The university has more than 250 campus organizations and programs, including 12 national
fraternities and 13 national
sororities.
Student media Some of the student media on campus includes
The Pendulum, Elon's undergraduate weekly newspaper published Wednesdays, and
WSOE, the university's student-run
non-commercial campus radio station, airing since 1977. ESTV (Elon Student Television) is the
Student television station featuring numerous student-created and -run programs. One of Elon Student Televisions' shows run in large-part by Joey Gizzi and Steven Lannum, "Elon After Hours," would later become
AreYouKiddingTV: an
internet challenge and
entertainment social media account mainly popular on Tik Tok and YouTube. In 2016, with advice of their faculty advisers, the two largest student media organizations on campus; Elon Local News (ELN) and
The Pendulum newspaper, merged to form the new Elon News Network (ENN). ENN now operates out of the newly constructed newsroom in the McEwen Building of the School of Communications. Following a 2016 expansion of facilities, The School of Communications consists of Iris Holt McEwen Hall, the Snow Family Grand Atrium, Turner Theatre, Dwight C. Schar Hall, Steers Pavilion, and Long Hall, which houses the MA in Interactive Media graduate program and the sport management major.
Extra-curricular organizations Numerous student government,
special interest, and
service organizations are represented on campus, including Elon Volunteers,
Habitat for Humanity,
Model UN,
Epsilon Sigma Alpha,
Omega Psi Phi,
Alpha Phi Omega, the Inter-Residence Council, the Elon University Student Government Association, and the Student Union Board. Cultural groups on campus include the Asian-Pacific Islander Student Association, Black Student Union, the Caribbean Student Association,
Hillel, Intercultural Club, and Spectrum (Gay-Straight Alliance). Elon is home to the Fire of the Carolinas Marching Band (FOTC). The band also includes
color guard (flag spinning) and dance auxiliary squads.
Religious life Religious groups on campus include
Catholic Campus Ministry,
Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life,
InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, the Iron Tree Blooming Meditation Society, the Muslim Student Association,
Baptist Student Union, and Campus Outreach. Christianity remains the most populous religious tradition at Elon, and among students that disclose their religious affiliation,
Catholicism is the largest religious group on campus. The Catholic ministry on campus began in 1977 as an outreach of the Catholic
Diocese of Raleigh. The
Jewish population at Elon has grown especially rapidly in recent years, with twelve percent of recent classes self-identifying as Jewish. Elon was profiled in
Reform Judaism magazine in 2011 as a school which has "gone the extra mile" to make itself more attractive to Jewish students, and since 2013 it has been listed as one of the "top schools Jews choose." The Muslim student population is small but has increased dramatically in size in recent years, and a
Muslim Student Association formed at Elon in 2011. Elon worked closely with the
Interfaith Youth Core in developing religious diversity and interreligious dialogue. The Truitt Center for Spiritual and Religious Life, located within the Numen Lumen Pavilion of the Academic Village, serves a wide variety of purposes and all religious traditions.
Fraternity and sorority life Elon University recognizes 26 social Greek organizations. Forty-two percent of undergraduate students belong to campus-chartered organizations.
Student traditions At the start of each school year, Elon University holds a New Student Convocation ceremony for first year and transfer students. It is held "Under the Oaks" behind the West Dormitory. Each new student receives their own acorn at the close of the ceremony to symbolize their beginning at Elon. Upon graduation, each student receives an oak sapling, which is supposed to symbolize their growth at the university as well as the growth in their own lives. The use of the acorn and oak sapling is significant because Elon was named after the Hebrew word for "oak" (, ) because of the grove of oak trees it was founded on. The Oak Sapling tradition began in 1991, and the Acorn tradition began in 1999 after Leo Lambert became president of the university. ==People==