UNDER THE OAKS The Magazine of Elon summer 2014 | Vol. 76, No. 3 The Magazine of Elon is published quarterly for alumni, parents and friends by the Office of University Communications. © 2014, Elon University ED I TO R
Keren Rivas ’04 D E SI G N ER
Garry Graham PH OTO G R A PH Y
Randy Piland Kim Walker Belk Library Archives and Special Collections ED I TO R I A L S TA FF
Holley Berry Katie DeGraff Philip Jones Roselee Papandrea Eric Townsend S T U D EN T CO N T R I B U TO R S
Erin M. Turner ’15 Kaitlin Dunn ’16 V I C E PR E SI D EN T, U N I V ER SI T Y CO M M U N I C AT I O NS
Daniel J. Anderson ED I TO R I A L O FFI C E S
The Magazine of Elon 2030 Campus Box Elon, NC 27244-2020 (336) 278-7415 elon.edu/magazine
“I wish you the fruits of your liberal arts education: Your own garden and the tools to tend it, the strength to be honest and unmerciful about what matters most to you and a community who shares with you the true currency of uncoolness.”
“I’m not asking you kids to change the whole world. But if you’re kind, you’re doing far more than you know. There’s nothing more powerful than kindness. If you’re kind to people, if you change one life because of how you treat someone, and if that person in turn is kind to someone else, that’s how this great spinning world of ours really changes.” —Elon parent, award-winning sportscaster and former professional tennis star Mary Carillo P’14 on May 24 during Elon’s 124th Commencement.
—Eboo Patel, founder and president of Interfaith Youth Core, challenging students to be “uncool” during Elon’s May 23 Baccalaureate address.
B OA R D O F T R US T EE S, C H A I R
Dr. William N.P. Herbert ’68
Charlottesville, Va.
ELO N A LU M N I B OA R D, PR E SI D EN T
Christian Wiggins ’03
Charlotte, N.C.
YO U N G A LU M N I CO U N C I L , PR E SI D EN T
Jennifer Hiltwine ’09 Sterling, Va.
PA R EN T S CO U N C I L , CO - PR E SI D EN T S
Owen & Beth Dugan P’15 P’16
Wellesley, Mass.
B OA R D O F V ISI TO R S, CO - C H A I R S
Russell R. Wilson P’86 & P. Scott Moffitt P’14
Burlington, N.C.
SCHO OL OF L AW ADV ISORY BOARD, CHAIR
David Gergen
Cambridge, Mass.
S C H O O L O F CO M M U N I C AT I O NS A D V IS O RY B OA R D, N AT I O N A L C H A I R
Brian Williams p’13
New Canaan, Conn.
S C H O O L O F CO M M U N I C AT I O NS A D V IS O RY B OA R D, C H A I R
Michael Radutzky P’12 P’17 Summit, N.J.
M A R T H A A N D SPEN C ER LO V E S C H O O L O F B USI N E SS A D V IS O RY B OA R D, C H A I R
William S. Creekmuir p’09 p’10
Atlanta, Ga.
PH O EN I X C LU B A D V IS O RY B OA R D, C H A I R
Mike Cross
Burlington, N.C.
4 the MAGAZINE of ELON
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT Six graduating seniors received Fulbright English Teaching Assistant grants in May. Mat Goldberg, a psychology major and Leadership Fellow, and Julia Okada, a history major and Teaching Fellow, will be going to South Korea. Eryn Gorang, a human services studies major and Honors Fellow, will be going to South Africa, while Lauren Kepke, an elementary and special education major, will be going to Guatemala, Nakhila Mistry, a mathematics and religious studies double major, to Sri Lanka, and Kyle Whitaker, an English major and Honors Fellow, to Malaysia. Two additional seniors, Cara McClain and Kyle Keith, and
an alumna, Katie Moran ’13, were named award alternates.
Jill Capotosto ’14, an environmental studies and strategic communications double major, received a Princeton in Asia fellowship and will be traveling to Vietnam to work with TRAFFIC, a nonprofit established to protect plants and wildlife from illegal trade. The program is funded by an independent nonprofit organization affiliated with
Princeton University that fosters understanding between Asia and the United States. Sixteen journalism students spurred Elon’s School of Communications to a Top 20 national finish in the 2013-14 Hearst Journalism Awards Program. Elon placed 14th nationwide, with category finishes of 14th in writing, 14th in photojournalism, 19th in broadcast news and 12th in multimedia. Elon Law’s student-led Diversity Week won first place in the annual Next Steps Diversity Challenge, which encourages law school leaders, including law students, to start or strengthen programs
that increase diversity in the educational pipeline to the legal profession. Student leaders Pedro Mantilla L’14, Braxton Medlin L’16 and Lani Wright L’15, who helped create the event, submitted the award proposal. Vital Signs, an Elon co-ed a capella group, has been invited to perform at Carnegie Hall on March 29. The group will join several other a capella ensembles for “Total Vocal” under the direction of Deke Sharon, producer of “The Sing Off” and vocal producer for “Pitch Perfect.” Vital Signs was contacted after concert organizers discovered one of the group’s YouTube videos.