President Leo M. Lambert and four Elon professors led dinner conversations on Oct. 6 with students from the university's Historic Neighborhood who wanted to share the lessons they learned from Fall Convocation.
Elon University students from the Historic Neighborhood continued a new weekly tradition Monday when they dined in McEwen Dining Hall with professors who sought their reactions to a recent campus visit by two prominent Pulitzer Prize winners.
The “McEwen Monday” dinner on Oct. 6, 2014, featured Elon President Leo M. Lambert, professors Nancy Midgette and Heidi Frontani from the Department of History and Geography, and Associate Professor Glenn Scott and Assistant Professor Derek Lackaff from the School of Communications.
Midgette lives in the Historic Neighborhood with students and works with Assistant Director of Residence Life Dani Gates and the Historic Neighborhood Association to organize weekly dinners as part of a university effort to strengthen student connections to Elon through deeper learning experiences in residential settings.
Each of the tables set aside for the Historic Neighborhood dinner was joined by a professor who asked students about their reactions to Fall Convocation speakers Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, the first husband-and-wife team to win a Pulitzer Prize following their joint coverage of the Tianemen Square uprisings in 1989.
Kristof and WuDunn delivered the Baird Pulitzer Prize Lecture four days earlier as part of Fall Convocation. During their talk, they encouraged the audience to make a difference in the world by contributing their time, talent and treasure to reputable organizations where even small gifts can save lives in different parts of the world.
“These evenings encourage interaction between faculty and students in a setting outside of the classroom. Students get to know faculty they may not have already met and have conversations about topics not directly related to class,” Midgette said. “Hopefully, such informal conversations will help students think more deeply about issues that have been raised in other components of their Elon experience and perhaps spark a totally new awareness on a topic.”