At the encouragement of his Franciscan community, Associate Chaplain for Catholic Life Father Peter Tremblay began to consider pursuing an advanced degree.

“They said I loved learning, reading, and constantly expanding my mind,” Tremblay said.

His fellow friars recognized preaching as one of Tremblay’s gifts and talents, which led him to the Doctor of Ministry in Preaching (DMin) program at the Aquinas Institute of Theology located in Saint Louis, Missouri.  The program’s integrative principles would allow him to hone his skill in preaching to the students at 51±ŹÁÏÍű as well as teaching homiletics to seminarians and other priests.

The process was not easy for Tremblay. In addition to still serving the students and university community at Elon full-time, he had to reframe his mindset to take on a full academic workload.

“I had planned to do three hours of reading, writing or studying each evening. I spent almost all of my free time working towards this degree,” he said. On weekends or days off, he would spend even more time studying.

In addition to the normal academic semesters, he took two summers to research and prepare for his thesis.

When it became time to choose a topic for his thesis, Tremblay decided to research Catholic Social Teaching. Throughout his years at Elon, he has mentored many students through conversations about meaning, purpose and human dignity. This has affected his overall approach to ministry and leadership and led him to deepen his knowledge of Catholic Social Teaching.

His thesis project was the creation of a conversational podcast with Gen Z students. He asked current Elon students Amelia Totaro ’27 and Nick Brillo ’28 to participate as partners on the podcast, allowing them to share their own thoughts and opinions on a variety of topics, including a preferential option for the poor and care of creation. Titled Peace and Good, Tremblay’s hope for listeners of the podcast was to engage and be informed on how their personal decisions can affect the common good.

“I’m most proud of the dozens of hours that my students volunteered in helping me create the podcast. They did a lot of work and that means so much. Even my thesis advisors were amazed to read about how many hours my students put in to help me accomplish the podcast,” Tremblay shared.

After Tremblay’s successful defense of his thesis and graduation, he is more confident than ever in his preaching and ministerial abilities, whereas he felt previously that he relied just on experience and intuition. After overcoming all of his hurdles, Tremblay shared his best advice for anyone facing a new challenge: “Take things one day at a time. Do at least something every day towards your goal. Great achievement is built on consistency and not talent. Be sure that you know why you are doing this, but be open to your reason changing.”

Assistant Teaching Professor of Economics Devon Hawkins about the cost of data storage following the social media app Snapchat announcing it would begin charging some users for its in-app storage.

The app announced last September that it would begin charging users for its in-app storage called “Memories” when usage exceeds five gigabytes. Anyone over that threshold was notified and given a year of temporary storage. The article highlights how its causing some users to lose access to imporant life milestones and memories.

“People think cloud storage is this invisible thing floating in the sky,” said Hawkins. “Those servers live in massive data centers that require land, buildings, electricity, cooling systems, engineering, cybersecurity and thousands of people to keep everything running. That infrastructure isn’t free, and eventually someone must pay for it.”

The journalist encouraged the reader to identify their expected walking speed based on age and sex by posting a to a systematic review on normative values for comfortable walking speed in adults that Andrews, Vallabhajosula, Boise, and another colleague published in the Journal of Physiotherapy in 2023: “Normal Gait Speed Varies by Age and Sex but not by Geographical Region: A Systematic Review.”

Viral myocarditis is a potentially serious condition in which a viral infection triggers excessive inflammation that damages the heart. When the body detects the virus, it activates an immediate defense system called the innate immune response. That response is necessary for controlling the infection, but if it is too strong, lasts too long or occurs at the wrong time; the resulting inflammation can also damage heart tissue. Their project seeks to understand why the immune response sometimes protects the heart and, at other times, contributes to injury.

A mathematical model allows Ryu and Rivera-Serrano to create a simplified, virtual representation of what is happening inside the infected heart in ways that are currently impossible to achieve using biology and experiments alone. They will use equations to describe how the amount of virus changes over time, how different heart and immune cells respond, how those cells communicate through signaling molecules, and how those interactions influence inflammation and tissue damage.

“Our goal is to develop a mathematical model that integrates several biological processes occurring during viral myocarditis, including viral replication, infection and death of heart muscle cells, activation of antiviral defenses, recruitment of immune cells, inflammatory signaling and longer-term tissue damage,” said Ryu, associate professor of mathematics.

This will be a highly interdisciplinary project. Ryu, as a principal investigator, will lead the development, simulation and mathematical analysis of the model, while Rivera-Serrano, as a co-principal investigator, will provide expertise in virology, cell biology and innate immunity and will lead the experimental component.

“The mathematical and laboratory work will inform one another—experimental findings will help us make the model more biologically realistic, while predictions from the model will help us decide which biological interactions and hypotheses should be tested in the laboratory with undergraduate researchers here at Elon,” Ryu said.

The project combines computational research, led by Ryu, with hands-on laboratory experiments, led by Rivera-Serrano.

“In the laboratory, we will grow heart and immune cells to examine how viral infection changes the behavior and biochemical signals produced and received by these distinct cell types,” Rivera-Serrano said. “We will measure outcomes such as viral infection and replication, cell survival or death, and the production of antiviral and inflammatory signaling molecules”.

These experiments will provide currently unavailable data that can be incorporated into the mathematical model and used to evaluate whether the model accurately reflects biological behavior. The process will also work in the other direction: if the model predicts that a particular cell type, signaling molecule or time point has an especially strong effect on inflammation, they can design experiments to test that prediction. Rather than treating the laboratory and mathematical components as separate projects, Ryu and Rivera-Serrano see them as a continuous feedback loop.

This research is important because the body needs a strong enough response to control the virus, but excessive or prolonged inflammation can weaken the heart, interfere with its electrical activity, and contribute to heart failure or other serious complications. Although many aspects of viral myocarditis have been studied, it remains difficult to understand how the different cardiac and immune cells communicate and how their interactions collectively shape disease progression over time.

“By combining mathematical modeling with laboratory experiments, we can gain insights into the immune response that neither approach could achieve independently,” Ryu said. “This allows us to integrate existing knowledge, identify the most influential biological mechanisms, and determine which questions are the most important to investigate experimentally. Ultimately, our goal is to provide researchers with a better roadmap for understanding when inflammation is protective and when it begins to damage the heart. That knowledge could guide future studies aimed at developing safer and more effective treatments for viral myocarditis.”

By the end of the project, Ryu and Rivera-Serrano hope to have developed and experimentally evaluated a mathematical framework that explains how viral replication, antiviral immunity, inflammatory signaling, and communication among heart and immune cells shape the progression of viral myocarditis.

Undergraduate research will be a central component to this project. Students from biology, mathematics, engineering and related STEM disciplines will be able to contribute according to their interests and expertise while also learning how researchers communicate and collaborate across disciplinary boundaries.

Students may help review scientific literature, design the model, estimate biological parameters, write and analyze computer simulations, conduct cell biology and biochemical experiments, analyze experimental data and compare laboratory findings with model predictions. They will also gain experience communicating their work through research presentations, national conferences and scientific publications.

“A particularly valuable aspect of the project is that students will not be limited to one narrow role,” Rivera-Serrano said. “A biology student may learn how experimental observations are converted into equations, while a mathematics or engineering student may learn how assumptions in a model correspond to actual cellular processes. Learning to communicate across disciplines is one of the most valuable skills students can develop for today’s biomedical research, where many important problems require expertise from multiple fields.”

Olivia Cox, assistant professor of education in reading/literacy in the Dr. Jo Watts Williams School of Education at 51±ŹÁÏÍű, published research in the peer-reviewed journal Education Policy Analysis Archives, a top open-access venue in the field of education policy.

The article is titled “Curriculum, professional development, and leadership: The ‘pillars’ in action at a rural elementary school working to improve reading instruction.” It examines how educators, administrators and university researchers collaborated to implement state-mandated practices for teaching reading. Findings emphasize the need to focus on organizational factors when studying schools’ efforts to improve instruction in their building, rather than placing responsibility solely on individual teachers. Amid intensive elementary reading education reform, this kind of systems-level view can challenge deficit-based narratives about teachers. It also highlights their expertise, agency, and commitment to improving their practice.

Cox is a North Carolina native. Before coming to Elon, she taught kindergarten and first grade and worked as an instructional coach in Durham, North Carolina. She has just completed her first year at Elon. Her research explores pre-service and in-service teacher learning and practice within complex policy contexts. Cox believes literacy is a human and a civil right, and her teaching and scholarship at Elon are grounded in the idea that literacy instruction can be research-informed, culturally meaningful, and equitable.

Full Citation: Cox, O. (2026). Curriculum, professional development, and leadership: The “pillars” in action at a rural elementary school working to improve reading instruction. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 34. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.34.9615

As Elon prepares for the new academic year ahead, we celebrate the accomplishments and the incredible support of donors during this past fiscal year.

Learn more below about the impact that donors made in 2025-26.

Giving: How donors invested in students

Elon provides an exceptional education, unique in the opportunities that are provided to students from the very beginning. Donor support helps bridge the gap between an ordinary education and unlocking the potential of all that Elon has to offer. From hands-on learning and mentorship, to Elon Experiences like study abroad and research, students can take advantage of what makes Elon special with the help of donor funding.

Donor generosity from the 2025-26 fiscal year will continue to impact students for years to come. Here are just a few of the ways in which donors invested in students this past year:

• $31.8 million raised for students
• 6,337 alumni donors
• 4,208 parent and grandparent donors
• 1,021 faculty and staff donors
• 364+ funds impacted
• 11 new planned gifts totaling $5+ Million
• žé±đłŠŽÇ°ù»ć-Čú°ù±đČč°ìŸ±ČÔČ”ÌęElon Day 2026 raising $3.5 million
• Top funds supported: Elon’s Greatest Needs, Elon Student Scholarships, Academic Schools & Departments, The Phoenix Club and HealthEU

Student success: What donor gifts made possible

Thanks to donor support, Elon’s Odyssey Program reached a new milestone, welcoming the largest cohort in Elon history. You can learn more about this accomplishment on Today at Elon.

Donor generosity also led to a successful year for student-athletes. This year marked a 48% increase for annual giving to support Phoenix Athletics compared to just five years ago. Twenty student-athletes presented their research at the Spring Undergraduate Research Forum, and 93 student-athletes graduated in May 2026. All of this in addition to winning multiple CAA championship titles! 

More than 1,500 students walked across the stage to accept their diplomas during Commencement 2026. Thanks to donor support, students were able to see their dreams realized. Visit Today at Elon to read the stories of graduating seniors to see how donors helped them along the way.

Community: How we strengthened Elon together

Elon’s network continues to thrive because of the engagement of alumni, families, faculty, staff and friends. Their involvement is what makes the university so special, strengthening our community and creating opportunities for future generations.

These accomplishments illustrate the tremendous impact of involvement with Elon:

Alumni

• 10,550 engaged alumni
• 186Ìęalumni events with 3,547 attendees
• 2,427 alumni returned for Homecoming and Reunion Weekend
• 2,523 alumni served as volunteers
• 296 shared their love for Elon as Social Media Ambassadors
• 33ÌęWomen of Elon events with 368 attendees
• 811 participants in Lifelong Learning and Professional Development
• 1,523 alumni participated in 
• 67 reunion committee members

Families

• 6,881Ìę attendees representing 1,939 families
• 32 Summer Welcome Events with 756 attendees in 23 States
• 364 “Ready, Set, Elon!” virtual attendees
• 116ÌęFAMbassadors
• 7 parent WebinarsÌę·ÉŸ±łÙłóÌę967ÌꎥłÙłÙ±đČÔ»ć±đ±đČő

Faculty & Staff

• 42 Giving Captains
• 4 Co-Chairs for Faculty & Staff Giving
• 105 Elon Day Champions

Together, these accomplishments tell the story of an extraordinary Elon community and its enduring commitment to giving back. Thank you to our 2025–26 fiscal year donors for investing in our students and their future.

Matt Belanger ’05 begins most weekdays when much of the Twin Cities is still asleep.

His alarm sounds at 2 a.m. By 4:30, he is on the air at KSTP-TV, anchoring three hours of live morning news for viewers across Minneapolis and St. Paul.

The schedule requires discipline, but for Belanger, the responsibility is also a privilege. In the latest episode of “Elon Beyond the Bricks,” he tells President Connie Ledoux Book that thousands of people rely on his newsroom to explain what happened overnight, prepare them for the weather and commute ahead, and provide the information they need to begin their day.

“We set people up for success every morning,” Belanger said. “That commitment to serving the public is really what it’s all about.”

Belanger’s commitment to journalism began at Elon, where the promise of hands-on learning helped convince him that he had found the right university. He knew he learned best through experience and was drawn to the opportunity to work with cameras and begin developing his skills from the start of college.

As a student, Belanger worked across both television and print journalism through ESTV and The Pendulum. That crossover experience taught him that a strong story begins with the same essential facts, even when it is adapted for television, print, web or social media.

“I just thought a good story was a good story,” Belanger said. “It turns out that’s actually true.”

Elon also provided the supportive environment and direct feedback he needed to grow. Belanger remains connected with former faculty members, including Professor Tom Nelson, and credits those relationships with giving students a foundation that extends well beyond graduation.

After Elon, Nelson encouraged Belanger to begin his career at KELOLAND Media Group in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. At the smaller-market station, Belanger reported, filmed stories, worked on the assignment desk and produced weekend newscasts. The ability to experience nearly every role in the newsroom gave him what he describes as a strong foundation for his television career.

That foundation later supported his investigative work in Pennsylvania.

While waiting for an interview on the floor of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, Belanger and a photographer noticed paper clips and folded pieces of paper wedged into lawmakers’ electronic voting buttons. The discovery led to months of reporting on “ghost voting,” a practice through which some lawmakers could appear in the official record as present and participating even when they had not traveled to Harrisburg. Because attendance records could be tied to taxpayer-funded travel reimbursements, the reporting raised broader questions about accountability and public trust.

Belanger compared investigative journalism to building a legal case: reporters must gather enough evidence and research to feel confident in what they present to the public. That deeper work, he said, distinguishes investigative journalism from the basic updates audiences can find throughout the day on their phones.

Today, Belanger continues to bring that same sense of responsibility to his work in the Twin Cities, where he has reported through some of the region’s most difficult and consequential moments. He said the work requires journalists to remain authentic, approach painful stories with care and never lose sight of the people whose lives are affected by the news.

Near the end of the conversation, Belanger recalled another lesson from Elon—and from President Book, who taught him as a communications professor.

“You have to do the work in life,” he said. “You have to put in the time. You have to do the research. You’ve got to do the work in order to succeed.”

For Belanger, that work now begins at 2 a.m., helping ensure his community is informed and prepared when a new day begins.

Learn more about “Elon Beyond the Bricks” online.

Kaitlyn Niestoeckel ’28, an accounting and public policy major in the Business Fellow and Odyssey Program, earned first place in the Project Run With It competition as part of a team composed of students from different universities. Together, the students completed a consulting project for a nonprofit organization in the Baltimore area. Niestoeckel will receive a plaque, and Elon’s Beta Alpha Psi chapter will receive a $1,000 award.

Izzy Butler ’28, an accounting and business analytics major in the Business Fellow Program, and Dylan Rogers ’27, an accounting major in Elon’s Accelerated 3+1 Business Dual-Degree Program, also represented Elon during the meeting’s Chapter Operations session, where they delivered a presentation to fellow Beta Alpha Psi members.

Patty Cox, assistant professor of accounting, serves as faculty adviser for and accompanied the students to the annual meeting.

Beta Alpha Psi is an international honor organization for students and professionals in accounting, finance and information systems.

“Your future will be shaped far less by the titles you earn than by the person you become while earning them,” said Taylor, delivering the annual Call to Honor in downtown Greensboro’s Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts. “I hope people know you as someone they can trust. Someone who’s prepared. Someone who listens. Someone who treats everyone with dignity. Someone who uses the law not simply to make a living, but to make a difference.”

Taylor serves North Carolina’s Judicial District 8, hearing cases in Edgecombe, Nash and Wilson counties following her 2025 appointment by Governor Josh Stein. Drawing on her own path from Elon Law graduate to assistant district attorney, private practice attorney, adjunct professor and judge, she reminded students that the most meaningful legal careers are built one opportunity — and one relationship — at a time.

Taylor didn’t imagine becoming a judge when she arrived at law school. In fact, she’d planned on a career in sports and entertainment law. But through her law school experiences, including a Residency-in-Practice with the Guilford County Public Defender’s Office and an internship at the Alamance County District Attorney’s Office, she found her calling.

She implored students to remain open to opportunities they cannot yet see, trusting that each experience will prepare them for what comes next.

Throughout her remarks, Taylor encouraged students to:

• “Walk through every door” Elon Law opens, knowing that the lessons you learn and the skills you develop may prepare you for tomorrow’s unexpected paths.
• Never stop learning, remaining curious, humble and open to growth throughout your legal career.
• Remember the people behind every case, approaching each client with compassion and respect as well as legal skill.

Student Bar Association President Trey Sharpe McClenny L’26 echoed Taylor’s message, reminding students that the legal profession is defined by character.

“Law school will provide you a lot of titles beyond lawyer,” McClenny said. “You will become a counselor, an advocate, an officer of the court. But to many, you will simply become their lawyer on speed dial. Wear those titles with kindness and compassion. Be someone that others trust and want beside them.”

Provost Rebecca Kohn welcomed students to 51±ŹÁÏÍű and introduced one of the university’s longstanding traditions. Named for the Hebrew word for “oak,” Elon presents each new student with an acorn symbolizing the beginning of their academic journey. At graduation, students receive an oak sapling representing the growth they have experienced during their time at Elon and the continued growth that lies ahead.

Kohn also highlighted the close faculty mentorship and academic rigor that define the Elon experience.

“Elon Law faculty engage with students both inside and outside the classroom,” Kohn said. “They’re known for their accessibility and responsiveness to students, and they will stretch you and challenge you more than you thought possible.”

Elon Law Dean Zak Kramer closed the ceremony by reflecting on a conversation with with Taylor before Convocation. Taylor told him she hadn’t envisioned becoming a judge until an Elon Law mentor recognized qualities in her that she had not yet seen in herself. Building on Taylor’s message, Kramer encouraged students to embrace every opportunity at law school, reminding them that each one will shape their careers in unexpected ways.

“We don’t know yet where your career is going to take you, but I promise you that each and every one of us at Elon is completely committed to helping you get there,” Kramer said. “We will take your dreams seriously, we will hold them precious, and we will do everything in our power to launch you into the life that you have imagined.”

Verification by the assessment team that 51±ŹÁÏÍű Campus Safety & Police meets IACLEA’s nationally recognized standards is part of a voluntary accreditation process. Accreditation is a distinguished recognition of professional excellence in campus public safety.

The assessment team is composed of experienced campus law enforcement professionals from outside North Carolina. During the assessment, the team will review written materials, interview department personnel and other stakeholders, and inspect facilities to verify compliance with applicable standards.

Members of the university community, department employees and the general public are invited to provide comments by calling 912-658-0784 on August 18, between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. (ET). Comments will be received by members of the assessment team.

Telephone comments should address the department’s ability to comply with IACLEA accreditation standards. The IACLEA Accreditation Standards Manual is available on the IACLEA website at .

Written comments regarding the 51±ŹÁÏÍű Campus Safety & Police Department’s compliance with IACLEA accreditation standards may be submitted via email to jmurphy@iaclea.org.

Accreditation is awarded for a four-year period. During that time, the department must submit annual reports demonstrating continued compliance with applicable IACLEA standards.

Elon Campus Safety and Police earned a rare dual accreditation from the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators and the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies. Fewer than 100 law enforcement agencies across the country have earned dual accreditations. The department has held accreditation through IALEA since 2018 and earned accreditation through CALEA in 2025.