It’s a question often asked himself in the early days of his ongoing fight against cancer. It wasn’t until initial treatment proved futile that Chakrabarty, who delivered keynote remarks on April 17, 2026, at a Phi Beta Kappa induction ceremony for dozens of top ����app�ٷ���վ�� students, better understood the praise.

Bravery, simply put, can also be persistence. “When people tell someone battling an illness that they are brave, it’s because they’re continuing to fight – despite the odds, and despite the pain and suffering,” Chakrabarty said.

Drawing on lessons from his career, Chakrabarty emphasized for his audience in the Lakeside Meeting Rooms that both professional and personal success is often shaped by more than intellect. Habits, perspective, relationships – and, yes, courage – can lead to a wondrous and fulfilling life. He offered five strategies for students to consider:

• Act with efficiency: Address small tasks immediately to avoid unnecessary stress.
• Remain open to place and possibility: Career paths are often unpredictable and shaped by unexpected opportunities.
• Prioritize energy over time: Success depends less on hours available and more on how energy is directed.
• Redefine wealth and contentment: Financial pursuit alone does not lead to fulfillment.
• Invest in relationships: Simple gestures can strengthen meaningful connections.

Chakrabarty concluded his remarks with a charge for inductees to use their knowledge and their courage to improve the human condition.

“Find a way to be brave, fight evil, and injustice, and fight your own demons, whether they be cancer or mental health struggles,” he said. “Stand up for nature or for a cause, or for anything that you care about. Stand up for those who can’t. Stand up for yourself, and remember, not only to be smart, but to be also brave.”

Chakrabarty is the E.K. Hunter Chair for Communication in Science Research, professor and curator of fishes at the Museum of Natural Science and Department of Biological Sciences at Louisiana State University. He studies the natural history of fishes to better understand Earth history and evolution and has traveled to more than 30 countries to conduct that research.

Chakrabarty is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a national fellow of the Explorers Club, a fellow of the Linnean Society and a TED senior fellow. He is past president of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists and is on the Board of Directors of the National Center for Science Education and the American Institute of Biological Sciences.

Sixty ����app�ٷ���վ�� students were candidates for induction, and many attended the program accompanied by family members.

Phi Beta Kappa has established chapters at nearly 300 colleges and universities in the United States, representing only 10% of the nation’s institutions of higher learning. Each year, the top 10% of arts and sciences graduates at these institutions are selected for membership. ����app�ٷ���վ�� Eta Chapter of North Carolina was installed on April 13, 2010.

Inductees also heard from Associate Professor Anthony Rizzuto, president of ����app�ٷ���վ�� Eta Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa; Associate Librarian Shannon Tennant, the Eta Chapter’s historian, who shared the history, origins and traditions of Phi Beta Kappa; and Hilton Kelly, dean of Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences and a professor of sociology.

“Tonight is a celebration of excellence, a recognition of your remarkable achievements, and a testament to your dedication to academic pursuits,” Rizzuto said. “This induction is not merely a reflection of your intellect, but also your unwavering commitment to the pursuit of knowledge, truth, and understanding.

“Phi Beta Kappa is not merely a recognition of past achievements, it is a charge to continue striving for excellence, to embrace intellectual curiosity, and to use your knowledge for the better manner of society. Indeed, as members of Phi Beta Kappa, you are not only scholars but also stewards of knowledge entrusted with the responsibility to shape the future. In a world filled with complex challenges, your intellect, dedication, and perhaps, most importantly, creativity will be indispensable.”

Indeed, as members of Phi Beta Kappa, you are not only scholars but also stewards of knowledge entrusted with the responsibility to shape the future.

– Associate Professor Anthony Rizzuto

Kelly’s closing remarks underscored Rizzuto’s points.

“Your induction affirms not only your academic achievements, but also your commitment to engaging in the breadth and depth of learning that can transform worlds, asking hard questions, engaging diverse perspectives, pursuing truth, or multiple truths, and applying what you learn to real world problems,” he said. “In laboratories, in libraries, studios, and stages, classrooms, and communities, you have demonstrated what it means to think critically and to engage deeply in the liberal arts and sciences.

“It is your responsibility to continue embracing complexity through problem posing, and problem solving, to remain lifelong, disciplinary, and interdisciplinary learners, and to use your education not only for personal success, but for the common good.”

2026 Inductees into the Eta Chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa Society

Leah Alberga ’26
Psychology

Ella Allen ’26
Mathematics

Faith Almond ’26
English

Nicolas Alvarez ’27
Engineering and Mathematics

Lauren Bedell ’26
Political Science and Policy Studies

Kiersten Bergman ’26
Strategic Communications

Jo Bogart ’26
English and Classical Studies

Mary Boyd ’26
English

Anya Bratic ’26
International & Global Studies and Public Policy

Rebecca Bravman ’26
Psychology

Julia Bromfeld ’26
Human Service Studies

Nick Brown ’26
Psychology

Emma Call ’26
Exercise Science

Conter Cornwell ’26
Biochemistry

Margaret Crawford ’26
Human Service Studies

Maggie Dion ’26
Engineering

Maya Duarte Cherry ’26
Political Science and Philosophy

Emily Ecker ’26
Public Health Studies and International & Global Studies

Katherine Evans ’26
Biology

Reese Garrity ’26
Biochemistry

Nicole Genzink ’26
Biology

Jinelle Gonzalez ’27
International & Global Studies and Policy Studies

Izzy Greenstein ’26
Human Service Studies and Spanish

Olivia Guarino ’26
Psychology

Marykate Hart ’26
Environmental & Sustainability Studies

Ava Hellner ’26
Psychology

Diego Hernandez ’26
Engineering

Madeline Hewgley ’26
Music Theatre and Political Science

Fiona Hodge ’26
Psychology

Katie Hull ’26
Political Science and International & Global Studies

Brady Jackson ’26
Policy Studies and Political Science

Haley Johnson ’26
Psychology

Emma Kenney ’26
Environmental and Ecological Science

Ella Kinman ’26
English and Political Science

Maddie Kippe ’26
Exercise Science

Sam Kupka ’26
International & Global Studies and Religious Studies

Tori Layton ’26
History and German Studies

Murilo Lopes ’27
Computer Science

Annika Lotsch’26
Psychology

Abigail Manning ’26
Environmental and Ecological Science

Archie Meskhidze ’26
Philosophy and International & Global Studies

Gavin Michaud ’26
Psychology and Sociology

Molly Moylan ’26
Biochemistry

Pagnapech Ngoun ’26
Engineering

Anna Orlando ’26
Psychology

Allyson Parent ’26
Psychology

Mackenzie Perry ’26
Political Science

Braetan Peters ’26
Biology

Erin Pitman ’26
Biochemistry

Ruby Radis ’26
Human Service Studies

Caroline Reich ’26
Exercise Science

Zoe Richardson ’26
International & Global Studies and Philosophy

Matthew Rostan ’26
Political Science and History

Kailey Stark ’26
Public Health Studies and Psychology

Fayrah Stylianopoulos ’26
Psychology

Rahv Tupac-Yupanqui ’26
Engineering and Physics

Noelle Vaught ’26
History

Athena Vizuete ’26
History

Mia Webdell ’26
Biochemistry

Lawson Wheeler ’26
Exercise Science

Six judges, comprising two panels, heard oral arguments in two cases inside the law school’s Robert E. Long Courtroom on Wed., April 15. Following recess, they held an extended Q&A session with students in the courtroom where they shared lessons drawn from decades of experience on and off the bench.

Among their advice to young lawyers:

• Be willing to concede a point — then quickly move on to explain why your client still prevails.
• It’s OK to say, “I don’t know,” rather than risk your credibility. Return to your argument about why your client should win the case.
• Structure legal briefs as clear roadmaps of your argument for the Court.
• Be concise in your writing. Make your point, support it with the law and move forward.
• Use caution with AI: Verify facts and citations before submitting any work to the court. Large language models often hallucinate legal matters.

Judges hearing arguments and interacting with students were:

• The Hon. Chris Dillon, Chief Judge of the N.C. Court of Appeals
• The Hon. John Arrowood
• The Hon. Jefferson Griffin
• The Hon. Toby Hampson
• The Hon. Donna Stroud
• The Hon. John Tyson

Judges heard arguments in two very different cases.

The first, , centers on whether certain residential units should be classified as townhomes or duplexes under local building codes, a distinction with significant regulatory consequences — and now potential financial consequences for individual property owners.

The second case, , out of Forsyth County, involves the state’s appeal of a trial court’s decision to dismiss charges after testimony referenced a prior case, raising questions about prejudice and appropriate remedies.

“It was an incredible experience for our students to observe six judges from the North Carolina Court of Appeals and four highly skilled appellate advocates in action, particularly as our first-year students prepare to present their own appellate arguments in their required Legal Method & Communication course in a few weeks,” said Alan Woodlief, vice dean and professor of law. “Several of the judges visiting today consistently welcome Elon Law students to their chambers for their Residencies-in-Practice, summer internships, or full-time clerkships after graduation. It was great to have several current Residency students accompany their judges to the oral arguments.”

Elon Law students’ takeaways

Law students listened intently to judges’ lines of questioning, but also to the ways appellant litigators structured their arguments, responded to jurists’ questions and addressed the court.

“I was paying attention to everything. I could understand why this is such a complicated case — codes changing, proposals changing, multiple parties — and I appreciated the judges asking why it got to this point and where responsibility lies,” said Lamarie Austin-Stripling LF ’29. A student in Elon Law’s part-time Charlotte Flex Program, Austin-Stripling drove from her home in Concord, North Carolina, to hear arguments before returning to the Queen City for classes that night.

Greensboro law students were just as engaged.

• “What struck me most is how much of what I’ve already been doing — in the classroom, in residency, and in internships — showed up in these arguments. It reinforced that I’m learning the skills I’ll need to be in that position one day.” – Tyler Sesker L’26, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, who earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees at Hollins University and the University of Virginia.

•  “I was surprised by how collaborative the process is — judges discussing cases with each other and their clerks before and after arguments. It was valuable to see how the pros do it and what approaches seemed to resonate.” – Tom Desch L’27, of Cornelius, North Carolina, who earned his undergraduate degree at the University of South Carolina

• “One of the most impactful takeaways was hearing from the judges that if an attorney doesn’t know an answer, it is okay to say, ‘I don’t know.’ Being honest about the limits of your knowledge is much better than risking your credibility.” – Paulina Escobar L’27, of Ecuador, who holds a law degree from the University of the Americas in Quito, Ecuador.

Elon Law alumnus argues in his home court

For one attorney arguing before the court, the visit marked a return to where his legal career began.

Reginaldo Williams L’11, now an attorney with the North Carolina Department of Justice, presented arguments in State v. Cuadra. His path to appellate advocacy, however, was far from certain.

“I was that person wondering, ‘Why did I do this?’” Williams said following hearings, recalling his time as a law student. “I didn’t feel like I fit as a prosecutor or a public defender. But when I did my first oral argument, I knew — this is it.”

Williams credits guidance from Professor of Law Catherine Ross Dunham with helping him stay the course at a moment when he considered leaving law school altogether. That decision ultimately led him to appellate practice, where he now represents the state in criminal appeals.

“There are a lot of students who may not feel like they’ve found their place yet,” he said. “But you will. And when you do, it makes all the difference.”

A Virginia resident majoring in communication design, Wu grew up in the DaXing area near the capital city until age 12 and has closely followed efforts to clean up the LiangShui (Cold Water) River.

Judges for the Pulitzer Fellowship, a competitive international travel grant awarded to an ����app�ٷ���վ�� student journalist each year, noted that Wu’s proposal stood out for its background research and on-the-ground context.

A fluent Mandarin speaker with his own photography business, Wu noted that while air pollution in China receives much attention, less coverage has been given to water quality and to the impact of factory effluent, agricultural runoff, and untreated waste on the region’s rivers, lakes and groundwater. Wu believes much has changed since the conditions he observed in his childhood, when waterways were filled with algae blooms and litter.

“This is an example of when a community and its officials reach an agreement to improve a crucial resource to their well-being and actually work out a beneficial solution,” he said. “However, there are so many towns, especially rural ones, that lack the power, voice or physical ability to improve something as important as a shared waterway.”

����app�ٷ���վ�� is a long-standing member of the , a network of colleges and universities that support the center’s mission to promote journalism on critical global issues. The organization pairs students with mentors and advises student journalists through the reporting and publication phases. Students from the 39 participating campuses travel to Washington, D.C., to present their projects, and campus partners also benefit from professional journalist grantees who visit partner campuses.

Among his professors and collaborators at Elon News Network, Wu has earned a reputation for being open to a variety of assignments and for his technical dexterity, said Randy Piland, associate teaching professor in Communication Design.

“Ethan’s always willing to take on any photo assignment,” Piland said. “He has a sense for quality. He’s taken it to another level.”

Lorraine Ahearn, assistant professor of journalism, serves as ����app�ٷ���վ�� liaison to the Pulitzer Center.

Chris Guider’s research, which will be presented at the Spring Undergraduate Research Forum on April 28, will be more than just a poster session; it will offer insights for a real-world client.

A business analytics and economics double major from Holly Springs, North Carolina, Guider’s project examines the effectiveness of new NFL kickoff rules introduced in 2024. The changes, designed to improve player safety, created multiple “touchback” scenarios, situations where the ball is placed at different yard lines depending on how a kickoff ends.

“We’re looking at the expected outcome based on whether you start at one yard line versus the other,” Guider said. Specifically, Guider is comparing drives that begin at the 20 and 35-yard lines, analyzing how starting position affects offensive success.

The project originated when his mentor, Assistant Professor of Statistics Andre Waschka, approached Guider with an opportunity tied to NFL kicker Joshua Karty, a kicker for the Arizona Cardinals and son of Joel Karty, ����app�ٷ���վ�� Sydney F. & Kathleen E. Jackson Professor of Chemistry and chair of the Department of Chemistry.

For Guider, who is also involved in ����app�ٷ���վ�� Sport Management Living Learning Community, the topic was a natural fit: “I like talking sports,” he said, “and I like working with data.”

Using statistical programming tools such as R, along with methods like TMLE and Super Learner, Guider and his team are analyzing thousands of plays across the NFL season. They are measuring variables such as number of plays per drive, total yards gained and scoring outcomes, including touchdowns, field goals and turnovers.

Although the dataset is still being finalized, early findings suggest that field position may not be as influential as expected.

“We’re actually finding there’s not as much of a difference as we thought there would be,” Guider said. “So, 15 yards isn’t really as much of a difference when it comes down to score.”

The research process has been both challenging and rewarding, particularly for a first-year student.

“Actual data collection is mind-numbing,” Guider said with a laugh, describing the hours spent manually inputting thousands of lines of data. “I’ve been working through about 2,000 lines… you’re sitting there for hours at a time doing this.”

Despite the tedious work, Guider emphasized the value of the experience.

“It’s rewarding because there are a lot of skills I’m learning, like coding in R or being able to interpret data,” he said. “It’s just reinforcing that I chose the right school because of the relationship I have with the professors I’ve been able to work with here.”

During SURF Day, all other campus activities are suspended so the Elon community can come together around students’ creative endeavors and research efforts. Undergraduate research is also one of the five Elon Experiences, which provides a natural extension of the work students do in the classroom and ensures that Elon graduates are prepared for both graduate school and careers.

Following SURF, Guider and his team plan to expand their findings into a formal research paper that could be published and shared directly with their NFL collaborator.

“It’s something that’s actually going to be used,” he said. “That to me is the most rewarding thing, being able to see that be implemented.”

As part of their Social Studies Methods and Materials course, students are encouraged to critically examine their understanding of U.S. history, with particular attention to voices and perspectives that have been historically marginalized or omitted.

The museum visit extended this work in meaningful ways. Located at the original site of the 1960 Woolworth sit-ins, the museum offers an immersive opportunity to engage with the lived experiences of the Civil Rights Movement. Being in the space where history unfolded allows students to move beyond texts and develop a deeper, more personal understanding of the courage, resistance and collective action that shaped this pivotal moment.

Throughout the semester, students also participate in a weekly book club featuring texts that center historically marginalized perspectives. These discussions foster critical reflection, dialogue, and a deeper awareness of how history is constructed and taught.

Together, these experiences support principles of responsive and inclusive teaching while aligning with state and national social studies standards. In this way, teacher candidates begin to see teaching as a relational and reflective practice, one that calls them to honor diverse histories, foster meaningful connections, and create learning spaces rooted in equity and belonging.

Added to the chapter’s roster were 59 undergraduates, 12 graduate students, and two alumni.

The keynote address was delivered by Jana-Lynn Patterson, associate vice president for Student Life and dean of Student Health & Well-Being. PKP Officers April Post, president; Erin Hone, secretary and treasurer; Rhonda Belton and Barry Bradberry, alumni relations; and Kaelyn Elien, student vice president, also took part in the ceremony. Kaelyn shared an update about a meal swipe campaign being organized by student vice president Abi Colburn to raise funds for Feed the Hunger. Post announced that undergraduate Mira Fitch’s Fellowship application was selected for the national PKP competition.

JimmiAnne Lowe Ellington ’12 was inducted into the chapter by Barry Bradberry, former associate dean of admissions and special assistant to the president. JimmiAnne, a fourth-generation licensed funeral director with Lowe Funeral Home, has spent the past decade compassionately serving families while becoming a trusted presence in her community. Alongside her professional leadership and historic role in the North Carolina Funeral Directors Association, she remains deeply committed to outreach and family, creating meaningful community events and making a lasting impact through service and care.

Sandra Bays ’99 was inducted into the chapter by Rhonda Belton, associate director of institutional research. Sandra was honored for her more than four decades of impactful service as an educator, coach, and community leader, shaping programs and mentoring students across Alamance County and ����app�ٷ���վ��. Her career spans teaching, coaching, and innovative program development, from leading school initiatives and youth athletics to creating community-focused programs in residence life, earning her multiple awards and lasting influence.

The group visited UNC-Asheville’s Lookout Observatory. Student docents and Britt Lundgren from UNCA were the hosts. Even though it was cloudy at first, the sky cleared enough to observe Jupiter and its moons, some galaxies, and nebulae. The group managed to work on a hike to Catawba Falls before returning to campus. Elon faculty members Zack Hutchens and Martin Kamela accompanied the group.

Related Articles

• Strategic multifaith engagement shapes the Elon campus experience
• Elon welcomes ninth class of Multifaith Scholars

At ����app�ٷ���վ��, faculty say preparing students means helping them understand the people they will interact with throughout their lives, and that includes the influence of faith and religious identity.

That commitment to multifaith understanding is a primary goal of the university’s Multifaith Strategic Plan, which strives to “support opportunities for multifaith learning and engagement for all members of the academic community.”

“����app�ٷ���վ�� Multifaith Strategic Plan is a promise to our students, faculty, staff and the wider community that we will take them seriously as whole, complex people,” said Brian Pennington, director of the Center for the Study of Religion, Culture, and Society.

The multifaith experience

The Multifaith Scholars Program is a two-year program, founded in 2016, that emphasizes interdisciplinary learning as student scholars undertake original research projects and study in global contexts connected with religious diversity and multireligious societies.

“Our work is richer when we have students bringing questions from their own disciplines,” said Amy Allocco, director of the program and professor of religious studies. “It is a sign of a vibrant campus ecosystem when not only students but also their mentors can see their interests and expertise  intersect with questions of interreligious contact, religion and society.”

Allocco says that the breadth of disciplines represented by students and mentors participating in the program has widened each year. The current cohort includes students with diverse majors such as psychology, theatrical design, history, economics consulting, political science, religious studies, and international and global Studies. Owen Hayes ’26, a history major with minors in political science and religious studies, is a 2024-2026 Multifaith Scholar studying the historical and contemporary relationship between Christian missionaries and Indigenous Australians.

“I’ve always been interested in understanding the interreligious encounters of the world, like global Christianity and understanding how different communities can come together and understand such an important religious concept in such different, varying ways, but still have that belief of Christianity,” Hayes said.

The interreligious studies minor also allows students to analyze the historical and contemporary encounters between and interactions among religious communities and traditions.

“Elon has done incredible work in enfranchising multifaith as an academic as well as a student affairs initiative and aligning and even blending those areas in meaningful ways that enhance the student experience,” Allocco said.

Multifaith in the classroom (and clinic)

In the Department of Nursing, faculty don’t just train future healthcare professionals on specific medical assessments but, as Assistant Professor of Nursing Lori Hubbard says, they “prepare students for the diversity in the populations they will serve,” including religion.

“Diversity in people is understanding their religious background, because religious practices are often infused into health practices and health beliefs,” said Hubbard, who teaches the Healthcare Relationships course, which focuses on understanding diverse backgrounds in healthcare.

The course is just one component of the Department of Nursing’s commitment to equitable healthcare teaching, which is incorporated throughout the curriculum.

“From birth to death and everywhere in between, the people that are going to be important in a person’s wellness or their healing may come from their church body,” said Hubbard, who says they also want students to understand the role of the chaplain in a hospital setting. “People may have members of a church congregation bring them meals, they may have pastors and friends visit to pray with them. A person’s support network is a social determinant of health.”

In December 2025, a faculty team consisting of Pennington, Jeanmarie Koonts, assistant professor of nursing; Molly Green, assistant professor of public health, and Helen Orr, assistant professor of religious studies, was awarded a $60,000 Faith & Health Campus Grant from Interfaith America to promote awareness of how religious diversity impacts healthcare space and medical decision-making.

Engineering a multifaith course

Along with nursing, several Elon courses across disciplines integrate multifaith understanding. Orr is co-teaching a new course, Engineering A Better World, with Professor of Engineering Sirena Hargrove-Leak on ethical practices in engineering.

“Religion is an important category for a lot of people, and it informs not only beliefs, but also everyday practice and ritual, including when people fast, how they dress and how they interact in professional spaces,” Orr said. “One of our sessions in the course focuses on the value of multi-faith spaces in professional working environments. Those spaces can be beneficial both for religious people and non-religious people, while also encouraging us to think about how environments themselves can be designed to be more inclusive.”

Hargrove Leak says the engineering curriculum requires an ethics course and, historically, faculty advised students to choose an ethics course through the Core Curriculum. The downside, she says, is they may not connect what they’re learning to engineering practice. This new course, she says, connects the dots directly.

“The work of engineering professionals has the potential to impact people directly; therefore, ethical practice is critically important,” said Hargrove-Leak.

Communicating religion

While Orr and Hargrove-Leak’s course is new this semester, Professor of Journalism Anthony Hatcher has been studying and teaching the intersection of religion and media for more than 20 years. His course Religion and Media analyzes how the two interact through media coverage of religious issues and themes, religion’s use of television and the Internet and media portrayals of religious people and traditions.

Hatcher began teaching the course in 2003, coming from a longtime interest in the intersection of the two subjects.

“It has always sparked my interest how religion intersects not only with a news item, but how it intersects with popular culture,” he said. “I tell my students, ‘If there is a secular entity of some sort, there is a religious corollary to it.’”

Finding religious connections in culture is endless for Hatcher, who says he never runs out of material for the course. For one assignment, students must attend a house of worship outside of their own faith and do a research project on the experience. The projects range from more well-known religious practices to lesser-known, like a student who visited a coven of witches in Hillsborough, North Carolina

“I make it clear: this is not a religion class. I’m not here to teach you about the scripture,” Hatcher said. “When they go (to these houses of worship), it’s not just a religious thing. I say, ‘What kind of media did they use? Do they have cameras? Do they have a single microphone? Do they use screens and slides? Is it a majestic organ? What are you seeing there? Did they give you a paper program? Everything that’s media.’ It gets them thinking about all the mediated ways that they experience religion.”

The course is open to all majors, and Hatcher says it can be relevant for all professions.

“The subject matter is so important,” Hatcher said. “It’s like how study abroad is mind-broadening. I think understanding where somebody else comes from, especially if faith is a big part of who they are, is a big deal.”

And for Pennington, ����app�ٷ���վ�� approach to multifaith learning is an example for others to follow.

“We live in a moment where we can clearly see that the faith commitments and religious practices interact with our global politics, our legal systems, our media environments, and our healthcare systems,” said Pennington. “By attending to multifaith education across academic departments and programs, ����app�ٷ���վ�� is leading the way in preparing its students for a rapidly evolving world.”

This story is part of a series of stories focusing on ����app�ٷ���վ��’s Multifaith Strategic Plan. 

The strategic communications major’s work centers on a multi-platform outreach strategy that blends grassroots engagement with a six-week, workbook-driven workshop. Her project, “Designing Accessible Wellness: A Community Health Intervention Campaign for Alamance County Inspired by Blue Zones,” draws on research examining regions of the world where people live longer, healthier lives and translates those insights into practical solutions.

That approach is intentionally hands-on and community-focused. McGee’s campaign reaches people through tabling at local grocery stores, social media outreach and partnerships with local organizations, all aimed at increasing awareness and encouraging participation. At its core is a flexible workshop experience, which participants can complete in person or remotely, guiding them through topics such as movement, purpose, belonging, rest and diet.

“I wanted to create something that didn’t just inform people, but actually gave them the opportunity to build healthier habits in a supportive environment,” McGee said. “By narrowing my focus to a specific community, I realized I could design something more meaningful and impactful.”

Her research reflects a broader understanding of health as both a personal and systemic issue – an idea that first drew her to the project. McGee said she was inspired to focus on Alamance County at a time when healthy living can feel increasingly out of reach, noting that nearly half of adults in the United States live with at least one chronic health condition and that everyday environments often make unhealthy choices the easiest ones.

Drawing on Blue Zones principles, McGee emphasizes that lasting change depends on environment, culture and access – not just individual willpower. That perspective shapes how she tailors her campaign locally, incorporating resources specific to Alamance County – from nearby hiking trails to community-based spaces – and encouraging participants to rethink how their surroundings influence daily habits.

The project has also reshaped McGee’s own understanding of what research can be.

“While this started as a project for class, I have come to realize that this is something that could be real,” the Sutton, Massachusetts, native said. “Working through this project has made me feel capable and inspired to keep pursuing projects in life that can create change by starting small.”

That sense of possibility is exactly what SURF is designed to highlight. As one of ����app�ٷ���վ�� signature academic experiences, undergraduate research provides students with the opportunity to explore complex challenges while developing solutions that extend beyond the classroom.

For McGee, the hope is that her campaign does more than raise awareness. She wants it to spark a ripple effect.

“Research from the Framingham Studies shows that smoking, obesity, happiness, and even loneliness are contagious. We are influenced by our social circles,” she said. “By inspiring even a small subset of the population to take their health more seriously, it has the potential to shift behaviors across entire communities. The change starts small.”

McGee’s research was mentored by Paula Rosinski, professor of English, as part of her multimedia authoring minor.

“My dad would put me in any recreational sport that was happening in our town. I played softball, basketball, and even track. But I’ve always loved to dance,” Harrison said.

In the summer of her junior year of high school, Harrison attended a summer dance program at Radford University, where she met Elon West African Dance professor Keshia Gee.

“She told me about ����app�ٷ���վ�� dance science program, and I did my research and decided to apply,” she said. “I cried tears of joy when I got admitted.”

Combining her passions for dance and physical therapy, Harrison decided to enroll at Elon for the opportunities that come with the dance science major.

“I saw that the dance science program was a way for me to open the door for physical therapy. I found that there was more opportunity in this major rather than a typical path,” she said. “This major gives me the background to solidify trust with a patient because I know the body and know how to alleviate the pain they may feel, so they can get back to playing a sport or doing their art.”

Harrison is also pursuing minors in exercise science, African studies and dance. Later in her Elon career, she aspires to conduct undergraduate research involving West African dance with Assistant Professor of Dance Keshia Gee. She has also had her sights set on planning a Winter Term study abroad program to broaden her studies on a global scale.

One of ����app�ٷ���վ�� opportunities she is using to her advantage is the EMT-Basic certification course done in collaboration with Alamance Community College. Aligned with her physical therapy aspirations, Harrison is excited to complete the course and take the final exam to earn her official EMT certification.

“The aspect of helping people is why I want to do sports physical therapy. I get to incorporate that into my EMT work,” she said. “I’m already getting more confident with labs and learning skills from the practice.”

Eager to learn more and advance her career as much as possible, Harrison has connected with Elon’s athletic trainer for club sports and performing arts, Christina Yanakis. Harrison recently attended a club hockey game alongside Yanakis, where she saw a professional in action.

“I was able to observe her scope of practice and see the different dynamics of hockey players and their pain points. It helped me realize that I want to do both sports and performing arts, which is why I think physical therapy is my correct path,” said Harrison.

When asked about what she is most proud of, Harrison replied, “I’m proud of how committed I am to the career path I’m on. I’ve stayed with it, and there have been times where I’ve debated changing, but as I advance, I realize more and more that this is what I want to do.”

Harrison’s F.W. Beazley Leadership Scholarship has strengthened her resilience in pursuing her passions.

“With any experience, you get what you put into it, so I am giving it all my might, and I hope I get that in return,” she said.

This mindset has led to sustained motivation and incredible progress within her studies.

She notes that the support through scholarships has given her motivation, adding, “The donors believe in me so much that they will spend their resources and time to make sure that I succeed in my education and career. I am striving for greatness, and I promise to make you proud, and I will always be grateful for the financial help from Elon donors.”