Thursday, Oct. 23, students are welcome to participate in a Halloween Costume Swap Shop and S’mores event at the Colonnades fire pit from 7:30-9 p.m.

Global Fall Festival

The annual Global Fall Festival is on Friday, Oct. 24 from 4-5:30 p.m. in the Global quad. Stop by for fall crafts, food, music, Pelican’s and prizes at this great celebration of community.

Outdoor Movie Night

Monday, Oct, 27, East Neighborhood is hosting an Outdoor Movie Night – bring your blanket and friends and come enjoy snacks and a show from 7-9pm on the East quad lawn.

Pumpkin Carving & Painting

On Oct. 28 from 4-5:30 p.m. there will be pumpkin carving/painting in the Colonnades Neighborhood Tea Room.

Spooky Open Mic Night

Also on Oct. 28, Historic Neighborhood will host their annual Spooky Open Mic Night at 8 p.m. on the Mooney lawn.

Trick or Treat on Greek Street

Loy Center Neighborhood is hosting their annual Trick or Treat on Greek Street Wednesday, Oct. 29 from 6 to 8 p.m. Elon faculty and staff are invited to bring their children to Loy Center Neighborhood to trick or treat and enjoy Halloween activities sponsored by Fraternity and Sorority Life.

Some Station at Mill Point residents might receive a spooky sweet treat from staff reverse trick or treating (distributing goodies) on Oct. 29 – be sure to answer the door! The Crest Great Pumpkin carving will be on Thursday, Oct. 30 from 7-9pm in the Crest Clubhouse.

Residents in Oaks and Park Place can participate in a spooky scavenger hunt all day on Thursday, Oct. 30 for the chance to win fantastic prizes.

Halloween Fall Fest

On Oct. 31, Danieley Center Neighborhood will host a Halloween Fall Fest from 5- 8 p.m. All students are welcome to come enjoy free food truck treats, caramel apples, spooky activities, photo booth, potion making and more!

Screams of joy rang through a residence hall Friday, Aug. 22 as Samantha Probst ’29, her roommate Leah Rappaport ’29 and Jonas Hinsdale ’29 came together in a big hug – Probst telling Hinsdale he’s the reason she and Rappaport are now roommates.

“Jonas is one of my best friends from home,” said Rappaport, who is from Westchester, New York. “I knew I wanted to room with somebody who is also interested in the theatre field, and I said, ‘Jonas, do you know anyone in your major who I could room with?’ and he was like, ‘Actually, this girl Sam is perfect.”

Hinsdale connected the two young women, and they clicked immediately.

“From our first conversation, I just knew she was the one,” said Probst, who is a Vocal Scholar from Redondo Beach, California. “She is just so joyful and made me so excited to move to campus and live with her.”

Achieve your dreams

Now all three students are members of 51������’s Class of 2029, who moved to campus on Aug. 22, coming from 43 states and 15 countries, including Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Panama.

The three first-year students are also part of the Performing Arts Living Learning Community (LLC), one of the more than a dozen LLCs at Elon where students live in the same residential area, interacting academically and socially with each other and with faculty that share the same passion, interest, or academic focus.

“When we found out we were living on the same floor, we were so excited,” said Hinsdale, who will be majoring in music theatre. “I’m so excited for our next four years together, and we’re going to have a blast because we’re already such good friends.”

All three students chose Elon for the performing arts, with the university recently ranked #4 “Best College Theatre” by the Princeton Review and named one of the ’25 Best Drama Schools of 2025” by The Hollywood Reporter.

“I knew about the alumni and its reputation and specifically the small class sizes, and the opportunities that came with it,” said Probst, who will major in music theatre. “But then, when I did more digging and research on the school itself, I realized how many opportunities there are with study abroad and having a double major or minor.”

Probst’s parents, Christie and John Probst P’29, say they will be sad to see her leave home but know she will thrive at Elon.

“She’s such a sweet, good kid, and we’ve thoroughly enjoyed having her home, but we’re also really excited for her to take the next step, and we know that Elon’s going to be a great place for her to do that and grow as a person and excel and hopefully achieve all of her dreams,” said John.

No place like Elon

As the university welcomes more than 1,500 new students for the 2025-26 academic year, Elon will now have representation from all 50 U.S. states, but some students like Praise Ogundeji ’29 are not coming from far away. She moved to Elon on Friday from Greensboro, North Carolina, and says, after her first tour at the university, she didn’t want to go anywhere else.

“My tour guide was an eye-opener, she just made me fall in love with the school,” said Ogundeji, who plans to major in international business.

Ogundeji is part of the African Diaspora LLC, which is open to students of all academic interests and racial/ethnic backgrounds. It is the perfect fit for students interested in the expansive, global and interconnected nature of the lived experiences of those who have ancestral ties to Africa.

“The whole experience is exciting to me,” said Ogundeji. “Decorating my dorm, meeting new people and our activities here.”

Elon requires students to live on campus for the first two years of school with first-year students living in one of five residential neighborhoods: Colonnades Neighborhood, Danieley Neighborhood, East Neighborhood, Global Neighborhood and Historic Neighborhood.

The roommate connection

Isabelle Drake ’29 and her roommate, Kylie Mazzei ’29 connected online before coming to Elon, bonding over the color theme of a future room in the Historic Neighborhood.

“We both said blue and white, so I think that was a big green flag,” said Drake, who is from Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, and is a Change Maker Scholar.

Before Move-In Day, Drake visited Mazzei in her hometown of Essex Fells, New Jersey, where they attended a concert together and were able to bond.

“We hit it off. It was a good connection,” said Mazzei, who plans to study elementary and special education.

Drake is planning to study in the School of Communications, exploring fields in broadcast meteorology or sports reporting. She was drawn to the university for the study abroad opportunities and Elon’s unique Winter Term in January. Julie Drake P’29, Isabelle’s mother, praised the Move-In Day process and is excited for her daughter, her first child leaving for college.

“It looks like the entire community is out. I’m impressed. They really have pulled all the stops out,” said Julie, about Move-In Day. “It’s been a whirlwind. It’s an exciting time for her. It’s definitely going to be difficult for us at home, and we’ll definitely miss her. But we have high hopes. It’s going to be an awesome year.”

Julie says the college selection and touring process was almost like “a full-time job,” but after touring Elon, she knew it was the right place for her daughter.

“We toured a very large university, and I remember they said, ‘If you go three blocks that way, you’ll find that’ and ‘Oh, and there’s a transit bus, you’ll want to use that.’ I just felt so overwhelmed, and I was just thinking, ‘I’m not sure this is the right fit for Isabelle,’” said Julie. “And then we came here, everything is walkable, and it’s beautiful. On the tour, I feel like the tour guide was hugging every third person. You could tell it was a close-knit community.”

While Drake and Mazzei didn’t know each other before Elon, roommates Alessio Vaccaro ’29 and Will Saratella ’29 went to high school together in Needham, Massachusetts.

“I committed to Elon and Will was thinking about it, and I was trying to get him to commit,” said Vaccaro, who plans to study finance. “I’m most excited about meeting new people and getting into classes and seeing what it’s like. It will be a cool, new change-up from high school.”

And as students began to unpack their rooms and say goodbye to family, they are reflecting on their new home and their decision to attend Elon.

“I really wanted that one-on-one personalized experience, and I knew that I would only get that at Elon,” said Probst. “It just seemed to check off every box at the end. It was just the perfect fit, and I made the perfect choice.”

On Oct. 28, Historic Neighborhood will host their annual Spooky Open Mic Night at 8 p.m. on the Mooney lawn. Residents at Station at Mill Point might also experience some reverse trick or treating as staff members bring around something extra sweet Monday night.

On Oct. 29 from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. there will be pumpkin carving/painting in the Colonnades Neighborhood Tea Room.

On Oct. 30 at 10:30 a.m. the Station at Mill point Donuts at the Depot will have a spooky and delicious theme.

Loy Center Neighborhood is hosting their annual Trick or Treat on Greek Street Wednesday, Oct. 30 from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Elon faculty and staff are invited to bring their children to Loy Center Neighborhood to trick or treat.

On Wednesday, Oct. 30, East Neighborhood is partnering with several local elementary schools and after school programs to host trick or treating from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. East residents can come play games with kid in the East intersection.

On Oct. 30, Danieley Center Neighborhood will host a Halloween party from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. in Daniel Commons.

The annual Global Neighborhood Fall Fest falls on Halloween (Oct. 31) this year – come out from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. for a great celebration of community.

On Nov. 2 at 7 p.m., Oaks Neighborhood will host a spooky movie night in McCoy Commons clubhouse.

On Sunday, Nov. 3, join the Historic Neighborhood for s’mores at the fire pit at 7 p.m., followed by a dramatic reading of The Raven at 7:30 p.m. by faculty in residence Kevin Otos.

Related Articles

• ‘Dream big, keep going and sing out’: Elon celebrates Class of 2024 at 134th Commencement
• By the Numbers: Elon’s undergraduate Class of 2024

Commencement Starts With Planning

Early on May 24, 2024 cattle gates set up days before down North Williamson Avenue created a safe and logical walkway towards Schar Center, an early processional for the 51������ graduates ahead of the 134th commencement ceremony.

Teams of officers and sheriffs from multiple units, including 51������, Town of Elon, Burlington, Gibsonville, Alamance County and more guided people and cars.

“If you plan for the best and plan for the worst you have no surprises – that’s the name of law enforcement,” says Josh Tillotson, captain for Elon Campus Safety and Police.

He says that even for large events like commencement, personnel for events can stay calm and level-headed because of the months of planning and many hours of practice.

“We know how to work together, and I can rely on other departments within Elon to do their jobs because they’re good at their jobs,” said Tillotson.

Collaboration was on full display during commencement, both inside and outside of the venue. Around 100 student life staff members checked graduates into the practice gym and guided guests through the halls, the tunnels and the graduation ceremony. These staff members and others organized a space in the practice gym at Schar, where the students were treated to special motivational talks from Elon President Connie Ledoux Book; Jon Dooley, vice president for student life and associate professor of education; and keynote speaker, alumna Ginna Claire Mason ’13  ahead of the ceremony.

A Full-Circle Event

For many of the graduates, the people working the check-in lines were those they had known throughout their time at Elon. One of those checking in students was Felicia Massey ‘85, program assistant for the Danieley Center Neighborhood, who says she has worked nearly every graduation during the 35 years she has worked at Elon.

“What I enjoy most about graduation is you look at the thousands of faces that you may not know and then there’s that student you always worked with for their three or four years at Elon,” said Massey. “You’ve watched them develop professionally, and that brings a lot of joy to you as a supervisor.”

Massey is not only a proud graduate of Elon, she is also a proud mother of two graduates, one in business and the other in teaching education. She expressed gratitude for Elon providing a welcoming place for her to work and flexibility to support her family.

“I have friendships with my colleagues, and we know we can bring big events like commencement together – if we don’t know who to go to, if we don’t have the answers, there’s always someone here who has the answers,” said Massey.

For Cara Plasencia, commencement symbolizes an opportunity to usher students, literally and metaphorically, into the next phases of their lives. Plasencia is the associate director of counseling services and worked at the check-in tables before graduation and in the aisles afterwards.

“We’ve helped these students and supported them since they first came to Elon. It’s a great honor to see them walk the stage and get to this point in their journey throughout their college career.”

– Cara Plasencia, associate director of counseling services

Tillotson has been at Elon for nearly 17 years and offered a similar reflection. He says he has enjoyed staying connected with students from their first year and then crossing the stage. In their pre-planning for commencement, Elon Campus Safety and Police is largely responsible for coordinating logistics related to parking, accessibility and foot traffic, while also being aware of and planning the prevention of any disruptions that may occur.

Scott Stevens ‘03 is the director of landscaping and transportation and oversees a number of roles for commencement, including handing out saplings, an endearing tradition at Elon that began in 1991. The saplings need to be ordered one year in advance to give them time to grow.

“We have a sense of accomplishment that undergraduate students completed their degree and used our facilities for four-to-five years,” Steven said. “We got another 1500 students through the door.”

An All-Campus Ceremony

Stevens also remarked on the “all-campus” effort to deliver a memorable graduation ceremony and discussed the small details that make an event successful, from carpentry to chairs to ordering saplings. Between graduations, facilities, student life and multiple other divisions efficiently clean and rearrange the space to offer the next graduation ceremony as clean and flawless of a ceremony as the first.

Plascencia said that this graduating class, many of whom entered college in Fall 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, were deprived of some of the rich traditions afforded to other classes in efforts to maintain a healthy and safe campus.

“Many in this class likely did not have a high school graduation either, so I think for this class in particular, this is a really special time for them and I think we just do a really job hosting commencement,” added Plascencia.

For many employees and faculty at 51������, graduation can be the closure of a full circle and a testament to the efforts they put in to create a welcoming campus for first-year students and every year after. This particular graduation is also a testament to the resilience of a 2024 class that largely did not have an in-person graduation ceremony in high school due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, but who, unlike many first-year peers around the country, were able to convene in-person in fall after careful and intense planning across personnel at Elon.

Resilience

During her address to the 2024 graduating class, Elon President Connie Ledoux Book connected the challenges faced by Isabella Cannon ’24, who graduated 100 years ago after a devastating fire that rewrote the history of 51������, and the pandemic faced by this graduating class.

The metaphor is apt for this 134th class and for the dedication of Elon employees. No matter the challenge, Elon is up for the task.

Exceptional student employees and staff members were recognized during the annual residence life awards on Wednesday, May 3.

The evening included opening remarks from President Connie Ledoux Book and Vice President of Student Life Jon Dooley.

Student Staff Member of the Year (by neighborhood)

Student Staff Member of the Year is awarded to at least one staff member from each residential neighborhood who has demonstrated excellent teamwork, dedication and positivity in their role.

Student Staff Member of the Year Recipients

• Colonnades – Jasper Serenity Myers
• Danieley – Angel Gutierrez
• East – Lucia Gasalla Plaza
• Global – Bethany Griffin
• Historic – Larissa Moelber and James Seagriff
• Loy – Wise Halverson
• Oaks & Park Place – Ariana Wilson
• Station at Mill Point & Crest – Megan Curling

NRHH Rising Diamond Award

This award recognizes a Residence Life staff member who shows us that leadership inside and outside the department is crucial to continued growth in the 51������ experience. The recipient of this award has demonstrated that their skill set learned here at 51������ has positively impacted their community and will continue to impact whatever community joined after positively. The official symbol of NRHH is a diamond –the world’s most precious gem- to signify the value and beauty one finds in their experiences.

• Delyla Makki

Student Leadership and Community Development Award

This award highlights a student staff member who demonstrated extraordinary leadership in their role and promoted community development by challenging and caring for residents through their Elon experiences.

• Cole Meixsell

Student Employee Excellence Award

This award highlights an hourly student employee who has displayed extraordinary dedication, leadership and service to their neighborhood and/or the Office of Residence Life. They consistently positively impact their neighborhood/office staff and community by going above and beyond what is asked in completing their work responsibilities.

• Carson Pridgen

Julie Justice Faculty Engagement Award

In memoriam of Julie Justice’s depth of service and engagement with her residents during her time as a faculty-in-residence in the Oaks neighborhood, this award is meant to honor a faculty member who has contributed to enhancing the residential campus initiative by engaging with students within the residential community, and broadly developing connections within the neighborhood to enhance the student residential experience.

• Sandy Marshall

Program of the Year

This award highlights a neighborhood program, event, or series that promotes active engagement of residents with faculty and staff over a topic that promotes the intellectual theme of the neighborhood.

• Neighborhood: Danieley
• Program Name: BJs in PJs

Program Assistant of the Year

This award honors a program assistant in Residence Life who utilizes exceptional organization, interpersonal, and customer service skills.

• Mary Harding

Professional Staff Member of the Year (by position)

This award recognizes a professional staff member of the Residence Life team who has demonstrated mentorship, community building and professionalism throughout the 2022-2023 academic year.

• Community Director – Tanner Gill

Community Partnership Award

The Community Partnership Award is presented to an individual who has continuously partnered and supported throughout the school year with Campus Safety and Police.

• Mariann King
• Antonella Tommasi

This methodology is what is known as a “culture of assessment.” Assessment is a method by which to assist in strategic planning; assessment elucidates the pathways in which to achieve an organization’s strategic plan. Strine-Patterson (2022) shares that strategic planning is a complex form of assessment. It creates a goal structure that organizes more specific goals within broader goals. It avoids staff acting alone, being isolated from larger assessment efforts and focusing on narrow issues and personal agendas.

Danieley’s assessment efforts provide evidence as to how we are achieving our priorities, goals, outcomes and objectives, which, hearkening to the image of Matryoshka dolls, in turn provides evidence for and support to how Residence Life, then Campus Life, then Student Life, and then Elon is doing the same.

Where is Danieley in its assessment process currently?

In the multilevel assessment process (MAP) outlined by Strine-Patterson (2022), there are multiple concurrent and interlocking cycles in the assessment process. Currently, Danieley is in the sixth stage of its MAP, “Interpret results and Identify Improvement Opportunities” (Strine-Patterson, 2022, p. 65). We have collected data that is informing our praxis (outlined below), and we will use what we have learned in order to inform the next step of the MAP, “Departmental Educational and Operational Plans” (which you will recognize as our Neighborhood Plans).

You will notice that in stages three through five of the MAP, Danieley will have planned measurements and data collection efforts, implemented these methods, and analyzed the data (Strine-Patterson, 2022, p. 65). Danieley uses a mid-fall survey administered to current Danieley residents in October, the Fall 2022 Student Satisfaction Survey that is administered to more than 6,000 students by the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment in October, Danieley program attendance data, and other measurements to gain valuable insight into how Danieley is working to achieving its goals.

What are we seeing?

Being transparent with our data and related insights is important to us for a few reasons:

1. Evaluation. Sharing what we know allows us to reflect critically on what programs and services we offered and to make any changes that impact what we will continue to offer.
2. Accountability. Sharing what we know holds us accountable to providing the best programs and services possible. If we say we will make a change, you can trust that the change is data-driven.
3. Empowerment. Sharing what we know lets students know that we approach our work with a dynamic and humble spirit in tune with what students want and/or need. It lets students know that we are listening and acting, and it signals that we are co-creating their experience with them and not for them.

With this in mind, here are selected data we want to foreground*:

• Fall 2022 programs/opportunities overview:
  • Total offered: 38 (average 3 per week)
  • Total educational programs: 19
  • Total social programs: 19
  • Total campus or community collaborations: 7
• Fall 2022 programs/opportunities attendance:
  • Total attendance: 1,087 (average 29 per program)
  • Total individual Danieley residents who attended: 316 (47.88% of neighborhood total)
    • Overall, residents are attending in expected demographic proportion with one exception (e.g., apartment residents comprise 34.42% of our attendees and similarly comprise 34.15% of the neighborhood population)
      • Residents who identify as female are more likely to attend than those who identify as male (11.03% more likely)
      • Residents who live in apartments are very marginally more likely to attend than those who live in flats (1.20% more likely)
      • Residents who are incoming students (in their first year of college) are attending at the same rate as residents who are returning students (incoming students are 0.12% more likely to attend)
      • Residents whose academic major is undecided are both less likely to attend (10.39% of attendees but 13.40% of neighborhood) and also are considerably less likely to attend than those who have declared their academic major (33.45% less likely)
  • Total individual Danieley residents who attended multiple times: 170 (55.19% of residents)

We also have an executive summary of data from our mid-fall survey, which you can read on our neighborhood webpage.

In our 2022-2023 neighborhood plan, we declared four goals based on our observations from the 2021-2022 academic year. We are pleased to announce that we have met all goals where possible, as noted below. Our achievements in goals 1 and 2 are marginal, though our achievement in goal 3 is significant:

1. To increase incoming student engagement
   1. We have engaged approximately 0.21% more than this time last year
2. To increase male resident engagement
   1. We have engaged approximately 1.95% more than this time last year
3. To increase repeat resident engagement
   1. We have engaged approximately 22.65%
4. To establish a living learning community (LLC)
   1. We will revisit this goal once the 2030 Residential Campus Plan is complete

What will we do with what we have learned?

We have many insights from what we have learned. We are eager to roll out new initiatives as soon as possible, though we acknowledge that some initiatives may take more time and thought. We have developed an action plan, which distinguishes between short-term, mid-term, and long-term action items. You can read our action plan on our neighborhood webpage.

References

Strine-Patterson, H. (2022). Assessment is a leadership process: The multilevel assessment process. New Directions for Student Services, 2022, 61-76. doi: 10.1002/ss.20429

*All data collection has been reviewed and approved by 51������’s Institutional Review Board.

Between meeting new roommates, resident assistants, orientation leaders, hallmates, classmates, professors, club representatives and others, the sheer number of introductions can become overwhelming!

Danieley Neighborhood and Residence Life know how important it is at 51������ to create and foster meaningful relationships with students. We also know how critical it is for staff and faculty, who are key supports for students in residential neighborhoods, to be visible and available to students. We know that going beyond surface-level interactions and creating ways for students to engage and to relate with us in personal and meaningful ways is a clear path toward fostering mentoring relationships, which is a hallmark of Elon. We want to share pieces of ourselves in order to connect with residents in meaningful ways.

Tusky is Missing!

We brainstormed ways to stand out amongst the tidal wave of introductions, and we thought– what if a live-action Clue game could be combined with a get-to-know-you activity?

We knew we had something exciting on our hands. Tusky the elephant, our neighborhood mascot and lovable stuffed animal, was the perfect rallying point to be the center of Danieley’s very own “WhoDANit?,” in which Tusky mysteriously disappears from his home in the Danieley Neighborhood Office the night of check-in. Who could stand to think our Tusky could be in trouble?!

We enlisted the help of our student office assistant, Carson Pridgen ’23, to act as Danieley’s neighborhood detective. In order to investigate all leads on Tusky’s disappearance, Detective Carson needs to interview all the folks who may have had access to Tusky when Tusky went missing. The suspects are:

Community Director Tanner Gill                 

Graduate Apprentice Aly Weaver

Faculty Director Paula DiBiasio

Program Assistant Joy Robertson

I Think I Can Help!

You think you can help us find Tusky?! Please tell us what you may know! You can watch Detective Carson’s interviews with the suspects on Danieley’s Instagram, . You can watch them beginning Tuesday, August 23 until Tuesday, August 30, at which point Detective Carson’s case will close and the truth will be revealed!

Submit your tips to Detective Carson if you think you know WhoDANit! Any current Elon student (not just Danieley residents) can fill out to cast their vote by Tuesday, August 30 at 10:00 p.m.

Anyone who guesses WhoDANit? correctly will be entered into a raffle drawing for one $50 Amazon gift card. Results will be announced Wednesday, August 31 on Danieley’s Instagram.

Good luck, and thank you in advance for helping us find our Tusky!

“The Danieley Difference”

We call our new theme “The Danieley Difference” because we want our residents not only to grow in their understanding of self and others in regards to difference and identity while here, but we also want them to be inspired to use what they learn to make The Danieley Difference, or a continued legacy of DEI praxis in their future communities and in their future work as global leaders.

Danieley’s neighborhood theme, which guides its curricular programming, has remained largely unchanged since 2013. Its traditional focus on civic engagement and leadership is not lost in this new iteration, however. Civic engagement and leadership are crucial elements under the umbrella of DEI work, and students will continue to engage with these concepts through a DEI lens.

A Top-Down Vision

Our shift to DEI work is not made in isolation or without purpose. Our work is a magnification or funneling of the broader charge from 51������’s institutional plans.

Elon’s strategic plan for 2030, Boldly Elon, explicitly aligns the innovative work Elon is currently doing and planning to do with its commitment to building and fostering more diverse, equitable and inclusive communities. Danieley believes that communities that celebrate and engage with difference directly create communities that foster personal well-being, as stated in Theme 2 of the plan – thrive.

The Division of Student Life models and adapts its work from Boldly Elon. Of Student Life’s Themes and Areas of Focus for 2020-2025, Danieley’s theme aligns itself most saliently with Theme 3: Inclusive Excellence, Theme 4: Wellness and Well-Being, Theme 5: Vibrant Residential Campus and Theme 6: Civic Engagement.

Residence Life, a subsidiary of Student Life, embodies a unique positioning as an academic and residential bridge for students, which lends our work in Danieley to creating curricular pedagogies that complement students’ classroom learning. Based on Residence Life’s Sophomore Community Development Model, and based on a thematic and programmatic benchmark of both first-year and also other sophomore neighborhood communities at Elon, our team in Danieley observed an opportunity to reposition its focus on students’ identity development, both on a personal level but also at group and community levels.

Innovative Programming

Our philosophy toward DEI praxis in a Residence Life programmatic lens is to invite students to DEI development in a fun, dialectical environment in which students co-generate learning. Our belief is that “shaming” others into DEI learning is quite detrimental to students and to the community, and learning is most impactful when knowledge is openly shared and processed in a vulnerable and courageous environment.

In the year ahead, we plan to program around the , as they provide a helpful framework for foundational reflection about identity. We also plan to challenge students to think of identity in terms and language that go beyond the Big 8. Below is a shortlist of some of our favorite programs we have planned for students this year:

• Danieley Coffee, where we gather every Friday morning, 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. to socialize, foster social support networks, and connect with campus and community partners in informal learning.
• U.S. Citizenship Trivia, where we test students’ knowledge on the U.S. citizenship naturalization process, challenge myths and misconceptions about immigration, and learn about related current events affecting people worldwide.
• Stonewall Splatter Art, where we learn about the 1969 Stonewall Riots and channel our own anger or stress into cathartic displays of art by throwing our “bricks” (sponges soaked in paint) at canvases.
• Music Bingo, where we specifically celebrate black musical artists during Black History Month and test students’ knowledge of music and pop culture in a beloved cultural game, Bingo.
• DIY Astrology Birth Charts, where we create artistic renderings of our birth charts, learn about astrology (is it pseudoscience, fact, or both?!), and learn about others’ zodiacal identities in a fun way.
• Second Chance Prom, where we invite students to celebrate the end of the year in a high-school throwback! Born from the desire to give students whose proms were impacted by COVID-19 a second chance, we extend our prom to those who dream of other second chances at prom– those who could not afford prom wear during high school but now can, those who are queer but were not “out” or were not comfortable or safe going with someone they loved in high school, those who were caretakers at home during high school, those who needed to work a nightshift to help at home during high school, and many others.

What Else is New?

• To better align ourselves with Elon, Student Life and Residence Life, we created new mission, vision and DEI statements.
• To better represent the beautiful, natural environment of Danieley, we created a new neighborhood logo.
• We welcome Paula DiBiasio, who served as faculty in residence for Danieley in 2021-2022, to the faculty director role! We also welcome Aly Weaver, who is our new graduate apprentice through the Master of Higher Education program! Lastly, we welcome Joy Robertson, who is joining us as our new program assistant!

To Learn More

To learn more about Danieley and our plans for the year ahead, please visit our website to view our neighborhood plan and other information. For more detailed inquiries, please contact Community Director Tanner Gill or Faculty Director Paula DiBiasio.

Carrier joins Elon to help lead the efforts to enhance living and learning at Elon, a signature experience at the university and an important priority in the new Boldly Elon strategic plan.

Carrier has worked at Pitzer College, a residential liberal arts college that is part of the Claremont Colleges Consortium, in a variety of residence life positions since 2014.  Previously she worked at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, and started her career at Pitzer.  Originally from Wisconsin, Carrier earned her bachelor’s degree in Spanish at the University of Wisconsin – Madison and her master’s degree in higher education and student affairs at Indiana University.

In her leadership roles, Carrier ran a 3-year effort to develop and implement a co-curriculum that brings class-based structure to student learning outside of the classroom, aligning residence life and university priorities. She led a Racial Justice Policies departmental group in creating a new Bias Education and Community Response Team to address bias and hate incidents on Pitzer’s campus, and worked on shared governance structures to better support staff in the community. Carrier helped six affinity groups secure residential space for gathering and growing a sense of belonging on the residential campus.

Assistant Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Campus Life Eleanor Finger said Carrier is “student-centered, able to build cohesive, relationally-focused teams, and someone who values strong campus partnerships to get important work done.”

In her leadership role at Elon, Carrier will connect the residential campus experience to university and community priorities, continue to strengthen faculty engagement with out-of-class student experiences, and will help all students, in their diverse identities, feel at home, empowered, and supported while living on campus. Carrier will provide key strategic leadership for implementing a new 10-year plan to advance living and learning as it aligns with Boldly Elon goals for building a healthier and more diverse, equitable, and inclusive community in a vibrant residential campus environment.

“I’m thrilled to join the Elon community to create supportive and impactful residential experiences for all students,” Carrier said. “After working at a small residential college in California for 10 years, my family and I will be relocating this summer to bring my passion for residence life and student affairs to a new campus on a new coast.”

Carrier was selected for the role following the departure of MarQuita Barker, who departed Elon to become the vice president for student development at Knox College.

Participants will answer questions about each of the four Winter Term themes — health, intercultural engagement, media and politics — among other topics. All who participate in and complete the game in full will receive a voucher good for one free item on the coffee side of the Oak House.

Prizes in the form of Visa gift cards and Oak House branded glasses or coffee cups will be awarded to the top three finishers.

Anyone interested in participating should .