Elon News Network

09/22/2025

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09/22/2025

The Elon Town Council will now be giving annual bonuses to municipal staff members with college degrees that exceed the minimum requirements of their position. The bonuses will help recruiting become easier as the town competes with towns like Burlington that offer similar bonuses and have higher salaries due to larger tax bases.

“We have been working for the last several years on rewarding employees for going beyond the minimum,” Elon town manager Rich Roedner said. “We're working to try and identify those types of certificates or skill sets that are not just part of the everyday job, but mark somebody from being a step above deserving of a financial bonus.”

The Elon Town Council will now give out annual bonuses to any municipal staff member with a college degree that exceeds the minimum requirements of their position, one of many recruiting techniques that the town is employing to stay competitive with other communities. “We have been working fo...

09/22/2025

The Alamance-Burlington School System has been labeled low performing by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction for the first time since North Carolina began its current grading system in 2014. More than half of the district’s 36 schools received a D or F this year. The Early College at Alamance Community College stood out as the only school in the district to earn an A.

The Alamance-Burlington School System has been designated as “low performing.” This is the first time ABSS has received this designation since the Department of Public Instruction began using its A-F grading system in 2014. The grade identifies ABSS as low performing out of North Carolina’s 11...

09/22/2025

Around 40 students and community members attended a vigil for conservative activist Charlie Kirk hosted by Elon University’s College Republicans on Sept. 21 at Medallion Plaza. About 15 students protested the vigil at Speaker’s Corner and later marched to Medallion Plaza as the vigil wrapped up, wishing the attendees a “blessed night.”

Candles, flowers and American flags were strewn across a table set up at Medallion Plaza, honoring conservative activist Charlie Kirk during the College Republicans’ vigil for Kirk at Elon University. The Elon College Republicans hosted the event along with students planning to organize a Turning ...

09/21/2025

As student organizations prepare to host events and welcome new members, many have already been affected by the new funding model the Student Government Association is utilizing for funding requests. SGA receives a portion of the student activity fees students are charged to distribute to organizations. The funding request model was changed last spring to follow a quarterly system, where organizations will have to request money in advance for events and celebrations they wish to hold. The previous model allowed for organizations to request funds on a rolling basis.

As student organizations prepare to host events and welcome new members, many have already been affected by the new funding model the Student Government Association is utilizing for funding requests. SGA receives a portion of the student activity fees students are charged to distribute to organ...

09/21/2025

Music filled Medallion Plaza as two Salsa dancers counted out steps for the crowd as pairs of students followed along. Hips swayed and feet tapped along the brick as attendees danced. The dance lesson was part of Elon University’s Hispanic Heritage Month Kickoff event Sept. 19. Peiwei Cobo and James Cobo are dancers and instructors at Cobo Brothers Dance Company in Raleigh. “A lot of people do hear about it, but they don't get to actually experience it,” Peiwei said. “It is a big difference when you see it on social media, when you see other people doing it, then being a part of it.”

Music filled Medallion Plaza as two Salsa dancers counted out steps for the crowd as pairs of students followed along. Hips swayed and feet tapped along the brick as attendees danced. The dance lesson was part of Elon University’s Hispanic Heritage Month Kickoff event Sept. 19. Peiwei Cobo an...

09/21/2025

Elon University President Connie Book and members of the team involved with the potential merger with Queens University of Charlotte hosted a town hall for faculty and staff in Alumni Gym on Sept. 19.

Book clarified that if the merger is approved, Queens and Elon would retain their faculty, staff and programs, but the legal presiding body for Queens would be Elon.

“Queens has a full faculty, staff, and they have their own campus. They have undergraduate and graduate programs — they'll continue to have that,” Book said. “The legal entity will be Elon University. It becomes the umbrella organization over the two campuses, if the proposed merger is actualized next August, and that was predecided by the two boards of trustees.”

09/20/2025

Lowyalty Car Club, a lowriding group, has been cruising through Alamance County for twenty years. The president of the organization, Oscar Flores, is on a mission to break through the stereotypes that come with lowriding through community outreach.

“We are focused on lowriding, but we are also family,” Flores said.

Lowriding is a car culture, significant within Mexican-American culture, that involves customizing cars with hydraulics in order to move them up and down. To spectators, this might seem intriguing, but to Maria this is a way of life. Maria Leon and her husband Salvador are members of the Lowyalty Ca...

09/20/2025

Elon University men’s soccer team is zeroing in on a fresh start, following a year in which they went 10-7-1. Head coach Marc Reeves said in order to repeat last season’s strong performance, they must put aside any talk about the previous year. He acknowledged the team’s four-win improvement from the year before was something to be proud of, but emphasized the importance of handling expectations. “It’s a brand new team,” Reeves said. “If we talk about what we did last year and just expect that to replicate, it won’t be the case. You have to reset standards.”

Elon University men’s soccer team is zeroing in on a fresh start, following a year in which they went 10-7-1. Head coach Marc Reeves said in order to repeat last season’s strong performance, they must put aside any talk about the previous year. He acknowledged the team’s four-win improvement f...

09/19/2025

“Describe the Night” follows seven people through different eras across the Soviet Union and Russia from the 1920s to the 2010s. Director of the show and professor of theatre Kevin Otos said the show puts a large emphasis on truth and how different people perceive it.

“Describe the Night” will run with evening shows at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 3, 4, 6 and 7 and afternoon shows at 2:00 p.m. Oct. 4 and 5 in Roberts Studio Theatre in Scott Studios. Ticket reservations will be available on the Elon Performing Arts website on Sept. 26.

Audiences will grapple with the concept of truth and reality in Elon University’s fall play “Describe the Night.” “Describe the Night,” written by Rajiv Joseph, takes place across different periods of time, such as the 1920s Soviet Union and Russia in the 2010s. The show will run with...

09/19/2025

Elon University students leaders react to death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. These four student leaders spoke about the impact of gun control and how political violence affects those looking to share their opinions. President of Elon’s College Republicans and sophomore Andrew Cochran said that when he heard about Kirk’s death he was surprised. Cochran said that after seeing multiple notifications pop up on his phone during class, he had thought Kirk was only injured at first — his death came as a complete shock.

Conservative political activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed on Sept. 10 during a campus event at Utah Valley University. Kirk had built a reputation for traveling both across the United States and internationally to engage in debates at colleges and universities as well as starting Turning Poin...

09/19/2025

Elon University President Connie Book answered questions from Elon’s Student Government Association about the potential merger with Queens University on Sept. 18 and how it will affect sports, potential transfer students and staff. Book said this idea began at the beginning of this academic year as she was visiting other colleges and universities in the area. Book said she is looking to gauge more questions and feedback about this potential merger from students and staff. In addition to Book answering questions about the merger with Queens, Elon class of 2029 senators, president and treasurer were also sworn in at the meeting.

Elon University President Connie Book answered questions from Elon’s Student Government Association about the potential merger with Queens University on Sept. 18 and how it will affect sports, potential transfer students and staff. Book said this idea began at the beginning of this academic y...