Year in Review

Spring

• Elon’s engaged faculty, hands-on learning opportunities and continued alumni support earns the undergraduate business programs in the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business an overall No. 35 ranking in the nation by business education news outlet Poets&Quants. For career outcomes, which include internships and job placement, Elon ranked No. 25.
• Solidifying Elon’s position as a national leader, the university receives the Campus-wide Award for Undergraduate Research Accomplishments from The Council on Undergraduate Research for providing its students with high-quality, hands-on research experiences with dedicated faculty mentors. 
• Underscoring the power of Elon graduates to change the world, 11 students and alumni are named semifinalists for Fulbright awards, with eight accepting scholarships to teach English across the globe. In addition, one student is named a 2022 Goldwater Scholarship recipient.
• Elon’s nationally recognized career services through the Student Professional Development Center ensures members of the Class of 2022 are off to a great start on their post-college journeys. Three months after graduation, a class survey shows 80% were employed, with 94% working in a position related to their career goals. In addition, the average salary of a 2022 graduate is $55,000 — an increase of $22,000 since 2011.

Summer

• Elon launches Campus Alamance, a new partnership between the university and the local community that is bringing students and Alamance County employers together in meaningful ways. The summer internship program provides dozens of students with invaluable experiences that also benefit the local community.
• In an effort to deeply enrich the educational experience of high schoolers, Elon hosts the inaugural cohorts for three innovative initiatives — Alamance Scholars, which supports students who want to pursue a career in teaching and creates a talent pipeline for local schools; Freedom Scholars, a Teagle Foundation grant-funded program for underserved students who want to become civic leaders in their communities; and the Emerging Journalists Program, an initiative supported by the Scripps Howard Fund to inspire students to embark on journalism careers.

Fall

• As part of Elon’s ongoing commitment to advancing STEM, the Innovation Quad officially opens. The IQ includes two buildings — Founders Hall and Innovation Hall — featuring 65,000 square feet of cutting-edge labs, workshops and creation spaces that support cross-campus collaboration and foster problem solving and exploration. The buildings won overall national Best in Show and first place in their category for interior design at the Association of University Interior Designers’ 2022 Design Competition Awards and house the departments of engineering and physics.
• With well-being poised to become one of the most important issues of the next decade, Elon launches HealthEU, a comprehensive initiative focused on wellness in six dimensions — community, emotional, financial, physical, purpose and social. The initiative seeks to connect students, faculty and staff with resources to support wellness and create a healthy community, such as the Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life, which engages, educates and empowers the Elon community to seek a deeper sense of purpose through multifaith programming and events such as Holi.
• Elon faculty and staff secure funding for critical research objectives and important initiatives, including to advance inclusion and belonging in Elon’s stem programs, reduce gender-based violence, investigate age-related cognitive changes and develop a mathematical model that could facilitate future COVID-19 treatment options.
• For the sixth straight year, Elon student-athletes lead the Colonial Athletic Association in graduation success rate. Nine teams earn a perfect score, a testament to the unique student-athlete experience at Elon, which includes robust study abroad offerings throughout the year. In 2022, more than 150 student-athletes participate in meaningful international experiences in locations around the globe, including Greece and Scotland.
• Six undergraduates are named University Innovation Fellows by Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.school). The new cohort joins those from the previous two years to continue advancing the entrepreneurial ecosystem on campus. In addition, Director of the Doherty Center for Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Alyssa Martina was named a Faculty Innovation Fellow after completing a two-year-long community of design thinking practice, research and programming with faculty and administrators from around the world.

Winter

• With the reaccreditation of the Dr. Jo Watts Williams School of Education by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation, Elon secures its place as one of only seven private universities in the nation with accredited schools of law, business, communications and education along with a Phi Beta Kappa chapter, which promotes academic excellence in the liberal arts and sciences.
• Responding to the health care needs of the 21st century, Elon graduates its first cohort of Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing students. They enter the workforce at a critical time, alongside graduates of Elon Law and the Doctor of Physical Therapy and Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies programs.
• Athletic success continues for the Phoenix with the women’s cross country team claiming its fourth straight CAA title. In addition, the football team returns to the FCS playoffs and the men’s soccer team claims the CAA regular season championship, making its first trip to the NCAA tournament since 2015.
• The power of philanthropy took center stage when the Elon LEADS Campaign concluded on Dec. 31, 2022, raising a record $260 million to support four main funding priorities: scholarships and student aid, increased access to Elon’s engaged learning programs, support for faculty and staff mentors, and continued development of Elon’s iconic learning environment. A strategic effort to redesign alumni engagement earned Elon a No. 21 national ranking for alumni giving, contributing significantly to the 34,000 donors who made an impact as part of the historic campaign.