The , a national organization that seeks to create a network where faculty and student affairs educators can learn, build and advance scholarship on the residential college experience, launched its awards program this year to recognize excellence in residential education.

A national model for living and learning

At Elon, living and learning are intentionally intertwined. Faculty and staff work across divisions to connect students��� academic journeys with their residential communities through shared courses, embedded faculty roles, themed living-learning communities and opportunities for informal mentorship.

The university was selected as the inaugural recipient of the Institutional Excellence in Residential Education Award for its collaborative, relationship-rich approach, which RCS described as a deeply human model of education that centers belonging, well-being and intellectual engagement.

���At Elon, Living and Learning isn���t just a program; it is the Elon experience,��� Nick Tippenhauer, RCS Executive Leadership Team member and assistant Dean for studies at Rockefeller College at Princeton University, said during the awards ceremony, referencing the nomination. ���It is a defining commitment to engaged learning that weaves together every aspect of campus life.���

Accepting the award on behalf of the university were Eleanor Finger, assistant vice president for Student Life and dean of campus life, and Jennifer Stephens, director of Academic-Residential Partnerships, who also emphasized the uniqueness of Elon���s integrated model.

���What makes Elon���s model distinctive is that we are fully integrated,��� Stephens said. ���Rarely do you see an actual partnership between Academic Affairs and Student Life across the entire living and learning experience the way you do at Elon.���

Community building at the heart of residential life

Much of Elon���s national reputation in living and learning is rooted in the day-to-day work happening in its neighborhoods. Faculty-in-residence and community directors collaborate to foster spaces that help students grow personally, academically and socially.

One example of this approach is illustrated in the Global Neighborhood, led in part by Outstanding Faculty Member Award recipient Sandy Marshall, where traditions such as ���Sundaes on Sundays��� and ���Mondays with the Marshalls,��� as well as monthly film nights and neighborhood dialogue dinners, have become beloved opportunities for students and faculty to connect beyond the classroom.

���Our Global Neighborhood team works with our amazing campus partners to create and sustain meaningful opportunities for students to connect with one another as well as faculty, staff, and community mentors,��� Marshall said. ���I love connecting with the students and seeing them make their own connections at these events.���

During the awards ceremony, Tippenhauer emphasized that Marshall���s programs are more than social events. ���They are acts of community-building that make a large campus feel personal and connected,��� he said.

Mariann King, community director for the Global Neighborhood, noted that the impact of these programs becomes clear as students grow over the academic year.

���When you think about where students are that first weekend and then see where they are by the time we host our Global Gala in the spring, you really get to see your students shine,��� she said. ���Those moments show just how much they learn from living on campus.���

Deepening connection, belonging and student success

The awards from the RCS reaffirm Elon���s long-standing commitment to exploring ways to deepen students’ connections and well-being.

���When faculty and staff invest in students as people, students feel like they have a place,��� Finger said. ���That sense of being cared for is what builds belonging.���

Stephens echoed this sentiment, stating, ���The two biggest indicators of student success are student-to-faculty interaction and peer-to-peer interaction,��� she said. ���When those happen naturally in residential spaces, it strengthens both connection and well-being.���

Looking ahead, Elon will continue to evolve its integrated model. Finger emphasized that ongoing refinement and growth will drive the next phase of this work.

���We are excited to engage more faculty in this transformative work, and to think dynamically about new living and learning communities that spark curiosity and interest in our students,��� she said.

Even as the model evolves, its core purpose will remain the same: bringing faculty, staff and students together outside the classroom to build community.

DeMarco, a human service studies major, started her engagement at Elon as a member of the Service Living and Learning Community. She continued to deepen her involvement as a Service Living and Learning Community coordinator and a leader of an alternative break experience to Asheville.

She has been involved in the 消消犯 Kitchen program for several years now, initially as a farm shift coordinator, and now serves as director. DeMarco has been able to strengthen volunteer retention, along with an increased capability of harvesting more produce Loy Farm to help serve those experiencing food insecurity in Alamance County. She is also an advocate for service as the service chair for Elon���s chapter of Alpha Chi Omega.

���Megan has an unbridled passion for service that is infectious to all those who participate with her,” said Abby Wiatrek, associate director of the Kernodle Center for Civic Life. “Her leadership style has a natural way of showing the humanity and humility needed when participating in service that makes others feel comfortable to ask questions to learn more about why the service that we are doing is important to our community.���

North Carolina 消消犯 Engagement is a collaborative network of colleges and universities committed to educating students for civic and social responsibility, partnering with communities for positive change, and strengthening democracy. The organization fosters connections between campuses, shares best practice information and resources, recognizes outstanding work, and champions civic and community engagement in higher education.

Participants learned about the油EcoVillage LLC at Loy Farm油proposal process and how the LLC integrates with the existing farm and academic initiatives on site. Presenters also offered learning moments, bumps in the road, and reflections on the EcoVillage’s first two years as a community.油Participants also gained insights on how to potentially kickstart a conversation on tiny house partnerships at their institution.油

The EcoVillage will be available for sophomores through seniors to select during Housing Selection coming up in February for returning students for the 2026-27 academic year.

Elon leaders dedicated the Toshio Sato Commons on Oct. 10, 2025, as part of Homecoming & Reunion Weekend in a ceremony that recognized the university���s first international student and first four-year graduate from outside the United States.

Members of Sato���s family from Japan were joined at the ceremony by dignitaries of the Japanese government as well as executives from The Japan-America Society, the NC Japan Center at North Carolina State University, and representatives from Honda and Toyota.

Descendants and distinguished guests gathered with 消消犯 faculty, staff, administrators, alumni and students in what had been known as Global Commons to celebrate Sato���s remarkable campus legacy.

The early afternoon ceremony featured remarks by President Connie Ledoux Book, who described Sato���s story as ���a testament to the courage, imagination and aspirations of a young Japanese woman who came to our campus, formed powerful and lasting relationships and established an ethos of global friendship and partnership that has remained strong across generations.���

Sato arrived at Elon in 1914 from the rural town of Wakuya, Japan, supported by church and community leaders who recognized her potential. She studied through the challenges of World War I and the global influenza pandemic, graduating as valedictorian in 1920. On campus she served as president of the Women���s Association for Self-Government, an early version of Elon���s Student Government Association.

���When Toshio arrived at Elon, she didn���t just survive ��� she soared,��� Book said. ���She became a beacon of leadership and intellectual curiosity on our campus.���

After returning to Japan, Sato lived through the destruction of World War II, losing her home and possessions but not her connection to the university she once called home.

���She rebuilt her life with the same quiet dignity and strength that had defined her all along,��� Book said. ���We live in a world that desperately needs more Toshios ��� more people who can reach across oceans and divides and appreciate the wonderful common humanity that unites us all.���

We live in a world that desperately needs more Toshios ��� more people who can reach across oceans and divides and appreciate the wonderful common humanity that unites us all.

– 消消犯 President Connie Ledoux Book

Book presented a gift from 消消犯 to each of Sato���s descendants during the dedication: A metal plate with an image of Toshio Sato Commons to display in their homes.

Among those family members in attendance was Sato���s grandson, Yusuke Kato, a physics professor at the University of Tokyo.

���Toshio never thought it would be for her to come back again to North Carolina,��� Kato said in remarks delivered on behalf of the family. ���Nor would she have imagined that her descendants would be participating in Homecoming week, more than 100 years after her graduation.���

Kato described his family���s visit as a reminder of the enduring ties between Elon and Japan. ���We are attracted so much by 消消犯 and would like to contribute in some way,��� he said. ���We thank again all the people in 消消犯 for remembering Toshio���s pioneering role and leadership in her college days over 100 years ago.���

Chika Kusakawa ���09, an Elon alumna who helped the university reconnect with Sato���s descendants, recalled in the ceremony���s welcoming remarks how she first learned as a student about Sato���s historical significance at the university.

���Reading about her success at the time gave me a quiet confidence ��� if she could thrive then, I could thrive now,��� Kusakawa said. ���Knowing someone like me had been on this journey had a profound impact. It underscores that representation matters. Leaders like her paved the way for people like me.���

Nick Gozik, dean of global education, said Sato���s courage continues to influence Elon���s approach to international learning. ���What we call the present is given shape by an accumulation of the past,��� he said, quoting novelist Haruki Murakami. ���May Sato Commons continue to remind us that courage, curiosity and human connection are at the heart of education ��� here at Elon, and in the world beyond.���

Sato���s name is now displayed on a building that is home to the Isabella Cannon Global Education Center and the Elon Core Curriculum. The commons also includes classrooms, meeting spaces and gathering areas for students.

Performers can either do karaoke, sing an original song, or lip sync ��� the one stipulation is that it must be in a language other than English. This year, there were 13 performances with songs in five different languages: French, Arabic, Spanish, German and Korean.油

GlobalVision was inspired by the EuroVision song competition. However, the event at Elon is for languages across the globe, not only languages spoken in Europe.

The first GlobalVision happened in the spring of 2022 in Global Commons. Since then, the event has grown and is now an annual event in Iraz炭. This event has seen a lot of change in just three years, and will continue to evolve in the years to come.

There were three prize baskets for the winners filled with international candies, snacks and drinks. All winners also got a bouquet of fresh flowers. In addition to the other two prizes. The first place winners also went home with a trophy.

The first place winners, sophomores Ali and Andi Dalton ’27, sang an original song with guitar in French. First-year student Andrew Juhasz ’28 was the second-place winner and sang a song in German. In third place was a trio who sang karaoke to ���C坦mo la flor��� by Selena. Their charisma had the audience involved and excited about the performance.

Although not all 13 groups that performed went home with prizes, they all went home with a fun and memorable experience.

Residence Life also recognized members of the Residence Life student staff council and one graduating Neighborhood Manager: Wise Halverson.

The evening included opening remarks from President Connie Book and Vice President of Student Life Jon Dooley.

Student Staff Member of the Year (by neighborhood)

Student Staff Member of the Year is awarded to at least one staff member from each residential neighborhood who has demonstrated excellent teamwork, dedication, and positivity in their role.

Recipients

Colonnades: Mackenzie Perry

Danieley: Jason Adama-Tettey

East: Asia Green

Global: Keali Chang

Historic: Kiera Wenzel

Loy: Catarina Gandara Da Silva

Oaks: Morgan Seate

Station at Mill Point: Annabelle Stephens

Living-Learning Community (LLC) End of Year Awards

Almost 80 nominations were submitted for the Living-Learning Community End of Year awards, including nominations by participating students, staff and faculty advisors. Elon���s nationally ranked LLCs support over 600 residents in 24 different living-learning communities led by 33 faculty and staff LLC advisors.

Living-Learning Community Student of the Year: Odalys Zelaya Figueroa, First Phoenix LLC, Colonnades Neighborhood

Living-Learning Community Ambassador of the Year: Violette Valadez, First Phoenix LLC, Colonnades Neighborhood

Living-Learning Community Program of the Year: Elon College Fellows Murder Mystery Night, East Neighborhood

Living-Learning Community Advisors of the Year: Paula DiBiaso and Kenneth Brown, First Phoenix LLC, Colonnades Neighborhood

Living-Learning Community Resident Assistant of the Year: Grace Smith, Sustainable Living LLC, Colonnades Neighborhood

Living-Learning Community of the Year: Performing Arts LLC, Global Neighborhood

NRHH Rising Diamond Award
Tessa Mattison, senior resident assistant, Historic Neighborhood油

This award recognizes a Residence Life staff member who shows that leadership inside and outside the department is crucial to continued growth in the 消消犯 experience. The recipient of this award has demonstrated that their skill set learned at Elon has positively impacted their community and will continue to impact whatever community joined after positively. The official symbol of NRHH is a diamond ���the world���s most precious gem- to signify the value and beauty one finds in their experiences.

Student Leadership and Community Development Award
Maximus Garganta, senior resident assistant, Colonnades Neighborhood油

This award highlights a student staff member who demonstrated extraordinary leadership in their role and promoted community development by challenging and caring for residents through their Elon experiences.

Student Employee Excellence Award
Eva Miller, office assistant, Global Neighborhood油

This award highlights an hourly student employee who has displayed extraordinary dedication, leadership and service to their neighborhood and/or the Office of Residence Life. They consistently positively impact their neighborhood/office staff and community by going above and beyond what is asked in completing their work responsibilities.

Julie Justice Faculty Engagement Award
Claudine Moreau, faculty director, Historic Neighborhood

In honor of Julie Justice���s depth of service and engagement with her residents during her time as a faculty-in-residence in the Oaks neighborhood, this award honors a faculty member who has contributed to enhancing the residential campus initiative by engaging with students within the residential community, and broadly developing connections within the neighborhood to enhance the student residential experience.

Program of the Year

Neighborhood: East
Program Name:油East Gets on the Bus to Twin Lakes
This award highlights a neighborhood program, event, or series that promotes active engagement of residents with faculty and staff over a topic that promotes the intellectual theme of the neighborhood.

Firestarter Award
Sydney Michel, resident assistant, Historic Neighborhood油

This award recognizes a new student staff member who has shown exceptional promise in their role through creative and engaging floor programming, sound decision-making, and a consistently positive attitude. Their dedication to building community and enhancing the living and learning experience at Elon sets a strong foundation for continued impact and growth.

Trailblazing Guide Award
Nicholas Rugbart, senior resident assistant, Global Neighborhood油油

This award honors a seasoned student staff member who consistently goes above and beyond – not only excelling in their own role, but also serving as a reliable source of support and mentorship for their peers. Their approachable nature and commitment to fostering a strong living and learning environment truly embody the spirit of campus community.

Tracy Pace Program Assistant of the Year
Sandra Bays, program assistant, East Neighborhood

This award honors a program assistant in Residence Life who utilizes exceptional organization, interpersonal, and customer service skills.

Professional Staff Member of the Year
Mariann King, community director, Global Neighborhood

This award recognizes a professional staff member of the Residence Life team who has demonstrated mentorship, community building and professionalism throughout the 2024-25 academic year.

Community Partnership Award
Grace Smith, resident assistant, Colonnades Neighborhood

The Community Partnership Award is presented to an individual who has continuously partnered and supported throughout the school year with 消消犯 Safety and Police.

More than 50 immigrant and refugee students received recognition for their dedicated participation in weekly English classes supported by 消消犯 students, faculty, and staff.

The graduation marks a milestone in an ongoing partnership between the Burlington Masjid and Elon���s Multifaith Scholars Program, as well as Elon���s Global Neighborhood. Throughout this academic year, Elon students and staff have volunteered at the Masjid, providing structured ESL instruction, tutoring and conversation support to a community made up primarily of newcomers from Afghanistan and Syria.

���This initiative is rooted in our commitment to global citizenship and local engagement,��� said Sandy Marshall, faculty director of the Global Neighborhood and interim director of the Multifaith Scholars Program. ���The Burlington Masjid plays a vital role in supporting newly arrived refugees, and this collaboration is a natural extension of our shared goals.���

Each Sunday morning throughout the academic year, approximately 50 students have gathered for lessons in listening, reading and writing in English. The program is tailored to meet the unique needs of learners adapting to life in a new country.

Multifaith Scholar Bethany Marzella ���24 and Elon College Fellow Rachel Curtis ���24 were among the early volunteers who helped launch the initiative with just a handful of students in 2023. As the number of refugee families in the Burlington area increased, so did interest from Elon volunteers, especially amid reductions in federal refugee resettlement support.

Alyssa Carney ���26, an international and global studies and history double major, and Owen Hayes ���26, a history major, began volunteering in fall 2024,油 as part of their community engagement efforts with the MFS program. Recognizing the need for consistent, structured language support, they worked with Marshall and the Masjid to help expand the program.

���Seeing the class grow has been incredible,��� said Dina Halayqa, volunteer coordinator for the ESL program at the Masjid. ���This is more than just grammar and vocabulary. It���s a space where people are rewriting their stories in a new land.���

Greatly contributing to the growth of the program has been the dedicated support given by Nicole Galante, assistant director of National and International Fellowships, who joined as a volunteer in January. Like Halayqa, Galante agrees that the program is about more than language learning.

���Meaning-making is a communal process that transcends the boundaries of language,” said Galante. “I love helping students at the masjid learn English, but I really love coming together despite our differences to learn more about ourselves and the world.���

Additional volunteers who joined in the spring include Jesse White ���26, also a multifaith scholar, Tajallah Amirkhil ���28, Huria Tahiry ���26 and Jenna Abousaab ���27. With increased capacity, the program offers two class sections: one for primarily Arabic-speaking students from Syria, and another for Dari and Pashto speakers from Afghanistan.

���As a Syrian American, it’s incredibly meaningful to have been a part of this experience,��� said Abousaab, ���which has not only allowed me to give back to the community but has helped me reconnect with my roots in a way I never expected.���

Yasmeen, a Syrian student in the program, shared what the class has meant to her: ���I still have a lot of learning to do, but this class has taught me how to build relationships in my community and communicate with my neighbors.���

For the Elon students involved, the experience has offered insight into community engagement, cross-cultural connection and mutual learning.

As the program looks to continue in the next academic year, organizers hope to further expand the curriculum, recruit more volunteers, and build on the deep relationships formed through language and learning.

The Annual Conference on The First-Year Experience provides an ongoing forum where higher education professionals can share experiences, concerns and accomplishments related to supporting student learning, development, and success in the first college year.

Staff and faculty from Elon shared best practices from Elon’s U.S. News #1 ranked First-Year Experience program and #1 ranked Learning Communities with colleagues from other colleges and universities. Attendees from Elon included:

• Jen Platania, associate provost for Academic Affairs and associate professor of economics
• Eleanor Finger, assistant vice president for Student Life, dean of 消消犯 Life and assistant professor
• Jennifer Stephens, director of academic-residential partnerships and assistant professor of education
• Kirsten Carrier, assistant dean of 消消犯 Life and director of Residence Life
• Jill McSweeney, assistant director of the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning and assistant professor of wellness
• Paula Patch, senior lecturer in English and associate director of First-Year Initiatives in the Elon Core Curriculum
• Brandy Propst, director of Elon 1010 and assistant director of academic advising

Additionally, Jennifer Stephens and Kirsten Carrier presented their work at the conference in a session titled ���Living & Learning at Elon: A Framework for First-Year Residential Learning.” This presentation discussed the creation of a new residential learning outcomes framework that gave faculty and staff working on the initiative common goals for programming and assessable learning outcomes. The framework was created as a result of the Residential 消消犯 Strategic plan, which aims to achieve portions of Boldly Elon, the university’s current strategic plan. Attendees at the session gained practical strategies on how they might create this type of framework for their residential learning initiatives and were able to hear how assessment results have informed updates and changes to the framework for the future.

Current students must:

• APPLY油��� Submit their油Housing Application油by Feb. 10, 2025
• MATCH油��� Begin roommate matching (complete roommate matching prior to your selection day/s)
• SELECT油��� Participate in a油selection day process油or be accepted to an LLC or Fraternity/Sorority house.

Current Elon students are encouraged to apply for a Living-Learning Community (LLC) through Feb. 1 on their housing application. LLCs provide the opportunity for students who share similar interests to reside in the same residential area and engage in those interests academically and socially through dedicated programming and events led by a faculty or staff advisor. 消消犯 accepted into an LLC will receive priority housing. For more information,油visit our油Living-Learning Communities website.

Residence Life encourages students to油ask questions油and油contact Residence Life staff with any concerns. There is a recorded information session available as well as several upcoming Q&A sessions students/families can attend.

EcoVillage LLC Presentation

Participants learned about the EcoVillage LLC at Loy Farm proposal process and how the LLC integrates with the existing farm and academic initiatives on site.油Participants also gained insights on how to potentially kickstart a conversation on tiny house partnerships at their institution.

AI Best Practices in Residence Life

Participants got hands-on with Chat GPT and practiced using it for a few residence life related practices. They also participated in a group brainstorm on other ways they might use AI in current or future work.