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It’s been a while since North Carolina has seen a lengthy warm spell, so at noontime on Wednesday, how did a crowd of ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈ students take advantage of the January weather? By jumping into Lake Mary Nell, naturally, as part of the seventh annual Polar Bear Plunge.

Many students, faculty and staff at ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈ have expressed concern for the people of Haiti following a massive earthquake on Tuesday that killed tens of thousands and devastated much of the Caribbean nation. A current student and a 2009 alum on the ground in Haiti have made contact with their families in the United States, while another two current students and other alumni have started hearing from their own relatives still in the country.

In the thick of a breaking news story such as the Mumbai bombings that killed scores of people, it can be tough for reporters to critique their own work, and that’s where ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈ senior Hannah Williams fills a need. Williams is the fifth student to be featured in a series of E-net profiles on the inaugural class of Lumen Scholars.

¾Ã¾ÃÈÈ defender Steven Kinney became the first player in program history to be drafted into Major League Soccer when the Chicago Fire selected him on Thursday with the 45th pick of the 2010 MLS SuperDraft.

Leaders need to adapt to changing conditions. They need to communicate their ideas. And if you ask Dee Dee Myers, the first woman to serve as a White House press secretary who spoke Thursday night as Elon's sixth Isabella Cannon Distinguished Visiting Professor of Leadership, she’ll tell you that leaders can’t be afraid to fail.

More than 600 students are studying abroad over Winter Term, and the Isabella Cannon Centre for International Studies is hosting a blog for parents and friends to stay up-to-date on experiences taking place in nations such as China, South Africa and Greece.

Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof will headline a daylong celebration of the liberal arts and sciences on April 13, as ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈ installs its new chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa Society.

In its annual "Year in Photos" feature, the Office of University Relations has collected some of the best Elon pictures from 2009 in a retrospective slide show.