Elon University

Do you know what the word Elon means? It means acorn in Hebrew. It took me a while to realize what they were doing throughout the PowerPoint, but it was finally solidified through the walking tour. There was a very small picture in the bottom right corner of each slide. The pictures progressed from an acorn up to a beautiful oak tree. A tradition that Elon has is that freshmen have a convocation under the canopy of oak trees during which they are each given an acorn. When they are graduating, there is another convocation in the same location when all students are given a young sapling that they can plant. This is a symbol of the growth they experienced at Elon.
The culture of Elon is what makes it special. Professors have students over to their house for meals so they can get to know them better. There are not strict teacher/student relationships. Every Tuesday, there is an event called College Coffee when professors are hanging out on Phi Beta Kappa Commons, and students can come chat to encourage strong relationships. No classes are held during this time so students can all attend. Another way for professors and students to form strong relationships is during Cram Jam before finals when professors serve late night breakfast to students.