The university is offering and supporting a range of events and activities leading up to and following Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 5.
Elon University is committed to promoting civic engagement and participation in the democratic process, and that mission becomes all the more important during an election year. As written in the university’s mission statement, “We integrate learning across the disciplines and put knowledge into practice, thus preparing students to be global citizens and informed leaders motivated by concern for the common good.”
To foster participation in Election 2024, Elon is hosting and supporting a range of events and activities both on campus and off leading up to and following Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 5. Elon Votes!, a university initiative housed within the Kernodle Center for Civic Life, is working to provide students with the resources they need to register to vote and to inform themselves as they prepare to cast their ballots.
“Elon has always offered a lot of programming to prepare our students and the entire community to make informed decisions around the election,” said Professor and Associate Provost for Academic Inclusive Excellence Naeemah Clark. “This year, we’ve kicked it up a notch. Our emphasis on engaged learning means we are active citizens. It’s been fun to see the great ideas folks are offering.”
Members of the university community are invited to visit the Election 2024 resource page, which provides an overview of this fall’s events and a variety of voter resources as well as resources for students, faculty and staff.
“I hope that everyone who is eligible to vote in U.S. elections is planning to do so this fall,” Vice President for Student Life Jon Dooley said. “The resources Elon provides are designed to foster civic and political engagement by all students, faculty, and staff, and the election this fall will be an important moment for everyone to get involved.”
Upcoming Events
Student Issues Forum (co-sponsored by SGA and ENN)
Thursday, September 5, 6 p.m., East Neighborhood Commons, Forum (102)
Active Citizen Series: North Carolina Trusted Elections Tour
Panel presentation sponsored by the Carter Center
Tuesday, September 10, 6:30 p.m., East Neighborhood Commons, Forum (102)
The North Carolina Network for Fair, Safe, & Secure Elections hosts the Trusted Elections Tour, a grassroots project initiated by The Carter Center. The tour consists of 27 town halls across the state to provide information on the electoral process, build trust in our voting system, and strengthen civil discourse. These 90-minute town halls will feature cybersecurity experts, election officials, and election law attorneys from both sides of the aisle. They will address public concerns about electronic voting machines and hacking, explain the secure process for collecting and counting votes, and advise on how challenges, recounts, and fraud allegations are dealt with through proper legal channels. Hosted at Elon by the Council on Civic Engagement.
Active Citizen Series: Presidential Debate Watch
Tuesday, September 10, 9 p.m., Moseley Center First Floor
Active Citizen Series: Bridging Political Divides with Artificial Intelligence
Featuring Christopher Bail, Director of the Polarization Lab, Duke University
Wednesday, September 18, 7 p.m., McKinnon Hall F, Moseley Center
In an era of increasing social isolation, platforms like Facebook and Twitter are among the most important tools we have to understand each other. While social media acts as a mirror to decipher our place in society, it also functions like a prism that distorts our identities, empowers status-seeking extremists and renders moderates all but invisible. Wherever you stand on the spectrum of user behavior and political opinion, Christopher Bail offers fresh solutions to counter political tribalism from the bottom up and the top down. Bail is Professor of Sociology, Political Science and Public Policy at Duke University and the Founding Director of the Duke Polarization Lab. He is a Guggenheim Fellow and a Carnegie Fellow and is the author of Breaking the Social Media Prism: How to Make Our Platforms Less Polarizing. Sponsored by the Council on Civic Engagement, Kernodle Center for Civic Life, and the Center for Writing Excellence.
Active Citizen Series: Deliberative Dialogue
Topic: Anxiety and Elections
Monday, September 23, 4:30 p.m., Lakeside 212
With the 2024 election on the horizon, do you find your inner peace shaken by the stress of America’s election season? How do we set boundaries for our own mental health, as well as have meaningful conversations with others, when so much weight and importance is placed on the upcoming election? How do we create the kind of atmosphere that will help ourselves, our communities and our nation? A Deliberative Dialogue is an opportunity for students to gather and exchange diverse views and experiences to seek a shared understanding of a challenge facing our society and to search for common ground for action. Sponsored by the Kernodle Center for Civic Life.
ABSS Board of Education Candidate Forum
Moderated by Ann Bullock, Dean of the Dr. Jo Watts Williams School of Education, Elon University
Monday, September 30, 7 p.m., Paramount Theater, 128 E. Front St., Burlington
Local elections are important to the future of the community where we live, work, and learn. All eight candidates for the Alamance Burlington School System (ABSS) Board of Education have been invited to participate in a community-wide forum to let voters know where they stand on the issues that are most important to the county. Sponsored by Elon University, Impact Alamance, and Alamance Chamber of Commerce, with support from Elon News Network and the City of Burlington. Bus transportation from Elon University to the Paramount Theater will be provided.
Alamance County Commissioner Candidate Forum
Moderated by Ryan Blackledge, Director of Governmental Affairs, Cone Health
Tuesday, October 1, 7 p.m., Paramount Theater, 128 E. Front St., Burlington
Local elections are important to the future of the community where we live, work, and learn. All six candidates for the Alamance County Board of Commissioners have been invited to participate in a community-wide forum to let voters know where they stand on the issues that are most important to the county. Bus transportation from Elon University to the Paramount Theater will be provided. Sponsored by Elon University, Impact Alamance, and Alamance Chamber of Commerce, with support from Elon News Network and the City of Burlington.
One-Stop Early Voting
Thursday, October 17 – Saturday, November 2, South Gym
Active Citizen Series: Tracking Money in U.S. Politics and its Effect on Elections and Public Policy
Featuring Hilary Braseth, Executive Director of Open Secrets
Thursday, October 17, 4:30 p.m., East Neighborhood Commons, Forum (Room 102)
Organizations and individuals spend billions of dollars on lobbying and election-related activities and voters and citizens are often unaware of who is funding these efforts and what influence the expenditures may have on elections or public policy decisions. Open Secrets is a nonpartisan independent nonprofit organization dedicated to researching and publishing information about the flow of money in politics to strengthen citizen awareness and our democracy. The executive director of Open Secrets, Hilary Braseth, will sit down with Associate Professor of Political Science and Public Policy Carrie Eaves for a conversation about the effect of money in U.S. politics. Sponsored by the Council on Civic Engagement.
Big Political Data in our Local Community: Gerrymandering, Social Media, and the Election
Featuring Maggie Macdonald ‘15, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Kentucky
Wednesday, October 23, 4:30 p.m., Lakeside Meeting Rooms, 214
Data Nexus will host Maggie Macdonald as part of the Power of Women in Data Speaker Series. Macdonald will be speaking on data related to gerrymandering and social media, specifically around the current election and North Carolina data. Sponsored by the Data Nexus program.
General Election
Tuesday, November 5
Shuttle will run from the Center for the Arts to local polling places from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Active Citizen Series: Election Night Watch Event
Tuesday, November 5, 8 p.m., Global Neighborhood Commons Great Hall
Hope for the Future: Public Art Project
Wednesday, November 6, Time and Location TBD
Active Citizen Series: After the Vote
Faculty panel sponsored by the Department of Political Science
Tuesday, November 12, 4:30 p.m., East Neighborhood Commons, Forum (Room 102)
Finding Unity Across Difference: A Democratic Dialogue
Thursday, November 14, 4:30-6 p.m., Lakeside Meeting Rooms 212-214