Shillinger ultimately decided to attend žĂžĂČČ after being selected as an Isabella Cannon Leadership Fellow. She majored in communications and graduated with the goal to continue in the field. However, with a recession looming and a limited job market, she spent her first several years out of college working on the business side of the healthcare industry, where she helped lead at the forefront of e-prescriptions. Through this work she learned a great deal about the medical field and medical diagnosis.

During her first pregnancy, Shillinger gave birth to a healthy baby girl with little to no complications. Things took a turn though when her daughter, Brynleigh, was just nine months old. Brynleigh started having unusual episodes that prompted Shillinger and her husband to take their daughter to the Children’s National Hospital for answers.

At the hospital, they did a lot of testing. “It was really terrifying to be told, ‘hopefully it’s just epilepsy,’ as a brand new parent,” said Shillinger. “It sounded pretty extensive and like a big diagnosis to us.” Shillinger learned through this process that many children have a medical reason for epilepsy, but others may not have one that can be pinpointed.

After a week in the hospital, doctors tested every organ in Brynleigh’s body and found tumors on her brain, heart and even spots on her skin. She was eventually diagnosed with a rare multi-system genetic disorder called tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), a disorder that can range from minor impacts to major ones, depending upon the person. There is currently no cure for TSC and it is the leading genetic cause of autism, which Brynleigh is also impacted by. “We were told there was no crystal ball for our daughter, leaving us with no real answers for what to do next. Bryleigh was said to be moderately affected and had to undergo three brain surgeries,” said Shillinger.

They had to decide whether or not they wanted to be more introverted about their journey but the right choice for their family was to advocate for Brynleigh and others as much as possible. As a family, they decided to spearhead the initiative of advocacy for Brynleigh’s diagnosis. Shillinger and her husband connected with the TSC Alliance out of Silver Spring, Maryland, a non-profit organization that fundraises and researches for a cure. The two met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to fundraise for TSC research, followed by support from the Epilepsy Foundation. “It has been a very complex medical journey and we decided to be Brynleigh’s voice until she can be her own advocate,” said Shillinger.

She was surprised to find that in the state of Maryland, there are no full-time nurses in schools every day and teachers do not have seizure response training. As any parent would be, Shillinger was concerned for her daughter’s safety since school personnel were not equipped to handle an unexpected seizure. “Seizures can be life-threatening and require emergency medication or medical intervention,” said Shillinger. “I could not let my daughter and other affected children go to school without a change in place.”

Around that time, legislation was being passed in the state of Kentucky for seizure-safe schools, and it prompted Shillinger and her family to pursue their own bill for the state of Maryland in 2019 called, “Brynleigh’s Act.”

After meeting with the senator and delegate of their district of Frederick, Maryland, their story sparked a need for change. They first created model legislation and then they filed the bill through the Maryland General Assembly in 2020. The process was long and not without hardship for these young parents, and they could never have anticipated a global pandemic impacting their work. The COVID-19 pandemic altered the legislative landscape around the world, bringing things to a halt. For the first time since the Civil War, all state legislatures were forced to shut down. Unfortunately, the bill was not considered emergency legislation, and it was put on hold until the following year.

With the burden of the pandemic weighing heavy on school officials who did not want to add more to the chaos, Shillinger had to fight hard for “Brynleigh’s Act” because it would help not only her daughter but 8,000 other students diagnosed with epilepsy in the state of Maryland. “One in 26 can become diagnosed with epilepsy at any time, and one in 10 will have a seizure in their lifetime,” said Shillinger. “Once we were able to explain the gravity of the amount of people impacted by this in our state, we pushed for seizure training and action plans in schools as well as training to administer seizure rescue medications.”

Bringing the bill back for the third time in 2022, Shillinger and her husband were able to finally get the legislation to pass unanimously in both the state House and Senate when it was signed by Governor Larry Hogan in April 2022. “Brynleigh’s Act” became a law in Maryland, and will be implemented in this upcoming 2023-2024 school year. “Maryland was the 15th state to pass seizure-safe school legislation,” said Shillinger. “There are now 20 states that have passed legislation, and the goal is to pass all 50 states over the next few years.”

Before this legislation, Shillinger had to go to school as Brynleigh’s mother to provide training to the teachers and staff, but this is the last semester she will have to do that. “It was a full circle moment for me knowing that this will be a lasting legacy,” said Shillinger.

Many other parents are following in Shillinger’s footsteps and taking initiative to have full-time nurses back in schools and more first-aid training provided for school personnel. Shillinger spends her time working in a group with the National Epilepsy Foundation and the board of education and health department to ensure the new law will be implemented as intended. Along with aiding in the rollout of the law, she also plans to hold a webinar class to inform all parents in the state of Maryland about the law and its impact.

“Going to Elon, I never knew that I would work on projects like this,” said Shillinger, “You never know where your journey is going to take you.” 

All Elon reunion classes were encouraged to give back through their specific Reunion Day of Giving, and with 2,189 donors this year, the university raised $2,862,300. Reunion volunteers and donors showcased their commitment to the success of Elon students and helped to pave the way for future generations.

“Reunion volunteers are the foundation for a big weekend like we just had. They provide the relationships with other classmates to allow for people to come back to campus and reconnect and support Elon students through the reunion giving efforts. We are all very proud of how this year went,” says Cole Hyman ’16 G’21, assistant director of annual giving and leadership giving officer.

The Golden Alumni Luncheon for the Class of 1972 with President Connie Ledoux Book was among the numerous events held throughout the weekend. Members of the class who returned to campus received their golden medallion to symbolize their induction into the Golden Alumni Family.

“What a great weekend. It was so good to see everyone and catch up on the last 50 years,” said Henry Pittman ’72. “Thanks to all for the planning it takes to pull off an event such as this. I hope all can attend Homecoming next year as we celebrate our 51st reunion as Golden Alumni.”

The festivities continued as members of the Omicron Epsilon chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority returned to campus to celebrate their 35th reunion. Since the chapter was chartered at Elon in 1987, the women of the organization have continued to serve the greater community and aid in the success of Elon students. With 44 donors from Omicron Epsilon chapter this year, the organization raised a total of $11,661. This money will directly support the Black Alumni Scholarship at Elon. The dedication of these women will help meet the financial needs of students.

“It is important for us to help ensure Black students feel supported both socially and financially at Elon and that is why we chose to fundraise for EBAN,” says Kelia Evans ’12, a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha. “We enjoyed our fellowship and reunion celebration during Homecoming 2022 as it was a special time to reconnect and spend time together as a chapter. We look forward to our sisterhood serving the community, as well as Elon, for many more years.”

Just months earlier, Faustin crossed paths with the founder of She Built This City, a Charlotte-based nonprofit created to spark interest in construction and maker trades for women and girls.

“We aligned on our belief that the trades are a lucrative path of upward mobility for women and marginalized communities,” says Faustin. Months later, she received an offer to join the nonprofit as its executive director.

“It was a risk for me and my young family, especially during the pandemic,” she says. “But I saw the potential and knew it was something I could fully get behind.”

Faustin’s enthusiasm notwithstanding, growing a small and young nonprofit during a pandemic came with its own set of challenges. COVID-19 put additional strain on the economic mobility of women, with two million fewer women in the workforce than the previous year. In response, She Built This City launched two big initiatives: an all-female cohort in plumbing pre-apprenticeship and an all-women repair crew.

They also embraced technology to transform in-person camps and workshops into virtual gatherings, enabling the team to carry on with the nonprofit’s mission to teach girls and women valuable skills in construction and maker trades despite the pandemic.

In addition, Faustin and her team took the gender exclusion off their programming, after realizing there was a greater population to serve. They wanted to be of service to working families and parents looking for jobs, too.

“While we will continue to focus on closing the gender gap in representation in the construction industry, we realize that giving access to youth in general — and marginalized communities in particular — is beneficial to both our community and the industry as a whole,” said Faustin during an .

Since graduating from Elon in 2004, Faustin has built a career working for and leading organizations that serve marginalized populations, starting with Teach for America. With a passion for serving the Latinx community, she worked for three years on the border of Texas and Mexico, which impacted her as an individual, as well as the trajectory of her career.

“It was there that my heart for community development was born,” says Faustin. “I saw a different kind of poverty there. I realized that no matter what I did within the four walls of the classroom, if circumstances outside of the classroom such as affordable housing and workforce development didn’t exist, then the efforts inside the classroom were futile.”

Faustin credits her time at Elon with affording her the connections and experiences she needed to build the skills she has used throughout her career. As a Leadership Fellow, member of the yearbook committee and even a dancer at Spring Convocation featuring Elie Wiesel, Faustin took part in everything she could at Elon.

“I have used every single bit of my education from Elon,” said Faustin, who graduated with a double major in communications and Spanish. “Some of the fundamentals of public relations and marketing are essential in the kind of work that I do.”

Through her Spanish major, she acquired both the language and a deep appreciation for the culture. Like many of her fellow alumni, Faustin also found a mentor at Elon that shaped her path. Through her work-study experience as a student assistant with the Office of Minority Affairs (which has since become the Center for Race, Ethnicity & Diversity Education, or CREDE), she connected with former staff member L’Tanya Richmond ’87.

“My work-study experiences on campus gave me some of the most valuable education I received at Elon,” says Faustin. “Watching [Richmond] grow the program from the ground up and build the foundations for pillars of Elon life now, such as the Black Excellence Awards and the SMART mentoring program, gave me a front-row seat to how she built a legacy.”

Faustin later returned to Elon to pursue her MBA and is now seeing the benefits at She Built This City.

“My business degree has given our organization a competitive advantage. I’ve more than quadrupled revenue and staffing since I started, and we’re preparing for expansion. I credit that largely to the hands-on, practical instruction I received in the MBA program,” she says. “From strategy simulations to studying abroad in China, the lessons I learned there were transformative in my understanding of systems and strategies. Elon taught me to take the bull by the horns and seize every opportunity that came my way. That has become an inextricable part of my DNA.”