President Connie Book of Elon University and Acting President Jesse Cureton of Queens University of Charlotte hosted lunch for residents of the city’s Myers Park neighborhood, followed later with Book leading a town hall for Elon alumni who call Charlotte their home.
As work progresses toward a proposed merger between Elon University and Queens University of Charlotte, top leaders hosted events this month to continue collecting ideas and feedback from stakeholders from both institutions.
President Connie Ledoux Book of Elon University and Acting President Jesse Cureton of Queens University of Charlotte welcomed residents and community leaders of the Myers Park neighborhood to a Dec. 9 luncheon where they shared their vision for the merger.
The program provided an opportunity for both presidents to listen to community perspectives, answer questions, and reinforce to attendees that Queens remains committed to being a responsible neighbor, a thoughtful partner and an active contributor to the Charlotte community.
Hours later, Book spoke with Elon alumni who gathered a few miles away in the university’s Charlotte campus in the city’s South End neighborhood for a merger town hall.
Book described the city’s warm embrace of Elon University when its campus on West Tremont Avenue opened in 2023 and welcomed the charter cohort of the Elon Law Flex Program, a part-time evening law program for working professionals, in 2024.
Plans to launch a physician assistant studies program in January 2027 are also well received, as is the newly announced launch of a Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.
Now, Book said, with additional opportunities to create a merged institution that is stronger together in service to the City of Charlotte, an upcoming step will be the hiring of a chief integration officer that will coordinate “integration teams.”
Book noted that Hugh L. McColl Jr., former chairman and CEO of Bank of America, chairman emeritus of the Queens University Board of Trustees, and namesake of the McColl School of Business at Queens, has been one of the most prominent supporters of the merger.
The town hall included a Q&A for the 47 attendees, many of whom were recent Elon graduates, and a few double graduates of Elon and Queens.
To learn more about the Elon/Queens Merger visit elonandqueens.org for weekly updates.
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Hannah Hattori ’21, associate director of alumni engagement – special events, contributed reporting and photography for this article.