The Odyssey Program is a merit-based scholarship that provides students with access to mentorship, community building, leadership development, service learning and more. The program also includes a stipend for books and supplies, and an Elon Experiences grant, which will be used for global experiences.

�þ��� admitted to the program come from a variety of backgrounds, including first-generation college students, Federal Pell Grant recipients and/or those who have achieved success despite hardship or other challenges. With 76 students in the Class of 2030, it is the largest yet and brings the program closer to its Boldy Elon goal of 100 Odyssey Program scholars by 2030.

Throughout the week, the students worked on a collaborative project exploring “what it means to thrive as an Odyssey Scholar.” They also participated in sessions focused on academic planning, community building, financial aid, global learning, etc. The week concluded with a block party celebrating their accomplishments with music, lawn games, volleyball, food and more.

Eliza Scott ’30, from Chapel Hill, North Carolina plans to study strategic communications with a minor in poverty and social justice, and says she was nervous coming into the week, but has grown closer to her cohort.

“There’s so much diversity within the group, and it’s so lovely to figure out what things we share and what things we have differences in,” said Scott. “It’s so easy, in the world we live in, to think of someone and generalize and create a wall of division … It’s been so beautiful to connect as a cohort and a family.”

On Thursday, July 16, the cohort came together with Elon faculty and staff for “Pizza with the Pros,” an opportunity to network and also hear from and ask questions of a professional panel. Panelists included Luis Garay, director of the Gender and LGBTQIA Center; Brandy Propst, director of Elon 1010; Abdul-Malik Harrison ’21, assistant director in the Center for Race, Ethnicity and Diversity Education; Alaina Mills, community director for the Historic Neighborhood; John Moses Brownson, associate director of career advising pre-professional health; and Stephanie Baker, associate professor of public health studies.

The panelists gave a range of advice on topics including what they would tell their past self in college, how to build relationships with faculty/staff and how to manage social and academic life in college. They all emphasized that students should use the resources available to them at the university.

“Ask for help, even when it’s the most difficult thing for you to do; make sure you reach out to all the resources that we’re sharing with you,” Probst said.

The panelists advised the students that, while structure is important, college is also meant to be a time for exploration, and you shouldn’t be so strict that you miss out. Harrison, who graduated from Elon in 2021, noted that it’s important to be flexible and also accept failure as a learning opportunity.

“You’re going to fall flat on your face a couple of times, but it’s how you get back up,” Harrison said. “You have this plan, either written down, physically or in your head. Take it, ball it up, throw it away because it’s not going to necessarily turn out like that. Now, the end goal might look kind of like what you wanted it to be, but how you got there, it’s not going to look like that.”

Brandy Davis ’30, from Charlotte, North Carolina, plans to study accounting and says she’s enjoyed meeting new people and “creating a sense of community and family” throughout Odyssey Week.

“Even though we have differences, everyone respects each other and, if anything happens at the end of the day, I can always come back to Odyssey,” said Davis.

�þ��� apply to the annual research symposium, which usually takes place during the summer before the junior or senior year. It is one of several opportunities for students to showcase �þ��� research, a cornerstone of the Elon education and one of the five Elon Experiences. �þ��� are also able to present scholarly work at the Spring Undergraduate Research Forum.

Presentations encompass a variety of topics, including helping teachers work with students facing homelessness, finding therapies for an ‘elusive chronic disease‘ and studying the motivations of women participating in sports betting. 

There will be two separate poster presentations:

• 9 to 10:15 a.m.
• 10:30 to 11:45 a.m.

The Elon community is invited to attend and learn more about the students’ scholarship.

For his first �þ��� research project at Elon, Thomas Gress ’27 is looking to make an impact on people suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome, including his own brother.

“Before I started this, he’d been suffering for four years, and there seemed to be no end in sight,” said Gress, a biology major from Savannah, Georgia. “So, this was something small that I could do to be of use.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a serious and often long-lasting illness that keeps people from doing their usual activities. It makes physical and mental exertion difficult, and symptoms include trouble thinking, severe tiredness and other symptoms.

“It’s a bit of an elusive chronic disease,” Gress said. “There are no pharmacotherapies available and there are no biomarkers for confirmed disease, so all we can do is experiment with lifestyle, and a big part of that is exercise.”

Exercise is the focus of Gress’ research, working with Professor of Exercise Science Eric Hall to design a four-week study to compare two different approaches to exercise. Before the study begins, each participant undergoes a walking test to determine their comfortable walking distance. Most participants are expected to walk between 10 and 20 minutes, although no one is expected to walk for more than 45 minutes.

Participants are then divided into two groups: graded exercise therapy and pacing therapy. The study focuses on the concept of an “energy envelope,” a term used to describe the amount of physical activity a person’s body can comfortably perform. One approach suggests that people may benefit from gradually pushing beyond their usual limits, while the other suggests that people should stay within their comfort zone and adjust activity levels based on how they feel.

During the study, participants use their baseline walking time to set weekly goals. In the first week, they are asked to walk for 80% of their baseline time. This increases to 90% in the second week, 100% in the third week and 110% in the fourth week. However, there is an important difference between the two groups. Participants in the graded exercise therapy group are required to follow this schedule exactly. Participants in the pacing therapy group are encouraged to follow the schedule but have the flexibility to adjust their activity based on their energy levels and personal needs.

Gress will present his research at the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) presentations on July 23 in the Snow Family Grand Atrium. �þ��� apply to the annual research symposium, which usually takes place during the summer before the junior or senior year. It is one of several opportunities for students to showcase �þ��� research, a cornerstone of the Elon education and one of the five Elon Experiences. �þ��� are also able to present scholarly work at the Spring Undergraduate Research Forum.

Gress hopes this research will reveal which approach is more effective at helping participants stay committed to the program and whether either method leads to lower levels of fatigue, hopefully helping people with CFS.

“For all of these patients, there’s no other option,” Gress said. “There are no drugs available, only a few supplements with very little efficacy. So, it seems the best option is experimenting with lifestyle. And if not this, then there is nothing.”

The impact of reading

For Lyric Gregory ’28, that impact is measured one child, and one book, at a time.

“It’s amazing. I feel like I’m making such a big difference,” said Gregory. “I feel like I’m actually contributing to making Alamance a little bit better.”

Gregory, a psychology major from Virginia Beach, Virginia, is spending his summer as an intern with Alamance Partnership for Children, a nonprofit organization serving young children and families throughout Alamance County. He supports the organization’s efforts to provide supplies to families in need, advance literacy initiatives and redesign its library and children’s area.

“It’s a really cool feeling to give a child a book and see their eyes light up,” Gregory said. “I never thought kids would be so excited to see books. There was this one kid, just seeing the joy on his face when he asked his mom, ‘Look, they’re going to have books. Can I have one?’ It hit me in the feels.”

Launched in 2021, �þ��� Alamance connects Elon students with paid internships throughout Alamance County while helping build a pipeline of talent for local organizations. Since its launch, 97% of participants have reported their internships were valuable to their professional development.

Gregory has long been fascinated by psychology and hopes to become a child therapist. He said the internship has strengthened his passion for helping others.

“I’m already motivated, but it motivated me even more to continue to pursue psychology, because I’m looking at people in this office who still have the same passion as me, and they’re making a difference,” he said.

‘Real time’ experience

Like Gregory, McKenna Blount ’27 entered college with an interest in psychology. A psychology major with minors in and criminal justice studies, Blount wanted an internship that combined both fields but initially struggled to find opportunities that fit her interests.

Through the Student Professional Development Center, she connected with the �þ��� Alamance Program and secured an internship with the Burlington Police Department, where she works with both the Aerial Reconnaissance & Tactical Intelligence Center (ARTIC), and the Crime Scene Investigation unit.

“I’ve had a lot of broad experience in the police department,” said Blount, who is from Raleigh. “They’re super flexible, just letting me have as much experience that I possibly can.”

In ARTIC, a real-time crime center, Blount assists officers by monitoring camera systems and databases during active investigations. In the Crime Scene Investigation unit, she observes investigators and gains firsthand experience with forensic work.

“I didn’t know how interested I was in the law enforcement aspect of things,” said Blount. “I thought I was more interested in the psychology aspect. It’s really nice to meet people outside of the ‘Elon bubble.’”

Connecting the community and history

Katie Baylett ’27, a strategic communications major from Highlands Ranch, Colorado, is also gaining hands-on professional experience through �þ��� Alamance as a social media intern for the Alamance Historical Museum.

“The internship has helped me know how to work and navigate in a professional environment,” Baylett said. “I took a class at Elon where we briefly touched on the local history and the textile industry history of Alamance County specifically, but this has really given me hands-on experience and helped me connect with the local community and also just connect with the local history.”

Baylett develops the museum’s social media content calendar, creates photo and video content, updates the museum’s website and assists with an email marketing campaign. A key part of her role is translating the work of museum staff into engaging, accessible content for the public.

“My classes at Elon have helped me know how to create a social media calendar and have helped me know how to navigate a wide variety of systems that I am using with my internship,” she said.

Internships are a central part of the Elon experience. Through the university’s Experiential Learning Requirement, students must complete two of five Elon Experiences: internships, service, leadership, �þ��� research or global engagement.

For Blount, the internship has also changed how she sees the community surrounding campus.

“You take the same three roads to get where you need to go as an Elon student, and I had no idea how much more goes on in Burlington,” Blount said. “This internship has really benefited my professional career development.”

“The class told us about ‘doubled-up homelessness,’ where you’re living with family or others, and you’re living under a roof, but it’s not your home. I had no idea that was a thing,” said Brandon, an elementary education major from Hastings, Michigan.

Now, Brandon is working with Jill McSweeney, assistant director of the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning, and assistant professor of wellness, on a project examining the ways that North Carolina elementary school teachers and homeless liaisons are collaborating to help students experiencing homelessness.

According to Brandon, each North Carolina school district has a homeless education liaison responsible for managing resources, funding and teacher training. Brandon and McSweeney are working with the North Carolina Homeless Education Program to survey and interview teachers across the state to improve the training educators receive on supporting students experiencing homelessness.

“A liaison can be the best liaison in the whole world, and they can’t be with every student in the district supporting their needs every day and seeing their day-to-day life like a teacher does,” Brandon said. “But in North Carolina and nationwide, most teachers are never trained by their liaison just because there’s not enough time. They have no idea about all the funding that is available to them, and instead they’re spending hundreds of dollars every year out of their own pocket to buy food, clothing and hygiene products.”

Brandon will be presenting her work at the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) presentations on July 23 in the Snow Family Grand Atrium. �þ��� apply to the annual research symposium, which usually takes place during the summer before the junior or senior year. It is one of several opportunities for students to showcase �þ��� research, a cornerstone of the Elon education and one of the five Elon Experiences. �þ��� are also able to present scholarly work at the Spring Undergraduate Research Forum.

Working with McSweeney, Brandon says, has been a transformative experience. McSweeney’s research area focuses on college student experiences on campus and in the classroom, along with a broad focus on �þ��� and learning. But Brandon says, despite not focusing specifically on K-12 education, McSweeney was excited to work with her.

“I cannot imagine what my �þ��� experience would be like if Jill McSweeney was not my mentor,” Brandon said. “She taught me how to do research because Teaching Fellows are not only expected to do research, but our course schedules are so rigorous that we can’t take a methods course. So, she was helping me with my research, �þ��� me how to do research, and what research methods were, and also showing me how to navigate higher education as a system.”

As Brandon prepares to graduate next spring, she hopes to continue her education at Elon through the Teach for Alamance program. The Elon scholarship program provides full tuition remission and a small stipend to teacher-candidate graduates of the Dr. Jo Watts Williams School of Education who wish to enroll in Elon’s Master of Education program. This project, she hopes, will also help her future colleagues in the Alamance-Burlington School System.

“I wanted to make sure that I was doing research that would have an impact that reached the people that it was about and not just the academic community,” Brandon said. “I know that I can’t redesign legal systems, and I can’t fix all of the state’s problems that are causing homelessness to happen. I wanted to see what the most is that I could do with �þ��� research to make sure that more students are supported.”

�þ��� Professor of Political Science and Public Policy Jason Husser provided analysis for a recent ABC 11 report examining the growing amount of money flowing into midterm races this season.

Husser noted that with the recent death of North Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham, it puts South Carolina Republicans in a new spot.

“The Republicans now are going to need to run a non-incumbent in South Carolina means they may have to spend a couple million dollars that they would not have otherwise spent there,” said Husser.

But he also noted that spending and competitiveness in other Senate races could have an impact on the Senate race in North Carolina between former Gov. Roy Cooper and Republican nominee Michael Whatley.

“The money’s not totally going away, but right now, I don’t know that we’re seeing the same level of sort of demand to spend the dollars in North Carolina over Georgia or Maine or Alaska or Texas and some other places,” said Husser.

�þ���’s Lee Rainie, director of the Imagining the Digital Future Center, was featured in a recent Chronicle of Higher Education article examining how artificial intelligence is creating new challenges for college and university leaders.

The story,  highlights the firing of the University of Wisconsin System due to what the regents described as unclear policy around AI.

“This is what chaos looks like. It’s hard to be a leader in chaos,” said Rainie, who has studied the use and perceptions of AI on campuses. “There is no consensus at all about what are the right things to do.”

Rainie noted that faculty members are also eager for guidelines telling them what they can and cannot do.

Over the past two decades, the Elon alumna has built a career at the intersection of sports, philanthropy, entrepreneurship and social impact. She began in professional sports, working with the U.S. Golf Open and in hockey before joining the Commissioner’s Office of Major League Baseball. She later helped drive scale and impact for the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, served as Chief Operating Officer of the Tory Burch Foundation, and ultimately founded Future Waves, a nonprofit program dedicated to helping children discover the power of nature, entrepreneurship, and active living, and most recently wrote a children’s book: “Ocean Superheroes.”

“The whole premise of the book is to remind kids that you can never be too young or too old to get involved with what’s happening in the world,” said McGee.

Raymond McGee started Future Waves because she noticed a gap in getting kids outside and giving them a voice to come up with entrepreneurial solutions in the world. The organization now hosts a program where children identify a problem the planet is facing, and they pitch their ideas to a “friendly shark tank.” Past judges have been former Apple CEO John Sculley, filmmaker Luca Martínez, and Sylvia Earle, the first chief scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Raymond McGee’s childhood hero. Raymond McGee works with Earle on global conservation, and she helped inspire the organization and book.

“I wrote ‘Ocean Superheroes’ because it was the book I wish I had when I was a kid,” Raymond McGee said. “The ocean is full of sea creatures that have superpowers that protect us and keep us healthy. And we also have superpowers that the ocean needs to keep our planet healthy. We’re interconnected and protecting the ocean is a team sport, and we all need to get involved.”

Her educational journey has also included that same “purpose.” After graduating from Elon with a degree in sport management, she earned a master’s degree in non-profit management and public policy from New York University and, a year ago, earned another master’s degree from The Wharton School of Business’s first global MBA program.

At Elon, her time as an Isabella Cannon Leadership Fellow heavily shaped many aspects of her life, including her focus of community. Founded in 1989 by Isabella Cannon ’24, the former Mayor of Raleigh, the Isabella Cannon Leadership Fellows program is a nationally recognized leadership development program designed to strengthen each student’s leadership skills and ability to impact themselves, their communities and their world.

“Our whole mission is to bring kids together so they can develop entrepreneurial solutions to real-world challenges, and so much of what I learned through the Fellows program has shaped the way we design our Future Waves programming,” Raymond McGee said. “I chose Elon because of the Fellows program, but I also chose it because there was an incredible sense of purpose, optimism and community. From the moment I visited campus, I could feel that students genuinely cared about one another and wanted to make a positive impact. That spirit of collaboration and service is what has always made Elon so special to me, and it’s something I’ve carried with me throughout my career.”

“Ocean Superheroes” is through Tiny Torch Books and distributed by Simon & Schuster. Readers can purchase individual copies or donate books to Title I schools, with 100% of net proceeds supporting Future Waves programs.

For Raymond McGee, the book is one chapter in a lifelong mission to help young people discover their potential. This fall, she’ll return to the two fields that first shaped her career—sports and entrepreneurship with the opening of Moonlight Graham, a sports boutique in South Florida designed to celebrate the joy of sports, collecting and community.

“I want every child who walks through our doors to see themselves reflected in the sports cards, collectibles and stories we share,” Raymond McGee said. “Whether they’re a baseball fan, a tennis player, a surfer, a dancer, or just discovering a new passion, I want them to feel welcomed, inspired, and connected to a community that encourages them to dream big. I hope that Moonlight Graham becomes more than a store; it becomes a place where families gather, friendships are formed, young people discover new passions, and our community is strengthened through the timeless values that sports teach.”

The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi currently awards 40 Fellowships of $8,500 each, six at $15,000 each and two at $35,000 each to members entering the first year of graduate or professional study. Each active Phi Kappa Phi chapter may select one candidate from among its local applicants to compete for the Society-wide awards.

Established in 1932, the annually provides funding to first-year graduate students who are pursuing post-baccalaureate degrees across all academic disciplines. Endorsed by their local chapter, Phi Kappa Phi Fellows go on to study at some of the nation’s top graduate schools.

While at Elon, Fitch earned the Lumen Prize, the university’s top research award, for her research focused on commonalities between juvenile offenders who are tried as adults, including factors like age, type of offense, and race.

“The relationships with faculty and staff that I formed at Elon were a standout part of my experience,” said Fitch, who earned a degree in political science and statistics. “From classwork to advice to letters of recommendation to a connection for housing during law school, my many faculty and staff mentors gave so much so freely. I am deeply grateful to all of them and to Elon for making it possible for me to build these incredible connections.”

Fitch’s work as a direct support professional, providing in-home care for an adult with disabilities, also helped inspire her future law career. She continued working with disabled individuals at Elon, through work with the It Takes a Village Project, Elon Buddies and Peacehaven Community Farm.

“Through this difficult but deeply rewarding work, I have gained a much deeper understanding of the immense effort and knowledge required to navigate the systems that are intended to support disabled people and their families,” she said. “This has inspired me to pursue a career path in estate planning with a focus on special needs trusts.”

April Post, president of Elon’s Phi Kappa Phi chapter and associate �þ��� professor of Spanish, says it’s Fitch’s scholarship and commitment to serving others that set her apart.

“The Phi Kappa Phi Fellowship recognizes students whose achievements and potential place them among the nation’s most promising future leaders, and Mira embodies those qualities in every aspect of her work,” Post said. “Elon’s chapter of PKP is proud to celebrate this remarkable achievement and look forward to the impact she will make through her legal career.”

Now, that vision has become a reality.

The newly completed immersive audio room in Arts West is providing students and faculty with a high-quality environment for both �þ��� and experimentation— particularly in Dolby Atmos, the industry-standard format for three-dimensional volumetric audio, reshaping everything from cinematic sound to commercial music releases. Associate Professor of Music Todd Coleman says the need for such a space had been clear for years.

“The music department had no dedicated listening environment that was like a classroom-sized space of high quality,” he explained. “We have the built-in generic AV stereo speaker set up in our classrooms and computer lab, but those rooms cannot play back audio beyond two-channel stereo recordings, and the rooms are not acoustically treated for detailed and nuanced listening, whether in stereo or surround formats.”

Originally envisioned more than a decade ago as a small theater-style room with tiered seating, the idea was shelved due to cost. When Elon added Studio D, its Dolby Atmos mixing studio, another challenge emerged: the studio only seats four people comfortably and was designed only for mixing and mastering, not large group listening sessions.”

Coleman proposed converting an existing Arts West classroom into a dedicated immersive audio space capable of seating 20 listeners. Although the project went unfunded for several years, it finally received approval in spring 2025. Over the summer, Coleman worked with an acoustics consultant to design the layout, sound treatment and speaker placement.

“While there were certainly some limitations due to both budget and facility constraints, through the renovation project we were able to add effective acoustic treatments, mount the 12 speakers throughout the room required for immersive audio playback, and enhance the aesthetic look and feel of the room,” Coleman said.

The finished space features a 7.1.4 Atmos setup, including seven ear-level speakers, four height speakers and a subwoofer, creating what Coleman described as a “true three-dimensional space” for audio playback.

“You can make it sound like it’s behind you to the right, behind you to the left, anywhere up or down,” he said. “It is not just sound that surrounds, it is sound that you inhabit – sound that moves around you, above you, through you, even in you.”

For Anthony Hotakainen ’26, who earned a degree in music production and recording arts, the room reshaped the scope of his �þ��� research. When he toured colleges, Studio D, which includes Dolby Atmos immersive audio mixing, mastering, and music/audio post production equipment, was the feature that made Elon stand out.

His Elon Fellows project, mentored by Coleman, explored the question of whether immersive audio actually enhances storytelling in formats other than film, including music, audiobook, podcasts, etc.

Beyond research, the room has quickly become a valuable �þ��� tool. Coleman now uses it for orchestration courses, and other music faculty are using it for senior seminars and songwriting project listening sessions. There is also a new mixing class and immersive audio class that are part of the revised music production and recording arts major that will make extensive use of the new resource.”

“It’s been great to be able to play examples and just hear them clearly,” he said.

The department also hopes the room will support expanded collaboration with the School of Communications, from screening student films to exploring immersive broadcast audio for athletics.

“This room will be the best screening room we have on campus, both audio and video,” said Coleman.

For Hotakainen, the space represents exactly what drew him to Elon. “I was just pretty impressed with the faculty and the spaces here,” he said. “It just felt like home.”

Read this story and more about how Elon is “breaking through the ordinary” in the 2025 Provost’s Report