Returning collegiettes™ may have been shocked to return to Elon’s campus this year to find that their beloved campus isn’t quite the way they left it only three months ago.
While some changes are more obvious (like the massive construction site where the Story Center once stood), several smaller additions to Elon’s campus won’t go unnoticed for long.
Here are some of the main changes that Elon students will (hopefully) embrace with the onset of the new academic year:
1- The Elon Commitment Construction
In order to meet the needs of the growing student population, Elon has begun construction for several new facilities on campus as part of the Elon Commitment, a strategic plan that includes eight major construction projects.
The Global Neighborhood, which will replace the Story and Harper centers and Harden Dining Hall, will have a residential area for students, as well as classrooms, an international café and theater, international learning communities and multiple ‘hang out’ spots.
While the view of the construction from Irazu Café may be an eye sore at the moment, the project is set to be complete within three years and is aimed to be a main proponent for supporting culturally diversity on campus.Additionally, Williamson Avenue is now home to the staggering, three-story Elon Town Center, complete with an expanded campus shop on the first two floors and a new office for The Pendulum, Elon’s student newspaper, on the third floor. The bookstore’s former location in the Moseley Center is being renovated in to a career services and employer relations office.
Other construction on Elon’s campus includes the new Alumni Field House behind Rhodes Stadium, a total of five residence halls in the Colonnades quadrangle and expansion to the Loy Center for Greek life housing.
2- The Root Trackside
Upperclassmen may remember it as Sidetrack Grill, but the new Root Trackside restaurant on W. Lebanon Avenue has taken over and officially opened for business in July.
The Root owners and Elon alumni Chris Brumbaugh (’98) and Lynn Terrell (’97) purchased the restaurant after being involved with the food industry in several other locations. The two wrote on The Root’s website that they are happy to share their passion for food and to return to their “roots,” hence the restaurant’s name.
Their menu includes fresh salads, wraps and homemade soups, and online ordering is available at http://www.theroottrackside.com/.
3- Meal Plan Changes
Possibly one of the most controversial topics on campus at the moment, the new meal plan system was announced by ARAMARK dining services last spring and has been met with both praise and scorn from students.
The plan has several options, including All-Access plans that give students unlimited visits to the dining halls and either seven or 14 combo meals to be used at all other locations with no week-to-week rollover. For upperclassmen on campus and students living off campus, ARAMARK offers 200 or 300 block meals for the year with no week-to-week rollover.
Be on the look out for more updates on changes to the university!
www.elon.edu for photo credit