They stood poised with their hands raised, breathing steady, before their fists began to fly. Jab, cross, right hook, left upper cut.

They noticed the sensations in their body as childhood memories raced through their mind, allowing themself to feel every feeling that remained with them from a time when they didn’t have a voice. With every punch, they stepped closer to regaining their power, closer to a deeper understanding of their full self.

Danielle Martinelli-Taylor ’12 says the physical movement often allows clients to recognize and begin healing younger parts of themselves that were never fully seen or supported. “Through the movement, through fighting back against that, they were able to trust themself more.”

A licensed professional counselor, Martinelli-Taylor centers her Denver practice, Animo Counseling and Coaching, on healing the whole person. Among the approaches she uses is somatic boxing, a method that connects mind and body to help clients process trauma and strengthen their overall well-being.

“We’re interconnected beings,” she says. “Our bodies hold just as much of our story as our minds do, and healing happens when we learn how to listen to both.”

A Non-Linear Path

Martinelli-Taylor’s journey toward counseling wasn’t straightforward, but every step helped develop the empathy, critical thinking and global perspective that shapes her work. The Massachusetts native wasn’t familiar with ������Ƶ before stumbling upon it while touring colleges along the East Coast. She was immediately drawn to its arts and sciences foundation, small class sizes and study abroad program.

She enrolled Early Decision, planning to study education, but soon found that teaching wasn’t her passion. She did, however, have a knack for fostering strong one-on-one connections, and she found other ways to build those skills through a strategic communications major and religious studies minor.

“There’s a lot of psychology in strategic communications, learning what are people’s needs, what do they want, why do they do what they do. I loved that aspect,” Martinell-Taylor says. “Then my religious studies minor was just a window to the world of what other people believe, why they believe it and how that directs their decisions, hopes and dreams.”

But it was her semester abroad in London that influenced her most, broadening her worldview and clarifying what she did and didn’t want to pursue post-graduation. She interned for a fashion supplier on Oxford Street but didn’t feel a strong connection to the work. She loved London, though, and wanted to use her communications skills in service of something she cared about deeply.

After graduating, she returned to London for two years, working with an international mission organization that supported churches and other spiritual communities. Martinelli-Taylor spent much of her time connecting with South Asian women, children and teens and found their conversations about life and struggle deeply meaningful. On weekends, she volunteered with a nonprofit fighting human trafficking, a cause that first sparked her interest through an ������Ƶ course examining slavery in the Bible, in American history and in modern times. Again and again, she found herself drawn to work that offered support to people during some of the most difficult moments of their lives.

“I was hearing people’s trauma, hearing really difficult life journeys and feeling this pull,” Martinelli-Taylor says. “If people have gone through these really awful things, forced into things they had no control over, how do I step into that world?”

That realization ignited Martinelli-Taylor’s calling to be a counselor. She moved back to the U.S. and earned her master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling from Denver Seminary in 2019. Her communications, religious studies and study abroad experience from her time at ������Ƶ remained foundational as she forged this new path.

L.D. Russell, senior lecturer emeritus of religious studies at ������Ƶ, remembers Martinelli-Taylor as open-minded, eager to learn and deeply committed to helping others. Her unique counseling approach feels like a natural extension of that spirit. “One of the truest values of an ������Ƶ education,” he says, “is gaining a clearer sense of how others live and move through the world, and how our own gifts can be used to foster the public good.”

The Mind-Body Connection

After obtaining her master’s degree, Martinelli-Taylor again used her skills to support human trafficking victims, providing counseling to survivors with complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. She later moved to a group practice, helping clients with a broader range of issues such as anxiety, depression, trauma and grief.

In graduate school, she began to learn how physical movement, education and preventative work can help set clients up for a healthier life and resiliency amid difficult challenges. That idea coupled with her own personal experience with boxing prompted her to try bilateral boxing as a technique with some clients at the group practice. “It was starting to help people break out of dissociation and get into their body,” Martinelli-Taylor says. “We used it as a tool when they felt stuck or overwhelmed with talk therapy.”

As she saw the approach resonate with more clients, Martinelli-Taylor set out to develop it further and open her own practice. Drawing on her strategic communications background, she built the foundation for her business while consulting with counselors who use somatic therapies that link breath, body and mental health. In 2024 she founded Animo Counseling and Coaching, where she offers treatments such as Accelerated Resolution Therapy, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing and her own style of somatic boxing therapy.

Animo means “mind” in Latin, “soul” and “courage” in Italian and “encouragement” in Spanish. “The practice reflects that intentionality, that purposefulness,” she says. “It represents the embodiment of the brain and body’s role in learning about yourself.”

Our bodies hold just as much of our story as our minds do, and healing happens when we learn how to listen to both. — Danielle Martinelli-Taylor ’12

Martinelli-Taylor first teaches her clients the basics of non-contact boxing, using the bilateral movements of boxing but no sparring, just hitting boxing gloves to mitts as the whole body engages. She focuses on proper form and breathwork, guiding clients to concentrate on each motion. The practice becomes a type of moving meditation, stimulating both sides of the body and both hemispheres of the brain.

For many clients, the approach offers another avenue for healing, especially for those who may not feel ready to talk through difficult experiences right away. By focusing on the rhythm of movement and breath, clients begin to notice what their bodies and minds are holding, and shift it out.

Once clients feel comfortable with the technique, she introduces strategies for building courage, managing stress and emotions, and processing difficult memories. The approach encourages people to tune in to the physical sensations that often accompany mental health struggles, opening the door to more holistic healing. Movement and breathwork, Martinelli-Taylor says, can help move through distress, regulate mood and ground the body to allow clients to face and work through deeper challenges.

In addition to continuing to grow her practice, Martinelli-Taylor hopes to conduct larger studies on the impact of somatic boxing on mental health. And while she is there to support her clients in the “ring” when they need it, she doesn’t expect them to rely on a coach forever. Her goal is to help people build the awareness and tools to continue the work on their own — to trust their bodies, their instincts and their capacity to heal.

“I want them to feel like they’re equipped to learn and grow,” Martinelli-Taylor says. “They can take this work, try it out in the world and know that they’re resilient.”

That journey culminated on March 11, when the ensemble took the stage at Carnegie Hall for the first time in university history, performing as part of the New York Wind Band Festival. For the 51 student musicians, who represent majors from across the university, the moment carried both personal and collective significance.

“There is so much history at Carnegie Hall,” says Jonathan Poquette, Fletcher Moore Distinguished Emerging Scholar and director of bands. “The fact that we are now part of that history is quite remarkable.”

Months of preparation led to a program that reflected both technical precision and artistic ambition, including a piece by Associate Professor of Music Todd Coleman. But for students, the experience extended far beyond the performance itself.

“Being able to perform on such an iconic stage was truly extraordinary,” says Astrid Hughes ’27, a statistics major and clarinetist. “I have been playing the clarinet for around 10 years and have never been in such awe of a space I was performing in. The music we were able to create in that space is unlike anything I have ever done before. It was a product of all the hard work we put in as an ensemble.”

That sense of awe and accomplishment was shaped throughout the week by a series of experiences that deepened students’ understanding of what a life in the arts can look like.

The ensemble first performed at high schools in Delaware and Staten Island, sharing their music with younger students and building confidence ahead of their Carnegie Hall debut. For many in those audiences, it was their first time hearing a collegiate wind ensemble in person, an introduction that underscored the lasting role music can play beyond high school.

In New York, the learning continued in a different setting: Broadway.

Students attended performances of “Aladdin” and “The Book of Mormon,” where they also connected with ������Ƶ alumni now performing on some of the world’s most prominent stages. After the shows, alumni welcomed students backstage, offering a glimpse into the professional world of theater.

Being able to perform on such an iconic stage was truly extraordinary. — Astrid Hughes ’27

Michael Callahan ’13 and Campy Rodriguez ’26 hosted students following a performance of “Aladdin,” sharing their journeys and leading a behind-the-scenes tour. Callahan, a swing who covers multiple roles and serves as dance and fight captain, and Rodriguez, making his Broadway debut, spoke about the discipline and versatility required to sustain a career in the arts.

“Getting to meet Michael and Campy made such a big city feel like a small world,” says Alana Driver ’27, a flutist. “It was inspiring to hear about their journeys and see how their experiences at ������Ƶ helped lead them to where they are now.”

Another group met ensemble cast member Andrew Stevens Purdy ’20 following a performance of “The Book of Mormon,” stepping onto the stage and seeing firsthand the complexity of a Broadway production — from props and lighting to the choreography happening just out of view.

Those moments helped students connect their own experiences at ������Ƶ with the paths forged by those who came before them.

“This was a collaborative event, and I am so proud of the students and all their hard work,” Poquette says. “They represented themselves, the band program, the Department of Music and the university with the highest level of professionalism and class.”

Beyond Broadway, the group explored the city between performances, taking in views from atop Rockefeller Center and interacting with composers and guest artists. Each moment added another layer to a trip designed not just to showcase talent, but to broaden perspective.

When the ensemble finally took the stage at Carnegie Hall, those layers came together in a defining moment. The performance ended with a standing ovation — a reflection not only of musical excellence, but of the journey that led there.

And long after the final note faded inside one of the world’s most storied concert halls, the experience itself continues to resonate as a reminder that at ������Ƶ, the path to extraordinary moments is built through both preparation and possibility

This year’s group is the largest in the program’s history. ������Ƶ doubled the size of its physician assistant class from 38 to 76 students, growing its capacity to prepare clinicians for communities across North Carolina and the Southeast.

The expansion reflects a broader transformation in graduate eduction underway at ������Ƶ. From classrooms on the main campus in Alamance County to new opportunities in Charlotte, graduate education is evolving with intention and purpose.

Guided by the Boldly ������Ƶ Strategic Plan, university leaders are investing in
programs where student interest intersects with societal need — strengthening health sciences, business, counseling and legal education while positioning ������Ƶ to serve both emerging professionals and working adults seeking new pathways.

That growth builds on more than 40 years of momentum. ������Ƶ launched its Master of Business Administration in 1984, followed by a Master of Education in 1986. Graduate offerings expanded into the health sciences with a Master of Physical Therapy program in 1997, which became a Doctor of Physical Therapy in 2003. The university established its School of Law in downtown Greensboro in 2006. Today, that trajectory continues with strategic expansion in fields
experiencing high demand.

“Pursuing growth now allows us to serve regional needs while also staying true to our tradition of innovation and student-centered academic excellence,” says Allie Duffney, dean of graduate admissions.

A Changing Landscape

������Ƶ’s growth reflects broader shifts across higher education.

“We’re seeing a decline in the traditional college-age population, so expanding strong graduate programs allows ������Ƶ to serve new learners while staying centered on our undergraduate mission,” says Rebecca Kohn, provost and vice president of academic affairs.

According to the Council of Graduate Schools, applications and enrollment in health professions, counseling, data science and business analytics programs remain strong in recent years. “Health care, law and behavioral health professions are facing sustained shortages across North Carolina and the Southeast,” Duffney says.

Several graduate programs are expanding to ������Ƶ’s National Campus in Charlotte, where students can learn, intern and network alongside major health systems, corporations, nonprofits and courts in a major metropolitan area.

“Growth in Charlotte allows ������Ƶ to design graduate education aligned with workforce needs and to support interprofessional collaboration and community partnerships,” says Veronica Marciano, associate professor, founding chair and program director of physician assistant studies in Charlotte. “It creates space to innovate across disciplines and opportunities for involvement in system expansion and workforce development.”

Recent and planned expansions include increasing the cohort size in the PA program on main campus; launching a second PA program, a full-time law program and Master of Science in Business Analytics Flex Program in Charlotte; introducing a Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling program; and expanding graduate certificates designed for working professionals.

A Critical Call for Health Care

In response to nationwide demand for physician assistants, ������Ƶ expanded its cohort size from 38 to 76 students in January. The program remains committed to engaged learning, hands-on clinical practice, close faculty mentorship and access to diverse, high-quality rotation sites.

������Ƶ plans to matriculate an inaugural PA class on the Charlotte campus in January 2027, pending accreditation-provisional review by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA).

“Establishing a PA program rooted in Charlotte directly supports workforce needs by preparing highly trained clinicians who understand the local health care landscape and are invested in serving this community,” Marciano says. “Our goal is not only to educate excellent clinicians, but to meaningfully support and strengthen the health care ecosystem in Charlotte.”

That responsiveness also shaped the Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, which plans to welcome its first cohort in fall 2026 on ������Ƶ’s main and Charlotte campuses.

“Mental health care is no longer optional; it is essential,” says Judy Folmar, interim program director and chair of the clinical mental health counseling program. “Communities across North Carolina and the nation are facing rising rates of anxiety, depression, trauma and substance use while the supply of licensed counselors has not kept pace.”

Delivered in a 21-month accelerated hybrid format, the 60-credit program is designed to equip graduates for licensure while combining academic preparation with extensive clinical experience.

“The growth of graduate education at ������Ƶ reflects both institutional momentum and a commitment to workforce relevance,” Folmar says. “What excites us most is the alignment between ������Ƶ’s engaged-learning ethos and the preparation of advanced practitioners.”

Skills for a Changing Economy

As organizations accelerate digital transformation and integrate artificial intelligence technologies, demand continues to rise for professionals who can translate data into strategic action.

“Organizations are undergoing rapid digital transformation and increasingly rely on data and AI to make faster, higher-stakes decisions,” says Mark Kurt, associate dean for the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business. “The MSBA Flex Program in Charlotte equips working professionals with applied analytics and AI skills plus the leadership and ethical frameworks needed to translate data into responsible, measurable business outcomes — without pausing their careers.”

Built on the same STEM-certified core as ������Ƶ’s full-time MSBA, the flex format is designed for working professionals and emphasizes AI-informed entrepreneurship.

Pursuing growth now allows us to serve regional needs while also staying true to our tradition of innovation and student-centered academic excellence. — Allie Duffney, dean of
graduate admissions

“Faculty and leadership are actively refining the curriculum, building stronger employer partnerships and adapting quickly to changes in the business and analytics landscape,” says ������Ƶ alum Craig Brandstetter ’25 g’25. “That flexibility and openness to feedback mean the program can stay relevant and cutting-edge, rather than being locked into outdated structures.”

Alongside degree programs, ������Ƶ is also expanding stackable graduate certificates designed for working professionals. Certificates in health care analytics and operations excellence can serve as stand-alone credentials or pathways toward an MBA or MSBA.

The Office of Continuing and Professional Studies recently launched its second cohort of an AI certificate for professionals, delivered fully online to provide practical AI fluency grounded in ethical application.

Expanding Access to Legal Education

������Ƶ Law has built a national reputation for experiential, practice-ready legal education. In 2024 the law school expanded its presence in Charlotte through the part-time Flex Program for working professionals and place-bound students seeking an in-person J.D. in North Carolina’s largest city.

That program quickly gained momentum, reflecting strong regional demand and ������Ƶ Law’s established ties to the Queen City, where nearly 10% of its alumni live and work. ������Ƶ has applied to the American Bar Association to begin a full-time law program in Charlotte in fall 2027.

“We already have strong relationships there through our programs and alumni,” says Zak Kramer, dean of the School of Law. “The legal community’s embrace of our Flex Program students confirmed that. A full-time program will allow our graduates to learn alongside Charlotte lawyers, build networks and launch careers there.”

Together, Greensboro and Charlotte position ������Ƶ’s School of Law as a statewide presence while maintaining the relationship-rich model that defines the institution.

Looking Ahead

As higher education evolves, graduate education is becoming an increasingly important part of the university’s future.

“The heart of ������Ƶ will always be our undergraduate liberal arts education,” Kohn says, “but we are strengthening and growing our graduate programs to meet changing societal and workforce needs.”

From Alamance County to Charlotte and beyond, ������Ƶ is expanding opportunities for graduate students to learn alongside health systems, businesses and legal institutions across the region. Those programs are preparing the next generation of physician assistants, counselors, analysts and attorneys to serve the communities that need them most.

Through the ������Ƶ Year of Service Fellows program, these recent graduates are spending a year working with local organizations across Alamance County, contributing to efforts that strengthen health, education and economic opportunity. Along the way, they’re gaining hands-on experience, mentorship and a deeper understanding of the community just beyond ������Ƶ’s campus.

The 2025–26 fellows are putting their ������Ƶ education into action and helping build a stronger future for Alamance County.

Sam Hinton ’25

Advancing Community Health

By Avery Craine Powell

When Sam Hinton ’25 decided to pursue the Year of Service Fellows program, she saw it as an opportunity to deepen her connection to a community she had already come to care about.

“I really wanted to get the opportunity to have a more hands-on role here as opposed to research, which is a little bit more like a bird’s-eye view,” Hinton says.

Hinton, who earned a degree in public health studies and political science with minors in Spanish, Latin American studies, and peace and conflict studies, now works with the Alamance County Health Department through the fellows program.

Although she didn’t grow up in Alamance County, Hinton says the area feels like home. Her grandparents and extended family live nearby, and her academic work at ������Ƶ strengthened those ties. As a Lumen Scholar, she studied how immigration policy and discrimination in Alamance County influence how members of the Latino community access health care and social services.

“I was interviewing health care and social service providers from across the county on where they were seeing gaps in their ability to provide care,” she explains. “Through that research, I got to meet a lot of the people that I work with now and familiarized myself with the different service provision organizations throughout Alamance County.”

That familiarity helped ease her transition into the fellowship. At the health department, Hinton’s responsibilities range from administrative and event planning work to engaging directly with community partners. She primarily works with the Behavioral Health and Substance Use Division, which focuses on addressing the opioid crisis and expanding addiction services.

It’s been really great to see how deeply everyone there is motivated by the mission of providing health care and improving the lives of people in Alamance County. — Sam Hinton ’25

The experience has given her a deeper appreciation for the people committed to this work.

“It’s been really great to see how deeply everyone there is motivated by the mission of providing health care and improving the lives of people in Alamance County,” she says. “Despite the fact that everyone there has so much work to do and is incredibly busy, people are really committed to improving conditions for people across different communities.”

Hinton credits ������Ƶ’s public health studies program, including its required practicum, for preparing her to step confidently into the role. The program, she says, ensures students graduate with a strong understanding of the broader forces shaping health and equity.

“They make sure students leave ������Ƶ aware of the disparities and inequalities that exist and really gear the program toward a health equity lens.”

For Hinton, the fellowship represents both a continuation of her academic work and a new beginning.

“I feel like the hands-on nature of all of my education at ������Ƶ has really come in handy as I’m transitioning into the workforce,” she says. “I feel really adequately prepared for whatever projects are being thrown my way.”

Anna Matawaran ’25

Strengthening Community Partnerships

By Avery Craine Powell

Community engagement has been central to Anna Matawaran’s ������Ƶ experience, and it continues to guide her work after graduation.

“The program stood out to me because of that piece of civic engagement and making a difference in a community that I’ve already lived in and gotten to know for the last four years,” she says.

Matawaran, who graduated with a degree in sociology and a minor in communications, now works with Impact Alamance, a community health legacy foundation created from the merger of Alamance Regional Medical Center and Cone Health.

Impact Alamance focuses on improving community health, strengthening education and building partnerships across Alamance County. Matawaran serves on the organization’s “stronger” team as a program assistant.

One of the projects she has enjoyed most is the For Alamance initiative, a partnership with the Harwood Institute for Public Innovation that encourages residents to take action on issues that matter to them.

“That has been really rewarding,” she says. “I’ve met so many different people through that, which I’ve really enjoyed, folks from all parts of the county that I didn’t know existed before the fellowship.”

Community was also what first drew Matawaran to ������Ƶ from her hometown of Richmond, Virginia.

“That small community feel was so unique from all the other colleges I looked at, and I knew I wanted a liberal arts education and loved that ������Ƶ offered all the resources that it does for undergraduates specifically,” she says. “It’s a beautiful campus. How can you not love it?”

Her path to sociology began unexpectedly.

“On a whim, I signed up for a sociology course my first semester here,” she says. “It was a class on how sociology can look at housing and unhoused people, and that class stood out to me above all my other courses. I fell in love with the way that sociologists think about the world and the problems that it can solve.”

Matawaran credits ������Ƶ’s liberal arts approach for preparing her to work in the nonprofit sector.

“My ������Ƶ education gave me the liberal arts background that I needed to step into the nonprofit sphere,” she says. “My degree gave me a lot of the building blocks to understand what I’m hearing from community members and what issues Alamance County is facing.”

Now, her fellowship continues to deepen the understanding of community she discovered at ������Ƶ.

“Something that my mentor always says is that community is messy,” Matawaran says. “I love how rich and diverse the community here is; it brings this authenticity to the work.”

Jasmine Walker ’25

Supporting Local Students

By Avery Craine Powell

Giving back to her hometown is what drew Jasmine Walker ’25 to the ������Ƶ Year of Service Fellows program.

She now works with Alamance Achieves, an organization focused on improving education outcomes from “cradle to career,” while also collaborating with Impact Alamance to promote educational equity across the county.

“When I found out it was through the Alamance-Burlington School System, which I’m a product of, I wanted to help the school system since they helped me become who I am,” says Walker, who earned a degree in human service studies with a minor in poverty and social justice.

Walker began her fellowship in June 2025 and quickly found herself immersed in the work, helping lead “Ready Freddy,” a three-week summer program that prepares students for kindergarten.

She also assists with the Teachers Leadership Academy, which helps educators develop leadership skills, and supports “The Basics Alamance,” a countywide initiative that provides caregivers with evidence-based strategies to promote healthy brain development in young children.

I don’t think I realized how many
organizations and partnerships there are to make Alamance County continue to thrive. — Jasmine Walker ’25

Walker’s passion for helping others guided her to choose human service studies as her major.

“I wanted to help people, and I’ve always been passionate about supporting others,” she says. “I grew up volunteering and doing different things with my church. When I was a freshman, I met a senior in the program, and I took the intro course and really liked it. I liked how personable the department was.”

A native of ������Ƶ, Walker attended the ������Ƶ Academy in high school before enrolling at the university as an Odyssey Program scholar and later joining the Periclean Scholars program.

“The Odyssey Program really changed my life,” Walker says. “I was able to study abroad in Florence, Italy, during my junior year, and I was there for three and a half months. That was cool; I never thought I was going to be able to leave the country because of finances.”

Through Periclean Scholars, she also traveled to Costa Rica during Winter Term to study the needs of a partner community.

“We studied Costa Rica as a whole and looked at what the specific community that we were going to travel to needed,” she says.

Even though she grew up in Alamance County, Walker says the fellowship has helped her see her hometown in new ways.

“It’s cool to be able to meet different leaders and partners in the community, and hear what they do,” Walker says. “I don’t think I realized how many organizations and partnerships there are to make Alamance County continue to thrive.”

Abby Lee ’25

Expanding Community Wellness

By Olivia Grady ’26

Abby Lee ’25 arrived at ������Ƶ with a strong interest in civic engagement. The ������Ƶ Year of Service Fellows program gave her the opportunity to continue that work after graduation.

“Living in Alamance County for four years, I just thought it would be really beneficial to give back to the community that gave me so much,” Lee says. “This position sounded exactly like what I wanted to do.”

Lee, who earned a degree in public health studies and political science, works with Impact Alamance’s “healthier” team on a range of grant-funded initiatives that support community wellness.

Her projects have included helping install a new basketball court in Mebane, supporting a mobile recreation unit that brings activities to neighborhoods across the county and assisting with planning Impact Alamance’s annual wellness summit.

“I’ve worked on smaller projects, but it means so much to the people that we help,” Lee says. “That’s probably my favorite part, just seeing how much Impact Alamance truly does.”

Lee says her experiences at ������Ƶ helped prepare her for the work, particularly her public health practicum with the Women’s Resource Center of Alamance County.

“That was my first local internship and really shaped my path, showing how great it was to work for and help the people of Alamance,” Lee says. “I think ultimately that’s what led me to decide and apply.”

She also credits ������Ƶ faculty members with shaping her academic interests and encouraging her to pursue a broader view of public health.

“Yanica Faustin was the reason I decided to double major in public health after taking one of her courses, Reproductive Justice,” Lee says. “She definitely shaped my time at ������Ƶ, as well as Stephanie Baker, who was my senior seminar professor for public health. She really showed me that this is what I wanted to do.”

Now working with Impact Alamance, Lee is able to see firsthand how community partnerships and targeted investments can improve health outcomes across the county.

The fellowship has allowed her to build on the experiences she gained at ������Ƶ while making a direct impact in the community she called home during college.

Juliana Buter ’25

Supporting Local Businesses

By Jordan Armstead ’28

Local government work has quickly become a passion for Juliana Buter ’25.

Through the ������Ƶ Year of Service Fellows program, Buter works with the City of Burlington’s Economic Development Office, supporting initiatives designed to strengthen the local economy and improve quality of life across the community.

In the role, she helps coordinate projects that attract new investment, support existing businesses and promote Burlington as a place where people want to live, work and visit.

“This fellowship has helped me a lot because it taught me about my strengths and areas where I need to grow,” Buter says.

One of her primary responsibilities is serving as a liaison with the Burlington Downtown Corporation, helping coordinate communication between city officials and local businesses and ensuring that information flows smoothly between partners working to strengthen the downtown area.

Originally from Atlanta, Buter chose ������Ƶ because of its small class sizes and opportunities to build relationships with professors. She majored in political science and minored in communications, a combination that has helped her analyze policy decisions while communicating effectively with a wide range of audiences.

During summer 2024, Buter participated in Campus Alamance, a program that connects ������Ƶ students with internships at local businesses, nonprofits and government agencies. She interned with the Alamance Chamber of Commerce, where she gained a broader understanding of the community beyond ������Ƶ’s campus and developed an interest in the region’s economic development efforts.

That experience introduced her to the Year of Service Fellows program and encouraged her to apply.

Buter credits her political science degree with helping her understand how public decisions shape communities and influence the people who live and work within them.

“There is a misconception about political science simply being about politics, parties and government,” Buter says. “I think the science aspect has taught me how people interact with one another and with groups.”

Through her work with the City of Burlington, she has developed a deeper appreciation for local government and the people working behind the scenes to strengthen their communities.

“I have absolutely fallen in love with local government, just watching the behind-the-scenes of people working hard for their community,” she says.

The fellowship has also helped her clarify the type of work she hopes to pursue long term — community-focused roles where she can see the tangible impact of public initiatives and partnerships.

Aniya Scott ’25

Improving Patient Access

By Avery Craine Powell

Aniya Scott ’25 describes her year as an ������Ƶ Year of Service Fellow as a “gap year,” but the experience is bringing her closer to her long-term goal of becoming a physical therapist.

Through the program, Scott works with Alamance Regional Medical Center, where she supports operational initiatives that help the hospital serve patients more effectively.

“Even though I’m not currently working on the clinical side, gaining experience with the hospital’s backend operations has been incredibly valuable,” Scott says. “Understanding how operations work helps me anticipate what patients may go through to access care in the future.”

Her work includes assisting with project management, supporting philanthropy initiatives and helping improve campus signage.

Scott earned a degree in biology from ������Ƶ and says many parts of her ������Ƶ experience prepared her for the community-focused nature of the work.

I’ve learned that much of community work involves engaging with underrepresented populations. This fellowship really allows us to get outside of that ������Ƶ bubble and explore issues affecting Alamance County residents. — Aniya Scott ’25

As an Honors Fellow and Lumen Scholar, she conducted research on PFAS contamination and how to help residents in Pittsboro, North Carolina, better understand and reduce exposure to forever chemicals.

“Residents may not be able to change how they access water or the presence of PFAS in their water, but we can help identify and educate them on day-to-day practices that can reduce their exposure,” Scott says.

Beyond research, Scott served as a statistics learning assistant and worked with the Center for Access and Success while also holding leadership roles with Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and the National Council of Negro Women.

“Through my experiences, I’ve learned that much of community work involves engaging with underrepresented populations,” Scott says. “This fellowship really allows us to get outside of that ������Ƶ bubble and explore issues affecting Alamance County residents.”

The experience has also given Scott a broader perspective on how health care systems operate and the many factors that shape patient care. Seeing the operational side of the hospital has helped her better understand how decisions behind the scenes affect the experiences patients have every day.

“Before this fellowship, most of my experience in health care was on the clinical side,” she says. “This fellowship opened my eyes to how administrative decisions and operational processes directly impact frontline care.”

The next day, I received a message from Evan Abenstein ’20. I knew this guy well — we traveled together to Argentina during a Winter Term course and we were both long-suffering New York Knicks fans. He told me that he had developed a new sports obsession. It involved scouring online sportsbooks for “glitches,” betting lines posted by companies like DraftKings or FanDuel that, if acted upon quickly, could result in a guaranteed win. For instance, maybe a bet remained posted after a game had already ended. That’s a no-risk win. Or maybe an extra zero was added to an NBA player’s “prop” bet, allowing you to wager that they’ll score fewer than 200 points rather than 20 points. Again: easy money.

It was a fascinating story, another wrinkle to the emergence of widespread legalized sports betting across the United States. To some, it probably reinforces the notion that betting has taken over American sports. The concern is understandable. Ads for these companies are everywhere. It often seems like people are far more concerned with their own wager — or with finding glitches — than they are with the performance of their favorite team. Addiction is a real concern as well, especially among young people who suddenly have betting ads flooding their social media feeds and six different apps on their phone tempting them to place a wager.

But there’s another angle here. In my upcoming book, “Over/Under: An Unexpected History of Sports Betting,” I make the case that sports betting isn’t a result of the multibillion-dollar American sports industry but rather a primary reason for it. In fact, when I began researching the origin of nearly every major American sport — horse racing and boxing, of course, but also baseball, basketball, football, golf and others — I discovered that the first fans who bought a ticket to the arena or stadium were often there not to support their hometown heroes but rather to throw a couple bucks down on the outcome. It turns out that beating the bookie any way possible, which is what glitch-seeking is really all about, is a longtime American tradition.

If that’s true, if betting is a fundamental building block to nearly 200 years of sports fandom and obsession — perhaps the fundamental building block — what happens now that the activity is not only widespread but increasingly accessible? While there are important questions being asked by politicians and journalists about advertising, culpability and addiction, equally interesting to me as a sport management professor is the future of fandom. Do teams, leagues and media partners really want to foster an environment of props and parlays? A sports landscape where fans focus on point spreads, moneylines and glitches rather than generational loyalty and regional identity?

Because if the teams, leagues and media partners keep telling their viewers and attendees to bet, bet some more and then keep betting, that’s what a lot of their so-called fans — especially the young ones — are going to do. It might very well be instinctual. And then we’ll all be wondering the same thing: Do Americans actually want their team to win? Or do they just want to beat the bookie?

David Bockino, associate professor of sport management and director of ������Ƶ’s media analytics program, is the author of “Over/Under.” The book, which was featured on The New York Times list of “New Nonfiction Everyone Will Be Talking About in 2026,” comes out in June.

The event had been in the making since the previous fall. The college’s Bicentennial committee — led by George Troxler, then a professor of history specializing in American colonial and revolutionary history — was deep in planning, threading the spirit of 1776 through everything from athletics to the arts.

An October 1975 weekend had offered a preview of what was to come. The cross country team carried the Bicentennial flag to Hillsborough, North Carolina, and returned to campus along a route used in the 18th century. They formally handed the flag to ������Ƶ President J. Fred Young at a ceremony in front of Alamance Building. A golf tournament at Alamance Country Club, a dance at Alumni Gym and a sunrise flag-raising at ������Ƶ’s ROTC site all added to the weekend’s festive atmosphere. Bicentennial meals with period-appropriate recipes were offered for $2, a fitting nod to colonial-era frugality.

But it was Festival Day on April 10, 1976, that brought everything together. The morning opened with a parade through downtown ������Ƶ College, featuring the Alamance- Caswell Marine Color Guard, the Western High School Band, local Boy Scouts and the ������Ƶ Middle School Drum and Fife Corps, among others. From Whitley Auditorium, a one-act comedy titled “Midnight Ride of Paul Revere” drew audiences into the revolutionary spirit of the occasion.

The afternoon unfolded across campus in a joyful sprawl of activity. A picnic on the north end of campus gave way to an art and photography exhibition at Harden Center. The ������Ƶ College Concert Band performed on the North Campus lawn. And at 1 p.m., the day’s most enduring ceremony took place: the dedication of a new campus gazebo. Mayor T. L. Smith of ������Ƶ College and President Young offered remarks, and the college’s concert band and choir provided special music, with a prayer led by the Rev. Clyde Fields.

Later in the afternoon, Bicentennial games were held on the soccer field, followed by a street dance featuring the Western Express Jazz Ensemble and the Western Kids, with the ������Ƶ College Middle School Cloggers adding a distinctly local flavor to the festivities.

“This joint celebration of the Bicentennial and the town’s birthday concluded with dancing in the street,” The Pendulum, ������Ƶ’s student newspaper, reported at the time.

The celebrations reflected a broader truth about ������Ƶ College in 1976: The campus and the surrounding community were deeply intertwined. Festival Day wasn’t simply a college event.

It was a town celebration, and ������Ƶ was proud to host it.

Learn how ������Ƶ is honoring 250 years of the American spirit this year in this Today at ������Ƶ article.

“Everything Sad Is Untrue” by Daniel Nayeri. It’s a family history novel rooted in the folktales of “One Thousand and One Nights” and explains how his family became refugees. It’s a really engaging novel with tales of heartbreak and resilience.

What is your favorite phone app?

Threads. I enjoy never knowing what you’ll find and getting to read people’s stories. One recent Thread was about a family group chat that exploded over wedding invitations — a cousin didn’t invite one relative’s partner of eight years but did invite another’s partner of six months. The Thread chronicled the tense family meeting that followed, and the eventual group chat meltdown. The most jaw-dropping fact: It was all a promotional moment for the author’s book. You never know.

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

I would invite two people — Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston. They were friends but had a messy friendship breakup, chronicled in the podcast “Our Ancestors Were Messy.” I would like to have dinner, just to see or get the gist of what happened and why their friendship ended.

What is your favorite place on campus?

The bench outside of Powell that looks straight across the fountain in front of Alamance. I’ve sat there on stressful days and sunny days, and in shared moments with students to talk about some hard things related to academics. It’s also a peaceful spot where you can sit, see the trees and listen to the water in the fountain.

When first-gen students leave ������Ƶ, what do you hope they carry with them — not just professionally, but personally?

I hope they leave with a sense of community. It might be two people; it might be one. But I want them to understand what community looks like and how to build it as they move through life. A job, diploma, paycheck or whatever material things we use to measure “status” won’t keep you grounded when life gets hard or offer a warm meal or a hug when you need it. Community will. Yes, I want them to graduate and accomplish amazing things, but more than anything, I hope they value building and sustaining community.

“The public response to ‘Get Out’ was such a powerful example of the timely cultural work popular cinema can do,” Burns says, “and I was particularly struck by Peele’s playfully allusive style.”

Noting the writer-director’s tendency to wear his influences on his sleeve, including Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick and other ambitious 20th-century directors, Burns also designed the course to expose students to an earlier chapter in film history.

“This ‘throwback feel’ associated with Peele’s style rewards student participation — an opportunity to make connections and share those discoveries with their fellow viewers,” Burns says.

Through this course, students explore the genre’s rhetorical and discursive power in suspense-driven allegories on diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging and social justice. The hybrid nature of the course is one of the core elements of the new global film & cultures minor, which Burns coordinates with Kai Swanson, assistant professor of cinema & television arts.

“The minor’s curricular goals are primarily collaborative and organizational: to help students identify film studies courses that are already in place across the university curriculum and provide a framework for organizing them,” Burns explains, “whether it’s a Film, Politics & Society course offered by the Department of Political Science & Public Policy or one in Italian Cinema taken through the World Languages & Cultures program.”

Social thrillers like “Get Out” handle complex societal issues masked through film genre conventions. In the 1950s, “social message” or “problem pictures” looked at different subjects through the context of melodrama. In the 1960s, the movie industry began to deal with those issues more explicitly in films such as “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” “Night of the Living Dead” and “Rosemary’s Baby.” More modern variants on the genre include “Parasite,” “Promising Young Woman” and the body-horror film “The Substance.”

“In shaping its definition, students compare social thrillers to other, related genres in order to better understand how films like Peele’s separate themselves out through implicit allegorical messaging rather than direct polemic,” Burns says. “In this way, students have a lot of fun defining what the social thriller is — its coherence as a genre — or whether there might be a better way to think about these films.”

The course was taught for the first time during an ������Ƶ Winter Term, and the regular semester version has enabled further expansion.

About the Professor

Dan Burns is an assistant professor of English whose teaching and research focus on film and media studies, adaptation, the history and theory of the novel, and U.S. literature and culture. He holds a doctorate from UNC-Greensboro and is active in interdisciplinary scholarship and academic leadership, including co-coordinating the global film & cultures minor.

Recommended Materials

• “Get Out: The Annotated Screenplay” by Jordan Peele
• “Rosemary’s Baby” by Ira Levin
• “The Nickel Boys” by Colson Whitehead

Polly was my second-ever voice teacher. I met her when I was 18 years old. In hindsight, I think I might have been one of her first students, as she isn’t much older than I am. But she was definitely an expert opera singer in my eyes, and a brilliant teacher. She taught me vocal technique, to sing in French, German, Italian and English, with songs from “Oklahoma” and “The Pirates of Penzance.”

She was also a new mom when I met her. I loved kids and wanted some of my own someday, so I enjoyed asking her about her family during my voice lessons. In my junior year of college, she went on maternity leave to have her second daughter, who I also babysat on occasion. I’ve enjoyed watching her children grow up and become successful young adults.

Polly knew what I could do before I did, and helped me become the soprano I was born to be. I was a very driven performer and student, and relished in any opportunity to exceed her expectations. I’m glad I was really into being “extra” at the time, because it definitely paid off. I made the most of those four years to study, practice and learn, and eventually became a Broadway performer.

She came to see me play Glinda in “Wicked” on Broadway the first time I went on. I was an understudy, and rarely knew when I was going to be playing the role, but the first date I did, she was there.

I graduated in 2003, but even last year, she came to see me perform at a benefit in Greensboro. I was so nervous. Even though I am a seasoned performer, I was still desperate to exceed her expectations, because I love and respect her as a fellow artist and as a friend. We got to spend time together after that show and talked about the same things we talked about in 2000.

She made an enormous impact on my career, and I am grateful to still have her in my life.

Lindsay Northen Bradshaw ’03, a BFA music theatre graduate, spent more than a decade in “Wicked” on Broadway and now performs in “Finding Nemo: The Big Blue and Beyond” with Walt Disney Entertainment.

In second grade, when her class launched into book discussions or lessons turned to math, the words and numbers in front of her stirred panic. So she slipped out of the room each day with an excuse, walked to the restroom — and cried.

“I wouldn’t understand anything that was going on,” says McCavanagh, today a sport management major from Massachusetts with aspirations of working for the Boston Celtics. Her teacher took notice, and within a year, doctors identified dyslexia, dyscalculia and dysgraphia as obstacles to her learning. Then came the hard part: being singled out, removed from class “in front of all my classmates” for instruction, a routine that left her “broken down every day.”

Support, however, kept showing up in the form of teachers who made learning feel possible again. A specialized program helped in elementary school. Later, in middle school, one-on-one instruction brought the pieces together, and by high school she had rebuilt her confidence, even as she navigated the depression and anxiety that often accompany dyslexia.

There were early signs that ������Ƶ was the right collegiate community for her. According to McCavanagh, during the application process, it was the only university that replied to questions about support for students like her. Then, on a campus visit, she overheard conversations where students weren’t avoiding eye contact as they talked about their learning differences.

Another sign? During her first semester, McCavanagh’s mother alerted her about the establishment of the Roberts Academy at ������Ƶ, a transitional school for elementary school students with dyslexia set to open in August.

McCavanagh leans into her identity as a learner with dyslexia. It’s no longer a barrier, she’ll tell you. It’s shaped her work ethic and her ability to adapt. She uses her own journey and a sense of humor to connect with others, including her new classmates and close friends at ������Ƶ, describing herself as “an empath” shaped by years of fighting a feeling of inferiority. “After you go through something and overcome it,” she says, “you want to be there for those around you.”

News of the Roberts Academy felt like proof that what once isolated her could become a bridge for others through volunteer work with children there. And it brought back the pride McCavanagh felt in delivering remarks to her high school class during a Baccalaureate service on the eve of graduation.

“Your struggles don’t make you weaker,” she concluded from the auditorium’s lectern. “They make you human. And your differences? That’s where your power lives.”

Sylvie McCavanagh is part of Huemanity of People, a series by the Division of Inclusive Excellence highlighting the people, paradigms and praxis of inclusive excellence that shape ������Ƶ’s community. Learn more on the Inclusive Excellence website.