“The atmosphere was great,” said center Evonna McGill, the team’s third leading scorer. “Of course, it’s an earlier game, but having everyone cheering for us and going for us felt really good.”

Head Coach Charlotte Smith shared the team’s familiarity with loud crowds during away games. “We’ve been in these types of atmospheres, so I know how electrifying and energizing it can be, and I know the impact it has on the students,” Smith said. “I’ve been really excited since the idea was proposed.”

The buzz in the arena was just that  electrifying and energizing. Included in the frenzied crowd was third-grader Adeline Caulder from Andrews Elementary School. She enjoyed the players coming to her classroom earlier in the week leading up to Education Day because she plays basketball too. During the game, she loved when the Phoenix scored, and she saved her loudest cheers for the Phoenix putting the ball in the basket.

Education Day is an experience for local elementary teachers, too. Andrea Perue teaches at Andrews Elementary and plans to use the experience in her �þ��� material. “To me, this is education,” she said. “We are emphasizing the fun in learning.

“Overall, this is positive energy, I love to see them enjoying themselves, and I know it will be inspiring,” she said “In fact, I will be using this to talk about teamwork and collaboration in the classroom.”

Leading up to seeing the Phoenix take on the University of Richmond Spiders, Elon women’s basketball players visited different schools, with the student-athletes answering questions about their experiences at the university, from the classroom to the court. They even showed them a few moves.

Maya Johnson, a senior studying business marketing, visited Altamahaw-Ossipee Elementary School and spoke with fifth-grade students. “I wish I had college students talk to me when I was their age,” Johnson said. “It was nice to talk to them about how important education is.”

Jason Chandler, senior associate director of athletics for external operations, organized the event that was discontinued about 10 years ago. “The important thing about Education Day is getting kids on campus, learning more about college life and initiating interest in attending college.” Chandler said.

“We are cultivating the value of doing well in school and furthering your education,” he continued. “After these one-on-one experiences with our student-athletes at their school, discussing the importance of college, we get to bring the students here to see it in reality.”

Chandler had experience planning an Education Day game when he was previously at Old Dominion University, and had an interest in reviving it at Elon given the history of the event at the university. In 2011, Karen Barefoot was named the head coach of women’s basketball at ODU after three seasons with Elon. Her final season was the best in the program’s division-I history. At ODU, with Chandler’s assistance, she implemented the annual Education Day game after experiencing it at Elon from 2008 through 2011. Elon’s first Education Day game took place in 2005 in Alumni Gym against Longwood University.

“I hope we can continue hosting an Education Day game because we will eventually see the students that attended this game attend �þ���,” Chandler said, “This is the beginning stages of that.”

First-year guard Chloe Williams started the game against Richmond and posted 10 points, three rebounds and two assists. “I loved it, even in warm-ups they were yelling for us,” Williams said about the student support. “I think it really pumped us up.”

Williams said visiting the schools and spending time with the students before game day provided a truly interactive experience. “We have to keep doing this every year,” Williams said.

�þ���, faculty, staff and family gathered for an extraordinary celebration as members of the Class of 2022 received a rainbow stole and framed certificate 24 hours ahead of their graduate program commencement ceremonies. �þ��� were honored individually as a tribute provided by a loved one was read aloud for each one.

The event began with a welcome by Luis Garay, director of the Gender and LGBTQIA Center, noting that this is the first time the event has been held for graduate and professional students who graduate in December.

Additionally, the event featured remarks from Randy Williams, vice president and associate provost for inclusive excellence. “I hope this event serves as further affirmation of your value at Elon and the world,” Williams said.

“Graduates, please hold fast to the claim that you have a right to be here,” Williams said. “Your identities are a part of what makes you special and you have a right to be in any space you choose to occupy in accomplishing your goals.”

In closing, students viewed a video message from Elon’s LGBTQIA Alumni Network. Then, Laké Laosebikan-Buggs, director of Inclusive Excellence for Graduate and Professional Education and event organizer, closed the ceremony by saying, “May we all live a life where we aren’t judged for our race, size, orientation or sparkle.”

The event sponsored by El Centro and the Center for Race, Ethnicity and Diversity Education (CREDE) honored six students, a faculty member and a staff member with awards of excellence in front of a room full of their peers. Gala Latina is a celebration of success and achievement within �þ���’s Latinx/Hispanic community and is dedicated to the empowerment of students, faculty, and staff who identify as Latinx/Hispanic.

“We want to welcome, recognize, and celebrate the Latinx/Hispanic community at Elon. It is a celebration of our roots, our hard work, and our resiliency,” said Assistant Director of the CREDE, MJ Larrazabal ’21. “Most importantly, it’s a chance to build and be in ‘communidad,’ or community.”

Typically held in the spring, the event was moved to the fall to extend the celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month and to welcome first-year students, who received a special gift at Thursday night’s event. “It is a token of us welcoming you into our community,” Larrazabal said in her opening remarks. “Welcome to our family.

“�þ���’s Latinx/Hispanic community is ever-growing and multifaceted, and I have the privilege of spending most of my time with these students,” she continued, “I would be remised if I didn’t tell everyone, you are the strongest people I have ever met.”

During the presentation of the awards, many of the recipients were truly surprised and grateful for the recognition. Each name called received an ovation and cheers. The night was a celebration of community centered on those who actively uplift it. Nominators often use passionate, determined, role model, advocate and even “a force to be reckoned with” to describe the awardees.

To close the presentation, Latinx/Hispanic Union President Karen Cruz-Ruiz said,

“Don’t forget your roots. You deserve to be here and every good thing that happens in your life.”

Recipients of the annual awards:

Academic Excellence Awards

This award was presented to students with the highest cumulative GPA in their respective classes.

• Ket Cordova ’23
• Alanis Camacho-Narvaez ’24
• Cristy Marine ’25

Latinx/Hispanic Honor Award

This award recognizes a Latinx/Hispanic student’s commitment to the community. This individual has gone above and beyond to create a more inclusive and representative campus for all Latinx/Hispanic students.

• Latinx/Hispanic Honor Award Recipient: Ana Sofía Rodriguez ‘25
• Latinx/Hispanic Excellence Award Recipient: Sarah Escorcia ‘24

Outstanding Senior Award

This award recognizes the leadership, involvement and mentorship exhibited by a Latinx/Hispanic senior throughout their time at Elon.

• Karen Cruz-Ruiz ‘23

Latinx/Hispanic Service Awards

This award recognizes members of Elon’s faculty and staff who offer constant support to the Latinx/Hispanic community.

• Israel Balderas, assistant professor of journalism
• MJ Larrazabal ’21, Assistant Director of the CREDE

It’s the voice of Susan Tripp, a horticulturalist who has worked in Facilities Management for 11 years. By its nature, her position doesn’t depend on interactions with students, faculty or staff. But in the way she approaches it, Susan builds connections with other members of the �þ��� community.

“When I started working at Elon, people would walk past me like I wasn’t there,” she said. “I thought to myself, ‘I’m not invisible. I’m going to say good morning to you.’ And I started speaking to everyone.”

�þ���’s campus is regularly recognized as one of the most beautiful in America. In 2019, The Princeton Review ranked the university first for its beauty. This is largely because of the people like Susan who maintain it, tirelessly caring for plants, replanting flowers and removing fallen branches among other tasks.

She understands her role can be isolating, so she surveys for people who might feel the same. “I’m out here by myself all day,” Susan said. “If you walk past me, I’m going to acknowledge you. And I look for students who I feel could benefit from a special hello.

“I reach out and invite them to lunch,” she continued. “Elon has a lunch program where we can take a student to lunch for free and we can just sit and talk to each other.”

Susan aims to enhance the experience of others, regardless of the roles those people fill. “Life is hard. I hope to make somebody feel better about themselves. Actually, gardening has become secondary,” she said.

Focusing on the needs of others developed as she focused on being true to herself. Her experience with sexism, ageism and homophobia previously caused Susan to shut down. “I reached a point where I decided not to tolerate anyone disrespecting me, and I started being myself,” she said. “Then, I got more confident and started speaking up.

“I’m going to do my work and be silly because that’s who I am, and I don’t care what people think about me,” she said, “but when I see other people being abused, I have to speak up.”

Susan is a representative on the Staff Advisory Council, a body that facilitates active and direct communication between staff employees and President Connie Ledoux Book and provides a forum for input and discussion of issues important to the staff and the university. “When I joined the council, I knew I wasn’t good at the clerical duties, but I would show up and speak up for people,” she said.

“It’s important for people to be able to be themselves, and in society, it seems to be getting more difficult to do that. �þ��� is very accepting, but there is a lot more work to be done so we are all seen,” Susan said.

Susan’s participation in creating a more inclusive campus through empathy, compassion and connecting with others is the essence of inclusive excellence.

Susan is part of “Huemanity of People,” a series by the Division of Inclusive Excellence that celebrates the diversity of Elon’s community to uplift the values of inclusion and equity.

Raised in Graham, North Carolina, Manny decided to attend �þ��� and major in finance after participating in the Elon Academy, the university’s college access and success program for academically promising high school students
in Alamance County. “It helps students like me, who are low income with no family
history of attending college,” says Manny. “Having the academy as a resource made such a huge impact on my life.”

When Manny arrived on campus as a student, it wasn’t the same as his experience
in the high school program. “I thought ‘this looks different’ because I wasn’t around people from similar backgrounds anymore,” he says. “I realized I was a minority here, but I didn’t let it hold me back. I saw it as an opportunity.”

He is driven to help others have a better experience in the Alamance County community, at �þ��� and everywhere he goes in the future. “My main priority is to motivate people to be themselves,” he says. “I want them to have the resources and support they need to be successful, and live life on their terms.”

In high school, Manny served as the Student Government Association fundraising chair, was a member of the National Honor Society and volunteered in the community. He continues to center others at Elon by serving as a student coordinator in El Centro, chapter president of Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity, Inc., and treasurer for the Latinx-Hispanic Student Union. Additionally, he volunteers at CityGate Dream Center’s after-school program weekly with Elon’s Kernodle Center for Civic Life.

“I love working with middle and high school students,” Manny says. “They remind me of myself when I was younger, so I get excited about connecting with the students and becoming a mentor.”

Manny credits his family for laying the foundation that fuels his passion for others
and consistently living out his beliefs. “As cliché as it is, my family inspires me,”
he says. “I get unique qualities from them all. My dad is so hardworking. My
mom showed me I can succeed academically. My sister helped me learn how to be a better mentor. My grandma gave me a little bit of everything, and she knows how to cook.”

Both of Manny’s parents are Mexican immigrants. He was raised near his aunts and cousins engulfed in Mexican culture. “The Latinx and Hispanic community is passionate about family, and we like it when the community comes together,” he says. “We’re all people; we all want to be a community.”

Manny is part of “Huemanity of People,” a series by the Division of Inclusive Excellence that celebrates the diversity of Elon’s community to uplift the values of inclusion and equity.

Jennifer Revels Baxter, president of the Guilford Native American Association, delivered the keynote address and displayed an opening slide that read, “We are still here.” North Carolina has a large presence of Native Americans with eight state-recognized tribes, including Baxter’s Lumbee Tribe. “In many ways, we are viewed as something in the past,” she said.

Baxter presented several issues plaguing the Native American community, like acknowledging Native American boarding schools that stripped young indigenous people of their culture. “Members of my tribe were products of these boarding schools, and the mentality in the school was, ‘Kill the Indian save the man,’” said Baxter.

“Every child deserves to know the truth and your textbooks didn’t teach you the truth about my people and our culture,” Baxter said. “As everyone should learn about the Holocaust, they should learn about the genocide that happened here.”

Also, she raised concerns about missing and murdered indigenous women, cultural appropriation and negative stereotypes. She implored about 35 students, faculty and staff to help bring awareness and change.

Rachel Dietert ‘23, president of Elon’s Native American Student Association, shared Baxter’s charge for other communities to assist in raising the issue of the Native community. “Our community is not growing at the same rate as other races,” she said. “To have our issues prioritized we need to have the support of communities.”

Dietert’s tribal affiliation is Cherokee. Being from Houston and due to her appearance, Dietert encountered hardship embracing her heritage. “I grew up learning about my grandma attending a Native American Boarding School and carrying my tribal enrollment card,” she said. Still, others questioned if she was Cherokee. “Looking Native was put onto us by colonialism,” Diatert continued. “I am not identifying as this for fun. It’s really a part of who I am.”

Baxter leading the GNAA isn’t random. She is the daughter of Lonnie Revels and Ruth Revels, both popular Greensboro activists. Ruth served as the first director of the GNAA, and Lonnie was a two-time city councilperson.

Former Miss North Carolina Native American, Raven Dial-Stanley performed a traditional Native American dance and taught one to the group. She wore a jingle dress, which is regalia worn during different ceremonies, such as a Pow Wow. Befittingly, the event ended with the entire group holding hands in a circle, connected and embracing each other. Dancing from side to side, and then a rush into the middle with a loud yell in celebration of one another. Baxter said, “When we hold hands in this circle there isn’t someone that is first or last, we are all one.”

Approaching the Dream Center, at 1423 N. Church St., a long line of cars built up even 30 minutes before the event. �þ���, community members and center staff received their roles and stepped into position. Some volunteers stocked, and repeatedly restocked, the areas where cars would stop to receive their orders. Others filled the orders, delivering the products to each car as they rolled in consistently for 90 minutes.

This isn’t new for the Dream Center. Since becoming an official partner with the Diaper Bank of North Carolina in May 2020, the first Thursday of every month has looked similar.

“The diaper bank had five emergency locations during that first year, and we gave away the most diapers out of all of them,” said Lisa Edwards, president of CityGate Dream Center. “I think we gave away $129,000 worth of diapers that year.”

This trip to the Dream Center was a part of the Kernodle Center’s Get on the Bus program. The program is a series of service events offered to all Elon students during the first eight weeks of the fall semester. Transportation is provided for students to participate in an afternoon of service. The Diaper Distribution was the final Get on the Bus event of the year.

The Get on the Bus events are one-time service opportunities for students to connect with community partners. The Dream Center is a partner that collaborates with the Kernodle Center more regularly.

“Currently, we have primarily worked with their weekly after-school program for middle and high school students,” said Kyle Anderson, associate director of the Kernodle Center. “Our volunteers provide mentorship, help with activities and get to build relationships with the Dream Center’s after-school students. Participation has been quite strong since last spring. Also, we collaborate with El Centro to recruit volunteers and we usually have 10 to 12 students attend every week.”

The students make an impact directly as volunteers, a pillar of most successful non-profits. Their participation comes with greater benefits as relationships are formed. They become positive influences in the community.

“It has been really awesome to see students come and help with our after-school program and catching on to the culture of being a positive person in other people’s lives,” said Edwards. “Then, the kids get excited about school and realize, ‘Wow, I can go to college too.’”

The partnership between the Kernodle Center and Dream Center started in 2020. “We had a group of students participate in our alternative break program and volunteer during Elon’s spring break,” said Anderson. “We continued the partnership since then.”

Alternative breaks are immersive service experiences designed to introduce students to new communities while working to address pressing domestic and global social issues. In March 2021, students volunteered at the center’s food distribution and COVID-19 vaccination clinic. “Due to COVID, there was a lot of restrictions,” said Chandler McKelvey ’23, lead service ambassador with the Kernodle Center. “To participate in alternative break, we were restricted to Alamance County.”

McKelvey, a human studies major, started as a service ambassador in her first year at Elon.  Currently, she oversees many of the service projects and helped design the alternative break with the Dream Center.

“We wanted to focus on disparities in education. A professor mentioned the Dream Center, which wasn’t on our radar. Talking to Lisa and learning what the center means to the Latinx/Hispanic community, we wanted to help,” McKelvey said.

“Working the vaccination clinic was really eye-opening. I thought everyone wanted a vaccine, but a lot of people in the community were very apprehensive and worried about the effects of it,” she added. “So, talking with community members and educating them on the vaccine and supporting them regardless of their choice was very impactful.”

More organizations at Elon have fostered partnerships with the Dream Center, including the Freedom Scholars. As the collaboration grows between the Dream Center and Elon, more students are witnessing the center’s positive effect.

“I get so happy seeing people from different communities caring about each other,” said Emilia Suarez, Dream Center’s health promotion coordinator. “Sometimes people come just because they need service hours, but when they come in here and see what’s going on, they say, ‘I want to come back the next time.’”

Katherine Smith ’26, volunteering for the second time at the Dream Center during the diaper distribution, shared a similar experience. “My introduction to human services course requires 40 service hours,” she said. “I came last week and had so much fun that I had to come back. This is something great I can continue doing.”

The Dream Center will host its annual Hispanic Heritage Festival on Oct. 15 from 2 to 8 p.m. Additionally, they have a community kitchen, monthly family nights, sports leagues, a citizenship and computer course in partnership with Alamance Community College and after-school tutoring and programming for youth. To learn more or how to get involved, visit the .

“There are a lot of other great services the Dream Center offers,” said Anderson. “They do an amazing job collaborating with many other local organizations in Alamance County and keep growing in what they offer to the local community.”

“The content of these modules will support individual reflection on the complexities of identities and experiences while providing strategies to promote a sense of belonging and well-being for colleagues and students,” said Director of the Office of Inclusive Excellence Education and Development Carla Fullwood. “Having a common entry point for education and development will allow OIEED and HR to expand knowledge and deepen personal and professional skillsets to advance Inclusive Excellence at Elon.”

The suite is structured to be accessible and productive in many ways. The modules are 10 to 15 minutes each and are easily accessed remotely and in-network. Moreover, it allows participants to enter the conversation wherever they are on the journey of development.

Preparing for their Elon experience, the Class of 2026 students participated in these courses during the summer. “It was very educational and I think it prepared me to come to Elon and engage with people that have different experiences than me,” said Brie Melchor ’26.

The Division of Inclusive Excellence highly encourages all faculty and staff to engage with this material. The DIB Suite provides faculty and staff with common language and experiences as our students; it assists in facilitating one of the pillars of the Boldly Elon Strategic Plan – thrive; and amplifies personal and professional development through Inclusive Excellence.

The implementation of the DIB Suite permits individuals to self-identify as leaders within the community and access the modules designed to strengthen one’s ability to serve as a role model and advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion through various institutional processes.

Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Modules

For descriptions and learning outcomes of each module, review the   or ���dzܳٱ����Ա�. , log in using Elon credentials and select start.

The modules align with the mission of the Office of Human Resources to support “the university’s most valuable asset, its employees” by providing programs like the DIB Suite. “We will be able to use this knowledge as a base for conversations around policy and culture which will ultimately tie into the university’s efforts around recruitment and retention and making Elon a place where all faculty and staff genuinely have the opportunity to thrive,” said TJ Bowie, equal opportunity and HR compliance manager.

Upcoming professional development offerings include Communities of Practice, where conversations will be facilitated on areas for deeper development and action items based on the exposure and learning from these modules in the DIB Suite. If you would like further information please contact TJ Bowie.

This event gives the ALANAM (African American/Black, Latino/Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander, Native American, Alaska Native and multiracial) student community an opportunity to learn about departments and offices, like Counseling Services and Student Professional Development Center.

Previously, Aliados, meaning allied in Spanish, was held for Latinx and Hispanic students. The event has expanded but “the goal remains the same,” said MJ Larrazabal G’21, assistant director of the CREDE.

“We want to offer ALANAM students the opportunity to meet at least one person from the different supportive resources at Elon,” she said. “Hopefully, student will feel more comfortable accessing and interacting with them regularly.”

For more information, contact MJ Larrazabal.

As Elon’s inaugural equal opportunity and human resources compliance manager, he’s primarily responsible for all development and training around equitable employment protocols, including assessing recruiting and hiring practices. “We want to do our best to address bias and create as much of an inclusive and equitable process as possible,” says Bowie, adding that seeing people succeed who weren’t given a chance at first due to bias keeps him going.

It’s something that has motivated him throughout his professional life. When he worked in residence life, developing staff and students from a social justice perspective was his focus. “The common theme throughout my professional trajectory is developing people and the culture they work in,” he says.

Bowie moved frequently as a child but lived in Colorado for most of his upbringing. He spent time living in a non-White majority community in high school, an experience that allowed him to see inequities in action. “I’m not sure we had any conversations about the inequities I noticed,” he says, “and it wasn’t until I reflected on it more as an adult that I could unpack it in my head.”

Before completing two master’s degrees, he attended a Jesuit institution in Denver. “That’s really where I confronted my whiteness, White privilege and power that I have as a White man,” TJ says. “Since then, it’s been a journey of utilizing that to be a voice and address systems of inequity.”

As an �þ���, Bowie went to El Salvador as part of a study abroad opportunity, an experience that opened his eyes to even greater disparities. “This was my first time seeing people live in desperate conditions,” he recalls.

That solidified his desire to help members of his community. “It is what sparked that passion in me,” he says. “I chose to build and develop others.”

While working as an assistant director of auxiliary services at Elon, he decided to pursue an MBA at the Love School of Business. After completing that program, Bowie started looking for opportunities to combine his desire and passion for helping people with a position at the institution. He connected with Randy Williams, vice president and associate provost for inclusive excellence, and Kelli Shuman, associate vice president of human resources, and learned about the newly created equal opportunity and human resources manager role, which he now holds.

Bowie is excited to continue his personal and professional development journey. Earlier this year, he was selected to participate in a selective leadership program offered by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources. As part of the 12-month program, Bowie will have the opportunity to develop his professional skills through tailored learning experiences including mentorship, learning events and courses.

“It is continual self-development,” he says. “I can’t effectively evaluate our procedures and protocol without knowing who I am, how my identity shows up in a professional setting, and addressing the biases that I have.”

He believes in the institution’s commitment to creating a more inclusive and equitable community. The creation of positions dedicated to support more equitable practices, like his own role, are proof of that commitment, he says. “If we can recruit more equity-centered people, the more inclusive we can be as a community.”

Bowie hopes to enhance the experience of others by helping and providing opportunities for individuals to thrive. “I say this often, people helping people is what I do,” he says.

TJ Bowie is part of “Huemanity of People,” a series by the Division of Inclusive Excellence that celebrates the diversity of Elon’s community to uplift the values of inclusion and equity.