Led by Assistant Professor Lorraine Ahearn, a journalism class visited this week with Elon Mayor Emily Sharpe, engaging in a candid town hall conversation about leadership, politics and the challenges of local governance.
For more than an hour on Sept. 8, the usual business of Elon’s town hall gave way to a different kind of civic exchange: School of Communications students trading questions with Mayor Emily Sharpe about leadership, politics and the challenges of governing a small but growing community.
Students in Assistant Professor Lorraine Ahearn’s Literary Journalism class used the town hall-style meeting to gain perspective from Sharpe on issues ranging from the hardships facing public schools to the impact of partisanship on local governance, as well as the importance of strategic thinking and qualified leadership in public office. Alongside policy matters, Sharpe highlighted the town’s recent acquisition of the six-acre former LabCorp facility on Orange Drive, outlining plans to expand office space for administrative and public services – a real need in the town.
In addition to discussing her own career path, Sharpe shared several personal reflections, speaking about the importance of building relationships on the Town Council and her experiences challenging assumptions about women in positions of power.
“You should be in a political position to create change, not to keep yourself in office,” Sharpe told the students, emphasizing the need for courage and advocacy in public roles.
Her candid remarks underscored the broader theme of the session: leadership as service rather than self-preservation. For the students, Sharpe’s insights offered a real-world perspective on the complexities of local government and the importance of civic engagement.
“Mayor Sharpe was frank about issues facing the town and Alamance County,” Ahearn said. “She encourages students to see themselves as residents of this community, and that’s the ‘why’ of this class: Using journalism to document the lives of people beyond the campus who otherwise don’t get much ink.”
The meeting with Sharpe was not a standalone event, but part of a larger series of community-based preparations for the class’ collaboration with The Assembly, a North Carolina–based digital magazine that delivers in-depth reporting on politics, culture, education, and power across the state. According to Ahearn, the students will receive mentorship and coaching from the staff of Executive Editor Kate Sheppard, formerly of Huffington Post, on long-form reporting projects throughout the semester.
With assistance from the Kernodle Center for Civic Life, Ahearn’s community-based learning class is a first-time collaboration with The Assembly, a network of 40 North Carolina journalists that will be recognized in New York City next month with two Edward R. Murrow Awards, among the profession’s highest national honors.
“This is a chance for our students to get one-on-one coaching from the top reporters in the state,” Ahearn said of The Assembly, which reaches 400,000 users, including 125,000 paid subscribers. “Students are meanwhile getting a glimpse of a future path for news – quality journalism that readers appear willing to pay for.”
For photos of the course’s conversation with Sharpe, visit our Flickr album.