kentucky has research experience in congressional campaigns and elections, specifically concerning strategic online political communication and campaign finances. Data Nexus is Elon’s Hub for data competency, particularly designed to prepare students to understand the role of data and data analysis in society.

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NEWS 10/22/24 9:31pm

Elon alumni speaker series continues with political misinformation discussion

By Evan Cooper

Reporter and Elon alumna Maria Ramirez Uribe ’20 spoke to attendees at Elon University on Oct. 22 about disinformation surrounding the upcoming election as part of the university’s alumni speaker series. Ramirez currently works for PolitiFact as an immigration reporter and fact checker. Ramirez started the presentation by explaining what PolitiFact is — a news organization that tracks statements made by politicians and then verifies if they are true or not. Since 2016 and the rise of misinformation online, PolitiFact has also begun to track social media posts and comments.

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NEWS 10/22/24 8:55pm

Elon University hosts deepfake discussion 2 weeks ahead of election day

By Monika Jurevicius

Purdue University doctoral student Christina Walker visited Elon University on Oct. 22 to discuss the impact of political deepfakes on social media users and how labeling could help stop the spread of misinformation. Deepfakes are a form of artificial intelligence that can add someone’s face and voice to another user. Walker and her team capture information on who shares these systems on social media and tracks its original source when available. The main goal of the political deepfake database is to track media users’ understanding of a specific watermark for AI-generated content, which signals the material posted is fake.

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NEWS 10/22/24 6:54pm

Railroad arms experience malfunctions in downtown Elon; intersections now cleared

By Miles Hayford

The railroad gate arms at the intersections of West Lebanon Avenue and North Williamson Avenue, West Lebanon and Church Street, and East Lebanon and Oak Street were down, according to Elon Police Chief Joe LeMire. According to an E-Alert sent at 7:21 p.m., the intersections at Oak, Williamson and Church have been cleared. These gate arms have been having issues all day and prevented the flow of traffic in downtown Elon.

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NEWS 10/22/24 3:36pm

Elon Students for Peace, Justice walk through campus

By Fiona McAllister

The Students for Peace and Justice at Elon University walked from Medallion Plaza, throughout Young Commons and eventually ended at the Moseley Center patio. Ten advocates led the march through campus holding signs with slogans like, “Humanity must prevail.” Leading the walk was Elon junior Natalia Sendawy. Sendawy said in a speech to the crowd that their purpose for this event was to stand in solidarity with oppressed people around the world. Adviser to Students for Peace and Justice Thomas Arcaro also encouraged actions of passion and said involvement with current events is something not to be taken lightly.

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