Elon University in the News – Early Winter 2011

Elon University professors, students and alumni made regional and national news in recent weeks through their research and activities, both on and off campus. Notable in December and early January was media coverage of the Elon University School of Law's Humanitarian Immigration Law Clinic and the announcement by university leaders of a decision to locate the new physician assistant program on main campus.

The following list should not be considered exhaustive and does not include athletics news.

12/5: (Burlington, N.C.) Times-News: “Elon University students offer singing telegrams” features efforts by seniors in the music theatre program to raise money for a December production by offering personal messages delivered via song. RELATED from the Gaston Gazette: “Students at one N.C. university offer singing telegrams”

12/8: WGHP Fox 8 (High Point, N.C.): “John Lennon: 30 Years Later” was the topic that Fox 8 interviewed associate professor Mike Frontani about when the station came to campus for reflections on the former Beatle three decades after his death. (Link is to YouTube page of Fox 8 photographer Mike Durenberger; not currently posted on Fox 8’s official site)

12/9: (Wilmington, N.C.) Star-News: “Editorial: It will be a challenge to cut the budget without severely crippling services” uses data from the most recent Elon University Poll in an editorial that raises concern about the upcoming state budget.

12/9: WGHP Fox 8 (High Point, N.C.): “New Principal Named at Northeast Guilford High” is a short profile on Garriot Rose ’96, the new principal at a Piedmont high school.

12/10: WGHP Fox 8 (High Point, N.C.): “Elon professor: Wii perfect fit for older adults” reported on research by Sarah Foushee ’10 and assistant professor Caroline Ketcham.

12/10: The Business Journal of the Triad: “Grant will fund Elon scholars program” reports on the Periclean Scholars Class of 2011 and a grant from the Park Foundation in New York to create a documentary based on an environmental summit the scholars are hosting in Sri Lanka.

12/13: Lexington (Mass.) Minuteman: “Lexington resident honored as ‘Hometown Hero’” was a brief report on Meaghan Murphy, one of the honoree’s of Elon’s 2010 Hometown Heroes program.

12/16: (Greensboro, N.C.) News & Record: “Law school, nonprofit to aid refugees” details the Elon University School of Law’s Humanitarian Immigration Law Clinic, set to open in January 2011. Story moved to various regional outlets via the Associated Press wire. RELATED from the Business Journal of the Triad: “Elon Law starting immigration clinic” RELATED from North Carolina Lawyer’s Weekly (sub. req.): “Elon clinic aims to help refugees and asylees stay here” RELATED from the Winston-Salem Journal: “Elon law school branches out”

12/19: Associated Press (via NPR and MSNBC.com): “Young Wife, Mother of 2 Killed by Simple Pothole” shares the story of Jo Maureen Cavanaugh Fisher ’99, who died in March 2010 in a freak accident on I-20 in Alabama.

12/19: (Greensboro, N.C.) News & Record: “A community gift list” was the monthly guest column authored by professor emeritus David Noer. In it, he uses the concept of a community gift list to poke fun at community leaders as well as to point out that the public needs to get serious about the unraveling of society. (Column not posed to the News & Record website; link goes to Noer’s personal site)

12/23: Philanthropy Journal: “Elon connects law students to community” is a story on the preceptor program at the Elon University School of Law and how it links law students with mentors in the Triad legal community.

12/29: (Burlington, N.C.) Times-News: “Elon students making a mark in Sri Lanka” reports on the Class of 2011 Periclean Scholars traveling to Sri Lanka this month to hold an environmental summit.

12/30: Winston-Salem Journal: “Forsyth tackles backlog of DWIs” is a story on the hire of Jameson Marks, a 2010 Elon University School of Law graduate who joined the Forsyth County (N.C.) district attorney’s office to focus exclusively on DWI cases.

1/5/2011: WFMY News 2 (Greensboro, N.C.): “College Students Trade in Textbooks for E-Books” shared with viewers an initiative by Belk Library to offer six Kindle readers for students and employees to borrow as the university looks to keep abreast of how people consume books and other media.

1/7: (Burlington, N.C.) Times-News: “New Elon medical program will incorporate help from ARMC” was a front-page story on the board of trustees’ vote to house Elon’s new physician assistant program on main campus in Alamance County while moving forward with a real estate purchase in Greensboro to help with law school expansion. RELATED from the (Greensboro, N.C.) News & Record: “Elon to put new master’s program on campus” (Complete report not currently posted online) RELATED from WGHP Fox 8 (High Point, N.C.): “Elon Acquires Land for Physician Assistant Studies Program” RELATED from The Business Journal of the Triad: “Elon plans law school growth, PA facility”