Early Monday April 21, the head of the Catholic Church Pope Francis died from a stroke. Franics was 88 years old. He died near Saint Peter’s Basilica, where he has resided since his election in 2013. At 5 p.m. Monday evening, the bells at Elon University’s Rhodes Stadium rung 88 times, once for each year of his life. On Tuesday, April 22, Elon University’s Numen Lumen Sacred Space will hold a memorial mass for Francis at 4:30 p.m. After this mass, the space will be open for people to share words about Francis and the legacy he left behind.
It all started at Elon club volleyball, where Elon seniors Christian Van Voorhees and Mason Kaiser and Elon junior Carter Puckett first met. Now, the trio of Elon students are behind “Reel Talk,” a fast-growing social media account where “brain rot” culture meets commentary. Brain rot is commonly known as the consumption of meaningless, mind-numbing and low-quality online content. Beginning on March 7 and releasing their first reel on March 10, “Reel Talk’s” Instagram following has grown to over 14,700 followers, or what they like to call “reel ones.”
