Inaugural 'Rock the Block' party draws hundreds for food, music
The celebration in the center of Elon University's campus featured the party band Six Stylez from Greensboro, food trucks, lawn games and inflatables.
A closed-off East Haggard Avenue became a hub for food, fellowship and fun on Friday night during the inaugural "Rock the Block" celebration.
A new addition this year for Homecoming, Haggard Avenue and Young Commons was transformed into a fair-like environment with a stage hosting party band Six Stylez from Greensboro and the green space becoming home to lawn games, inflatables and and a beer garden. Seven food trucks lined Haggard Avenue, along with funnel cake makers and kettle corn poppers.
Jill Hollis, assistant director of Homecoming and special events, said that during the past several years Elon has been working to find programming that appeals to a broader range of people, with that culminating in Rock the Block this year.
"We wanted to offer an event that you can bring the family to — whether you're here for your 50th reunion or your first," Hollis said. "We wanted to offer something new, something that takes that to the next level, and something that will bring in the current student body as well."
Alumni gathered by the beer garden and talked about touring Schar Hall, the newly opened expansion of the School of Communications, or stood eating dinner by the food trucks as they talked about shared experiences studying abroad.
Those returning to Elon for a reunion gathered around Reunion HQ to get reacquainted. The tent set up near Moseley Center was designed to be a gathering point for those at Homecoming for a reunion, said Adrian Carpenter, coordinator of annual giving, who helped create Reunion HQ this year.
Reunion HQ offered a photo booth with props for Elon alumni to pose with, along with yearbooks and photo collages. "The yearbooks and collages really help draw people in and create this as a hub for them to reconnect," Carpenter said.
Hollis envisions Rock the Block as another event to help build and strengthen the relationships that current students and alumni have with Elon. "We want to provide a place where you can come back, see friends and get reacquainted with Elon," she said. "The more programming that we have that can appeal to everyone, the better."