The Pendulum
Elon, North Carolina • Wednesday, September i6, 2015* Volume 41 Edition 20
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With elections, political interest pops
Though a year away, students are eager now
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Black student Union
rebrands organization
Meant to serve as ‘umbrella
organization ’for similiar groups
Leena Dahal
Senior Reporter
During the height of the civil rights
movement 55 years ago, two students at
the University of San Francisco made a
historic bet. The bet — that it was possible
to build a black student movement on a
predorriinantly white campus — manifest
ed into the creation of the first recorded
Black Student Union (BSU).
The name “Black Student Union” be
came a movement. Operating under the
same title, black students in institutions
across the nation have united to keep the
bet and the solidarity it fostered alive for
decades.
After years of acts of racial discrim
ination and bias across campus and the
nation, the title has traveled to Elon Uni
versity.
The organization serving as a commu
nity for black students at Elon, formerly
known as the Black. Cultural Society has
rebranded itself and its initiatives this year
with the name Black Student Union.
A necessary change
Senior Alexandre Bohannon, BSU
president, recalled a time a freshman stu
dent walked up to him and said, “I want
to make a change on Elon’s campus, but I
just think my voice doesn’t matter.”
To Bohannon, the moment was just one
of several in which he has encountered the
effects of racial discrimination at Elon.
. These sentiments culminated with na
tional events surrounding race and acts of
SeeBSV
page 6
Caroline Fernandez and Michael Bodley
News Editor and Editor-in-Chief
Ever since the first presidential candi
dates announced their runs earlier this year,
a slow but steady buzz has been building at
Elon University around the direction the
country could take, depending on who wins
the White House.
As debate season swings into high-gear, a
storm of media coverage has propelled cam
pus conversation, with groups of liberals and
conservatives divided dowm party lines op
ponents each call radical.
Increased interest around election year
Many students attribute the increasing
number of active political voices at Elon to
the upcoming presidential elections.
“I feel like the political attitudes at Elon
are more energized in election times,” said
senior Maggie Bailey. “There’s a lot more ac
tivity with getting people registered to vote
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and more opportunity for students to engage
in political discourse.”
The uptake is obvious through numbers.
Elon College Democrats saw an increase
in active members from about 10 to more
than 40 from the 2014-2015 school year to
the fall 2015 semester, according to treasurer
Sophia Kane.
Interest in Elon College Republicans
also increased, though not as dramatical
ly. According to Vice President Georgios
Tarasidis, the number of active members has
“steadily increased” in recent years, growing
from about 20 to more than 30 active mem
bers in one academic year.
Support for Sanders builds
Elon students’ interest showed Sunday
evening when they piled into cars and cara
vanned to Greensboro for a rally in support
of presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sand
ers (I-VT).
Kane said more than 40 Elon students
30BBY JINDAL
DEAL
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HALEY LONGBOTTOM | Design Editor
went with Elon College Democrats, a num
ber that doesn’t include students who went
on their own.
“To see that more than 40 people signed
up to drive to Greensboro oh a Sunday
night shows a lot,” she said. “We had about
five people who went to Hillary Clinton in
Charlotte [in 2014].”
Young peoples’ admiration of Sanders
and his attention to their needs isn’t confined
to North Carolina.
During the rally, Sanders called his can
didacy a “political revolution,” specifically for
its ability to capture the attention and votes
of a group some say has lost interest in the
political system because of dysfunction: mil-
lennials and other young people.
“Sanders sends a clear message that peo
ple, especially youth, want to back up,” Kane
said.
One of Sanders’major messages resonates
See POLITICS
page 5
Mynt Boutique becomes more college-friendly
In an effort to cater to students, shop’s prices drop
Lea Silverman
Senior Reporter
When sophomore Alexa
Trost first entered Mynt Bou
tique, a chic women’s clothing
store, last year, she was drawn
in by the cute clothes filling
the racks. But after seeing the
high prices, she left and didn’t
bother to go back, knowing
she couldn’t afford the cloth
ing.
Many Elon University
students on a budget head to
downtown Elon, treat them
selves to one of the local
ly owned restaurants in the
small strip and will still often
overlooking Mynt for fear of
bursting the bank.
But Mynt, owned by Whit
ney Sandor, has been open for
12 years, is trying to fit into
the college student lifestyle
and wallet by lowering its
prices after opening a second
location in Durham.
“We are refocusing this
store to be more college ori
ented,” said manager Amber
Meadows.
SeeMYNT
page 11
FVXCHELINGERSOLL | Staff F^tcgraplier
Mynt offers a smalt but diverse collection of boutique clothing items
from brand names like Free People and Tory Burch.