The system also introduces full-body and head marks depicting the Phoenix with a sharper, more athletic look. That vision comes to life in a new mascot costume designed to give the Phoenix a more dynamic presence and make it easier to engage with fans. The focused expression and forward-leaning stance convey determination and motion, while the gold sweater, monogram “E” and stylized flames on the shoes draw from ������Ƶ’s history and traditions. Together, the new marks and costume connect generations of ������Ƶ fans while reflecting the energy and ambition of today’s student-athletes.

This visual evolution comes during a period of notable momentum for ������Ƶ Athletics. Guided by Phoenix Rising, its five-year strategic vision, the department is pursuing championship success, academic achievement and holistic student-
athlete development across its 17 varsity programs. During the 2025-26 academic year, Phoenix teams won seven CAA championships, student-athletes posted a department-record 3.444 cumulative GPA and ������Ƶ led the conference with eight Leadership and Sport Excellence Award recipients.

“This identity reflects both who we are and where we are headed,” says Jenn Strawley, director of athletics. “It honors the history and traditions that have shaped us while giving us a fresh way to represent the energy and character of ������Ƶ Athletics. This identity embraces our present and sets our path for the future.”

The Phoenix’s New Look

1. Built to Move, Made to Connect

An upgraded head design improves visibility and mobility, allowing the Phoenix to interact more naturally with fans and bring greater energy to each appearance.

2. A Tenacious Spirit

A focused expression conveys the determination, confidence and purpose that define the ������Ƶ community.

3. Ready for the Spotlight

Updated materials and construction give the costume a stronger presence in photographs, videos and game-day crowds.

4. A Link to ������Ƶ’s Past

The gold sweater and monogram “E” honor ������Ƶ’s original Fightin’ Christian mascot, connecting a familiar piece of our history with a new generation of the Phoenix.

5. Fueled by the Flame

The flame detail evokes the rebirth at the heart of the Phoenix story — and the enduring spirit behind ������Ƶ Athletics.

6. Best Foot Forward

Custom shoes echo the Phoenix rising from the ashes, pairing a symbol
of resilience with a bold, contemporary style.

Legions of ������Ƶ fans know the Phoenix and the Fightin’ Christian, but devotion to ������Ƶ Athletics predates those mascots. The school had multiple names for its football team in its early years, including the ������Ƶ Eleven, the Maroon and Gold Machine and the Bear Cats. The Fightin’ Christian identity was first used in 1921 during a football game against Guilford College, whose mascot is the Quakers. The game was billed as “Christians vs. Quakers” because of ������Ƶ’s ties to the Christian Church denomination, today the United Church of Christ.

The identity was first used on an ongoing basis during the 1922-23 season and became the customary name for all ������Ƶ athletics teams beyond football even though it was never officially adopted by the college or the trustees at the time. The Fightin’ Christian mascot was introduced in the early 1970s, during which time the women’s athletics teams were referred to as the “Golden Girls” in the early years of organized women’s basketball.

But by the late 1990s, as ������Ƶ rose in national prominence and the school gained NCAA Division I status, some constituents grew concerned that the Fightin’ Christian identity would be misunderstood and misinterpreted by a broader audience that didn’t have the same direct knowledge of the institution and its history as local and regional audiences. The Board of Trustees voted to adopt a new athletics identity in October 1999.

President Leo M. Lambert appointed a 15-member Athletics Brand Identity Committee to establish a new identity for the fall 2000 season in partnership with SFX Sports Group, a New York-based sports marketing firm. According to an FAQ document from May 2000, more than 200 members of the ������Ƶ community suggested more than 125 new names that “ranged from the unusual (such as aardvarks, fat-tailed geckos, angry apes, rancorous existentialists and lyme ticks) to the common (such as lions, tigers and bears).”

The elegant and brilliant Phoenix described by ancient scholars was sleek, swift and one-of-a-kind. I can think of no better description for ������Ƶ’s outstanding athletics programs. — Leo M. Lambert

The committee conducted focus groups and surveys with more than 120 students, trustees, alumni, faculty and staff before homing in on four of the highest-rated suggestions — the Phoenix, the Mighty Oaks, the Express and the Golden Eagles. SFX created 61 different graphics for the top four names before the final Phoenix identity was selected, with a flying Phoenix formed in the shape of the letter E.

Constituents were drawn to the Phoenix’s many ties to ������Ƶ’s history. The Phoenix is a mythological bird with crimson and gold plumage associated with light and knowledge. At the end of its life, it builds a nest in an oak tree and bursts into flame before being reborn from its own ashes — much like ������Ƶ rebuilt after the 1923 fire.

“Like the legendary Phoenix, which rises from its own ashes with new life and vigor, ������Ƶ College was shaped by the fire, emerging as a stronger institution,” Lambert said at the time. “The elegant and brilliant Phoenix described by ancient scholars was sleek, swift and one-of-a-kind. I can think of no better description for ������Ƶ’s outstanding athletics programs.”

The Phoenix identity was officially unveiled on May 9, 2000, during a campus-wide celebration featuring a massive maroon egg that cracked open to reveal pillars of smoke. The mascot costume debuted Nov. 4, 2000, during the homecoming football game.

According to a handout card from the launch event, the Phoenix is “a perfect symbol for a school that is constantly renewing and re-creating itself.” Twenty-six years later, its newest evolution reflects a university that continues to grow while staying true to its identity.

The Fightin’ Christian, 1978-81

“I went to a game [in 1978] and I noticed they didn’t have a mascot. It was kind of boring; people were just so-so cheering. I went to the bookstore the next day and met [store manager] Buck [Bayliff], and he said, ‘Do you want to dress up as the Fightin’ Christian?’ I said OK because I wanted to do something silly. We went to a theatrical place and got a fake beard. We went to a tuxedo place and got tails and a hat. He gave me a shirt that said ������Ƶ. The next game I put all this on. … I was kind of hesitant but I ran down and started dancing around and everyone enjoyed it. One of the cheerleaders gave me the megaphone that had ‘������Ƶ’ on it. So that’s how I came to do it.”

Scott Muthersbaugh ’06

The Phoenix, 2003-05

“There was something incredibly special about literally embodying the spirit of the school. It was more fun than it was responsibility, but the weight of what I represented was always on my mind. I appreciated the trust that came with holding the school’s reputation in my red, furry, four-fingered hands. I have my time in the suit to thank for my lifelong friendship with John and Dolores Truitt. … One evening I was the Phoenix for both the women’s and men’s basketball games, and decided to take off the suit between games and say hi. They were immediately accepting of the random, sweat-drenched college kid walking up to them, and we were great friends ever since.”

Gray Aust ’23

The Phoenix, 2019-21

“The few former Phoenix mascots had made a habit of not really leaving the cheerleaders, and I knew I wanted to be outgoing, funny and show some personality. When I first did it, it was back when I didn’t have a handler, so I would just walk around and interact with people. Whether it was taking pictures with donors in the courtside seats or going up to the Sunbrella Club and seeing people up there, I wanted to be a Phoenix that they could take a picture with and laugh before going back to watch the game. A lot of kids are also scared of mascots, so I wanted to be a mascot that was approachable and one that they could give a high-five to or give a hug. … I hope I could make them feel my passion for ������Ƶ and the passion for making ������Ƶ fans happy.”

The Current Phoenix

Anonymous, 2023-present

“The Phoenix has forced me out of my comfort zone in ways I didn’t know were possible and allowed me to make memories with so many fans, teams and athletes along the way. Being able to kick off this next era in ������Ƶ Athletics feels special and like the perfect way to celebrate not just the Phoenix, but my time representing them. Every time I put on the suit, I’m grateful I get to represent ������Ƶ in this way. My time at ������Ƶ has been the most formative and rewarding years of my life, and getting to represent the university through the Phoenix makes me feel both honored and appreciative.”

It started as a conversation between friends. A memory from the Ecuadorian Amazon. A question asked after a trip that left them curious about guayusa, a leaf long consumed by Indigenous communities for focus and energy. It had become months of supplier calls, product tests, faculty feedback, formulation decisions and late nights spent figuring out how to turn a shared vision into something real.

Now, the plant-based energy drink they built together is ready for distribution and is being sold at The Oak House at ������Ƶ.

For Vargas-Lopez and Chiriboga, the milestone carries them back to McEwen Dining Hall on campus, where their friendship began during their first year at ������Ƶ in 2022.

Chiriboga, an entrepreneurship major from Quito, Ecuador, and Vargas-Lopez, a sport management major from Austin, Texas, quickly connected over language, culture, soccer and a shared curiosity about the world. They became close friends long before they became business partners.

The idea for YAPA came later, after Chiriboga brought Vargas-Lopez to visit his home country during Thanksgiving break of their sophomore year. It was Vargas-Lopez’s first time in South America, and the trip included time in the Amazon rainforest, where the two were struck by what Chiriboga describes as the “immensity” of the Amazon, from its abundance of life to the plants that have long shaped daily living in the region.

“We came back from visiting the Amazon forest and were just talking through the trip,” Vargas-Lopez says. “That’s when the idea came out. What if we took one of those plants and built a drink around it?”

That question became YAPA, a plant-based energy drink made from guayusa and a larger idea of giving people something more than expected.

The company’s name comes from an Andean expression. In Ecuador, “yapa” refers to a small token added with generosity. At a market, it might be an extra piece of fruit. At a family table, it might be a little more food on someone’s plate.

“It’s a little extra you were not expecting,” Chiriboga says. “That is what we want the product to feel like.”

Building From the Ground Up

Once the idea took hold, Vargas-Lopez and Chiriboga began studying the beverage industry, talking with community members in Ecuador, seeking feedback from mentors and testing whether their concept could become a real business.

They were drawn to the growing interest in cleaner, more transparent beverage options.

“I think the issue we were looking at was the energy drink industry and what a lot of those products contain,” Chiriboga says. “We saw people looking more for clean-label, natural ingredients and more transparency in what they consume.”

That focus helped define YAPA’s direction. They describe the drink as plant-based and made without preservatives, with an emphasis on ingredient transparency, quality and sourcing. Its ingredients include guayusa along with hibiscus, turmeric, ginger, prebiotics and electrolytes, each chosen with a purpose.

For the founders, the product also carries a connection to the place that inspired it.

We came back from visiting the Amazon forest and were just talking through the trip. That’s when the idea came out. What if we took one of those plants and built a drink around it? — Bernardo Vargas-Lopez ’26

In the Amazon, Chiriboga says, guayusa is traditionally consumed in community. People gather early in the morning, drink together and share their dreams before beginning the day. The leaf is associated with focus and energy, but not the jittery rush often linked with conventional energy drinks.

“It gives you that mental clarity and that energy that you need without being hyper,” Chiriboga says.

Turning that inspiration into a company required more than enthusiasm. The two spent months working through sourcing, formulation, packaging, shipping, pricing and compliance while balancing college life.

They also made early decisions about where they would not compromise, even when higher standards meant harder financial choices.

“We decided there were a few strategic points where we would not go for lower quality,” Chiriboga says. “Starting from ingredients and sourcing, we were not going to sacrifice what the product stands for.”

Asking the Right Questions

Both founders say their experience in the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business gave them the confidence to approach YAPA not as a finished idea, but as something to test, refine and keep improving.

They turned to faculty members including Sean McMahon, professor of entrepreneurship; Elena Kennedy, associate professor of entrepreneurship; and Brittany Mercado, associate professor of management and chair of the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship.

“The ability to communicate clearly with people who know a lot more than we do has been huge,” Vargas-Lopez says. “The Love School of Business does an amazing job of making professors approachable.”

As YAPA developed, informal conversations became intentional. They stayed after class, brought specific questions to faculty and connected what they were learning in their courses to the choices they were making for the company. The feedback was not always easy, and that was part of its value.

“We don’t need people to just cheerlead,” Vargas-Lopez says. “We need people who will tell us what worked, what didn’t and how to improve. That’s what has really helped us move forward.”

Their time studying abroad also shaped the venture. Chiriboga was in Japan while
Vargas-Lopez was in Australia, making day-to-day operations difficult, so they used the distance to listen.

“We couldn’t really work on operations, so the only thing we could do was talk to people,” Chiriboga says.

They spoke with people in the Amazon, professionals at large companies and mentors in finance, gathering insight before returning to campus.

“We were sponges during that time,” Chiriboga says. “We just gathered as much information as we could.”

A Friendship First

Before they were co-founders, Vargas-Lopez and Chiriboga were friends. They built the kind of trust that later became essential to starting a company together. When one person could not take on a task, the other stepped in. When the work became overwhelming, the friendship helped steady them.

“If I cannot do something right now, I know Juan Daniel can do it, and vice versa,” Vargas-Lopez says. “That trust was built before the business.”

Living together strengthened that rhythm. It also taught them the importance of boundaries.

“We’ve gotten really good at knowing when to talk business and when not to,” Chiriboga says. “If it’s not working time, we try to focus on being friends and being present with other people.”

For Vargas-Lopez, the partnership has been less about dividing every task evenly and more about sharing responsibility over time.

“It’s not always 50-50 all the time,” he says. “But we know we’re in this together, and that makes it easier to handle everything that comes up.”

For Chiriboga, building YAPA with his best friend has been one of the most meaningful parts of the experience.

“I couldn’t be more grateful that my best friend is also my business partner,” he says.

Now based in Austin, Vargas-Lopez and Chiriboga are carrying YAPA into its next stage. The venture that started as a conversation between friends has become something people can open, taste and share.

The process has changed how they think about risk, learning and what it means to build something from scratch. It has also reinforced the value of starting before everything feels certain.

“Don’t be afraid to start,” Chiriboga says. “If you don’t believe in yourself, no one else will.”

Vargas-Lopez says the venture has taught him to stay open to what others know and humble enough to keep asking questions.

“Use your resources,” he says. “Ask questions. Learn from every conversation. We haven’t had a single meeting where we didn’t learn something.”

For more information, including ticket details, please visit
elon.edu/speakerseries and .

Fall Convocation with David Brooks

Bestselling author, staff writer for The Atlantic and longtime New York Times columnist

Friday, Sept. 25, 2026, 3:30 p.m. | Alumni Gym,
Koury Athletic Center, ������Ƶ, N.C.
������Ƶ Speaker Series

David Brooks is a leading observer of American culture, politics and civic life. Over decades in journalism, his columns have become some of the most widely read in the nation, offering insight into political dynamics, social trends and the challenges facing modern democracy.

Common Reading Lecture with Hanif Abdurraqib

Cultural critic and author of “There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension”

Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026, 7:30 p.m. | Alumni Gym,
Koury Athletic Center, ������Ƶ, N.C.
������Ƶ Speaker Series

Hanif Abdurraqib is widely recognized for his lyrical and deeply personal writing that explores music, identity and the intersections of culture and lived experience. “There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension” was selected as ������Ƶ’s Common Reading for 2026-27.

“Navigating Change, Empowering Progress: A Roadmap for Leaders Committed to Community and Democracy” with the Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, former
Prime Minister of Canada

Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, 7 p.m. | Sandra Levine Theatre, Sarah Belk Gambrell Center for the Arts and Civic Engagement, Charlotte, N.C.
The Learning Society

In an era of unprecedented global challenges and technological change, the foundation of progress remains human — our ability to build and strengthen communities through democratic principles and shared values. Drawing from his transformational decade as Canada’s 23rd Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Justin Trudeau shares compelling insights on how leaders can foster resilient, inclusive communities that can thrive in times of opportunity and crisis.

Carol Ann Walker International Lectureship with Lance Cpl. Kyle Carpenter

Recipient of the Medal of Honor

Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026, 11 a.m. | McCrary Theatre,
Center for the Arts, ������Ƶ, N.C.
������Ƶ Speaker Series

The youngest living recipient of the Medal of Honor, Lance Cpl. Kyle Carpenter was recognized for extraordinary heroism when he suffered life-threatening injuries after throwing himself on a grenade in Afghanistan to protect a fellow U.S. Marine. He is the author of the memoir “You Are Worth It: Building a Life Worth Fighting For.”

Coming in 2027

Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Address with Danielle Coke Balfour

Artist, author and social justice advocate

Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2027, noon | Alumni Gym,
Koury Athletic Center, ������Ƶ, N.C.
������Ƶ Speaker Series

A Conversation with Venus Williams

Olympian, world-renowned tennis champion and entrepreneur

Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2027, 7 p.m. | Sandra Levine Theatre, Sarah Belk Gambrell Center for the Arts and Civic Engagement, Charlotte, N.C.
The Learning Society

Baird Lecture with Tim Tebow

Heisman Trophy winner, former NFL quarterback and philanthropist

Tuesday, March 9, 2027, 7 p.m. | Alumni Gym, Koury Athletic Center, ������Ƶ, N.C.
������Ƶ Speaker Series

James P. Elder Lecture with Heather Cox Richardson

Historian and bestselling author

Tuesday, April 6, 2027, 6:30 p.m. | Alumni Gym, Koury Athletic Center, ������Ƶ, N.C.
������Ƶ Speaker Series

“The research I do has nothing to do with dance,” says Scherich, the A.L. Hook Emerging Professor in Science and Mathematics and assistant professor of mathematics and statistics at ������Ƶ. “Dance is just the mechanism in which I communicate my research.”

Scherich’s research focuses on topology, a branch of mathematics that studies flexible geometric shapes that remain preserved through deformation such as twisting, stretching or bending without opening holes, tearing or passing through themselves. More specifically, her research centers on knot theory, a field examining mathematical knots and braids.

Advanced mathematics requires years of foundational knowledge and technical language that can be difficult to explain to those outside the discipline. This challenge prompted Scherich to think creatively about how to share her work with broader audiences in an accessible way.

“Mathematics can be very abstract and uses a lot of specific jargon language,” Scherich says. “It can be difficult to tell somebody about your work, because first you have to define years’ worth of math before you can even get started. I was looking for ways to explain what math is in a way where you do not necessarily understand the technicalities, but you can get a flavor for what we are studying.”

Dance allows her to bypass that barrier, not by simplifying math but by translating it into a story with motion and emotion.

“Dance is a really effective way to emotionally story-tell,” she says. “I don’t really think in terms of dialogue. I think in terms of movement.”

Scherich’s work intentionally challenges stereotypes surrounding mathematics. Many of her videos feature female dancers and traditionally feminine aesthetics, in contrast to what has historically been a male-dominated field.

“When you think of a ballet dancer, you think of a woman,” Scherich says. “When you think of a mathematician, you probably don’t.”

The intersection of dance and mathematics flows into her work with students. She collaborated with Sol Addison ’25 and Lila Snodgrass ’26 on research examining how dancers move across a stage over time to define a new knot invariant called the danceability index.

In the classroom, Scherich uses videos of her dances as part of a larger narrative. She might begin a lecture by introducing different branches of mathematics such as algebra, geometry and topology through movement, giving students a conceptual framework before diving into formal definitions. One of her recent pieces uses , a foundational result in knot theory. The videos do not replace traditional instruction but provide students with another way to grasp complex ideas.

Scherich’s path to mathematics was far from linear. Growing up in California, she left high school early to pursue performance opportunities and began college at 14, initially planning a future in performing arts. Encouraged by her father, a high school math teacher, she also enrolled in math courses as a backup plan.

I was looking for ways to explain what math is in a way where you do not necessarily understand the technicalities, but you can get a flavor for what we are studying. — Nancy Scherich

She changed majors several times — performance, French, biochemistry, chemistry — before mathematics finally stuck. The turning point came during a calculus class when she learned how to calculate the volume of a three-dimensional shape created by rotating a two-dimensional object.

“I was like, ‘I think I just became a mathematician; this is so cool. I’m in,’” Scherich says.

For years, Scherich kept dance and math separate. That changed during graduate school at the University of California, Santa Barbara when she learned about Science magazine’s “Dance Your Ph.D.” competition. Encouraged by a friend, she spent an entire summer creating a dance video inspired by her dissertation research. The project went on to win the competition.

“I feel like the video I created is probably my life’s masterpiece,” Scherich says. “So much love and passion went into that dance video. Since then, every time I am doing research or learn a new piece of mathematics, or I’m having trouble explaining math to someone, I think ‘Can I make a dance about this?’”

While the approach is unconventional, Scherich says the response from the mathematics community has been overwhelmingly positive.

“People will come up to me at conferences and say, ‘You’re the math and dance girl, right?’” Scherich says. “They appreciate that it’s making math accessible and fun.”

The 2025-26 academic year also marked major milestones in Scherich’s career. She was named the A.L Hook Emerging Professor in Science and Mathematics and received a $125,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to support her research and community building within ������Ƶ’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics.

Through her work, Scherich continues to demonstrate that mathematics is not limited to formulas and symbols on a page. By combining movement, storytelling and research, she offers students and audiences a new way to see mathematics — as dynamic, creative and deeply human.

How well is the United States living up to the ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence?

Which moments in the nation’s history represent American democracy at its best?

How do Americans assess the country’s current condition?

What do people expect the nation to look like when it celebrates its 300th anniversary in 2076?

Those were some of the questions behind one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken by the ������Ƶ Poll. The findings were cited in nearly 600 media stories and opinion pieces across the ideological spectrum and contributed to public discussion during the nation’s semiquincentennial.

Established in 2000, the ������Ƶ Poll is among the country’s longest running university-based public opinion polling organizations, with a reputation for accuracy in measuring public opinion on elections, public policy and issues affecting North Carolina and the nation. The America250 project built on that foundation to explore questions that are rarely included in national polling.

Professor Jason Husser, director of the ������Ƶ Poll, coordinated with a group of faculty and staff to dig deep into the American psyche, stepping away from typical questions related to current events to explore how Americans think about their nation’s past, present and future. The result was a comprehensive report released just weeks before Independence Day that offered a broad portrait of how Americans view the United States at one of the most significant milestones in its history.

Husser, a professor of political science and public policy, said Americans’ divergent views in the survey results were not surprising. “Pluralistic, democratic societies rarely generate true consensus about public affairs,” Husser says. “Nonetheless, when we read the findings in their totality, especially considering the optimism of young Americans, we see an underlying theme of perseverance perhaps best reflected in three-quarters of Americans who agreed with President Abraham Lincoln: ‘Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.’”

Proud of the country, concerned about its direction

Taken together, the results revealed a public that remains strongly attached to the United States while expressing considerable concern about its democratic institutions.

Nearly seven in 10 Americans said they are proud to be American, and two-thirds said they would not want to live in another country. At the same time, 52% said the nation is not successfully living up to its founding ideals, while 73% rated the overall health of American democracy as only “fair” or “poor.”

Forty percent said that at least once a week they have felt the nation is on the brink of a major crisis, and 70% said the current period is more turbulent and unstable than average across U.S. history.

Those findings echoed a theme that appeared throughout the survey: Americans expressed confidence in many of the country’s enduring ideals while offering a more cautious assessment of its present condition.

That pattern appeared in one of the survey’s most widely discussed results: 69% of respondents said they believe the signers of the Declaration of Independence would be more disappointed than proud if they could see American democracy today.

Reflecting on the nation’s history

The survey also invited Americans to think about the nation’s defining moments and leaders.

Asked which event best represented American democracy at its highest ideals, respondents most often selected the Civil Rights Movement, followed by World War II and the end of slavery. Abraham Lincoln was named both the historical figure who best exemplified American democracy and the nation’s greatest president. Other top presidents, in order of popularity, included Barack Obama, George Washington, Donald Trump, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan.

Looking ahead

If Americans found inspiration in parts of the nation’s past, they expressed greater uncertainty about its future.

Sizable majorities predicted that by 2076 the country will be more politically divided, have more polluted air and water, and less freedom for citizens. Only about one-third expressed confidence that American political institutions would make mostly good decisions over the next 50 years.

Yet the survey also uncovered a notable generational pattern. Across many questions, younger adults expressed more optimism than older Americans. Respondents under 30 were more likely to believe the nation is living up to its founding ideals and more confident that American institutions will make good decisions in the decades ahead.

Toward a ‘more perfect union’

������Ƶ President Connie Ledoux Book wrote in the report’s introduction that civic engagement has long been central to the university’s mission.

“������Ƶ was founded in an era when American higher education increasingly saw democracy itself as dependent on an informed and engaged citizenry,” Book wrote. “That conviction remains central to the university today.”

For the ������Ƶ Poll, the America250 project demonstrates a broader role that universities can play in public life. Beyond measuring elections and political campaigns, polling can also document how Americans understand their democracy, their history and their future. As the nation looks forward to its tricentennial in 2076, this survey provides an important benchmark as Americans continue to strive for the “more perfect union” envisioned in the U.S. Constitution.

The America250 survey, conducted April 30 through May 4 with field work by the international polling firm YouGov, included responses from 1,000 adults nationwide and was designed to represent the U.S. adult population. For the survey report, full data and methodology, visit elon.edu/elonpoll.

Criminal doctrine claims to distinguish morally culpable action from conduct driven by severe mental disease or defect. Yet in practice, society remains deeply resistant to extending even minimal grace when punishment is at stake. We love to punish, and we distrust anything that resembles an excuse. The defendant before me needed treatment; he needed help. But within a system oriented toward retribution, illness collapses into guilt. The institutional response becomes predictable: contain, control and confine the beast.

Nothing in a casebook prepared me for the raw immediacy of a mind splintered long before the law judged him.

His delusions dominated the evidence. I listened to voicemails he left after beating his mother beyond recognition with the leg of a table. He referred to himself as a Navy SEAL and carried on a conversation with someone who existed only in his mind. The forensic psychiatrist explained how his inward and outward projections tethered him to an alternate reality. In that reality, CIA agents listened through devices in his teeth and loved ones were replaced by alien spies.

The murder scene reflected this fractured world: He believed he had killed the alien inhabiting his mother’s body and attempted to give her a new one. He called his family and described the event in a chilling voice that even his social worker said didn’t sound like him.

As the psychiatrist detailed the defendant’s psychosis, the voices that commanded him and the delusional system shaping his actions, I felt the weight of the law’s expectations pressing against the limits of human cognition. We ask jurors — ordinary people with no psychiatric training — to translate hallucinations and delusions into legal categories.

Mental illness exists on a scientific spectrum. Insanity, by contrast, is a legal term of art. South Carolina, like many states moving away from the insanity defense, is taking a giant leap in the wrong direction.

A finding of “not criminally responsible” due to paranoid schizophrenia should carry substantial moral and legal weight, yet it rarely moves a modern jury. Cultural narratives about personal responsibility and dangerousness prime jurors to distrust the very concept. To compound the problem, South Carolina provides no instruction about the consequences of a verdict. Courts warn that “focusing on outcomes could prejudice the jury,” leaving jurors to choose among vague constructs like “Guilty but Mentally Ill” (GBMI), a verdict functionally indistinguishable from guilty. GBMI reflects a deeper cultural shift: Mental illness itself is becoming morally blameworthy.

That trial stayed with me. It revealed the limits of our current system and the urgency of reform. It pushed me to study GBMI, juror misunderstanding and the consequences of sanism in criminal adjudication. If justice is to mean anything for defendants whose minds break from reality, the law must bridge the gap between doctrine and science.

Tarrah Casey L’26 is a third-year student at ������Ƶ Law and presented her research on how courts evaluate remorse in sentencing autistic defendants at the 2025 Autism Law Summit. She completed her Residency-in-Practice, ������Ƶ Law’s signature experiential learning program in which students learn the law by praticing it, at Sarratt & Horta Vorse, P.A., in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

“The Last Lecture” by Randy Pausch. We had our “Vs. Cancer” game this season and having a 7-year-old girl around our team who is going through a lot of tough times, it makes you reflect on something. So, when I found out about the book, I just wanted to read it. I wanted to see how I could personally look at that situation and how it would reflect on me.

What is your favorite phone app?

The onX Hunt app. In my spare time, which I don’t have much, I like to hunt. It’s an educational app that provides you with terrain, property boundaries and corridors on your property that might hold more deer than others.

If you could invite someone from history to dinner, who would it be?

Yogi Berra. I think just over time with all his funny quotes and how he kept the game fun, it would be an hour of constant laughs. His history with one-liners and the quotes he has are classic, so I think that would be an awesome night.

What is your favorite place on campus?

The first-base dugout. That’s where I have built most of my relationships here at ������Ƶ. I’ve always said the best time for me is the 30 minutes after practice with three or four guys just sitting in that dugout chopping it up. Sometimes, I’ll learn more in that dugout about our guys than I do anywhere else.

Nine hundred wins is an incredible milestone. When you think about your career at ������Ƶ, what are you proudest of? and what has kept you here all this time?

More than anything, the relationships I’ve been able to build with former players. I love that at a time where there are a lot of departures in and around college athletics, we have so many former players that have built lifelong friendships and an incredible bond to ������Ƶ Baseball. I love that they reach out after a big win or a bad loss. I love that they follow the program and support current players. Truly, it’s an extension of family. This program is special! I love this campus and I’ve been blessed to be around great people.

This summer, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy Safia Swimelar teaches New York City: Living in the Global Community using the city as a microcosm to help students understand the diversity and complexity of global humanity. The course explores the meaning of NYC as a global city and how cultural, political and economic aspects of globalization are reflected and visualized there.

“Even though I teach political science, we’re talking about the globalization of hip-hop, food, 9/11, identity and culture,” Swimelar says. “They all fit the idea of New York as a global city.”

Students spend Monday through Thursday interning in industries ranging from finance and marketing to communications and graphic design. On Fridays, everyone comes together for weekly seminars, encouraging students to connect their workplace experiences with broader discussions around globalization, identity and culture.

In true ������Ƶ fashion, learning extends beyond the classroom. “We try to match the academic topic with some kind of hands-on experience, whether that’s a museum, a tour or meeting people in the community,” Swimelar says. This summer’s experiential learning opportunities included a visit to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, a World Cup watch party, a Juneteenth celebration in Central Park, a performance of “Ragtime” on Broadway, the Pride Parade, a tour of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, an international food tour in Queens and a private tour of the New York Stock Exchange, to name a few.

At its core, the course is about helping students understand the world from a new perspective. “I really want them to understand that the United States — and every city in it — is inherently connected to the rest of the world,” Swimelar says. “The global is everywhere.”

By the end of the summer, students bring home much more than academic knowledge and internship experience. Living in Brooklyn, navigating the subway and working full-time internships provide a realistic glimpse into life in one of the world’s largest cities.

“For many of them, this is the first time they feel like they’re actually living here instead of just visiting,” Swimelar says. “When I read their journals each week, many are saying, ‘I think I really do want to move to New York.’”

Whether students pursue careers in business, the arts, communications, finance or public policy, Swimelar hopes they leave New York with a deeper appreciation for the people, cultures and ideas that shape communities both locally and globally.

About the Professor

Professor Safia Swimelar has taught political science and policy studies at ������Ƶ since 2008. Her teaching and research focus on international relations, human rights, European politics, global studies and film and politics. As a former Fulbright Scholar, Swimelar draws on her international experience to help students better understand global politics and contemporary issues.

Recommended Materials

• “The Colossus of New York,” by Colson Whitehead
• “Hip hop’s Enduring Echo: From New York’s Streets to Global Beats,” The Elephant, 2023
• “America After 9/11,” PBS Frontline documentary