Elon Charlotte is the latest addition to the university’s national campus, joining programs in Los Angeles, New York, Washington, D.C., and Greensboro.
The first day of Teddy Morgan’s internship with NASCAR coincided with the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Media Day.
As the sport management major traversed the Charlotte Convention Center, he accompanied his new colleagues on the NASCAR email marketing team as they set up photo shoots, interviews and media availability for the biggest names in stock car racing. The magnitude of the moment wasn’t lost on the Elon junior, who is an avid sports fan.
“My first day couldn’t have been any better,” the Cleveland, Ohio, native says. “And to be five feet away from Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski, that was definitely a surreal moment to have on your first day.”
The opportunity for such real-world experiences was what convinced Morgan to participate in the new Elon Charlotte program this fall, where he is one of 12 students enrolled in the inaugural The Sport Experience cohort, a sport management immersive semester in the city. The Queen City and its surrounding area host 220 days of live sporting events every year, with NFL, NBA and MLS franchises calling the city home, as well as the headquarters for NASCAR and the Atlantic Coast Conference.
While Morgan supports NASCAR’s online marketing efforts, his classmates are gaining work experience with the ACC, Fox Sports, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Charlotte Independence/Charlotte Checkers and Yes I Can Basketball, among other Charlotte-based organizations. In addition to participating in internships, the cohort is taking courses this fall with Elon faculty, connecting with alumni in the region, and developing mentoring relationships with local industry and community leaders, all while immersing themselves in the city’s life and culture.
The university formally celebrated the opening of its newest national campus program in Charlotte’s South End with a Sept. 19 press conference, highlighted by the institution’s plans to offer the Elon Law Flex Program in the Queen City. Classes will begin in fall 2024, pending approval by the American Bar Association and The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, as the only in-person law program offered in Charlotte.
The program will build on the success of Elon Law’s highly experiential, full-time curriculum in Greensboro, North Carolina, with the school’s distinguished faculty teaching in person to meet the needs of aspiring attorneys in Charlotte. The Elon Law Flex Program is designed for the working professional, and students can complete their law degree in four years. A full range of law electives will provide experiential opportunities in law clinics, publication in law journals and moot court programs and competitions.
“At Elon, we take an intensely personal approach to learning, with experiential opportunities and mentorship at the forefront, and we are thrilled to further expand that approach in the dynamic and fast-growing Charlotte region,” Elon President Connie Ledoux Book said at the Charlotte grand opening in September. “We know providing opportunities for Elon students to put their knowledge to work through service, internships, research and leadership results in stronger outcomes, and we look forward to introducing Elon’s leading learning model to the City of Charlotte.”
A national campus model
Elon University Charlotte features nearly 14,000 square feet of classroom and collaboration space, including common areas and breakout spaces. The university selected South End as its entry point to the city because of the neighborhood’s compelling intersection of arts, culture and business, its walkable landscape and easy access to public transportation, all of which will give students a holistic city experience.
Elon’s extension into Charlotte expands its national campus model, with existing locations in Los Angeles, New York, Washington, D.C., and Greensboro. These collaborative programs create a national reach for Elon by offering courses, initiatives and events that support multiple constituencies across the country.
Elon’s national locations each act as a hub of activities that include expanded academic programs and offerings and new opportunities for current students through internships and Elon’s Study USA program. The centers also provide professional development and networking opportunities for alumni, admissions information for prospective families, and lifelong learning, professional education and cultural opportunities for their communities.
The establishment of these hubs is a key component of the university’s Boldly Elon strategic plan, which calls for the development of strategic locations beyond the main campus as centers for academic programs, alumni engagement, professional education and cultural opportunities.
“We see synergy between the evolution of the Charlotte area over the past few decades and Elon’s own transformational journey,” says Jim Piatt, Elon’s senior vice president for university advancement and external affairs. “This new hub will be a tangible extension of the university’s desire to help our students become engaged citizens of the world, fully embracing curiosity and leaning into their purpose.”
A proven approach
Elon has been refining its national campus model for 15 years, benefiting the greater university by increasing its footprint and visibility across the country. Each hub serves as an extension of Elon’s main campus by bringing the same quality, energy, involvement and service to the university’s constituents around the country.
Since 2008, more than 850 Elon students have taken part in a semester or summer academic program in Los Angeles. Students take classes, intern at unique companies and organizations, network with alumni, and spend their weekends exploring the Los Angeles area and community on university-planned excursions.
Students have visited the Getty Center, Warner Brothers Studio, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and much more. Additionally, two Los Angeles-based groups offer special programming for alumni and students. The Women of the Elon Entertainment Empire serves as a key support and networking group for Elon alumnae working in the entertainment industry in Los Angeles and Elon undergraduates seeking a career in the entertainment industry. Unity LA connects Los Angeles-based alumni and friends who are passionate about diversity, equity and inclusion.
Elon’s semester and summer academic programs in New York City also host classes, connect students with internships and offer networking opportunities with alumni, in addition to providing faculty-led tours of the city that delve into the area’s rich history and culture.
More than 450 students have participated in the program since 2009, visiting the Historical Society, American Indian Museum, Museum of the Moving Image, Stonewall Inn, the Tenement Museum, attending Broadway shows and more. The Business Fellows program travels to New York each year to conduct company visits to engage with executives and gain insight into specific industries and organizations.
For over a decade, Elon has partnered with The Washington Center to offer classes, internships and housing in the nation’s capital year-round to students of all majors, and now serves as the school of record for the center. The university also has admissions counselors based in New York and Los Angeles, as well as active alumni chapters in New York, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Charlotte.
“Having internships at these locations sets students apart when applying to full-time jobs, especially if they are considering that city after graduation,” says Ashley Pinney, who oversees Elon’s national campus efforts. “It helps students create a professional network in the cities, which inevitably makes their job search easier. And it helps us meet alumni, prospective students/families and parents where they are. We can engage with these groups far more often being physically closer to them.”
An experiential legal education
Elon Law is located in downtown Greensboro, the legal hub of central North Carolina. Elon Law’s primary H. Michael Weaver Building is home to the North Carolina Business Court, making Elon one of the few law schools in the country that is home to an active court. Students benefit from regular interaction with leaders in law, business and civic life, including members of the law school’s advisory board, which is chaired by a former adviser to four U.S. presidents and includes three former chief justices of the North Carolina Supreme Court.
The Elon Law Flex Program in Charlotte will incorporate the same teaching model as the full-time program in Greensboro, which has earned a No. 5 national ranking for practical training. Strategically focused on learning by doing, Elon Law integrates traditional classroom instruction with a required, full-time residency-in-practice field placement for students, who work under the close supervision of attorneys and judges.
Over the past decade, annual applications for admission to Elon’s School of Law have increased by nearly 50%, and the program’s distinctive curriculum in Greensboro allows students to earn their degree in just two and a half years.
“We’re in the dream-making business,” says Elon Law Dean Zak Kramer. “The Elon Law Flex Program will make it possible for working professionals in Charlotte to realize their dream of becoming lawyer leaders. We’re going to be growing the Charlotte legal community from within. Training ethical, creative and practice-ready attorneys is what we do, and we appreciate this opportunity to serve the Charlotte community.”
A bright future ahead
Going forward, Elon will continue to expand its reach in locations across the country and beyond. The Charlotte center will continue to grow, with plans to announce additional undergraduate and graduate offerings. It has already become a place for gatherings, recently hosting acclaimed college basketball analyst and attorney Jay Bilas for a special evening with undergraduate students, prospective law students, alumni, parents and friends. The university is hiring a new director for Elon Los Angeles in early 2024 and plans to add a director of Elon New York by 2025. An advisory council is also in the works to support shared governance across the national programs and the university at large.
“Through cross-campus collaboration, we’d like to continue developing curricular and co-curricular program innovation that delivers high-impact learning outcomes to undergraduate and graduate students as well as professional and continuing education students across all the campuses,” Pinney says.
For three straight years, U.S. News & World Report has ranked Elon as the No. 1 university in the nation for teaching undergraduate students, and consistently named it the only college or university among the top 20 in all eight categories of programs that are linked to student success and positive learning outcomes. This positions the university well for continuing to expand its footprint nationwide.
“With our national campus model, we can bring our premier approach to teaching and experiential learning to members of the Elon community across the country while also expanding the university’s reputation in emerging markets,” Pinney says. “The possibilities are truly endless.”