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I AM ELON BY KIM WALKER
A singer throughout much of her life, Ana Segal ’21 tried her best to set music aside when she came to Elon. Intent on learning new things and pursuing a major in anything but music, she decided to follow her other interests through a variety of classes. The freedom to change direction while exploring intellectually is one of the things Ana loves about Elon. “Elon pushes you to get involved in a lot of ways, which helps you discern what really matters to you,” she says. “The faculty want to get you wherever you want to go. That’s really special about Elon.” Ultimately Segal decided that Elon’s music department truly was the right place for her, and last fall she was accepted into the music production and recording arts program. She’s deeply involved in the department, tutoring peers in music theory, working as an assistant within the department’s administrative office and taking on leadership roles in Elon’s annual Leading Women in Audio Conference. In the fall she will begin a new position as a music technician in one of the department’s recording studios. Segal says she’s looking forward to helping fellow musicians realize their artistic vision through technology, cultivating skills she’ll need once she graduates and pursues a position in the recording industry. Segal came to Elon from San Francisco, ready to push herself to meet new people and embrace new experiences. Initially it was a challenge to be so far from home and away from the familiar, but ultimately the experience has been extremely rewarding. “Technical knowledge is important, but it’s more important to connect and meet new people,” Segal said. “We’re all coming from different backgrounds, and people can teach you about their religion, their home, their work and their experiences. That then forces you to turn that mirror inward, which is how you learn the most.”
Ana is Elon. Visit elon.edu/magazine to see more stories that are part of our “I Am Elon” series.
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COVER STORY
A NIMBLE RESPONSE BY OWEN COVINGTON
Despite major disruptions to campus operations caused by a global pandemic, Elon remains committed to engaged learning.
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THIS IS US EDITED BY KIM WALKER
A look at the effects of the pandemic in the United States through the lens of Elon alumni photographers.
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NOTES FROM THE FRONT LINES BY KEREN RIVAS ’04 & ALEXA BOSCHINI ’10
Alumni near and far share perspectives on how the pandemic is affecting them and the work they do.
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A NEW NORMAL BY ROSELEE PAPANDREA TAYLOR
Elon experts talk about the possible long-range impact of the covid-19 pandemic on everyday life.
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FROM THE ARCHIVES
A RESILIENT COMMUNITY BY RANDALL BOWMAN
Throughout its history, the Elon community has shown unwavering resilience in times of adversity.
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THE HERO IN ALL OF US BY ALEXA BOSCHINI ’10
Tony Weaver Jr. ’16 tells stories that defy stereotypes and encourage young readers to be themselves.
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A NAME FOR THE NAMELESS BY ERIC TOWNSEND
Through the People Not Property Project, Elon Law students are digitizing bills of sale of those who were enslaved in North Carolina.
2 Under the Oaks 10 Phoenix Sports 12 Elon LEADS
43 Point of View 44 Alumni Action 48 Class Notes
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▶ from the PRESIDENT
A new, stronger
ELON E facebook.com/ElonConnieBook twitter.com/ElonConnieBook
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ach day throughout the pandemic and Elon’s emergency operations, as I enter Powell Building, I pass a collection of Elon’s beautiful admissions viewbooks. The compelling photos in these publications visualize our campus for prospective students and their families. Across higher education, we affectionately refer to these brochures as “three and a tree” because so many of the photos show three students, smiling, walking on campus against a backdrop of trees and academic buildings. Those of us who have the privilege of working in higher education know an image can only capture a fraction of the transformation learning creates. The beauty of learning and the transformative power of higher education have always been my guiding light. And, if you ask me, the individual transformation and learning that happens at Elon is the most beautiful of all. This past fall, the year started as it always does: with the arrival of curious students who set out on a course of study that will eventually change who they are. Spring typically marks the time of year when seniors walk across the stage at graduation, emerging as people who are truly new, as people who have been transformed by their time at Elon. However, this spring our beautiful Elon campus was quiet, itself transformed by the coronavirus pandemic. Without a doubt, this pandemic is not a course or class that any of us would have chosen to take or to be challenged by. Without question, we are finding ourselves in the middle of an unanticipated and painful moment of learning. No one wants to be in this moment of uncertainty and loss. Our initial human response to the pandemic and its painful lessons is to long for the time before this upheaval. We hear it in the question, “When can we go back to normal?” What we know to be true is that learning — and the transformation it creates in our lives — is often not beautiful. Learning and transformation include
{ The beauty of Elon in the spring served as backdrop while the campus community grappled with lessons from the pandemic. }
dark periods full of doubt, anxiety and fear. While this pandemic is unprecedented, no journey of learning is free from painful discoveries or anxieties. An education inherently requires that we learn about ourselves — who we want to be, who we don’t want to be, what we regret, what disappoints us. In those lonelier moments of discovery, in that doubt and fear, we turn to each other for strength. The friendships and collegiality we find at Elon are deep and lifelong, forged as we have turned to each other in a time of difficulty and found support, compassion and understanding. This year, it is more often our shared vulnerability and our shared challenges, rather than our strengths or our successes, that bind us together. When I was in college and on my own transformational journey, a campus Jesuit priest shared the prayer Patient Trust as a reminder that it is impossible to rush through dark times. I’ve returned to this reminder as we are all transformed by the challenges presented by the pandemic: “Give Our Lord the benefit of believing that his hand is leading you, and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete.” The pandemic has forced us into suspended incompleteness, but we are learning and being transformed by this challenge. I have been inspired by how our students and our faculty and staff have
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A roundup of Elon University’s latest rankings and accolades.
U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report
been transformed, and our community strengthened, by this collective crisis. While our physical campus is empty, our Elon community has grown to encompass the entire world. We are all engaged in a challenging period of transformation and our community is vibrant and strong. Faced with this uncertainty but united as a community, let us embrace going forward into the unknown with the new knowledge and understanding that we have learned during this pandemic. Let us go forward to new with our deeper understanding of what is essential in our lives. Let us go forward to new with the renewal we have experienced with our loved ones and families. Let us go forward to new with the richer understanding of the professional courage and critical work of nurses, teachers, grocery store clerks, cleaning crews and so many others. Let us go forward to new with our awareness of those in need in our communities and around the world. Let us go forward to new with our understanding of the demand and power of research and innovation. Let us go forward to a new Elon so that we can rise like our beloved Phoenix with the powerful lessons we are learning during these difficult times. While no photograph will be able to capture this transformation, it will live in each of us and we will be different — a new Elon, stronger with our new knowledge, richer with our new understanding, ready for our new future.
Connie Ledoux Book PRESIDENT
STARS
preLaw Magazine
• U.S. News & World Report ranks Elon’s Martha and Spencer Love School of Business among the country’s top business schools for part-time MBAs. The program ranked No. 66 out of 272 schools in the 2021 “Best Part-time MBA Programs” list. • U.S. News also ranked the Doctor of Physical Therapy program in Elon’s School of Health Sciences No. 49 in the nation in its 2020 graduate school guide. The rankings are based on a survey of academic leaders at all accredited programs in the discipline. • For a fifth time, Elon achieved a STARS Silver Rating for its continued commitment to sustainability. STARS, the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System, measures and encourages sustainability in all aspects of higher education. • Elon Law ranked No. 7 in preLaw Magazine’s latest “Best Schools for Practical Training” feature with a grade of A+ for “giving students real-world experience before they step into the real world,” including its fulltime residency-in-practice.
{ Elon Law Residency Fair } /
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the magazine of elon / . , . The Magazine of Elon is published three times a year for alumni, parents and friends by the Office of University Communications. © , Elon University EDITOR
Keren Rivas ’ DESIGNERS
Garry Graham Billie Wagner Ben Watters PHOTOGRAPHY
Andrew Krech ’ Kim Walker E D I T O R I A L S TA F F
Alexa Boschini ’ Owen Covington Roselee Papandrea Taylor Patrick Wright
CAMPUS RESPONDS TO COVID-19
CONTRIBUTORS
Belk Library Archives and Special Collections Sonya Walker ’ Noah Zaiser ’ Leila Jackson ’ Alayna McNally ’
{ The global pandemic brought many changes to the spring semester at Elon, from moving teaching and learning online and holding virtual events to greater emphasis on sanitaizing classrooms and common spaces. }
V I C E P R E S I D E N T, U N I V E R S I T Y C O M M U N I C AT I O N S
Daniel J. Anderson EDITORIAL OFFICES
The Magazine of Elon Campus Box Elon, NC - () - elon.edu/magazine BOARD OF TRUSTEES, CHAIR
Edward W. Doherty ’ Saddle River, New Jersey
ELON ALUMNI BOARD, PRESIDENT
Brian Scales ’
Atlanta, Georgia
YO U N G A LU M N I C O U N C I L , P R E S I D E N T
David Campbell ’
Matthews, North Carolina PAR E NT S CO U N C I L , CO PR E S I D E NT S
Toni & Michael Brown ’ Mount Laurel, New Jersey
SC H O O L O F CO M M U N I C ATI O N S ADV I SO RY B OAR D, C H AI R
Roger Bolton
New Canaan, Connecticut SC H O O L O F L AW ADV I SO RY B OAR D, C H AI R
David Gergen
Cambridge, Massachusetts MARTHA AND SPENCER LOVE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS BOARD OF ADVISORS, CHAIR
Patricia Chadwick ’ Old Greenwich, Connecticut PHOENIX CLUB ADVISORY BOARD, CHAIR
Mike Cross
Burlington, North Carolina
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he global spread of the novel coronavirus this spring brought many unexpected changes to life on the Elon University campus. On March 23, the university transitioned from classroom instruction to online learning to prevent the spread of the virus in the campus community. Faculty thought of creative ways to keep students engaged in their coursework and continued to deliver the Elon classroom experience virtually. Meanwhile, back on campus, staff from several departments worked to keep the university open for students who needed to return to Elon following Spring Break. Among other offices, Physical Plant sanitized campus buildings and common areas, Dining Services continued to serve meals, and Campus Safety and Police continued to provide security for the campus. The university implemented a work-from-home policy for faculty and staff who could continue their work away from campus and created a pandemic leave plan to support employees impacted by the virus. All on-campus events were canceled or repurposed for virtual platforms following the online transition. The university created a
committee charged with bringing Elon students, faculty and staff together virtually during their time away from campus. The group’s efforts included continuing College Coffee, Numen Lumen gatherings and other university traditions online. The changes to on-campus events included the postponement of the 2 Commencement ceremonies (see opposite page). Athletics events were also impacted by the pandemic. The Colonial Athletic Association canceled all in-person recruiting and remaining winter and spring competitions, including the 2 Women’s Basketball Championship, which was already under way at Elon’s Schar Center for the first time ever. The CAA has since announced Elon will host the event again in . The pandemic prompted the university to postpone all spring alumni events, including regional launches of the Elon LEADS Campaign. Elon focused instead on increasing outreach efforts and being a resource for the university’s , alumni and , parents, with the Office of Alumni Engagement offering a series of professional development webinars. “We leveraged
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The COVID-19 pandemic presented the campus with unprecedented challenges that required Elon administrators, students, faculty and staff to work swiftly together to advance the university’s mission during a period of great uncertainty.
technology to double-down on maintaining and strengthening relationships with our alumni and parents to ensure they stayed connected to Elon during a very challenging time,” said James B. Piatt Jr., vice president for university advancement. “We often talk about the lifelong connection our alumni have with Elon, and I believe we were able to deepen those relationships and be a source of support for the larger Elon family. Those relationships will sustain us as we move forward together.” Later in the spring, a Fall Semester Task Force was created with the goal of resuming on-campus instruction and residence life. Led by President Emeritus Leo M. Lambert, the group provided feedback to create a comprehensive operational plan that is aligned with health
officials’ guidance for phased reopening of the country and the eventual return to a more normal life. COVID- presented the university with new challenges, but it also gave Elon an opportunity to show unity and perseverance in the face of those obstacles while becoming even stronger as a community. “Our iconic mascot, the Phoenix, reminds us that sometimes the ability to spread our wings and fly can be challenged,” President Connie Ledoux Book said. “In those times, staying focused on what we each can do, helping others as much as we can help while we take care of ourselves — that collective strength, that’s how we will navigate this flight, knowing that one day, very soon, we’ll be able to soar again.”
Elon hosts online conferral ceremonies
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embers of the undergraduate Class of 2020 were officially awarded their degrees during an online conferral ceremony on May 22. Led by President Connie Ledoux Book, the virtual ceremony featured remarks from university leaders and musical performances by members of the Class of 2020. The event was not intended to simulate or rival in-person Commencement activities, which have been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but provided the opportunity to confer degrees to members of the class and recognize the accomplishments these students have achieved during the past four years. Members of the Class of 2020, who finished their last semester via online instruction, also received an electronic copy of their diplomas via email, with printed diplomas following by mail. As part of the virtual celebration, graduating seniors, their families and the entire university community took
to social media to honor the recent graduates, sharing photos, videos and advice on multiple platforms using #ElonGrad. The inaugural graduating class in the Master of Arts in Higher Education held a hybrid Commencement ceremony on May 20, with 14 graduates receiving their diplomas in an empty Whitley Auditorium while their families watched a live stream of the event online. Degrees for graduates in the Master of Arts in Interactive Media program were conferred May 20 in an School of online ceremony, while graduates in the Master of Business Administration, Communications Master of Science in Accounting and Master of Science in Business Analytics programs held their virtual conferral ceremony May 21. Details about future celebrations for the graduate and undergraduate Class of 2020 will be shared at a later date on the Commencement website, elon.edu/commencement.
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STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
{ Sarah Barron ’20 }
{ Taylor Garner ’20 }
{ Junie Burke ’20 }
{ Kathryn Gerry ’20 }
{ Emily Ford ’20 }
{ Anneliese Daggett ’20 }
{ Sara Gostomski ’20 } { Franceska Karasinski ’20 }
{ Jacob Stern ’20 }
{ Kristen O’Neill ’19 }
Ten Elon alumni were selected for the 2020–21 Fulbright U.S. Student Program, the largest exchange program in the country that offers opportunities for recent graduates in more than 140 countries. They are: • Sarah Barron ’20 (Spanish major), Junie Burke ’20 (human service studies and strategic communications double major) and Emily Ford ’20 (elementary education major) – Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Grant to Spain • Anneliese Daggett ’20 (history major) – Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Grant to Vietnam • Taylor Garner ’20 (international and global studies major) – Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Grant to Colombia • Kathryn Gerry ’20 (international and global studies and political science double major) – Fulbright Study/Research Grant to Bahrain
Taylor Garner ’20, an Honors Fellow and international and global studies major, received the Forum on Education Abroad 2019 Award for Academic Achievement Abroad during the forum’s virtual annual conference. The award recognizes significant academic projects during an education abroad program. Garner’s work on her thesis on mobilizing memories took her to Buenos Aires, Argentina, for a semester and to Nablus, Palestine, for a summer.
{ Taylor Garner ’20 }
Jovani Mendez-Sandoval ’22 was named a Newman Civic Fellow by Campus Compact in recognition of his extensive service to the university and surrounding community. A Leadership Fellow and an Odyssey Program scholar, Mendez-Sandoval collaborated with the Alamance Chamber of Commerce to facilitate Alamance Youth Leadership Academy workshops for middle school students to help them identify their leadership potential and learn how to empower others.
The North Carolina College Media Association honored nearly two dozen students and alumni in the School of Communications working with student media organizations. The student-run newspaper, The Pendulum, and the Phi Psi Cli yearbook won best of show, while Elon Network News earned best of show-online honors. Students honored with individual awards included Kaitlyn Fu ’19, Nicole Galante ’19, Deirdre Kronschnabel ’19, Diego Pineda ’19, Sarah Stone ’19, Laura Braley ’20, Maggie Brown ’20, Anton Delgado ’20, Oliver Fischer ’20, Kate Gerstner ’20, Abby Gibbs ’20, Amanda Gibson ’20, Meghan Kimberling ’20, Arianne Payne ’20, Lane Pritchard ’20, Grace Terry ’20, Emery Eisner ’21, Liam O’Connor ’21, Sam Porozok ’21, Thomas Denome ’22 and Olivia Parks ’22.
• Sara Gostomski ’20 (special education and elementary education double major) – Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Grant to Ecuador • Franceska Karasinski ’20 (middle grades education) and Jacob Stern ’20 (history and economics double major) – Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Grant to South Korea • Kristen O’Neill ’19 (special education and elementary education double major) – Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Grant to Greece Other semifinalists included Jennifer Finkelstein ’19 (psychology major), Caroline Enright ’20 (policy studies major), Lucy Jones ’20 (philosophy), La’Shaundranique Marshall ’20 (human service studies major) and Caitlin Wynn ’20 (political science and economics double major). Students selected for the program will spend a year teaching English in a foreign country or conducting research. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and U.S. Department of State travel restrictions, programs will begin no earlier than Jan. 1, 2021. { North Carolina College Media Association honorees from the School of Communications } 6
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Outreach Librarian and Associate Librarian Lynne Bisko knows how building relationships with students can positively impact their overall success. Besides promoting library resources and services to the greater Elon community, Bisko was the mastermind behind the university’s Personal Librarian Program, which assigns a librarian to each incoming student, helping them navigate university resources effectively. For her efforts, she received the Phoenix Innovation Award in 2013. Bisko retired in May, but her impact on students’ lives will be felt for years to come.
Lynne Bisko
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BY CAROLYN RAUCH ’17
entorship is a term you hear often in higher education. While learning about the theory of mentorship in graduate school, I was able to see Lynne Bisko as the representation of all a mentor should be. When I met Lynne during a summer experience before my first year at Elon, I didn’t know the woman who was explaining the many facets of the Belk Library would become my first adviser and mentor, and be a huge part of my sense of belonging both while at Elon and beyond. I arrived on campus having no idea what I wanted to do with my life. At the end of my Elon 101 class, I was still uncertain of my path but felt less afraid of the unknown. When Lynne and Coordinator of Library Instruction and Outreach Services Patrick Rudd asked me and another student to serve as co-teaching assistants for their class at the end of that first year, we all started on a journey that would lead me to discover my passion for higher education. During my time at Elon, Lynne served as my Elon 101 adviser, LEAD mentor and adviser to a student organization in which I served as president. Through it all, Lynne never failed to check in with me. This is something I always appreciated because it showed me that even though she served with me in many official roles, this was neither the depth nor the breadth of her interest in me. Later in graduate school, I heard the quote “students don’t care what we know until they know we care.” Lynne truly showed me she cared about me as a student, as an organization president and, most importantly, as a human. This care did not end when I left Elon. Since graduating, Lynne has continued to serve as one of my most valued mentors. She was there for me as a reference for my post-graduate job search, a listening ear when I needed guidance in my new job and to remind me of how my strengths and weaknesses may work in my favor. She has continued to support me and challenge me to become the best person I can be in my personal and professional life. Mentoring someone takes a firm belief in that person. Looking back, Lynne saw something in me that, at the time, I didn’t even see in myself. I do not think I could ever thank her enough for all the time and energy she has given me. I will forever be grateful for the goodwill and kindness she has shown me throughout our relationship.
Carolyn Rauch graduated from Elon in 2017 with a degree in history and minors in leadership and teaching and learning. She now serves as assistant director of campus engagement and student activities at High Point University in North Carolina. /
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ALL IN FOR ELON
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housands of people around the world came together March 5 to show their support and pride for Elon Day, the university’s annual day of giving. In total, donors gave more than $2.5 million — a new record — from 6,199 gifts. Over the course of the day, five new endowed scholarships were also created. From social gatherings to social media, the Elon family also engaged across the world. In addition to a special College Coffee, on-campus events included a Senior Toast for the Class of 2020 and Elon Day Hoopla prior to the women’s basketball game. President Connie Ledoux Book made a special appearance to call the first round at Elon Day Bingo. In total, the on-campus events and 40 alumni chapter events around the world drew more than 3,000 attendees, and the Elon community made gifts to more than 200 campus designations including scholarships, academic departments, high-impact learning opportunities like study abroad and service learning, athletics and student programs across campus. For more on the impact of this day of giving, see page 16 and this issue’s inside back cover.
EDU 372: Garden-Based Learning
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or Scott Morrison, learning is all around us — the classroom transcends four walls and extends to the outdoors. The associate professor of education has bridged the gap between college instruction and community outreach in his EDU 372 Garden-Based Learning course, which allows Elon students to partner with students from nearby Eastlawn Elementary to work in their new garden, strengthening community bonds, fostering lifelong lessons and creating unforgettable experiences. The garden was enhanced thanks to a $4,000 Community Partnership Initiative grant that Morrison secured in spring 2019. As part of the course, Morrison’s students also travel to Elon Elementary to help with the school’s new Garden Club, allowing Elon students to teach, interact with and learn from the kids. Morrison created the course for education majors because he wants future teachers to know how to find curricula outside, but many environmental studies and adventure-based learning majors often enroll. “My challenge for the course is how to get them to think like teachers or facilitators, and what it means to work with kids in nontraditional ways,” he says. He credits the popularity of the course to the allure of learning from the world around us, which he discovered by building a garden with his students as a sixth-grade teacher. “I experienced a positive feedback loop. My students really liked it, I really liked it, it broke up our day, we smiled more and we connected more,” Morrison says, recounting the experience of learning to teach outside. Course assignments are structured so that students are able to reflect and process their experiences in the gardens to enhance their workability each time
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BY ALAYNA McNALLY ’23
they go back. “I get to watch them work with kids, have examples of things that the kids did or said and help my students process real experiences,” Morrison says. He wants his students to learn invaluable skills through practice, such as equity literacy and how to ask good questions, engage kids, focus attention, facilitate rather than dictate learning and respond to kids’ needs. Morrison also wants to broaden his students’ scope of the world by interacting with the elementary students in the gardens. He believes gardens not only represent the literal places where learning can occur, but they also act as a metaphor for how teaching and learning can shift when you get your hands dirty and work outside. “Environmental education shouldn’t just be about environmental literacy, understanding why deforestation is a problem or comprehending the intricacies of climate change,” he says. “That’s important intellectual information, but there’s something about connecting with nature that’s a part of the movement, too.” ABOUT THE PROFESSOR Scott Morrison joined the Elon University faculty in 2013, after spending 11 years as a sixth-grade English and social studies teacher. His research focuses on ecologically-minded teaching, environmental education, social justice and the uses of Twitter in teacher education. RECOMMENDED MATERIALS “Last Child in the Woods” by Richard Louv “Childhood and Nature: Design Principles for Educators” by David Sobel
Elon named hosting partner of
Bringing Theory to Practice
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lon University is the new home of the national higher education initiative Bringing Theory to Practice (BTtoP), thanks to a multi-year hosting partnership that begins July 1. BTtoP advocates for holistic and transformative undergraduate education that offers active learning, public engagement, preparation for meaningful work and personal wellbeing to students of all backgrounds and interests. “Bringing Theory to Practice shares Elon University’s belief that student success is grounded in the arts and sciences,” said Elon President Connie Ledoux Book. “Its move to Elon’s campus will create new opportunities for the university’s students, faculty and staff to play an increased role in the national effort to shape new concepts transforming higher education.”
Since its inception in 2003, BTtoP has supported 550 campus projects at more than 350 institutions and published seven books on undergraduate innovation, civic engagement and student well-being. After many years of being hosted by the Association of American Colleges and Universities in Washington, D.C., it sought a campus partner that aligned with its mission. “We are excited to be partnering with an institution that is a national leader in integrative, civic and global learning — an institution whose values and achievements are deeply resonant with our work,” said BTtoP Director David Scobey. BTtoP is supported by The Endeavor Foundation, which has generously renewed a multiyear grant forBTtoP’s core operations and new programmatic initiatives.
Remembering Julie Justice
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ike so many of her education classes at Elon, this spring’s gathering of friends in the Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life to honor the memory of Julie Justice began with a picture book. Current and former students, colleagues and other friends filled the Sacred Space and listened to Associate Professor Scott Morrison read “Ida Always” by Caron Levis. The picture book about two polar bears in a zoo tells the story of the impact a life can have even after that life has ended, of what still exists even when it is no longer seen. “She knew that books were so important,” Morrison said of his former colleague in the School of Education, who died Feb. 26 after a prolonged illness. Justice, an assistant professor of education, joined the Elon faculty in 2014. Prior to that, she served six years as an assistant professor of literacy education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and four years as an instructor at the Vanderbilt University Peabody School of Education. She also served one year with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps and six years as a middle school language arts teacher in Southport, North Carolina. Former students now leading their own classrooms as teachers and impacting the lives of their own students shared about how the time they spent with Justice impacted their approach to teaching. They spoke of how her interest in them as people, not just students, has made them better people. They shared how she asked how they were doing, even as she was facing her own struggles. They talked about the practices she taught and the books she read to start class that they now employ with their own students, and her love for life. As one former student noted, “she cared more about the people in here than we can comprehend. She is with us, always.”
VIRTUALLY THE GREATEST Despite the disruption to graduation celebrations caused by the covid-19 pandemic, around 1,400 members of the undergraduate Class of 2020 received their degrees during a virtual degree conferral ceremony on May 22, becoming the first class in the university’s history to do so. Here is a snapshot of this year’s graduating class.
44 18.7%
The number of international students in the class, representing 24 countries including Australia, Ghana, Iceland, Singapore and Venezuela. The percentage of students hailing from North Carolina, the top state out of 40 represented in the class, followed by Massachusetts (10.91%), New Jersey (9.28%), New York (8.71%) and Connecticut (7.15%).
59
The number of members of the class who were inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest academic honor society.
11
The number of members of the class who received a Fulbright or other national awards to continue their learning journey after graduation.
e Financ
The most popular declared major in the class with 157 students, followed by strategic communications (145), marketing (122), psychology (86), management (61) and public health studies (61).
1,000+
The number of times #ElonGrad was used on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram during the virtual celebration of the class in May.
Sources: Elon’s Office of the Registrar, University Communications, Office of National and International Fellowships and Global Education Center /
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PHOENIX SPORTS
▶ elonphoenix.com
A HOLISTIC APPROACH BY SONYA WALKER ’20
“For our students to get the opportunity to work with Division I athletes is meaningful. This doesn’t happen at other schools.” - DPT Assistant Professor Shefali Christopher, seen on the left below assessing an athlete with Assistant Professor of Exercise Science Titch Madzima.
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Athletes are constantly striving to improve their performance. At Elon, collaboration among multiple disciplines aims to help student-athletes do just that by focusing on the mind, body and spirit. Through the Peak Performance program, Elon Athletics partners with the Department of Exercise Science, School of Health Sciences, Student Health and Wellness, data analytics program and Elon Dining to look at all facets impacting individual performance. “In the past few years, Elon Athletics has started to view student-athlete well-being and success in more holistic terms,” Deputy Director of Athletics Mike Ward says. “We’ve always had athletics trainers and strength coaches. But now we’re a bit more deliberate in examining how we all work together, what our comprehensive support network for student-athlete performance looks like and where we need to fill gaps.” One of the most active participants in the program is the Department of Physical Therapy. Assistant Professor Shefali Christopher, who serves as the department’s liaison, says the collaboration has evolved from focusing on treating injuries to providing risk-factor assessments to prevent injuries. This allows trainers to tailor individualized strength and conditioning or rehab techniques and ultimately maximize performance. As part of the program, DPT students get to start conducting quantitative research with student-athletes during their first four weeks on campus. They then analyze the collected data and present it to coaches and athletics staff. “For our students to get the opportunity to work with Division I athletes is meaningful,” Christopher says. “This doesn’t happen at other schools.” Ward says this collaboration spans the entire student-athlete experience.
For instance, when recruits visit Elon, they tour the Gerald L. Francis Center and learn about the kinds of testing that will be available to them to enhance their performance. Once they come to Elon, athletes are able to engage in a number of tests to determine everything from body composition and bone density to structural imbalances and movement inefficiencies. And if they get injured, Ward adds, athletes have some of the nation’s best physical therapists and PTsin-training working to get them healthy. This collaboration gives Elon an edge. “The team of experts in the Francis Center has been incredibly generous with their time and heavily invested in the success of our young people,” Ward says. “I can’t stress enough how impactful this relationship is on the performance of our student-athletes and the success of our teams.” Christopher says the Peak Performance program has already led to the creation of a sports residency program that will allow for more in-depth interpretation of biometric data to help student-athletes perform to the best of their abilities. She sees a greater emphasis in the future on data analytics. “I see the program morphing into a sophisticated system with all hands on deck to have top-notch, high-level athletes and make more informed decisions,” she says. As the program expands, Ward expects it will continue to dive more deeply into enhancing wellbeing, focus, performance optimization and happiness. Student Health and Wellness already provides sport psychology support for athletes and access to clinicians from a neighboring institution through the program, something Ward expects will continue to evolve. “The science of wellness and human performance continues to advance,” he says, “and we’ve had to broaden our team to stay contemporary. We want to be a national leader in this area.” One area that will be different this year from prior years is the return-to-play protocols since athletes are experiencing extended downtime due to COVID-19. “We’ll take a very careful look at how we prepare our student-athletes for the rigors of training and competition after longer off-seasons than their bodies may be used to,” Ward says. “The NCAA Sports Science Institute will be engaged in this work, and we hope to contribute our own analysis.”
PHOENIX SPORTS
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT CHARLOTTE SMITH BY NOAH ZAISER ’20
CHARLOTTE SMITH WILL START HER 10TH SEASON AT THE HELM of the Elon women’s basketball program in the fall after leading the Phoenix to a 71-51 win against Hofstra in the opening round of the Colonial Athletic Association Championship cut short by the covid-19 pandemic. Since joining Elon in 2011, Smith has set many records, earning the 2017 caa Coach of the Year honor after the Phoenix captured the caa regular season and tournament titles — the first Division I championship for the program and first conference championship since Elon won the Conference Carolinas regular season crown in 1982. Smith sat down to share more about herself with The Magazine of Elon.
She is a former track star. Along with her devotion to basketball, Smith was an excellent track and field athlete. Throughout her college career, she competed in the triple jump, 400-meter dash and relay, and even won the state championship in the mile run. “A champion hates losing more than they love winning, and a champion is someone who doesn’t mind the grind,” she says.
Her favorite movie is “The Mighty Macs.” The movie follows the real story of Hall of Fame coach Cathy Rush’s path to victory leading the Immaculata College women’s basketball team. She even hosted a viewing of the movie with her players and discussed how the film applies to their experience on the court.
She considers herself a “walking jukebox.” Smith is an avid music lover, and spends much of her free time writing, listening to, producing and singing songs. “There is something about music that gives you energy — we play a lot of it during practice,” she says. Her favorite radio station is K-Love, which broadcasts contemporary Christian music. Lauren Daigle is her favorite artist.
She never quits, no matter what. Some of Smith’s earliest memories are from playing basketball, beginning at age 7. Playing the game for so long fuels her coaching style. “I never transitioned” from player to coach, she says. “That’s a part of me that I never want to give up. But I’m passionate, confident and a motivator, and at the end of the day, I’m a teacher.”
She has big plans for the future. She is proud of her team’s past accomplishments and is confident in her players’ ability to continue their upward trajectory. “We’re not done yet. We are stronger together, defy expectations and we are victorious,” she says. “Even though we’re young, I want to turn Elon into a national powerhouse.”
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A force for good BY JALEH HAGIGH
ABOUT YOUR GIFT All gifts to the university for any purpose count as part of the Elon LEADS Campaign. To learn how you can make an impact through your gifts, visit elonleads.com.
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lon’s generous community of donors have moved the Elon LEADS Campaign forward by making gifts to establish new student scholarships, support faculty mentors who matter and the university’s iconic campus, and increase access to the Elon Experiences, the university’s renowned engaged learning programs. The campaign’s momentum has also been fueled by thousands of alumni, parents and friends from around the world who came together on Elon Day in March to show their support for the university. Elon Day donors contributed more than $2.5 million to the campaign, setting a new record for the university’s biggest day of giving (read more on page 16). As of May 8, donors had contributed $191 million toward the campaign’s historic $250 million goal. James B. Piatt Jr., vice president for university advancement, thanked all donors for their continued support of the campaign in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. “We are grateful that our alumni, parents and friends continue to see the university and the Elon LEADS Campaign as forces for good in the world,” Piatt said. “Their generous spirits during a difficult time in our history will allow us to continue our focus on preparing graduates to lead and address some of our most pressing challenges.”
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Elon has launched the Students First Fund, a special fundraising initiative to offer financial assistance to students whose families are experiencing financial hardship due to the pandemic and subsequent economic downturn. Gifts to the fund will provide grants for the 2020–21 academic year, ensuring current and incoming students have access to Elon’s transformative learning environment. The name of the fund embraces Elon’s long-standing tradition of keeping students at the center of everything we do. Gifts to the Students First Fund will be counted as part of the Elon LEADS Campaign, whose top priority is increasing financial aid. For more information, visit elonleads.com.
{ President Connie Ledoux Book at the Raleigh, N.C., event. } 12
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Campaign leadership update
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hris Martin ’78 p’13, an Elon alumnus, trustee and parent from Tinton Falls, New Jersey, has been named the new chair of the Elon LEADS Campaign. Martin succeeds trustee and parent Dave Porter p’11 p’19, of Boston, who led Elon LEADS during the first year of the campaign’s three-year public phase, which began on April 5, 2019. Martin will serve as campaign chair until April 2021. The final year of the Elon LEADS Campaign will be co-chaired by brothers Parker Turner ’06 and Garrett Turner ’08, both of Sarasota, Florida, and Maity Interiano ’07, of Miami, signaling the transition of campaign leadership to the next generation of alumni leaders. The Elon LEADS chair { Chris Martin } serves several important functions, including providing oversight to the national campaign steering committee, speaking at key campaign events and assisting in securing leadership gifts and commitments to support campaign goals. Elon President Connie Ledoux Book thanked Porter for his leadership of Elon LEADS. “Dave Porter is one of Elon’s greatest champions, and his enthusiasm fueled the success of the Elon LEADS Campaign during its critical first year,” Book said. “I know Chris Martin will take Elon LEADS to the next level of needed success in the year ahead as we continue the important work of preparing courageous leaders to guide our future.” { Dave Porter } Chris and Nicolette Martin are among the university’s most loyal and generous benefactors, making gifts to establish the Martin Alumni Center and Martin Family Scholarship, and to support The Inn at Elon. In addition, a generous estate gift from Chris Martin will establish an unrestricted endowment in the future to support scholarships and other university priorities. The couple’s son, Nick, is a 2013 Elon alumnus. Martin, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Provident Financial Services and The Provident Bank, said he’s looking forward to engaging with alumni, parents and students whose lives have been transformed by Elon. He is also motivated by the campaign’s focus on deepening scholarship funding. “As always, Elon sets its goals high, and I am humbled to be asked to be part of this campaign,” Martin said. “I believe the world needs Elon graduates, and this campaign is primarily about scholarships for students who will make a difference in the world.” Martin has served as a member and past president of the Elon Alumni Board and on the presidential search committee that brought President Book to Elon in March 2018. He also received Elon’s Distinguished Alumnus of the Year award in 2012. Elon is grateful to Dave and Jen Porter for their loyal support of the university and the campaign. “What I enjoyed the most was the interaction at campaign events with people who share my enthusiasm for the university,” said Dave Porter, owner and managing partner of Baystate Financial. “I have seen the direct impact Elon has had on two of my children and on the students I’ve hired, and it is clear that Elon is preparing the kind of smart, hard-working leaders our country needs.” The Porters have made leadership gifts to establish the Porter Family Professional Development Center in the Ernest A. Koury Sr. Business Center and to support The Inn at Elon, scholarships, Phoenix Club, School of Law and the Numen Lumen Pavilion, which houses the university’s multifaith center. In addition, a generous gift from the Porters helped ensure the success of Elon Day on March 5.
{ Parker Turner ’06 }
{ Garrett Turner ’08 }
{ Maity Interiano ’07 }
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Leading through YOU Highlighting the impact of donor support. Read more about these and other gifts at elonleads.com. An estate gift from Elon Executive Vice President Steven House and his wife, Patricia House, will endow an award to celebrate excellence in student mentoring, one of the markers of quality that has fueled Elon’s reputation as the national leader in engaged, experiential learning. The couple will make annual gifts to allow the award to be funded immediately.
Elon parents John and Kristin Replogle p’18 of Raleigh, North Carolina, made a gift to endow an innovative team-teaching course in the university’s Department of Religious Studies. The gift honors their daughter Tate Replogle’s transformative experience at Elon, including her participation in undergraduate research and global study. The life-changing experiences of students in Elon’s Odyssey Program inspired parents Amy and Rob Heinrich p’22 of Grayslake, Illinois, to endow an Odyssey scholarship to support high-achieving students with significant financial need, including firstgeneration college students.
Alumni and parents continue to make major gifts to support The Inn at Elon, the university’s new boutique hotel whose profits support student scholarships. Donors making recent leadership gifts include alumna and Trustee Kerrii Brown Anderson ’79 and husband Doug Anderson; Sam ’89 and Kelly Burke p’19; Richard ’87 and Laurie Johnson p’17; John ’81 and Miriam Sadler p’19 p’20 and sons William ’19 and Johnny ’20; and Warren and Holley Lutz p’20.
Elon’s planned Innovation Quad, which will house the university’s engineering and STEM programs, has attracted generous support from alumni, parents and friends, including Sam Hunt IV and wife Krista Hunt; alumnus and Trustee Dr. William N.P. Herbert ’68 and wife Marsha Herbert; Gail McMichael Lane p’96 GP’23, Flavel McMichael Godfrey and Mac McMichael p’99 through the McMichael Family Foundation; and Julie Simon Munro p’21 p’23 through the William E. Simon Foundation.
Contributions from alumnus Linwood Grant ’56 and L. Carl Allen III, in honor of Carl Allen Jr. ’48 and Louise Allen ’47, will endow financial awards to increase student participation in mentored undergraduate research, one of Elon’s nationally recognized high-impact learning practices.
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For the love of his mother BY MADISON TAYLOR
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{ Rebecca Credle P’83 & Ike Credle ’ 83 }
DID YOU KNOW?
Your planned gift, including estate gifts and gifts of life insurance policies, counts as part of the Elon LEADS Campaign and creates a longterm source of support for Elon’s future. Visit elonlegacy.org to learn more about how your planned gift can make a difference at Elon.
KE CREDLE ’83 remembers the late summer day when he arrived at Elon for his first year. Making the trip with him from James City, a community outside New Bern, North Carolina, were his mother, two brothers and grandmother — all in his grandmother’s car. “When we got there, I was the first to arrive at my dorm,” Credle recalls. “I took my little bags and my mother looked at me. I could look in her eyes and see the expectations of my making it, her trust and confidence in me. When they left, it was my first time on my own.” It wouldn’t be the last time Rebecca Credle visited Elon with her son. Today, at age 81, she still joins him sometimes when he comes back to campus for events, including Homecoming. Credle, a retired Army major who works for the U.S. Department of Defense, wanted to honor the sacrifices his mother made so he and his four brothers could earn college degrees. He made a planned gift to endow the Rebecca A. Credle Scholarship for Study Abroad to ensure that his mother’s legacy will endure at Elon. Credle made the gift by designating Elon as the beneficiary of a life insurance policy. Future proceeds from this gift will fund the scholarship, enabling students with financial need to participate in one of Elon’s nationally recognized, high-impact engaged learning programs. “This scholarship will be something that continues well after she’s gone and I’m gone,” Credle says. “The name Rebecca Credle will be known and recognized for years by her children, her grandchildren and her great-grandchildren. Her name will be part of Elon.” A single mother raising five boys in a mobile home in eastern North Carolina, Rebecca Credle emphasized education by being a voracious reader and lifelong learner. After her sons graduated from college, she delighted in traveling wherever they lived at the time and immersing herself in the culture of her surroundings. Her journeys included international destinations when her sons were in the military. Credle selected global study to honor her interest in travel. “She loves the campus,” Credle says. “She’s part of the Elon family and really appreciates the idea of having a legacy like this.” Credle often refers to the famous quote about service by the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: “Everybody can be great ... because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” It played an important role in making his gift to Elon and honoring his mother. “I’m not a millionaire, but as Dr. King said, I can be a servant,” Credle says. “Everybody can be great because everybody can be a servant. It’s important for me to leave a legacy and help somebody like me, someone who came from a lower-income family that had the opportunity to come to this great university, but may not have the means financially to do the things other students have the opportunity to do.” / 15
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A day like no other
Donors raise the bar once again on Elon Day
BY KATIE PEOPLES ’06
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arch 5 marked another record-breaking day as the Elon community came together for Elon Day, the university’s annual day of giving. In total, donors gave more than $2.5 million distributed among 200 campus designations that support all aspects of the Elon experience. This was the seventh annual Elon Day, and through the years, the event has inspired donors to contribute more than 29,000 gifts and nearly $10 million. “The spirit of Elon came through loud and clear on Elon Day,” said President Connie Ledoux Book. “The ripples of impact will be felt for years to come.” Gifts made on Elon Day also count toward the $250 million goal for the Elon LEADS Campaign. Giving challenges throughout the day created five new endowed scholarships including:
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• One new $500,000 Odyssey Program scholarship from Rob and Amy Heinrich p’22. • Three new Elon Engagement Scholarships totaling $400,000 sponsored by Warren and Holley Lutz p’20, Sam and Joan Nevin p’22 and John ’81 and Miriam Sadler p’19 p’20. • A $200,000 scholarship made possible by Mark and Jen Mullin p’19 p’22. Various families sponsored additional giving matches on the day including Elon Trustee Dave Porter and Jen Porter p’11 p’19; Elon Trustee Jeanne Robertson and Jerry Robertson p’89 GP’17 GP’22; Steve and Susie Paneyko p’20; Clay and Cameron Smith p’22; Greg and Sandy Janis p’20; Gerald and Cheryl Misurek GP’22; Ralph and Mandy Nelson p’20; Jose and Janette
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Puig p’21; Michael and Angie Simon p’17; and Michael and Cheryl Weiss p’22. Additionally, Richard ’87 p’17 and Laurie Johnson p’17 made a planned gift in honor of Elon Day.
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Believing in Elon
BY MEGAN MCCLURE
BY MEGAN MCCLURE
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HOSE WHO LOVE ELON know it as a place that is always growing. True to its mission of transforming students in “mind, body, and spirit,” Elon sparks remarkable development in the young people who walk its brick pathways. The same is true for Ben ’11 and Sarah Graves ’12 Lunka of Charlotte, North Carolina, who met on campus and credit Elon with changing their lives for the better. “The personal relationships at Elon helped me become a leader and enabled me to take my academic journey by the horns,” says Sarah, a development associate for Teach for America. “I knew my professors really well. No one was holding my hand, but I was always pushed to be better.” Ben, a managing director for 7 Mile Advisors investment bank, recalls the life lessons he learned playing for the Elon men’s soccer team. “I’ll never forget having that kind of camaraderie, experiencing highs and lows together along the way,” he says. “You’re digging deep on the field while balancing academic challenges. I wouldn’t trade that brotherhood for the world.” As young alumni, they have already made a significant mark at Elon through their philanthropy. They have been loyal annual donors since graduation, and most recently made a five-year gift commitment to name a room at The Inn at Elon. The boutique hotel opened on campus in January and has been a key fundraising priority for the Elon LEADS Campaign. “Giving back to Elon is something we want to continue to do,” says Sarah, who served on the Elon LEADS Regional Campaign Committee for Charlotte. “The Inn at Elon really made us want to step up.” Learning that profits from the inn will help fund student scholarships piqued their interest in supporting the project even further. “Elon has made a big impact on the direction of our lives and careers,” says Ben. “When you believe in something, you try to give back any way you can.”
LEARN MORE Ben and Sarah Lunka are proud members of The Elon Society, which honors leadership annual giving donors who make a gift of $1,500 or more each year for any purpose. Visit elon.edu/ElonSociety to learn more.
COVER STORY
DESPITE MAJOR DISRUPTIONS TO CAMPUS OPERATIONS CAUSED BY A GLOBAL PANDEMIC, ELON REMAINS COMMITTED TO ENGAGED LEARNING.
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A NIMBLE RESPONSE BY OWEN COVINGTON
the 2019 novel coronavirus, now impacting the lives of millions worldwide, first touched Elon from more than 7,000 miles away. Two Elon students slated to participate in the university’s program at The Beijing Center were called home in late January, just days after arriving in China to begin class. They would be among the first of thousands of Elon students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents and friends whose lives were upended by the fast-moving and lethal virus. The spread of COVID-19 led to extensive social distancing efforts, stay-at-home orders and a displacement of students, faculty and staff from Elon’s campus.
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A { Below: Associate Professor of Art Anne Simpkins records video instruction resources for her students in the studio. Opposite: Students take part in a virtual “Corona Choir” organized by Miles Carabello ’22. }
t the same time, it required swift action by the university to adapt its model of engaged and experiential learning to remote learning, with Elon faculty and staff quickly pivoting to shift courses online and support the technology necessary to deliver them. More than 5,000 undergraduate students left campus for their homes where they completed the semester from afar, without the in-person connections and collaborations for which Elon is well known. That work continues, as Elon prepares for a return to in-person learning on campus this fall, but with plans in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 while being prepared for any cases that do occur. Some have compared this event to the devastating 1923 fire that destroyed the college’s Main Administration Building. The Elon community rallied together immediately to rebuild and lay the foundation for an even greater college. “We will tell the story of a time when we opened ourselves up to each other — to a new method of learning, to responding to what the world needed,” President Connie Ledoux Book said in a video message to students in April. “Together we are writing Elon’s brave history about our response.”
A RETURN FROM ABROAD There was no indication when the two students had their spring semester in China disrupted that Elon would very soon be responding much more broadly to a global pandemic. The first inkling about the potential severity and far-reaching impact of COVID-19 came from northern Italy, where the number of confirmed cases rose rapidly within a matter of days. The region was north of Florence, where 21 Elon students and one faculty member were participating at the university’s study abroad program offered in partnership with Accademia Europea di Firenze. Dean of Global Education Woody Pelton and his colleagues in the Isabella Cannon Global Education Center were joined by other campus leaders in regular meetings, closely monitoring changing conditions in Italy and other countries where Elon students were studying. Elon was guided by recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of State, which began restricting travel to several nations based upon the prevalence of COVID-19 cases. At that time, Italy was experiencing the next fastest outbreak following the virus’ spread from China. Within a matter of days, it became apparent that students and faculty members in Italy were not the only ones faced with decisions about whether to remain in the countries where they were studying. Along with health concerns, the possibility of not being able to return to the United States became very real, prompting Elon to suspend The Elon Center in Florence on Feb. 21. At the time, Elon was one of just a handful of U.S. colleges and universities that were suspending study abroad programs. “Ultimately, we were able to get all students who wished to depart for home and with an online option to complete the semester,” Pelton says. “It was not the outcome anyone wanted or expected when they signed up in 2019 to study in Florence, but it will be a semester they will remember.” Within weeks, it was clear COVID-19 was disrupting programs and plans far beyond Italy. By March 12, Elon recalled all students from continental Europe, with programs in other countries seeing cancellations in the following days and weeks.
A SHIFT TO REMOTE LEARNING Students, faculty and staff on campus were heading toward mid-term exams and Spring Break in early March as the number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. was starting to grow. 20 of
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The campus Emergency Operations Center began meeting to follow the developments abroad and address the growing likelihood that COVID-19 could disrupt campus operations, events and classes. North Carolina identified its first case in early March, as outbreaks in Washington and New York began to grow. As it became more apparent the virus would likely spread to the local community, the university resolved to confront the crisis by relying on the latest and most reliable information, while keeping the health and safety of students, faculty and staff at the forefront. In a video message to the university community, President Book noted that “we have approached this difficult situation with facts and not fear.” The university announced on March 11 that undergraduate courses would transition online for at least two weeks following the resumption of classes on March 23 after Spring Break, with students encouraged to remain home after the break. Nonessential university travel was canceled, as were all gatherings of more than 50 people. It would be the first major disruption of campus operations and the start of a widespread shift by the university to remote learning. Elon, well known for its relationships, mentoring, close collaborations and in-person connections, adapted its model to accommodate the need for students, faculty and staff to connect from afar. The announcement came at the beginning of the CAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, which Elon was hosting for the first time at Schar Center. The tournament was
canceled before the final games, followed by the cancellation of all spring sporting events. The timing of the announcement of the planned changes to classes provided faculty members time before Spring Break to begin preparing their courses for the shift online and preparing students to learn remotely. Speaking to her COM 100 Communications in the Global Age class before Spring Break, Professor of Communications Janna Anderson explained that they would have more flexibility, but that expectations would remain high, as would the level of support they would receive. “We want to reassure you that we are maintaining the same level of rigor and quality that you normally experience in a classroom setting,” Anderson told the class. Teaching and Learning Technologies partnered with the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning, Belk Library, the Koenigsberger Learning Center, the Writing Center, Moodle Advisory Group Members and Associate Professor of Physics Kyle Altmann, the Faculty Fellow for Technology, to provide a wide array of training and support as faculty and students prepared for remote learning. In little more than a week, Elon shifted 1,800 classes online to engage more than 7,200 students, faculty and staff. Thousands of students left campus for Spring Break on March 13 with the hope of resuming in-person classes on April 6. The plan was to have students return to campus to complete their classes and close out the academic year with the Class of 2020 walking across the stage to receive their diplomas, and then shift toward preparing the campus for the start of a new, and hopefully normal, academic year in the fall.
AN ENGAGING ONLINE LEARNING MODEL With the start of remote learning on March 23, Vice President for Student Life Jon Dooley offered his encouragement to students now connecting with each other and their professors through videoconferencing tools such as WebEx, Microsoft Teams and Zoom. “I want you to know that the commitment of this community to support you has never been stronger,” Dooley said. “This will feel different, and it won’t be the in-person residential expe/ 21
{ Assistant Professor of Engineering Jonathan Su prepares for class from his home office. Above: Professor of Physical Therapy Education Janet Cope takes her human anatomy course online. Opposite: Assistant Professor of Dance Renay Aumiller does floor warm ups in her living room in preparation for a dance class. }
rience you’re used to. But relationships and community are at the core of an Elon education, and they have never been stronger.” Dooley delivered the message from the rotunda of Alamance Building, standing next to the historic bell salvaged from the Main Administration Building after the 1923 fire. He noted that after the fire, classes were canceled for just a single day before students and faculty gathered in several locations to continue their academic work. That year, graduation was held for the first time Under the Oaks, the location for Commencement for decades and the spot where students formally begin their entry into the Elon community at New Student Convocation. “Resilience, adaptation and innovation are a part of our history and culture,” Dooley said. Faculty members who typically engage with students in classrooms, their offices or in casual sidewalk conversations flexed their creative muscles to find new ways to connect with and support students across the distance. Take for instance Associate Professor of Art Anne Simpkins, who recorded video instruction resources for her students in the studio. Or Associate Professor of Music Todd Coleman, who worked with Alex Schmidt ’22 to share music via the notation software program Sibelius to continue the musical compositions they were working on. Professor of Physical Therapy Education Janet Cope took her human anatomy course, typically based in the School of Health Sciences anatomy lab, online. Paul Miller, assistant provost for academic operations and communications, praised the widespread collaboration across the university as faculty members shared plans with their colleagues, solicited ideas from each other, 22 of
learned to use new tools and found innovative ways to connect and communicate. The focus was on delivering the best learning experience for students, while integrating flexibility and adaptability. “You can’t overstate the commitment of our faculty to delivering this remote teaching during a very complex time,” Miller said. “It’s really astounding. We need to recognize that this is happening in real time, and across all our programs. It’s great work.” On March 10, the day before the announcement that Elon would move to remote learning after Spring Break, Elon users hosted about 40 meetings using the WebEx video conferencing platform. Once remote learning began, Elon routinely saw more than 800 daily meetings as faculty, students and staff connected online. On Microsoft Teams, another popular video conferencing tool, use of the platform grew nearly 500 percent from February to April, with a daily average active user total of 2,510. Remote learning and the expansion of remote working allowed alumni new ways to engage with their former professors and current students. Students in Assistant Professor of Performing Arts Charles Johnson’s Professional Practices course engaged via video conferencing with Matt Leckenbusch ’03 about his experience as director of theatre at Clemson University. School of Education alumnae Analiese Jaffe ’18, now teaching English in Ecuador, and Courtney Kobos ’19, who had been teaching English in the Czech Republic before being evacuated, connected by video chat with Assistant Professor of English Jennifer Eidum’s Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages class. Students and faculty found new ways to share their art and creativity online. Members of the cast of the Department of Performing Arts production of “Hamlet” shifted from taking the stage in McCrary Theatre to joining each other on Facebook Live for a remote performance of the iconic work that received widespread media coverage. Seniors in the Department of Music performed their senior recitals at home, but streamed the beautiful music through Facebook Live. A virtual “Corona Choir” organized by Miles Carabello ’22 performed the Katy Perry hit “Rise,” with the YouTube video gaining thousands of views. “Just because we are all stuck in our houses doesn’t mean that we are alone,” Carabello said in reflecting on the impact of the performance. “Everyone else is bored and if you have a project in your head, you should act on it because nothing is impossible when you just ask.”
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“YOU CAN’T OVERSTATE THE COMMITMENT OF OUR FACULTY TO DELIVERING THIS REMOTE TEACHING DURING A VERY COMPLEX TIME. IT’S REALLY ASTOUNDING. WE NEED TO RECOGNIZE THAT THIS IS HAPPENING IN REAL TIME, AND ACROSS ALL OUR PROGRAMS. IT’S GREAT WORK.” PAUL MILLER A SUPPORTIVE VIRTUAL NETWORK Beyond the virtual classroom, Elon retained its focus on supporting students, whether on campus or hundreds of miles away. Counseling Services, the Koenigsberger Learning Center, Belk Library and Campus Recreation and Wellness all adapted services to be offered remotely. Regular video updates offered students, faculty and staff advice and activities to stay healthy, physically and mentally, while at home during the pandemic. A new Staying Connected website offered a wide range of wellness resources and activities to assist the campus community, while a Lifelong Connections website offered to do the same for alumni all over the world. While hundreds of Elon staff members began working remotely following a statewide stay-at-home order by North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, there were many who continued to work on campus to provide for several hundred students who were not able to return to their homes during spring semester. For some students, their dorm room on campus provided the opportunity to stay further away from the COVID-19 pandemic, as outbreaks became more severe in New England and other locations around the country. Others remained on campus for financial reasons, while yet others, including some international students, were unable to return to their home countries due to travel restrictions. Isabel Blanco Araujo ’20 was unable to return to her home in Venezuela and remained at Elon, tapping into the resources available on campus, attending classes online
and working remotely for the Office of Admissions. “I’ve been going on walks around campus a ton,” she said. “It’s really nice to lay in the grass in Young Commons and just soak up the sun. I’m grateful I can spend time enjoying our beautiful campus in spring, enjoying something that everyone else is missing out on.”
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A DISRUPTED SPRING, A HOPEFUL FALL
y the end of March, it became apparent it would be impossible to safely resume in-person classes at Elon. That decision also meant that to protect the health and safety of students and their families, members of the Class of 2020 would be unable to gather on Scott Plaza and Young Commons on May 22 at Commencement, surrounded by their friends and family to celebrate all they have achieved during the past four years. In President Book’s April 10 video message, she noted that while the campus was in full bloom, she missed the energy that Elon’s students bring to campus, and had been impressed by the courage and determination she saw in members of the Elon community. “It is truly that everyday courage, those Elon values, that we wake up and we show up, and we work hard, taking action when we see things that need to be done, and raising our hand when we see where we can make a difference,” Book said. “I am so proud of this student body, and the Elon values you’re demonstrating.” With a commitment to ensuring a proper recognition of the Class of 2020, Elon held a virtual degree conferral ceremony on May 22 to welcome them officially into the Elon alumni family. These newest Elon graduates will be invited back to campus in the next academic year with their friends and family for an in-person celebration of their substantial accomplishments, a recognition of what they have meant to Elon during their time at the university. Even before the conclusion of the spring semester, Elon began looking to the fall and what a return to campus will look like. That included an announcement on April 20 by President Book of a Task Force on Fall Semester 2020. Headed by President Emeritus Leo M. Lambert, it included faculty and staff leaders from across the university. “While so many things associated with this threat have been beyond our control, I am confident we will emerge from this experience stronger, wiser and with a greater appreciation for the values and strengths that truly make Elon a remarkable place to learn and work,” Book said. / 23
NEW YORK CITY
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Oly Zayac ’17/freelancer 1. Standing in the middle of the intersection of Broadway and W. 44th streets in New York City was normally impossible. But with New Yorkers following stay-at-home orders, no cars were visible for blocks in April.
This is us E A LOOK AT THE EFFECTS OF THE PANDEMIC IN THE UNITED STATES THROUGH THE LENS OF ELON ALUMNI PHOTOGRAPHERS.
EDITED BY KIM WALKER
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mpty streets. Masked first responders. Protests on the state capital. These are some of the images Elon alumni photographing the nation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic have captured as part of their work. Al Drago ’15 and Caroline Brehman ’18 are covering the news in Washington, D.C., adapting to social distancing and other precautions to prevent the spread of the disease while thinking creatively about how to produce storytelling images. In North Carolina, Scott Muthersbaugh ’06 and John West ’12 are not traveling for
work as they normally would, and instead they are photographing the responses they see in their own communities. Oly Zayac ’17 is also documenting the changes around her. Based in New York City, she’s covered stories worldwide, highlighting topics like cultural tourism and environmental issues. “I watched New York drastically change almost overnight, and I quickly realized that the stories I used to chase all around the world were now at my own front door,” she says. “Photography was the only way I knew how to share our story.”
THIS IS US
NORTH CAROLINA
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Scott Muthersbaugh ’06/Perfecta Visuals 2. A Guilford County Public Health provider performs a deep nasal swab test to check for COVID-19 during a drive-through test in Greensboro, N.C., in early May. 3. Emergency medical technician Jessica Bryant, of Guilford County Emergency Medical Services, wears an N95 mask and safety glasses, among other personal protective equipment, when treating patients suspected to have COVID-19. 4. A member of the Guilford County Emergency Services logistics team decontaminates an ambulance after treating and transporting a patient suspected to have COVID-19.
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WASHINGTON, D.C.
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Caroline Brehman ’18/CQ Roll Call 5. In late March, the Rev. Carter Griffin participates in a drive-through confessional at St. Edward the Confessor Catholic Church in Maryland. 6. Reporters question Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., as they practice social distancing measures in the Capitol at the end of March.
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Al Drago ’15 7. President Donald Trump speaks during a coronavirus task force press briefing held in the White House on March 22. (The New York Times) 8. Children ride bikes through the drained Reflecting Pool on the National Mall in mid-March amid stay-at-home orders that made D.C. streets unusually quiet. (Bloomberg)
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THIS IS US
NORTH CAROLINA
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John West ’12/West Documentaries 9. After North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper issued a statewide stay-at-home order from March 30 until April 29, protesters marched down past the Executive Mansion in Raleigh on April 21, demanding that Cooper reopen the economy for business. 10. Protesters attending the April 21 ReOpenNC rally in downtown Raleigh shout at police officers.
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Notes from the Alu mni near and f ar share their perspectives on how the pandemic is af f ecting them and the work they do. BY KEREN RIVAS ’04 AND ALEXA BOSCHINI ’10
front lines life as we know it changed for all of us in spring 2020. What were once ordinary tasks — going to the grocery store, a ending a friend’s wedding, holding in-person meetings with coworkers and clients — suddenly became rare occurrences or not permi ed at all as the world grappled with the covid-19 pandemic and its consequences. Amid it all, alumni across different industries, professions and walks of life stepped up to provide support to those who needed it most. We asked some of them to share their thoughts with us. These are their stories.
THE POWER OF THE COLLECTIVE KRISTIN FEENEY KOSTKA ’11 | EXERCISE SCIENCE MAJOR, PUBLIC HEALTH & RELIGIOUS STUDIES MINORS | ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, OMOP DATA NETWORK AT IQVIA | INVESTIGATOR, OBSERVATIONAL HEALTH DATA SCIENCES AND INFORMATICS | BOSTON
A { KRISTIN FEENEY KOSTKA ’11 }
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s an epidemiologist, living through a pandemic is like the “World Cup” of our field. My entire professional life has been in the post-SARS and h1n1 era. There was always a possibility that another pandemic could happen. Back in , when I joined the Observational Health Data Sciences and Informatics community — a volunteer-based global open science initiative that aims to improve health care through observational research — I knew I stumbled into something special. These are people who gladly give their time and expertise to help improve the way we do research. The community worked tirelessly over the past decade to create a common language per se so we can make apples-to-apples comparisons in data across the world. In addition, we’ve tackled privacy issues by keeping data where it lives and only sharing aggregate results. In health care, we take an oath to “do no harm.” In this time of high unpredictability, it’s hard to know if what we’re doing is helping or hurting patients. This is where observational health data is powerful. We rapidly mobilized our network of
FEATURE TITLE REPEAT
people from nations via a “study-athon” (think a hackathon for studies). In hours, we developed nine studies including hot topics like large-scale safety of hydroxychloroquine combined with azithromycin or amoxicillin, building prediction models to understand who will need scarce resources (like access to ventilators), and characterizing overall trends of disease. We believe in percent transparency in every analysis including publishing study code and results for reuse. We’re publishing papers and making evidence available via interactive apps online. This pandemic brings to a head the need to work together. We each bring unique insight to this problem space. The power of the collective will get us through this time.
TEACHING (AND LEARNING) HOW TO COPE MONICA HUANG ’10 | ART MAJOR | OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST, CHAPEL HILLCARRBORO CITY SCHOOLS | NORTH CAROLINA
I am a school-based occupational therapist whose job is to support teens/adolescents with disabilities transitioning from high school to adult life. I love my job. I wake up each day a proud ally and advocate for inclusivity. School is not just a place where I help students figure out their next steps; it’s a place where students affirm their identities and grow into powerful self-advocates. It’s the kind of job where you pinch yourself every day to make sure you’re not dreaming. So when the COVID- pandemic physically removed me from my students, I was overwhelmed by grief and helplessness. All of my students have some kind of disability that affects their access to the nuances of virtual learning. How will I support their needs from a distance? What about lack of internet access or working parents who can’t facilitate their learning? How dare I
{ MONICA HUANG ’10 }
even ask families to do anything but survive right now? These questions of equity, access and presumption came from a place of empathy. I have a family and, overnight, became the stay-at-home mom/daycare for my -year-old; the teacher for my second grader; and an online educator/ therapist stumbling through screencasting apps, Google classrooms and my YouTube account from the early s. It didn’t take long before late-night binges on webinars and live coronavirus coverage were fueled by Imposter Syndrome and my chronic depression/anxiety. The latter changed everything. I realized that my students and I needed the same thing — to learn how to cope with mental health during a global pandemic. I began to develop a curriculum to teach my students
how to be self-advocates of their emotions, pain and suffering. Making the lessons and recording the videos helped me to regain control over my needs and, ironically, I applied for and received North Carolina’s State of Emergency leave. With permission to hit the pause button on work, I now spend my days caring for my children and implementing my own coping strategies. On weekends, I still find precious time to be there for my students by recording new virtual content for the mental health curriculum I developed when the whole world came crashing down. And everything might just be OK. The highlight of my week came when a student emailed me the mere message: “I like feelings.” Among other things, I quickly wrote back: “I like feelings too.” / 29
“But I am optimistic that working as a community, washing our hands, wearing a mask and keeping space between us, we can get through this together.” —Don Campbell ’01
A TIME FOR ADAPTATION DR. MARC PINN ’03 | ACCOUNTING MAJOR | ANESTHESIOLOGIST, CRITICAL CARE PHYSICIAN AND DIRECTOR OF CARDIOVASCULAR CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE AT CLEVELAND CLINIC MARTIN HEALTH | STUART, FLORIDA
As Elon graduates, all of us feel prepared to practice in our chosen field after graduating or completing residency and fellowship. And while none of us were quite prepared for COVID-, any one of us who has trained in specialties like anesthesiology, emergency medicine or surgery knows that sometimes the key to success is adaptation. The pandemic has created austere conditions even in some of the most renowned healthcare institutions. We have all had to rapidly adapt to this. Perhaps just as tiring as performing patient care is the immense undertaking by physicians, advanced practice clinicians, nurses and respiratory therapists to quickly develop protocols and procedures related to caring for COVID- patients. Despite all of these strains, if ever there were a sense of unity among healthcare workers, it is now. We are all in this together — all pieces of a very important puzzle. I am very proud of my multidisciplinary critical care team at Cleveland Clinic and hopeful that this sense of community will perpetuate itself far into the future when we return to whatever new normal awaits us. { MARC PINN ’03 }
FACTS IN UNCERTAIN TIMES JASMINE TURNER ’15 | BROADCAST JOURNALISM MAJOR | REPORTER AND WEEKEND ANCHOR FOR NBC NEWS 12 | RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
Humbling. Uncertain. Affirming. These are three words I would use to describe reporting and anchoring during the COVID COVID- pandemic. As a reporter and weekend anchor for NBC News in Richmond, Virginia, I am continuing to adapt to little-to-no in-person interaction with viewers and my colleagues. I am beyond grateful for the measures taken to keep reporters, photographers and anchors safe during this time. Most of my interviews these days are conducted via Zoom or FaceTime, which has challenged me to be more creative. 30 of
Right now, medical professionals are working around the clock, some separated from family and friends in order to protect the ones they love. There are families financially impacted by this health crisis; they are concerned about their bills being paid and worried about { JASMINE TURNER ’15 } having enough food on the table. It has been humbling to share the story of a food bank that has distributed more than , meals in six weeks or to speak to a paramedic with a medically fragile child who was given an RV to temporarily live in by a Marine veteran. It has been humbling to watch an organization step up in less than hours to ensure a family of five’s rent would be paid after the COVID- pandemic led to job loss. In this time, it is important for the voices of our community to be heard. It is important that we are rooted in facts in this uncertain time. It is my responsibility as a journalist and member of my community to accurately and effectively tell stories. I am reminded daily how important local news is in a time like this. I am also reminded that no matter the scenario, what has continued to be said is true — we are all in this together.
MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION DON CAMPBELL ’01 | PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION MAJOR | EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR FOR GUILFORD COUNTY | NORTH CAROLINA
I remember talking to my wife, Tucker ’, in mid-January about the novel coronavirus that was beginning to impact China and cause concerns about what impact it could have on us in the coming months. My role as the emergency management director for Guilford County keeps me constantly looking at future risks and making sure we are positioned to respond as needed to protect the community. Our office began actively monitoring the situation in late January and held our first meeting with more than
PHOTO: SCOTT MUTHERSBAUGH ’06/PERFECTA VISUALS
{ DON CAMPBELL ’01 }
partner agencies to provide an overview of the situation and begin planning for future realities. This was quickly shaping up to be a uniquely challenging event to manage with the lack of clear information, scope of the emergency and complexity of the situation. Teams started to wrap up existing projects and focus all of their attention on creating new plans, policies and processes to combat the arrival of covid-. For weeks we prepared and waited for the first cases to be detected in North Carolina. Schools closed in early March and we quickly enacted a local state of emergency and stay-at-home order. Our first positive case was detected within the county on March and we continued to add cases steadily over the following weeks. Along with managing the coordination elements of the event, my focus early on was supporting the stay-at-home order implementation and ensuring a common message with our county, cities and partner agencies. We were in full activation mode in the Guilford County Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and working – hours a day for seven days a week for the majority of March and April. And while our plans for typical disasters (hurricanes, tornadoes, etc.) were working well, we had to make numerous adjustments on the fly to meet the needs of a nationwide pandemic when our typical support structures were not able to help us with materials, resources or people. We were on our own, like every other community in America. I spent my days bouncing between meetings with department directors and elected officials, doing news interviews and managing the EOC. I spent my evenings catching up with the volume of email and messages I had missed during the day. I felt like I was in the middle of a game of whack-a-mole that wouldn’t end. As of May , our positive cases and deaths continue to increase but at a slightly slower pace. We are focusing on increasing testing in the community and trying to keep momentum going with our teams who have been engaged in this event since February and showing signs of fatigue. We know we are still in the early stages of a marathon and we have no clear sense of where the finish line is or what obstacles we have to overcome between now and then. Preparing for what this summer and fall may look like from a personal, professional or community
level is still a challenge every day as the situation continues to get more and more complex. But I am optimistic that working as a community, washing our hands, wearing a mask and keeping space between us, we can get through this together.
BEING BLACK IN CHINA DURING A PANDEMIC DIONI L. WISE G’13 | INTERACTIVE MEDIA | ENGLISH TEACHER | GUANGZHOU CITY, GUANGDONG PROVINCE, CHINA
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he morning I was released from quarantine, I couldn’t leave my apartment quickly enough. I recorded a video as I skipped from my apartment building to the adjacent lake. Mom, dad and Aunt Dee Dee got the footage via group text. “I’m moving in with you,” my aunt quipped. The sun shined for the first time in a few days on April . I simply felt good. Just hours later, a friend called to say a security guard had stopped him and announced black people had to stay inside, starting at p.m. Some Nigerian immigrants in Guangzhou, where I live, had contracted COVID-. They visited several popular spots, including a restaurant where Chinese people also tested positive. In a rush to prevent more infections, the local government abruptly quarantined all African passport holders, black and white, and people who had been in contact with them recently. Many Chinese people don’t know that all black people aren’t born on the African continent, so black foreigners were put on notice: DO NOT LEAVE THE HOUSE! My freedom was short-lived. This is my reality — dealing with the fear of contracting a potentially fatal virus on top of being black in China. Up until April , I would’ve told anyone I felt safer in China as an African-American woman than on my home soil. Many black foreigners echoed that sentiment. Of course, we faced minor racist digs occasionally. But never had we experienced the terror of hiding in our homes or getting unexpectedly evicted from our rental homes or hotel rooms. The country I’d called “home” for the past three and a half years let underlying racism and xenophobia boil to the surface. / 31
{ DIONI L. WISE G’13 }
{ LISA HURTGEN POPE ’98 }
Chinese people were afraid of the imported cases of coronavirus, although the vast majority came from Chinese passport holders. I saw a comic strip depicting Chinese security throwing white and black men in trash bins. Weeks earlier, many Chinese and Asian Americans implored people not to attack them or say “Wuhan virus” or “Chinese virus.” I found this quite ironic. In the past few weeks, the panic has subsided. To my knowledge, Guangzhou officials have not apologized for the blatant racist actions of landlords and hotel managers, but have reminded all business owners that discrimination is unacceptable. I feel safer, but I won’t forget the extra struggles brown-skinned people endured during the pandemic. If COVID- didn’t teach us that we’re all connected and need to care for each other, then what will?
A BUSINESS MODEL SHIFT LISA HURTGEN POPE ’98 | MIDDLE SCHOOL EDUCATION MAJOR | FARM MANAGER FOR HURTGEN MEADOWS FARM | HILLSBOROUGH, NORTH CAROLINA
At Hurtgen Meadows Farm, we grow high-quality, pesticide-free vegetables, fruits, flowers and garden plants. Our flock of free-ranging hens provides nutritious eggs and our multi-generational tradition of making jams and jelly preserves the season to enjoy throughout the year. When the Durham and Eno River farmers markets in North Carolina closed due to the COVID- pandemic, we literally lost our storefronts, and our customers lost access to one of their major trusted sources of food — the kind of food that is best for maintaining health and wellness. 32 of
Our farm needed to pivot quickly. In less than a week, I built an online farmstand cooperative. Our new website controlled inventory, accepted customer payments and coordinated contactless pickup. We went further: we partnered with other local farms and businesses to offer our customers even more options to complement our offerings including meat, cheese, wood-fired breads, granola, shortcakes and frozen pizza dough. Our model provides these other small businesses (who are our neighbors and friends) an outlet to continue selling their goods as well. In this way, our customers can fulfill more of their weekly food needs by placing a single order with our farm cooperative. Each spring, our farm also sells -plus varieties of vegetable transplants for home gardeners including more than different varieties of tomatoes. With the absence of our Saturday markets, it presented a significant challenge to carry out that part of our business. So I built a comprehensive online plant catalog that allows shoppers to select their plants, pay online and arrange to pick up their plants at our farm through the same online store. The response has been tremendous. My family and I have noticed that in this time of uncertainty, our customers are planting bigger gardens and some who have never planted one before are giving it a try, which is reminiscent of the victory gardens that were popular during the World War I and World War II eras. Although this pandemic has caused a major shift in our business model, we are managing and doing well. People love having a trusted source for food and plants without needing to enter a traditional store. We are happy to have a way to continue to supply what we produce while we do our part to help our local community through this pandemic. Fortunately, we are also healthy, busy and working outside — all of that is a blessing.
“My family and I have noticed that in this time of uncertainty, our customers are planting bigger gardens and some who have never planted one before are giving it a try, which is reminiscent of the victory gardens that were popular during the World War I and World War II eras” —Lisa Hurtgen Pope ’98
{ MICHAEL RODGERS ’97 }
FINDING STRENGTH IN RUNNING MICHAEL RODGERS ’97 | POLITICAL SCIENCE AND FRENCH MAJORS | VICE PRESIDENT, YOUTH AND COMMUNITY RUNNER ENGAGEMENT AT NEW YORK ROAD RUNNERS
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ew York City is my home and the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. My neighborhood has the highest number of confirmed cases in Manhattan and I lost count of the number of people I know who have the virus. Unfortunately, I even have several friends who lost family members to the disease. Every night at p.m., the people of New York go to their balconies, windows and down to the streets to clap, ring bells and bang on pots and pans to show our appreciation for essential workers, especially healthcare professionals and first responders. I proudly participate as my husband is an infectious disease doctor managing a COVID- ward at a local hospital. Thankfully, he has the necessary protective gear and he has not yet contracted the virus. Like most New Yorkers, I transitioned to working from home in March. As a lifelong runner, my current position at New York Road Runners — the nonprofit organization most widely known for producing the TCS New York City Marathon and more than races annually — is as close to a “dream job” as I could get. My team supports members who raise money for free running programs serving , kids across the country, free weekly community run/walks, a scholarship program for girls who are new to running, a senior fitness walking program and a leadership program for young runners. As the virus began to spread in New York and the city issued stay-at-home orders, the organization canceled all in-person events and programs and ramped up our virtual offerings, including races, training and youth and senior programming to encourage people to stay active during this challenging time. Now that gyms, yoga and fitness studios are closed, I notice more and more people running. Granted, we now run with face coverings and alone rather than in groups, but we still run. We run not just to stay in shape, but to clear our minds of the stress from the ongoing uncertainty of how long this pandemic will last. If you need to take a break from reality to clear your head, I encourage you to go for a walk or run. Regardless if it is around the block, a mile or k,, just get out and move. You will feel better when you finish.
BY ROSELEE PAPANDREA TAYLOR
Elon experts talk about the possible long-range impact of the COVID- pandemic on everyday life. “It creates an opportunity to think about how we want to invest and prepare for future pandemics.” —Katherine Johnson
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hen CJ Fleming was a child, her grandmother had a kitchen drawer filled with used plastic bags. “I hated that drawer,” Fleming, an assistant professor of psychology, recalls. “I didn’t understand the drawer. Ziploc bags are disposable. You are supposed to throw them away.” In early April, just a couple of weeks after Elon University switched to online classes to comply with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendations to slow the spread of COVID-19, Fleming, much to her surprise, saved her first Ziploc bag. “I didn’t know if I was going to be able to find more,” she says. Relatively speaking, it’s a small change, but telling. In a short period, the threat of COVID-19 has left a mark that’s not likely to go away anytime soon. It has infiltrated our lives, changing how we work, learn, shop, interact and relate as a society. “This is definitely a generation-defining experience for people who never lived through something like this,” Fleming says. “We have changed how we buy things and how we go about our daily business.” While stay-at-home orders have lifted in some places and remain in place in others, the long-range impact of the pandemic on the economy, health care, relationships and society as a whole remains unknown. When the dust settles, what new reality will emerge? Examining pandemics — their impact on society and public health — isn’t new for Katherine Johnson,
assistant professor of public health studies. Before she joined Elon’s faculty five years ago, she worked for the CDC in the Division of Global Migration and Quarantine. Among the courses Johnson teaches at Elon is a core capstone that focuses on disease outbreaks and their potential to spread quickly in a globalized world. Is it possible to predict or prevent the next pandemic? It’s a question raised in her course along with the policies and process of governance in responding to diverse outbreaks and public health challenges. Students also examine how shared fears and priorities evolve as a result of a pandemic like COVID-19. “Right from the beginning of class, students were already connected to the content because it was in their daily lives,” Johnson says. “In the past, students didn’t have the same perception of the impact of pandemics.” Waseem Kasim, assistant professor of history, conducts research on the ways public health informs the construction of cities. He also teaches The World in the 20th Century, a course that looks closely at the 1918–19 flu pandemic. As was the case with that outbreak or h1n1, there are lessons to be learned that will influence how we move on as a society. Historically, Kasim says, one of the criticisms leveled is in the way we deal with pandemics. “We treat them as wars,” Kasim says. “They come and we defeat them and then go on with our lives when dealing with it on a daily basis is more helpful.” If we want to evolve as a society, going back to the status quo isn’t an option. “No matter how nasty a piece of information is, it is good that we remember
A NEW NORMAL
“No matter how nasty a piece of information is, it is good that we remember it and go back to it every now and then and draw lessons from it so that it doesn’t happen again.” —Waseem Kasim
it and go back to it every now and then and draw lessons from it so that it doesn’t happen again,” he says. Johnson sees opportunity for change. “We can choose to ignore the lessons and hope our lives go back to normal as soon as possible, that is if we liked our life,” she says. “But it also gives us the opportunity to examine these questions we have struggled with forever.” Social distancing and stay-at-home orders have forced people to stay in and reconnect with immediate family, drawing attention to work-life balance and rocky relationships. “Based on the research, when an event such as this one happens, people go one of two directions,” Fleming says. “Some people look for the silver lining. They seek out the positive. They show gratitude. Others go through depression and experience stress and anxiety.” These varied coping mechanisms impact how people and relationships fare. In China, for example, there was a surge in the divorce rate in March following the end of government-mandated lockdowns. “Coming out of the end of this, if there is an end, we will see people who will be grateful for the little things, like eating in a restaurant,” Fleming says. “We will also see people who have a post-traumatic stress response.” Empty grocery shelves and shortages of everything from masks to disinfectant, meat, flour and paper products have led many to adopt more sustainable habits and find homemade solutions. Soaring unemployment rates, small business grants and loans, federal stimulus checks and state-sanctioned orders to close everything except essential businesses have many questioning governmental policies and procedures and the economic impact of such measures. Ultimately, the impact the coronavirus has on our healthcare system and public health, in general, remains to be seen. Just like the 1918–19 flu pandemic, social injustices and economic inequities have been magnified. In New York City, where the coronavirus was the cause of more than 15,000 deaths by mid-May, blacks
and Hispanics were dying at twice the rate of whites, according to statistics released by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The pandemic contributes to the struggles and injustices that are already going on, Kasim says. “It also highlights that people need health care. While this is a conversation that was already going on, it will become more bolstered by this,” he says. The 1918–19 flu pandemic took its toll on India, killing millions of people and causing a revolt that led India to seek independence from the British. “It’s not farfetched to say there will be movements demanding more social justice and equality in our society,” Kasim adds. A new generation of students will potentially consider and seek careers in health care and public health, Johnson says. She expects that newfound knowledge of public health — both its value and deficits — will emerge. “It’s our opportunity to build a better society if we choose to,” Johnson says. “I’ve heard others say it has raised awareness about the discipline of public health, something that before COVID-19 wasn’t necessarily well understood by many.” There is also personal, emotional suffering that occurs during pandemics. The loss of life and inability to mourn and celebrate with traditional funerals and burials are often forgotten once society resumes some semblance of normalcy. “We talk about these broader impacts, but we shouldn’t forget about the impact on the ordinary person who is suffering from the loss of a loved one,” Kasim says. Pandemics touch the lives of everyone, which has its benefits. “It creates an opportunity to think about how we want to invest and prepare for future pandemics,” Johnson says. “So that next time, it won’t impact us collectively so much. That’s where it needs to go. The question is, will it?”
“Some people look for the silver lining. They seek out the positive. They show gratitude. Others go through depression and experience stress and anxiety.” —CJ Fleming
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From the ARCHIVES
A Resilient Community Throughout its history, the Elon community has shown unwavering resilience in times of adversity. BY RANDALL BOWMAN
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istory is full of trials and tribulations, and Elon University has seen its share of them. The recent COVID- pandemic is not the first time the Elon community has been severely tested. Elon has a history of rising to the occasion when uncertainty rules the day. Elon’s first great trial came early in the school’s history. During World War I, both alumni and students joined the armed forces. As a result, enrollment declined considerably, placing financial strain on the fledgling college. The graduating class of shrank from to , and ultimately four members of the Elon family died in the line of duty. But Elon was determined to do its part. In the fall of , the school was one of only colleges and universities in North Carolina to host a unit of the Student Army Training Corp. Enlistees in the SATC trained to be soldiers while attending college. Since Elon was one of the few co-educational institutions in the state, both male and female students volunteered to serve their country. Just as the fall semester was getting underway, the campus was struck by the horror of the flu epidemic. This pandemic killed more than million people worldwide, and , in North Carolina alone. Like COVID-, it struck down perfectly healthy people of all ages. At Elon College, the virus hit the campus fast and hard, sickening approximately of the -member student body. Instead of trying to send students home — where students might be at even more risk — Elon took care of its own. The college gym was converted into a sick ward and President William Harper and his wife opened their home to care for the most ill. Students who were not sick cared for those that were. Thankfully, most students and faculty recovered, but three Elon students succumbed to the virus. As tragic as those deaths were, Elon College weathered the storm with considerably less loss of life than many other communities. A few years later, Elon faced a crisis that threatened the very survival of the school. In the early morning hours of
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{ Members of Elon’s Student Army Training Corps unit from 1918. Below: The tombstone of Modesto Lopez, one of three Elon students who died during the 1918 flu pandemic. }
Tuesday, Jan. , , a fire destroyed the Main Administration Building. Even as the building burned, students, faculty and town residents turned out to try and save the building. Despite the disaster, classes resumed the next day, with students assembling in whatever space could be found, including in the homes of their professors. Within a few days, the board of trustees met and approved a new building program, as well as a campaign to raise $, for both construction and endowment. The residents of Alamance County pledged ,. Over the next two years, five new buildings were raised: Alamance, Whitley, Carlton, Mooney and Duke; together they formed the new heart of campus. In the end, a disaster that could have doomed Elon resulted in a rebirth for the institution. In this transformation inspired the adoption of Elon’s mascot, the Phoenix — the mythological bird that rises from its own ashes. Then in came the Great Depression, and Elon’s greatest trial yet. In , Leon Edgar Smith became its fifth president, inheriting a school in crisis. Enrollment, which had peaked at in , declined to just students that year. Soon the college was unable to pay the salaries of faculty and was in arrears. Unless drastic measures were taken, Elon would have to close its doors. Smith persuaded creditors to accept partial payments and appealed to faculty to compromise on getting paid. Elon launched a new fundraising campaign, an audacious action when so many people were financially strapped. Elon persisted and kept its doors open, avoiding the fate that befell many small colleges across America.
FROM THE ARCHIVES
{ After learning the news of the Jan. 18,1923, fire on Elon’s campus, residents of Alamance County pledged to help rebuild the school. }
During World War II, President Smith offered the use of the campus for the war effort. In April , trainees of the th College Training Detachment arrived on campus. By the end of the war, this squadron had trained aviators for the U.S. Army Air Force. Elon students who remained at the school also did their part. A “V for Victory” club was established, and air raid drills were conducted on campus. Many Elon students left to serve in uniform, along with numerous alumni. Thirty-three Elon members of “The Greatest Generation” gave their lives to defend freedom. Their names, along with the four Elon casualties of World War I, are memorialized on a plaque in Alumni Memorial Gymnasium, the building that honors all Elon alumni who served in both world wars. World War II was followed by a long period of prosperity and financial stability; enrollment swelled as veterans attended on the GI Bill. But the postwar period was not without its challenges. During the Civil Rights Movement, Elon had to confront the divisive issue of racial segregation. In
{ During World War II, Elon’s campus was used as training grounds for the 325th College Training Detachment. Right: Students light candles in honor of the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. }
President J. Earl Danieley made the decision to integrate the college. That fall, Glenda Phillips Hightower enrolled as the first full-time African-American student. In Eugene Perry became the first African American to receive a degree from Elon. Although at the time they faced resistance from some on campus, both Hightower and Perry have been recognized and honored by the university and Elon community in the years since. Their historic enrollments paved the way for greater diversity and inclusion at Elon. In more recent times, Elon has again rallied in the face of adversity. On Tuesday, Sept. , , terrorists hijacked commercial airliners and flew them into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, as well as the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. A fourth airliner crashed in Pennsylvania. More than , people were killed in the attacks. President Leo M. Lambert shared news of the unfolding tragedy to a stunned gathering at College Coffee that day. In the days that followed, Elon showed the resilience that has carried it through dark times. Classes were canceled for a campus-wide meeting in Alumni Gym on Sept. . Moseley Center was set up as a community information and gathering center. Members of the Elon family came together to mourn, pray and console each other. Elon’s strength and sense of family helped many get through those challenging days. Now once again, Elon finds itself in an uncertain time, confronting a crisis that has deeply affected the entire world. But our response today is a reflection of who we are. This community will persevere, just as those who came before us persisted and overcame great challenges. That is the Elon way. / 37
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THE HERO IN ALL OF US
THE HERO IN ALL OF US
Tony Weaver Jr. ‛16 tells stories that defy stereotypes and encourage young readers to be themselves.
{ Tony Weaver Jr. ’16 encourages young readers with his comic book series, “The UnCommons.” }
During his first gathering with fellow acting students at Elon, Tony Weaver Jr. ’16 was asked a seemingly straightforward question: What is your dream role? But Weaver found he didn’t have an answer. He didn’t think many substantial roles for black men existed, much less a part he would consider his dream role. Fast forward to his volunteer work with a local elementary school, where he mentored a young student who, like Weaver, loved superheroes. Weaver asked him if he was going to dress up as his favorite superhero for Halloween. The boy replied he couldn’t because he didn’t look like his favorite superhero. Instead he went as a character from “Grand Theft Auto,” a crime-focused video game series. Those experiences were just two of the sparks that motivated Weaver to use the power of storytelling to create change, crafting his own diverse stories with positive representation for young readers. Weaver is the founder and CEO of Weird Enough Productions, a media company that gives a voice to underrepresented groups and encourages kids and teens to “embrace their quirks and get hype about being themselves.” The company’s Get Media L.I.T. program pairs its flagship comics series, “The UnCommons,” with lesson plans and curricula focused on media literacy, digital citizenship and social-emotional learning. “At Weird Enough, we use comics for social good,” Weaver says. “I believe stories are the most powerful tool for change in the history of mankind. We partner those stories with cutting-edge curricula and learning tools so we can drive impact for young people around the world.” Weaver founded Weird Enough Productions as a junior at Elon, and in the few years since he graduated, the company has soared to national acclaim
for its innovative approach to education. He has garnered a host of fellowships from organizations like Echoing Green, which supports emerging social entrepreneurs; Peace First, which empowers young people to create a just and peaceful world; and Camelback Ventures, which identifies, develops and promotes underrepresented entrepreneurs. He was included in the Forbes “30 Under 30 Education 2018” list and was honored as Young Alumnus of the Year at Elon’s Distinguished Alumni Awards the same year. Earlier this year, he was featured in a Coca-Cola ad titled “History Shakers” recognizing six black leaders for their roles in shaping modern history. “It makes me feel like my feelings were valid and like the difficulties and deficits I saw are also ones that other people see,” Weaver says. “It makes me feel like I’m helping people like me.”
PHOTO: BOB GORE
ILLUSTRATION: ABRAHAM DIAKITE ’20
BY ALEXA BOSCHINI ’10
THE ORIGIN STORY Weaver grew up in Atlanta and was an avid reader of comics and anime from a young age. He was particularly drawn to shounen, an anime genre in which the protagonist faces a daunting challenge / 39
{ The Get Media L.I.T. program pairs Weird Enough’s flagship comics series, “The UnCommons,” with lesson plans and curricula focused on media literacy, digital citizenship and social-emotional learning. }
but feels profoundly unequipped to achieve their goals. “Growing up, stuff like that always resonated with me, not necessarily from the perspective of I always root for the underdog, but rooted in a realistic idea that the goals we have are not always intuitive,” Weaver says. He learned about Elon from one of his mother’s co-workers, and he knew when he visited campus for his acting audition that it was the right place for him. His mother told him he should pick a second field of study if he wanted to pursue an acting degree, so he double majored in strategic communications. Weaver’s work in the School of Communications was the beginning of a different path for him. It fostered his interest in media representation, and early on he started researching how media misrepresentation and underrepresentation affect how people view themselves. Weaver applied for the Lumen Prize, Elon’s premier award in support of exceptional undergraduate scholarship and artistic endeavors. He was disappointed when he didn’t get it, but he quickly pivoted. A couple of months later, the university announced the creation of the Leadership Prize, which provides fund-
"I think creating a media landscape where students are not only able to see characters that look like them but also engage directly with the characters that are in their own heads, that kind of stuff is what gets me really excited.”
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ing for students to research a problem and use their leadership skills to develop potential solutions. It felt more closely aligned with his goals, and he was one of the three inaugural recipients. “I think the Leadership Prize was the shot in the arm he needed,” says Naeemah Clark, professor of cinema and television arts and Weaver’s research mentor, “because then he took over the world.” Weaver analyzed the representation of African Americans in media content on non-linear channels, like social media and other online platforms versus traditional distribution channels like film and television. He examined the types of messages being shared on those platforms, and how they shape the way people perceive the world. His findings and other opportunities through the Leadership Prize paved the way for his success in launching Weird Enough Productions. “I’m generally known for my ability to pitch, and I think I got so good at it because the Leadership Prize kind of threw me into the fire,” Weaver says. “I ended up at a lot of
"I believe stories are the most powerful tool for change FEATURE TITLE REPEAT in the history of mankind. We partner those stories with cutting-edge curricula and learning tools so we can drive impact for young people around the world.”
conferences and events, and I learned how to pitch myself and how to properly explain my idea in a short period of time. Those are things I still carry and use.” From the time he started laying the foundation for Weird Enough Productions in 2014 in tandem with his Leadership Prize work, Weaver dedicated all of his free time and energy to making that vision a reality. “He knew what he wanted to do from the beginning and he was very focused,” Clark says. “He was very clear that he wanted to create content that was informative and entertaining and talked about race and ethnicity through the lens of media. It was clear to him that he wanted to educate young people.” Weaver engaged in experiential learning opportunities like studying abroad in Japan and an internship with NBC. He and a team of friends won the $500 first-place prize at the School of Business’ Triple Impact Challenge with their pitch for Weird Enough Productions. They created multimedia content, and Weaver researched funding opportunities. Two days before graduation, he learned he received the Echoing Green fellowship, complete with an $80,000 investment. “I think what allowed me to transition it to a full-time career was that from the beginning, I knew that was what it was going to be,” Weaver says. “I wasn’t entirely clear on what the path would be, but I was a junior looking at what’s this funding strategy? What sector do these people invest in?”
THE NEXT CHAPTER
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oday, Weird Enough Productions has two primary facets: content and curricula. “The UnCommons” comic series follows Iris, a West African teen with the gift of Second Sight. When she has a vision of the world ending, she joins forces with a group of unlikely outsiders who have to defeat demons from their pasts to stand any chance of saving humanity. “Our characters have these abilities, but there are deeper, underlying things about them that
make them relatable and make them human,” Weaver says. “As a writer, I have a lot of fun exploring what those intersections are and what commentary we can make about the world with our characters.” “The UnCommons” is available at weirdenoughcomics.com, in print and via Webtoon, a comic-reading app. Weaver is the primary writer, and he partners with an editor and two artists to bring the series to life. The company currently has 12 employees across its operations, communications, technology and content divisions. Staff are based around the world, including the U.S., Canada, the Philippines and West Africa. Get Media L.I.T. is the company’s education technology platform, which pairs the comics with lesson plans and curricula that foster greater self-awareness, social responsibility and agency while strengthening readership and vocabulary. Weird Enough works directly with schools and afterschool programs, or educators can connect with the company at getmedialit.com. L.I.T. is an acronym for the program’s three lesson categories — learn, inquire and transform. “Learn” introduces concepts like modeling healthy emotional expression, enhancing vocabulary and developing social media savvy. “Inquire” promotes critical thinking about ideas like how social media affects emotional wellness, media’s impact on popular beliefs and detecting falsehoods online. “Transform” encourages students to apply their knowledge with self-expression, media creation and civic engagement. “We take these amazing stories and partner them with pedagogies that allow you to walk away from it with a better understanding of yourself and the world,” Weaver says. “You can take the sequence where Iris’ parents tell her she doesn’t know what she’s talking about and pair that with a lesson plan about communicating with people who don’t understand your perspective. That would be
a huge tool for young people who are coming to grips with their sexuality or gender identity.” To date, Weird Enough has reached about 40,000 students in schools across the country and just began working with a group of schools in South Africa. And in response to schools suspending in-person instruction amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Weaver made the Get Media L.I.T. platform free for teachers, students and parents through the end of the academic year. The Weird Enough team also volunteered for digital classroom visits to support teachers hosting remote classes. Weaver says he wanted to use Weird Enough’s educational resources to help students and teachers navigate a difficult and uncertain situation. “Schools provide a lot of resources that kids don’t have access to at home, and one of those key things is literacy tools,” Weaver says. “With two-thirds of students in the U.S. not being able to read on grade level, when you remove them from the only place where they have defined and pure access to literacy materials, it can create a sticky situation for them.” Next, Weaver wants to engage with more students by expanding Get Media L.I.T. to an additional 100 schools by the end of 2020. He also wants to develop an “UnCommons” animated series. But above all, he hopes Weird Enough Productions inspires young people to create stories and characters of their own. “If your dream role lives in my universe, that’s cool. I’m humbled. But I would also really love it if your dream role was a character you created,” Weaver says. “We don’t have to rely on anyone else to tell our stories. I think creating a media landscape where students are not only able to see characters that look like them but also engage directly with the characters that are in their own heads, that kind of stuff is what gets me really excited.” / 41
A NAME FOR THE NAMELESS
A name for the nameless THROUGH THE PEOPLE NOT PROPERTY PROJECT, ELON LAW STUDENTS ARE DIGITIZING BILLS OF SALE OF THOSE WHO WERE ENSLAVED IN NORTH CAROLINA. BY ERIC TOWNSEND
{ Elon Law students browse slave sales records as part of the People Not Property Project. }
T
hey often have no name but instead a general alone elsewhere in the state. “To literally see a price description of physical traits. Age? Family? point on people’s lives was shocking. It’s inspired Place of birth? Forget it. What do they all me to work for people who don’t have voices, or have in common? Each carries a price tag. power or influence,” says Andrew Parks Carter, a For nearly a year, Elon Law students have spent first-year Elon Law student who grew up in Guilford dozens of hours transcribing pre-Civil War bills of County and a volunteer with the pro bono program sale from the Guilford County Register of Deeds at the law school. “To me, not hiding our history Office as part of a larger effort to build a searchable is important. These are public records. I’ve lived database of digitized records tied to North Carolina’s here most of my life and I never knew these records history of slavery. The People Not Property Project were here.” is a collaborative endeavor between the University Julianna Kober, the Elon Law student project of North Carolina at Greensboro University Librarmanager for People Not Property, finds inspiration ies, the North Carolina Division of Archives and in her work from her family history. The Maryland Records and several local registers of deeds, among native lost a dozen ancestors in the Holocaust. The others. UNCG received a grant of nearly $300,000 only record that her relatives ever existed is a cherfrom the National Historical Publications and ished family photograph that survived World War II. Records Commission to digitize thousands of slave “There’s a generational aspect to this project,” Kober deeds and bills of sale with help from more than says. “This history has been in the back of my mind. two dozen North Carolina counties participating in How can we give others the same kind of connecthe program. tion I’ve been fortunate to have?” In Guilford County, efforts to transcribe records Other students who volunteer for People Not are being led by Register of Deeds Jeff Thigpen with Property offer similar motivations. Much of Noah assistance from Elon Law. And the process is slow. Trotter’s extended family in South Carolina can Legibility is a big obstacle. So are particular phrases only trace its lineage to the Civil War. Records of and terms that take time to decipher. Then you have her ancestors stop there. Her mother’s last name is the sheer volume of deeds in Guilford County. Only “German.” The first-year Elon Law student said her a quarter of deeds already identified in records have family assumes that at some point, when an ancestor been transcribed — sales that involved upward was purchased, his name was listed as “German” in of 600 people treated not as individuals, but as property records because his owner was of German commodities. descent. “It can be frustrating to translate things but And there are still records of sale turning up seeing the open exchange or how they sold people, inside the Register of Deeds. There’s no estimate it’s a great reminder of how far we’ve come,” on how long the process will take at Elon Law, let Trotter says.
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POINT of VIEW
Global surgery: a cause worth advocating for
BY JOE INCORVIA ’15
T
he first time someone died in front of me was in a national hospital in Uganda in the summer of 2016. A gurney rushed down the dimly lit hallway. Nurses yelled in the local language. The procession entered the large ward, illuminated in some natural light. A man in his early 20s laid there, legs twisted, arms limply hanging off the sides. What I noticed the most were a massive head wound and blank stare. The gurney came to a stop about a meter from me and the patient started to convulse. The nurses began providing care. As he was writhing, one of the nurses turned to me. I will never forget her plea to help and “just hold” as she pointed to his legs. I was just there to collect data for my master’s thesis on access to surgical care in Uganda; I was not prepared to assist in a medical emergency. “Please!” she yelled. The next moments were a blur. I’m not sure how many minutes passed. I don’t remember what they did to help him. I just remember the unmistakable sight of life leaving his eyes. I didn’t collect much data that day. I don’t tell this story much. To me, it’s an internal reminder of the importance of global surgery work. Dr. Paul Farmer, founder of Partners in Health, and Dr. Jim Kim, former president of the World Bank, famously called global surgery the neglected stepchild of global health. When people think global health they think of infectious diseases like HIV, malaria, tuberculosis and, recently, the novel coronavirus. However, global health encompasses finding solutions to a variety of ailments like cancer and diabetes to projects focusing on water and sanitation in the world’s most vulnerable populations. Global surgery focuses on improving the surgical capacity of health systems all over the world. More than 5 billion people do not have access to safe, affordable and timely surgical and anesthesia care. Access is the worst in low- and middle-income countries, where 6 percent of all surgical procedures occur. In fact, 143 million additional surgical procedures are needed in these countries yearly to save lives and prevent disability. Further, 33 million people face catastrophic health expenditure for surgical procedures each year with an additional 48 million facing similar economic distress simply trying to access care. This is related to the surgical capacity in the poorest
countries on earth. In Uganda for example, as of 2016, there were six neurosurgeons for a country of 33 million people (1:5.5 million). In comparison, the U.S. has 5,000plus neurosurgeons for 330 million people (1:65,580). All surgical specialties have similar shortages in human resources, along with shortages in nurses, anesthesiologists and OB-GYNs. Disease treatable by surgery is a ranking killer of the world’s poorest populations. Yet, major funders tend to disregard the importance of investment in surgical care on a global scale. Neurosurgery may seem a bit removed. It is not something that affects us on a regular basis. However, good obstetric care and safe access to cesarean section is something that we all hope to have. More than 500,000 women die each year in childbirth. These deaths are largely attributable to an absence of surgical services to stop postpartum hemorrhage. This global problem is also one we face in the U.S. with only 23.4 percent of the population having 30-minute access to adequate obstetric care if they are at high risk for complication. Add to that the number of motor vehicle accidents, fractures and congenital anomalies that also require surgical services and we’re only scraping the surface of the myriad of conditions that require surgical interventions. What can we do? While the picture painted seems bleak, there is much hope. Investment in surgery is feasible and cost-effective. There are many efforts to build surgical capacity across the world and domestically. Governments face major decisions on how to invest their resources every day, yet we continue to advocate for strengthening of surgical systems because surgery, as Dr. Kim puts it, is an “indivisible, indispensable part of health care.” Would a better capacity for neurosurgery have been able to save the young man in Uganda? That’s a complicated question to answer that depends on many facets of the health system and hospital. But, would it have given him a better chance at survival? There is no doubt. That’s what global surgery is about — making change to give a fighting chance to those who are the most marginalized and vulnerable in the poorest countries. For me, that is a cause worth advocating for.
A biochemistry graduate, Joe Incorvia ’15 is a quality improvement consultant in the plastic surgery department at Boston Children’s Hospital. He was formerly a researcher at Harvard Medical School’s Program in Global Surgery and Social Change, which advocates for universal access to safe, affordable surgical, obstetric and anesthesia care when needed. / 43
ALUMNI ACTION
The power of coming together Dear fellow alumni,
A
s my tenure begins as president of the Elon Alumni Board, I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the unprecedented spring we’ve experienced. The COVID-19 pandemic has put a strain on our communities and the economy, and my sincere thanks goes to former EAB President Kyriakos Pagonis ’99 for his leadership during this trying time. Despite the challenges this year, we also have reason to celebrate. On March — Elon Day — together we contributed $. million to the university. Elon Day shows our power as a collective whole. Our participation matters, as do our annual gifts. They provide a lifeline to Elon students facing fi nancial hardships. They make possible the life-changing study abroad course that leads a graduate to the Peace Corps. They supply the equipment needed to complete innovative research that could one day lead to a cure for an infectious disease. They provide support for faculty mentors
who help shape the future leaders of our world. We also celebrate our Elon alumni team who has made tremendous strides in response to COVID-, transitioning opportunities of engagement to virtual ones so that we may continue to connect with each other and Elon. As alumni, we have been able to participate in even more professional development webinars, join social activities like virtual College Coffee and trivia, and promote alumni businesses in a new online directory. We can all be proud of these contributions to support alumni during a global pandemic. While we continue to navigate this season of uncertainty, let’s continue to work together to keep Elon moving forward and growing stronger. Now more than ever, the world needs Elon graduates. Brian Scales ’96 President, Elon Alumni Board
RECOGNIZING DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI Four outstanding Elon alumni will be recognized in the spring with the Distinguished Alumni Awards for their leadership, accomplishments and service.
Distinguished Alumnus of the Year: Awarded to an
Distinguished Alumna of the Year: Awarded to an
alumnus who has distinguished himself in a profession and in the community and brought honor to Elon.
✪
Steve Ellington ’80, president,
Trivantage, LLC, Burlington, North Carolina 44 of
Distinguished Service to Elon University: Awarded
alumna who has distinguished herself in a profession and in the community and brought honor to Elon.
✪
to an organization, business, foundation or individual who has demonstrated outstanding service that promotes the advancement of Elon.
Michelle Wideman ’00, chief
customer success officer, Dell Boomi, Boulder, Colorado
✪
Priscilla Awkard ’95, vice president,
Coastal Credit Union, Raleigh, North Carolina
Distinguished Alumni Service: Awarded to an
alumnus or alumna who has given extraordinary service to his or her community.
✪
Kevin Gilmore ’96, executive
director, Habitat for Humanity, Sussex County, Delaware
ALUMNI ACTION
TOP 10 UNDER 10
CELEBRATING
young alumni success
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Ten accomplished alumni from the past decade will be honored in the spring with the 2020 Top 10 Under 10 Alumni Awards in recognition of their professional success, continuous work to elevate their communities and service as loyal alumni role models. 1 2
3 4 5
Jay Reno ’10, founder and CEO of Feather Emily Adams ’11, Eastern and Southern Africa Science Coordination Lead for NASA SERVIR Science Coordination Office Nick Dyer ’11, director of news and stand-up at Comedy Central Kristin Kostka ’11, associate director of OMOP Data Networks – Americas at IQVIA Alexandra Solender Boyd ’12, physics teacher at Apex Friendship High School
Alex Dempsey ’12, MBA Candidate at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School 7 Ryan Keur ’12, President of Daytona Tortugas 8 Brenna Humphries ’13, Management Consulting Manager at Accenture 9 Heather Harder ’14, Marketing and Communications Director at RSE Ventures 10 Fergie Philippe ’17, Broadway actor 6
Make plans to celebrate with us this year’s Homecoming & Reunion Weekend, Oct. 16–18. For more details about events and registration, visit elon.edu/homecoming. / 45
ALUMNI ACTION
All in for Elon Day T
hank you to everyone who attended your local alumni chapter’s Elon Day party on March 5. This year, 40 cities around the world held events throughout the day, with close to 1,000 total attendees. By celebrating with us, you helped show the strength of our Elon alumni network. And a special thanks to everyone who made a gift in honor of the day. Your support made Elon Day 2020 a true success!
{ Denver }
{ Nashville }
{ Seattle }
{ Indianapolis }
{ Philadelphia }
Have you recently moved? Make sure to update your information at elon.edu/alumniupdate to learn about upcoming events in your area. 46 of
{ Triangle, N.C. }
ALUMNI ACTION
• In February, the Charlotte Alumni
Chapter hosted its annual professional development panel event, “Elon : What They Didn’t Teach You in College.” The panelists included alumni Matthew Kalajian ’98 and Mark Jetton Jr. ’06 L’09 and local expert Jackie Smith. The three panelists shared advice on topics including home buying, networking and financial planning.
• The D.C. Alumni Chapter kicked
off its “In Your Neighborhood” event series in February. Elon alumni gathered at The Board Room in Dupont Circle to socialize and meet new neighbors in their local community. This series will include alumni gatherings throughout the year in different neighborhoods of Washington, D.C., to explore new areas of the city.
• In March, Elon alumni in Charlotte
gathered at Bojangles’ Coliseum for an annual hockey outing. Alumni, family and friends enjoyed discounted tickets while gathering in a special on-ice suite to watch the Checkers take on the Utica Comets.
{ Charlotte }
• In April and May, the Office of
Alumni Engagement and Elon’s regional alumni chapters hosted a series of virtual events to continue the lifelong relationship between alumni and Elon during a time of social distancing. Events included virtual college coffees, happy hours, Kahoot! trivia, Elon Jeopardy, virtual escape rooms and professional development webinars. Thank you to all Elon alumni, family and friends who participated, and to the regional alumni chapters for planning and hosting these special activities!
Welcome to the alumni network Congratulations to the Class of 2020 on all of your extraordinary accomplishments and welcome to the Elon alumni family! Now that you are an alum, Elon will continue to serve you in many ways — through job opportunities from fellow alumni (join lifelongelon.com), chapter events in your regional area, professional development opportunities and Homecoming & Reunion Weekend. Help Elon keep you informed by updating your contact information. Visit elon.edu/alumniupdate to ensure you receive information that is relevant to you.
TO FIND A CHAPTER NEAR YOU, GO TO ELON.EDU/ALUMNI
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CLASS NOTES
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REUNION Committee co-chairs Noble Marshall Jr. and Nina Martin McConnell along with committee members Buck Bayliff, Belinda Black, Resa Robinson Daniel, Sally O’Neill Mauldin, Chuck Miller, John Paisley, Diane Clendennen Payne, Thomas Short, Royall Spence and Wade Williamson encourage all classmates to celebrate their 50th class reunion during Homecoming & Reunion Weekend, Oct. 16–18. If you have any questions, please contact reunions@elon.edu.
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REUNION The Class of 1975 will be celebrating its 45th reunion during Elon’s Homecoming & Reunion Weekend, Oct. 16–18. Reunion committee co-chairs Deborah Cochran and Neal Howes and committee members Elena Altevogt, Raymond Beck, Tom Hall and Ted Winslow Jr. look forward to celebrating with
classmates this special weekend. If you have any questions, please contact reunions@elon.edu.
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REUNION Make plans to join the Class of 1980’s 40th reunion committee co-chairs Bryant Colson and King White and committee members Laurie Alcon Brown, Mike Brown, Chris Jones, Tony Lewis, Kim Spencer Matthews, Scott Matthews, Vickie Blackwell Morrow and Betty Burton Thayer on Oct. 16–18 to celebrate your 40th reunion during Homecoming & Reunion Weekend. If you have any questions, please contact reunions@elon.edu.
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REUNION Join the Class of 1985’s 35th reunion committee chair Fred Applin and committee members Andrea ‘Andi’ Elliott Foss, Clay Hassard, Sue Hoggard Rich and Steve Sabol on Oct. 16–18 to participate in class
reunion activities and reminisce about the great times that were spent at Elon. The committee is looking forward to catching up with classmates during Homecoming & Reunion Weekend. Please contact reunions@elon.edu if you have any questions.
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Jeff Smith was honored
by Trellis Supportive Care in September with the 2019 Living Your Best Life Leadership Award. The creator and publisher of “Smitty’s Notes,” Jeff is known as the source of news about happenings and events in the Triad of North Carolina. He has worked alongside community leaders on key initiatives that have contributed to the growth of downtown WinstonSalem and made it a popular and innovative hub in the region. He has accomplished this and more while confronting the challenges of living with multiple sclerosis. A retired
Music from the HEART BY LEILA JACKSON ’22
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lexa Wildish ’10 has always had a passion for music. A music theatre major at Elon, she learned to play the mandolin during her sophomore year and fell in love with Americana and bluegrass music when she went to a summer music festival and saw The Wailin’ Jennys and Nickel Creek play a set together. But despite her love for music, it would take more than a decade for her to release her own recording. After graduation, Wildish hesitantly went the music theater route. She worked on a cruise ship for a year as a performer and after short stints in New York City and Portland, Oregon, she settled in Boulder, Colorado. All along, she was writing her own music, but it wasn’t until 2018 that she decided to fully pursue her musical passion. She raised money through Indiegogo, a crowdfunding platform, to record her album at Goosehead Palace, a music studio in Nashville, Tennessee, and in January of this year, she finally released her self-titled debut EP. “To know that this many people had been moved by my music and had wanted me to keep creating, it was so incredible,” she says. On her record, Wildish worked with Jordan Tice, a guitarist for Hawktail, which Wildish describes as a progressive bluegrass band. Ruth Moody, a member of The Wailin’ Jennys who had inspired Wildish to create her own music, sang back up vocals on her EP. “It was sort of surreal to have her singing with me and I just had a ton of people who I had admired so much over the years playing on this record,” she says. Wildish draws her inspiration from her own life, second-hand experience and aspects of nature. Even though there isn’t a singular theme in her EP, her songs touch upon personal revelations. “I’ve started to understand myself better and different ways in which I could articulate that, so a lot of internal work was done during this process,” Wildish says. “It was just really my way to understand my mental, physical and spiritual well-being.”
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The cover art on Wildish’s EP includes hummingbirds, a small but powerful force, she says, which illustrates her emotional state in her songs. “This felt like a big flash of saying, ‘I feel small and even though I feel small, this is not a small record,’” she says. Wildish says she appreciates Elon’s music theatre program’s “quest for telling the truth,” which has remained with her through her career. “Whether you were performing your own material or someone else’s material, you had to make it so deeply personal that the audience could feel that within you,” she says. “I feel like that really has helped me as a songwriter to go deeper and not just tell a vague story but to get really clear on what I’m communicating in every song.” While it is her record, Wildish emphasizes the collaboration that made it all possible. “Through this record I’ve made so many wonderful connections and I’m really proud of the work and what we all did as a crew together,” she says. “It is my project but it’s also the work of my production team and the musicians that put their voices on this, which was amazing.” Like many other artists, Widish has had to cancel all her in-person performances and deliver her music strictly online as the country adjusts to life during a pandemic. She has continued fueling her creativity by immersing herself in nature while also performing virtually and holding voice workshops via Zoom. “I want to connect and I want to share my voice as often as possible,” she wrote on a recent Facebook post. “Music is medicine, and though our world might undervalue it, it’s what keeps us sane, and keeps us connected.” For more information about Wildish, visit alexawildish.com.
CLASS NOTES
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Elon women’s basketball legend Vanessa Corbett had her jersey retired during a February ceremony in Schar Center. Arguably the most decorated player in Elon women’s basketball history, Vanessa was a member of the program from 1977 to 1982 and is the only player in program history to hold five career records including points, points per game, field goals made, field goals attempted and rebounds per game. An All-American in 1980 and 1981, Vanessa is one of only three women in Elon women’s basketball history to earn All-America honors and is joined only by Susan Yow in 1975 and Lakia Hayes honorable mentions in both 1997 and 1998. She was inducted in the Elon Athletics Hall of Fame in 1992.
Charitable Gift Annuities CAN PROVIDE INCOME FOR LIFE
a charitable gift annuity of $10,000 or more to Elon will guarantee a fixed income for the rest of your life. With market interest rates near historic lows, a gift annuity is an attractive way to increase your income and make a gift to Elon at the same time. You will receive immediate tax benefits and can defer capital gains. The payment rate of a charitable gift annuity depends on your age at the time of the gift—the older you are, the higher the rate.
NEW RATES ONE BENEFICIARY
litigation paralegal, Jeff ’s community e-newsletter has more than 15,000 subscribers plus countless more followers who visit smittysnotes.com.
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REUNION Time to celebrate the Class of 1990’s 30th reunion with committee
co-chairs Gayle Arkwright Moseley and Andy Shaffer and committee members Lisa Toomer Biggs, Belinda Wall Day, Jay Dixson, Julie Perry Githens, Lark Ramsay Johnston and Jeanne Waston Tucker. Let's celebrate this exciting milestone on Oct. 16–18. If you have any questions, please contact reunions@elon.edu.
co-chairs Beth Point Clingaman and Dave Potts and committee members Priscilla Awkard, John Cogburn, Amy Mueller Davis, Anne Dunn Gordon, Robert Haarsgaard, Bryan James, Brian Martindale, Amy Maxwell, Bridget Gibson McGuire, Chrissie Hilliard Velaga, Brady Yntema and Kristen Yntema hope to celebrate this special milestone with their classmates. For more information, please contact reunions@elon.edu. • Joe Akers was recently named instructor of trumpet at Saint Louis University in Missouri, where he lives with wife Kateri.
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Kim Soter Clark was promoted to biopharmaceutical account manager at Lundbeck in January. She lives in Glen Allen, Va.
REUNION Exciting plans are underway for the Class of 1995’s 25th reunion during Homecoming & Reunion Weekend, Oct. 16-18. Reunion committee
TWO BENEFICIARIES
AGE
ANNUIT Y R ATE
AGE
ANNUIT Y R ATE
60
4.3%
60/65
4.0%
65
4.7%
67/67
4.4%
70
5.1%
71/73
4.7%
Annuity rates are subject to change. The annuity rate remains fixed once your gift is made.
To explore a gift annuity for you, your spouse or a family member, visit ELONLEGACY.ORG. Talk with us today about how you may benefit from a life income gift to Elon and other gift-planning opportunities.
Meghan Zanowski Campbell
is happy to announce her son, Luke, will continue her legacy at Elon as part of the Class of 2024. She and husband Luke live in Oxford, Pa.
please contact: Elizabeth Read, Assistant Director of Planned Giving 336-278-7474 ■ eread@elon.edu ■ elonlegacy.org
Meghan Manfra has writ-
ten a new book, “Action Research for Classrooms, Schools, and Communities.”
ALUMNI ALBUM
{ A scene from a Commencement ceremony in the 1970s. }
Jeff Smith ’86 (center)
Kim Soter Clark ’92 / 49
CLASS NOTES ALUMNI ALBUM
Sarah King Lindberg ’02, Jonathan Lindberg ’04 G ’18 & son Finn
Cordelia “Kirk” Tallman Ryan ’04
Sally Lynch Zabel ’04, Matthew Zabel & children
Help us keep you in touch with your Elon classmates. elon.edu/classnotes
Caleb Beyer ’09 (center) Published in 2020 by Sage Publishing, the book provides a guide for improving practice by engaging in systematic, intentional inquiry. An associate professor at North Carolina State University, Meghan credits her being a North Carolina Teaching Fellow and her undergraduate research experience while at Elon for shaping her work as an educator and researcher. She and husband Dennis live in Raleigh. • Jay Todd {mba} has been named chief executive officer of Service Thread, an advanced manufacturer of engineered technical yarns and industrial sewing threads based in Scotland County, North Carolina. Prior to that role, he served as operations manager, CFO and COO, leading, managing and developing 50 of
Christopher Camia ’09, Lauren Perrotta & friends business strategy for the company’s 130 employees. He has been with the company for 24 years.
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REUNION It’s time for the Class of 2000’s 20th reunion. Make plans now to mark this milestone with reunion chair Akilah Weaver and committee members Ariene Dennis Bethea, Jennifer Oehlke Cole, Maurice Gardner, Dannielle Dixon Thomas and Julie Ullrich Wellman during Homecoming & Reunion Weekend, Oct. 16–18. For more information, contact reunions@elon.edu. • Jen Zukowski Dansereau has been named head of operations at Demand Justice, a nonprofit seeking court reform in the United States. She lives in Springfield, Va.
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Sarah King Lindberg and Jonathan Lindberg ’04 {mba ’18} welcomed son
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Cordelia “Kirk” Tallman Ryan has been appointed
Stephen Sherwood “Finn” on 9/12/19. He joins older sister Scotland, 6. They live in Raleigh, N.C., and remain active supporters of Elon through the Triangle Alumni Chapter.
chair of the board at Medicines for Humanity, a nonprofit organization based in Rockland, Mass., that works with in-country health partners to provide critically needed health services to vulnerable children and their mothers around the world. In the 10 years Kirk has been with the organization, she
has risen through the ranks from associate development director to becoming a board member and now board chair. She is also the executive director of the Cordelia Family Foundation, a philanthropic organization that promotes human welfare by increasing access to education, health services and cultural activities. • Sally Lynch Zabel and Matthew Zabel welcomed son Duncan Edwin on 7/31/19. He joins older sister Quinn, 2. The family lives in Columbia, Md.
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REUNION The Class of 2005’s 15th reunion committee chair Brittany Brackett Luther and reunion committee members Blair Dowling Hawley, Mackenzie Cogan Lyons,
CLASS NOTES
In honor of
WILL
Through the Will King Foundation, Courtney and Taylor Hughes ’11 are helping children in need of treatment for heart conditions. BY SONYA WALKER ’20
C
ourtney and Taylor Hughes have a deep connection to Elon University. After all, they met through Elon’s Christian organization, Campus Outreach, and got married just one month after graduation in 2011. Their faith is strong, and it shows. It’s what has sustained them in the face of adversity and given them purpose through it all. After graduation, the couple moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, began professional careers and had their first son. Eight months later, they moved back to Courtney’s hometown of Jacksonville, Florida, had a daughter and soon were expecting twins. The twins, Will and Caroline, were born healthy, but their health quickly turned dire at their first check up when the pediatrician noticed low temperatures and jaundice. At first, Courtney and Taylor were not alarmed. The pediatrician suggested calmly that they take the twins to the emergency room to help bring their temperatures back up. Two weeks later, Will and Caroline were still in the pediatric intensive care unit. The twins had tested positive for enterovirus, which in adults manifests as the common cold. In infants like Will and Caroline, the virus causes multisystem organ failure and septic shock. “There were a lot of times where we thought we were going to lose both of them,” Courtney says, thinking back. “They just kept overcoming everything the doctor said was going to happen, which was amazing.” Then, the unthinkable happened. On March 6, 2018, Will King Hughes passed away at just 96 days old, leaving Courtney and Taylor unsure of how to navigate their lives without one of their children. “We had no idea what to do, how to move on and take a step into this new life without Will,” Courtney says. “And we knew we wanted to do something to honor him, but we didn’t know exactly what that was.” About two weeks after Will’s passing, Courtney and Taylor were talking with Courtney’s parents about the experience of losing their son and how they wanted to honor him. Despite the grief being new and raw, the couple still knew they wanted to take action. “That next
{ Twins Will & Caroline }
morning, I woke up with it on my heart,” Courtney recalls. “We should use Will’s story and his experience to help another child who doesn’t have the same type of access to the care that he had access to.” Though Courtney wasn’t entirely sure how this idea would come to fruition, she knew where to start. Courtney and Taylor had developed a great relationship with Dr. Jose Ettedgui, the twins’ cardiologist at the hospital. Ettedgui runs an organization called Patrons of the Heart and for 15 years he has been bringing children from developing countries to Jacksonville for them to receive life-saving heart treatment. When Courtney called asking for ideas on how to get involved with helping children, Ettedgui mentioned a young girl named Avery from Grenada who was coming to Jacksonville for heart treatment. She needed $5,000 in sponsorship and in just a few weeks, through a generous outpouring of support, Courtney and Taylor were able to raise the money. By the end of that year, the couple knew that they had figured out how to honor their son: They started the Will King Foundation. Each year the organization sponsors two to three children in need of medical care through Patrons of the Heart. These children receive life-saving heart treatment as well as a community support system they wouldn’t otherwise have. “We lost our child, but there are a lot of parents around the world who don’t have to lose theirs just because they don’t have access to the kind of care we had access to,” Courtney says. As Courtney and Taylor look toward the future of the Will King Foundation, they want to make sure funds are secure for future treatment and that these programs are sustainable. One of the organization’s big goals is to establish an endowment through the Baptist Health Foundation as well as continue the work they have been doing. “I think it’s been really neat to see the way that God has used Will’s life to give us an opportunity to reach the nations,” Courtney says. “Now we have kids from all over the world coming back here to our city to receive heart treatment. While they’re here, we’re able to help them and support them and send them home with a children’s Bible. “They’re able to take that message back to their city. They now are going home with a healthy heart and a really good outlook about their life expectancy.” For more information about the Will King Foundation, visit willkingfoundation.com.
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CLASS NOTES ALUMNI ALBUM
Katie Canavan Oates ’11, Travis Oates & friends
Nichole Rawlings Ferguson ’10 & Drew Ferguson
Elizabeth Davis ’12, Chasen Davis & son Jackson
Kate MacKinnon Rehnert ’12, Scott Rehnert ’12 & friends
Dwayne Ijames ’06
Monique Johnson G ’12
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Gregory “Carl” Hairston ’11 G ’15
Dwayne Ijames ’06, Gregory “Carl” Hairston ’11 {MBA ’15} and Monique Johnson {LAW ’12} were among this year’s Black Business Ink magazine’s “40 Under 40 Most Influential African Americans in the Piedmont” of North Carolina. The recipients were nominated by community members from Forsyth and Guilford counties for their character, competence and professional promise, and were recognized during a gala in February. A former professional football player, Dwayne is an author, a substance abuse counselor and the founder of Impact is Inevitable, a platform Dwayne uses to change lives by changing mindsets through public speaking and sports training. Carl is the associate athletic director for external relations at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. Monique is an author, motivational speaker and founder of Made 2 Soar, LLC, a motivational startup that partners with organizations looking to inject positivity and inspiration into its operations.
CLASS NOTES
MAKING WAVES AT Alex Hadden ’13 was an editor for the documentary “Giving Voice,” winner of the Festival Favorite Award at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. BY PATRICK WRIGHT
G
oal setting isn’t just about believing in your dream or working hard to achieve it. It’s also about being specific. Alex Hadden ’13 understands that last part well. “I remember in my screenwriting class at Elon, the teacher made everybody in the room go around and say which Oscar they would like to win,” he says. “And everyone was saying directing or screenwriting, and I was the only one who said Best Feature Documentary.” While he hasn’t been recognized by the Academy just yet, Hadden seems to be well on his way. Earlier this year, one of his recent projects earned top honors at Sundance, the nation’s largest independent film festival hosted in Park City, Utah. His feature documentary “Giving Voice” was selected for the Festival Favorite Award. Hadden was one of three editors for the film, which finished first in an audience vote among 128 features screened across all categories at the festival. “I was kind of stunned when I found out,” says Hadden, who worked on the project for two years. “Giving Voice” follows six high school students on their journeys through the August Wilson Monologue Competition, a nationwide contest for students to showcase powerful monologues on a national stage. The competition celebrates the life and work of renowned playwright August Wilson and offers the top contestants from each region the chance to perform in the national finals at Broadway’s August Wilson Theatre in New York. The film garnered Hadden’s second appearance at a major film festival. In 2015 “BRAND: A Second Coming,” a documentary following the life and career of entertainer Russell Brand, premiered on the opening night of South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. Hadden contributed to that film as an associate producer, production assistant, videographer and assistant editor. “I have always kind of dreamed of making documentaries,” Hadden says. “I think the value that documentaries hold in society is very great, and that’s why I do it.” While he first realized his love of film in grade school, Hadden’s passion for documentary production came a bit later. As an undergraduate at Elon, the media arts and entertainment major discovered elondocs, a yearlong program for students passionate about documentary film production led by Associate Professor of
{ Alex Hadden ’13 }
“I think the value that documentaries hold in society is very great, and that’s why I do it.” Cinema and Television Arts Nicole Triche. Hadden, who produced two significant documentaries while at Elon, says elondocs gave him the opportunities and the confidence to pursue his dream career. That pursuit took him to Los Angeles after graduation. That’s where he found the Elon alumni network, which he says was “immensely helpful” in his job search and in making his new city feel like home. But he knew it would take more than just connections to make it in Hollywood. “Once you’re out in the working world and getting jobs, really make yourself indispensable to a project,” Hadden says. “It’s about working just as hard or harder than everybody else you’re working with, making yourself an asset.” Hadden continues to display that work ethic as he looks ahead to his next project and hopes to soon direct a documentary of his own. As he pushes forward in his career, Hadden’s legacy lives on at Elon in the form of video editing suites named in his honor in the School of Communications’ McEwen Building. The suites are the physical representation of the mark he left on campus. At the same time, Hadden says Elon left a mark on him as well, and he continues to carry the experiences he gained at his alma mater as he finds himself a step closer to reaching his ultimate goal. “I think Elon laid a really great framework for me to go out into the world and approach those dreams,” he says.
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CLASS NOTES Chris Morse, Zack Pund, Nicholas W. Rust and Sarah Thomas would
like to invite all classmates to celebrate Elon’s Homecoming & Reunion Weekend on Oct. 16–18. For more information, contact reunions@elon.edu.
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Summer Nettleman {Law ’09} recently joined
the pharmaceutical company CRO Synteract, Inc., as director of contract services. In that role, she leads a department of contract managers and is responsible for all client and vendor clinical contracts for the company. She lives in Wilmington, N.C.
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completion of her doctoral degree in international studies from the University of Miami in Florida. Melanie lives in Coral Gables and looks forward to having any opportunity to work with fellow Elon alumni in the future.
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Caleb Beyer, who for the past six years has served as a firefighter and EMT with Greenville Fire/Rescue, is happy to announce he recently achieved his North Carolina paramedic certification. For the past year, Caleb has been teaching at several local community colleges as an EMS instructor and this spring
Janae Frazier-Bowens ’13, Allen Bowens & friends
Lauren Alencewicz Powers ’13, Bill Powers ’13 & friends 54 of
ALUMNI ALBUM
Melanie Goergmaier {mba} is celebrating the
Ben Tario G ’12
CLASS NOTES taught as an assistant instructor for his department’s fire academy. He and wife Evan Beyer live in Winterville. • Christopher Camia and Lauren Perrotta were married 8/17/19 in Warren, N.J., where they live. Alumni in attendance included Kristin Klauder ’08, Ashley Lamprecht Lucisano ’08, Rob Antona, Kevin Faroni, Mark Loyka, Mandy McGowan, Kyle McGrath and Bill Reynolds. Christopher is an investment banker with Credit Suisse. • Troy Carlton successfully defended his dissertation in March to complete his doctoral degree in sport management from North Carolina State University. Troy is an assistant professor of sport management at Catawba College. He and wife Marella Peele Carlton ’08 live in Salisbury with their three children.
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REUNION Join the Class of 2010’s 10th reunion committee members Molly Gorsuch, Jamie Gorsuch , Julianne Katz , Tracy Llewellyn, Amanda Marusiak, Patrick Minnock, Keadrick Peters and Catherine Ramsey from Oct. 16–18 to participate in class reunion activities during Elon’s Homecoming & Reunion Weekend. For more information, contact reunions@elon.edu. • Nichole Rawlings and Drew Ferguson were married 10/20/19. Alumni in the bridal party included Amanda Kennison and Kimberly Duggins Wiseman. Faculty members Kirstin Ringelberg and Evan Gatti were also in attendance. Nichole and Drew live in Gainesville, Ga.
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Katie Canavan and Travis
Oates were married 8/10/19 in Wellesley, Mass. Alumni in attendance included Maddy Burke, Anna Stroman Eaton, Kyle Eaton, Ashley Kiely, Amanda Kuss, Margaret O’Neill Matook, Christy Nagle, Molly Cox Nix, Concy Richards, Raleigh Richards, Eileen Rogan, Jessie Schroeder, Krista Vreeland and Jillian Watts. Katie is a vice president of finance at Benefit Street Partners LLC and Travis is an assistant controller at Forrester Research Inc. They live in Boston. • Manisha Patel {Law} was elected to Business North Carolina’s Legal Elite Hall of Fame in the family law category. The magazine has been honoring the state’s top lawyers since 2002. She was also named a Super Lawyers Rising Star for 2020. The annual recognition celebrates the accomplishments of lawyers under the age of 40 or who have been in practice for less than 10 years. The president of the North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys, Manisha practices family law in Greensboro.
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Elizabeth Davis and Chasen Davis welcomed son Jackson on 2/3/20. Elizabeth is assistant director of development at The Overlake School. The family lives in Issaquah, Wash. • Kate MacKinnon and Scott Rehnert were married 6/29/19 in Osterville, Mass., surrounded by many of their Elon friends. They live in Boston. • Ben Tario {mba} has been selected for the Sports Business Journal’s
2020 Forty Under 40 Class, which celebrates the best young talent in sports. He was one of 40 executives selected out of nearly 500 submissions for their hard work, accomplishments and aspirations. Ben is deputy commissioner and chief financial officer, business and legal affairs for the Atlantic Coast Conference.
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Lauren Alencewicz and Bill Powers were married
1/4/20 at Basking Ridge Country Club in New Jersey. There were more than 20 alumni in attendance, spanning from the Class of 2006 all the way to future membes of the Class of 2024. The couple met in 2018 at an Evening for Elon event in New York. That encounter led to what Bill describes as “a perfect first date” that started the love story they celebrated at their wedding. Bill works in advertising at McCann NY and Lauren is a teacher at Achievement First in Brooklyn. They live in New York City and are expecting their first child in June. • Janae Frazier and Allen Bowens were married on 7/7/20, in Columbia, S.C. Alumni in attendance included Eugene Daniel ’11, Kemi Olagbegi Weston ’12, Chelsea Yarborough ’12, Neima Abdulahi, Faith Clayton, Whitley Dozier, Brenna Humphries, Jess-Mara Jordan, Jaimie Metellus, Jack Minor, Kacey Minor, Khyandra Murrain and Brittany Washington {interactive media ’15}. Janae is
press secretary for the U.S. Senate. They live in Arlington, Va.
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REUNION Class of 2015’s fifth reunion committee cochairs LeeAnna Matarazzo,
Samantha Murray, Julie Rodriguez and Jordan Roman and committee members Miles Barkley, Odell Benton, Casey Brown, Conner Cook, Alex Dawson, Abby Dean, Megan Dreyer, Joe Duncan, Catherine Falvey, Lauren Forbis, Luke Ford, Carley Gaynes, Joe Incorvia, Brandon Joyner, Drew Kelly, Tom Lampl, Amanda Limoges, Jasmine Perry, Luke Raffa, Aarti Rishi, Kristin Ruffe, Kasey Sullivan, Kyle Swenson, Vaughn Vreeland, Martyna Wiacek, Miles Williams and Eliza Williams encourage the entire class
to celebrate Elon’s Homecoming & Reunion Weekend, Oct. 16–18. For more information, contact reunions@elon.edu.
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Sara Charbonnier is happy
to report she has completed three years working for the Peace Corps in Timor-Lester. She is now applying to graduate school and lives in Boston.
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Christina Byrd and Josiah
Hanko were married 8/31/19. Students in attendance included her brothers, Daniel Byrd ’22 and Joseph Byrd ’24. Christina is a tax accountant. She and Josiah live in Mebane, N.C. • In January, William Cohn received his master’s degree in international journalism from the University of London.
IN MEMORIAM Agnes Eason Langston ’45, Durham, N.C., 2/18/20.
Patricia Gates Myers ’52, Charlottesville, Va., 7/18/19.
Elinor Jean Argenbright Causey ’48, Towson, Md., 1/3/20.
Gilbert Cephas Brittle Jr. ’55, Bowling Green, Va., 3/10/20.
Marion Butler Chase Jr. ’48, Raleigh, N.C., 2/15/20. John L. Amick ’52, Burlington, N.C., 3/4/20. Allen Roger Gibbs ’52, Greensboro, N.C., 3/8/20.
Katie Langley Stone ’60, Greensboro, N.C., 3/30/20. James “Jim” Edward Hair ’62, Burlington, N.C., 3/17/20.
Lorraine “Lottie” George Groeller ’65, Burlington, N.C., 2/4/19. Richard Jurgen Gunkel ’65, Baltimore, Md., 10/25/16. Reginald “Reade” Allen ’67, Burlington, N.C., 12/1/19.
Harry “Earl” Murray Jr. ’62, Merlin, Md., 3/25/20.
Olivia Christian ’70, Hampton City, Va., 9/4/81.
John Robert “Bob” Leach ’63, Burlington, N.C., 2/21/20.
Barbara Ann Horner Pavlik ’71, Stoney Creek, N.C., 1/30/20.
Douglas W. Bagley ’80, Raleigh, N.C., 2/23/20. Melissa “Mel” Ann Miller Smith ’95, Lake Hopatcong, N.J., 2/18/20. Catharine “Catie” Matlack Drewry ’97, Fayetteville, N.C., 2/9/20. Christopher Henry Pearce g’12, Denver, N.C., 2/24/20. John B. Varney ’23, Washington, D.C., 3/6/20.
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CLASS NOTES
TURN YOURSELF IN! elon.edu/classnotes
Christina Byrd Hanko ’18, Josiah Hanko & friends
AMPLIFY YOUR CAREER
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with an Elon graduate degree
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56 of
The university community on campus and beyond came together to celebrate Elon Day on March 5. Here are some of the images that were shared on social media during the day using #ElonDay.
Office of Alumni Engagement PO Box 398 Elon, NC 27244 Toll Free: (877) 784-3566 elon.edu/alumni
{ President Connie Ledoux Book and other Elon faculty and staff members lit luminarias in May to honor members of the Class of , who could not return to campus due to the coronavirus pandemic. Online degree conferral ceremonies were held with formal Commencement ceremonies postponed until a future date. }
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