Elon University hosts its second annual celebration of the arts & sciences in May with a daylong festival that includes hands-on educational activities for all ages and a new 5K run/walk to benefit a student-run charity that fights hunger in Alamance County.
A 5K run/walk kicks off a day of fun and educational activities on May 2, 2015, when Elon University hosts its second annual festival dedicated to the arts & sciences.
The “5K Run/Walk for H.O.P.E.” begins at 9:30 a.m. to benefit Helping Other People Eat, a nonprofit initiative started two years ago by Elon University students who work with local restaurants to collect donations when patrons pay their bills.
Donations support Alamance County food banks. Proceeds of the race registration fee of $20 ($25 after April 1) also will benefit HOPE.
Visit www.sportoften.com to register for the chipped race.
Following the run, a family-friendly “Explore the World” festival on Young Commons and in the Center for the Arts will welcome people of all ages to learn more about the many ways in which the arts & sciences play a vital role in the world today. All activities are free. Food will be available for sale.
“We want to reach out and strengthen our ties to our extended community, and show children and families how fun the arts and sciences are,” said Angela Lewellyn Jones, associate dean of Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences. “We want young people to be excited about learning.”
Music and dancing take place throughout the day in the amphitheater outside Lakeside Dining Hall. Among the performers: Elon’s Ballroom Dance team, the Elon Music Ambassadors, the university’s Gospel Choir, students studying West African dance this spring, campus a cappella groups and a North Carolina children’s dance company that performs routines from Columbia and Mexico.
Other activities include:
- Visit faculty and students who speak Spanish, French, German, Italian, Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese and Latin to learn how to write your names in foreign languages – if you stop by an information booth to pick up your own passport, and then have professors from each language stamp that book, you can collect a prize!
- Experience the types of design challenges that will inspire the next generation of engineers with activities led by Elon students in the spring semester’s “Challenges in Engineering” course
- Learn how to dig for artifacts and identify what you find in an archaeology exhibit
- Play computer games designed by Elon students in a fall semester course for computing sciences majors
- Explore the connection between mathematics and the art of origami paperfolding
- Listen to poetry spoken aloud as members of the campus community read timeless poetry classic from around the world
The festival precedes The President’s Music Concert, a 7:30 p.m. program in McCrary Theatre hosted by Elon University President Leo M. Lambert featuring Department of Music students, faculty, staff and alumni. Admission is free but a ticket is required. Tickets become available April 10 by visiting the Center for the Arts Box Office or by calling (336) 278-5610.
For more information on “Explore the World,” contact Angela Lewellyn Jones, associate dean of Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences, at (336) 278-6447 or ajones5@elon.edu.