Eric Townsend

A team of Elon University staff and graduate students led by Ross Wade, assistant director of Career Services in the School of Communications, won an Innovative Excellence Award on June 2 from the National Association of Colleges and Employers at the organization’s national conference in Dallas.

Associate professor Cynthia Fair, chair of the Department of Human Service Studies, has co-authored with Elon alumni two articles focused on a longitudinal assessment of the Chapel Buddy Program, a developmental mentoring program that pairs kindergarten students with 6th grade students at a school in Greensboro, N.C.

Melody van Lidth de Jeude, an instructor in the School of Communications who had taught public speaking to hundreds of Elon University students since her arrival on campus four years ago, died May 27, 2011, following a brief illness.

It wasn’t enough for Victoria “Tory” Hill to simply show up for student teaching, give her lessons, and then go home. For the Spanish major who graduates Saturday from Elon University, time spent this spring at Eastern Guilford High School will benefit students for years because of her initiative to support Spanish speakers in a school with few resources to help them better learn their native language.

UPDATE (5/29/11): D.C. Metro Police have announced that Matthew Hill '08, a campus youth minister in Washington, D.C., has been found alive and well, according to multiple news sources in the nation's capital and in his hometown of Charlotte, N.C.

People with disabilities have made significant progress raising awareness of public policy issues that affect them in recent years, advances that students in an Elon University interdisciplinary course learned this spring as they researched the history, culture and psychology of a population that is often overlooked.

Three staff members were honored May 27, 2011, in McCrary Theatre during Elon's annual Staff Appreciation Day. Bob Willis was named Physical Plant Staff Member of the Year, Kay Riddle was named Office Staff Member of the Year and Sandra Fields was named Administrative Staff Member of the Year.

Lyle Anibal lost count of how many couches, coffee tables and televisions he collected this month from Elon University seniors emptying their off-campus apartments as they prepared to graduate. The Elon Police Department lieutenant, however, is quick to note that town officers responded in May to fewer citizen complaints of “Dumpster diving” than in previous years – and that business is up for a local nonprofit shop where the sale of donated furniture funds housing for those in need.

Elon University professors, students and alumni continue to make news this spring through their research and campus activities. Notable in April and May was regional media coverage Elon University's 121st Commencement exercises, faculty expertise related to the death of Osama bin Laden, and mention of the Elon University Poll in the Los Angeles Times and the (Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer.