This special program honors Jeffrey Williamson-Rose ’13 G’14 and his spouse Corddarryl Williamson-Rose, co-authors of the moving children’s book “We Love You ForAva.” Through their story, the couple highlights the joy, love and challenges of LGBTQIA family-building, centering their own experiences as adoptive parents. The event will feature a moderated discussion, readings, and reflections on inclusive storytelling and representation in children’s literature.

Serving as moderator for the evening will be Annette Orbert ’90, a proud Elon alumna and advocate for inclusion. Orbert will guide a conversation that explores how stories like “We Love You ForAva” not only affirm diverse families but also expand understanding of what it means to build community, belonging and love beyond traditional narratives.

The event will also feature insights from the Carolina Adoption Center, which works to create more equitable pathways for adoption. Attendees will learn about the ongoing need for supportive, loving adoptive families—especially within the LGBTQIA community—and the ways that storytelling can inspire visibility and change.

“This event is more than a book celebration, it’s a celebration of love and family,” said Luis Garay, director of the Gender & LGBTQIA Center. “We’re thrilled to highlight Jeffrey and Corddarryl’s work and to bring attention to the power of inclusive narratives that reflect the lives of so many in our community.”

The evening promises to be both inspiring and educational, offering opportunities for dialogue, connection and celebration. Whether you are an alum, student, faculty member, or community friend, you are invited to join this affirming space honoring the stories that bring us together.

Event Details

• Tuesday, November 4, 2025
• 6 to 7 p.m. EST
• McKinnon Hall, Moseley Center, �þ���
• Featuring: Jeffrey Williamson-Rose ’13 G’14, Corddarryl Williamson-Rose and moderator Annette Orbert ’90
• Partners: Gender & LGBTQIA Center, the Elon LGBTQIA Alumni Network, the Carolina Adoption Center, Carol Grotnes Belk Library and Elon �þ��� Bookstore

 For questions or accommodations, please contact Luis Garay (lgaray@elon.edu) or La’Tonya Wiley (lwiley2@elon.edu).

Come celebrate the power of love, family, and storytelling alongside incredible alumni who remind us that every family’s story deserves to be told.

The Southern Association for College Student Affairs (SACSA) held its annual conference on Nov. 4 – 6 in Atlanta, Georgia. The conference theme was REIMAGINE: Our Path Forward and called on attendees to move and go in new directions while addressing the ever-evolving challenges in the student affairs profession. The conference welcomed over 500 attendees from across the southeastern region of the United States.

Six Elon Student Life staff presented at the SACSA regional conference. The two presentations were selected from among more than 160 submissions.

Luis Garay from the Gender and LGBTQIA Center, Emily Krechel from New Student Programs and Megan Notlemeyer from the Office of the Vice Present of Student Life offered a presentation entitled “Establishing an Early Career Professional Institute: From Division Workgroup to University Implementation.”

The session discussed the university’s current Elon Early Career Institute from its inception as a workgroup in the Division of Student Life to what now is a universitywide initiative representing four divisions.

Andrew Moffa from the Kernodle Center for Civic Life, Alexis Swider from Student Involvement and Abigail Wiatrek from the Kernodle Center for Civic Life offered a presentation entitled ‘CΩLLAβΩRαTIΩN: Two Weeks – One Community.’ The session discussed highlighted the impact that can be made through engaging fraternity and sorority students and the local community through direct service and philanthropy.

Visit for more information.

The Elon Early Career Institute is a result of a 2019-20 work group within the Division of Student Life which proposed a New Professionals Institute following similar types of institutes across higher education and student affairs professional associations such as NASPA, ACPA, and NIRSA.

In 2021, the Division of Student Life began implementing the work group’s recommendation. Megan Noltemeyer, assistant to the Vice President for Student Life, Emily Krechel, director of New Student Programs, and Jenni Spangenberg, former director of Student Conduct, served as co-leads for the institute and they worked on the recruitment of facilitators and participants.

The luncheon concluded a full year of participation from 12 participants representing six Student Life departments. The participants learned and discussed topics related to inclusive excellence, university decision-making, leadership, wellness and well-being, and career planning. Each participant was honored by one of the five facilitators and received a certificate of completion for their commitment to the program.

Next year, the divisions of Student Life, Admissions and Financial Aid, Finance and Administration, and University Advancement will launch a university-wide Elon Early Career Institute as well as its inaugural Mid-Level Professional Institute.

2022-2023 Participants  

• Olivia Brown, Center for Leadership
• Shannon Finney G’20, Student Involvement
• Tal Fish ‘09, Counseling Services
• Zach Gentz, �þ��� Recreation and Wellness
• Sara Beth Hardy, Kernodle Center for Civic Life
• Meredith Harrison, Counseling Services
• MJ Larrazabal G’21, Center for Race, Ethnicity, and Diversity Education (CREDE)
• Andrew Moffa, Kernodle Center for Civic Life
• Simone Royal ‘17, Center for Race, Ethnicity, and Diversity Education (CREDE)
• Crystal Scarborough, Counseling Services
• Alexis Swider, Student Involvement
• Abigail Wiatrek, Kernodle Center for Civic Life

2022-2023 Facilitators 

• Luis Garay, Gender and LGBTQIA Center
• Jenny Larson, �þ��� Recreation and Wellness
• Betsy Polk, Jewish Life, Truitt Center for Religious & Spiritual Life
• Ian Reynolds, Residence Life
• Charlotte Williams, �þ��� Recreation and Wellness

2022-2023 Co-Leads 

• Emily Krechel, New Student Programs
• Megan Noltemeyer, Student Life
• Jenni Spangenberg (until June 2022), Student Conduct

Elon Cares is a benefit cabaret for . At each performance audience members can donate to benefit Broadway Cares and help Elon Cares reach their goal of $1,000. Each donation is also an entry into one of our 12 raffles for various prizes; raffle prizes include (but aren’t limited to) tickets to see Broadway’s SIX, signed Broadway Playbills and posters from various productions, and a one-on-one Zoom Q&A with JJ Neimann; each item was donated by an alumnus from the Department of Performing Arts. Donations will be collected via cash, check or an online donation. For more information and to stay up to date visit

This year we are excited to partner with one of Broadway Cares’ grantees, , for resources and testing services. Sponsored by the Gender and LGBTQIA Center. Questions can be directed to glc@elon.edu. Note: online donations can be made as of today, Jan. 5 through Jan. 11.

The room was decorated with jars filled with various Pride flags, stickers, and affirmation cards. A lo-fi playlist filled the space with music to welcome the newest students of the LGBTQIA communities to Elon.

Within the colorfully decorated space, students found food, resources, stickers and various Pride Flags. Nearly 70 students and a dozen faculty, staff and returning students attended the event to extend a welcome to this year’s incoming class of LGBTQIA students.

Gender & Sexuality Living and Learning Community (LLC) faculty advisor Lauren Guilmette, an assistant professor of philosophy, described the start of this school year as a significant marker for LGBTQIA community-building on our campus.

“We are proud to have expanded our LLC from 25 rooms to 48 rooms this summer, almost doubling our only explicitly gender-inclusive housing for the 2022-23 academic year,” Guilmette said. “This event was a highlight among the series of events that the GLC organized to welcome LGBTQ+ students into our community.”

The program began with a welcome and opening remark from Luis H. Garay, Director of the Gender and LGBTQIA Center (GLC). Garay shared an overview of the GLC, a brief timeline of LGBTQIA history at Elon, departmental highlights and achievements, and a list of events sponsored by the GLC. Garay shared about Elon’s inclusion again this year on �þ��� Pride’s “Best of the Best” list and how the GLC will celebrate its 10-year anniversary in fall 2023.

This year’s LGBTQIA New Student Welcome celebrates an important milestone. This year’s incoming class of LGBTQIA students is the highest of any other year at Elon which increased by 50.76% from last year to this year. For Fall 2021, the number of incoming students was 133 and for Fall 2022 that number is 199.

Implementing feedback from last year’s event, the GLC included a community-building activity in the event. The start and end of the event provided students with an opportunity to eat food and sit at tables to build new connections with each other. A highlight of the event was students participating in an Icebreaker Bingo facilitated by James Hemmingway ‘25, a student manager for the communications and resources team in the GLC. Each student received a bingo card with various prompts in the squares of the bingo card such as “knows the year of the Stonewall Riots” and “knows the building and room number of the GLC.” Prizes for those with a bingo included an �þ��� Pride baseball hat, a rainbow gradient water bottle, GLC t-shirts, and squishmallow plush toys.

Through this activity, students were able to begin developing strong interpersonal relationships and be able to able to connect with individuals in impactful ways. “The goal of the activity was to get the new students to work together and get to know each other in a slightly competitive game,” Hemmingway said. “It can be nerve-wracking to be in a room of all new people and in creating this activity, I wanted to make sure there was a low stakes opportunity for the students to “speed friend” one another.”

Forming connections and building new friendships are important steps toward supporting the social well-being of students. This facet of well-being is a key component of Elon’s HealthEU wellness initiative.

“The activity was a really great icebreaker for a lot of them and after the game was over, the students were already making connections, trading contact information, and debriefing on their first week at Elon to one another,” Hemmingway noted. “As an LGBTQIA+ student, it is life-changing to have a community like the one we have on campus, and I am excited to have helped facilitate parts of this event!”

To stay up-to-date on the GLC follow them on and or to receive their newsletter.

The support group, which began last year and met virtually, found success in providing a space for LGBTQIA+ students to meet other students and discuss their lived experiences. Lavender Circle is open to all enrolled Elon students – �þ��� or graduate.

The group will meet weekly on Tuesdays in Belk Library, Room 102. No formal RSVP is required but questions can be emailed to the co-facilitators Luis Garay, director of the GLC at lgaray@elon.edu or Tal Fish ’09, counselor with Counseling Services at tfish@elon.edu.

Below are some questions and answers about Lavender Circle:

• What is Lavender Circle? Whether you are out, questioning or exploring, this weekly peer support group is for LGBTQIA+ students of all backgrounds to discuss and explore aspects of gender identity, sexual orientation and/or romantic orientation in a safe space.  The group is support-based and is designed to encourage open discussion about topics that might include intersecting identities, coming out, relationships, family, spirituality, and other areas of your life that may be difficult to discuss elsewhere.
• Who facilitates Lavender Circle? Lavender Circle is facilitated by Garay (they/them) and Tal Fish ’09 (he/him).
• When are the meetings? Lavender Circle will meet in-person every Tuesday when classes are in session from 4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. in Belk Library room 102. The first meeting is Tuesday, Feb. 8.
• Is this open to everybody? Lavender Circle is open to any �þ��� student (�þ���, graduate, Law, PA/PT, etc.) who is currently enrolled in classes.
• Do I need to RSVP? No, you do not have to RSVP. You may email either Luis at lgaray@elon.edu or Tal at tfish@elon.edu with any questions.

The dinner is part of the GLC’s broader QTPOC (Queer and Trans People of Color) Initiative which focuses on and celebrates students at the intersections of their racial and ethnic identity, as well as their gender and sexuality.

The Rainbow of Excellence Dinner is open to all Elon students. For questions, please email glc@elon.edu for more information or follow the GLC on Instagram at .

The QTPOC Initiative is a formalized program through the Gender and LGBTQIA Center which began in Fall 2021. The QTPOC Initiative centers the experiences of ALANAM students and students that are part of the LGBTQIA communities. Questions about the initiative or to learn how to be involved can be shared with Luis Garay, director of Gender and LGBTQIA Center at lgaray@elon.edu.

The panel will discuss gender and sexuality, queer representation, stepping into your authentic self, and inspirational people who are living authentically. This collaborative event between Alamance Arts and the GLC will serve as a preliminary event for Jade’s exhibit at Alamance Arts which will run from May 17 to June 26. Dates and more information on this exhibit can be found .

To RSVP, follow .

For more information about Jade Wilson’s work visit their .

Panelists:

• Jade Wilson, featured exhibit artist
• Detric Robinson-Miller
• Kiah Glenn
• John Robinson-Miller
• Paige Wilson ’22

Moderators:

• Luis Garay, Gender and LGBTQIA Center
• Roarie Bishop, Alamance Arts

The Kiki Ball is a result of the collaborative work between Marjae Jackson, graduate apprentice for the CREDE, and Jamie Wire, graduate apprentice for the GLC. Jackson and Wire desired to bring ballroom culture to Elon and have been working over the last academic year to bring this collaborative idea into reality. A ball is an event where participants can compete in multiple events (called categories) for prizes. Balls have existed since the early 20th century. In the 1960s balls were created as a safe space for queer and trans Black and Latinx people who often experienced racism in discrimination within the early balls as well as society at large.

For more information, read .

For more information about the Kiki Ball and ball culture, check out the Gender and LGBTQIA’s Instagram at .

Registration is . For those interested, please RSVP as seating is limited to accommodate COVID protocols and physical distancing measures.

The Men’s Leadership for Gender Equity conference aims to engage men in conversations about gender equity across campus and in their daily lives.

The conference will create a pathway to educate men about healthy relationships, allyship to other communities, wellness, bystander intervention, and cultural competency. Through attending this conference, participants will be empowered to join conversations and create change in their communities and beyond. We seek to create a space for empathy, communication and allyship and seek to transform mind, body, and spirit. For more information visit /u/glc/mlge/.

Keynote Speaker Sponsors:
Lauren Dunne Astley Memorial Fund; Gender and LGBTQIA Center; Women’s, Gender, and Sexualities Studies; �þ��� Recreation and Wellness; Center for Race, Ethnicity, and Diversity Education; Center for Leadership; School of Communications; Violence Response (Office of Inclusive Excellence Education and Development)

Men’s Leadership for Gender Equity Conference – Leadership Team:
Co-chair: Shayna Mehas

Co-Chair: Jamie Wire

Luis Garay

Ailene Woznicki

Sarah Escorcia