i
I^EIAIS
Declassified JFK assasination files released this week
Jason Husser, professor of
polifical science and director
of Elon Poll, offeres insight on
declassified documents
release or withhold the documents.
Do you agree with Pres
ident Trump’s decision to
release the files?
Brian Rea
Elon News Network I @brianmrea
Jason Husser
On Oct 21.
President Trump
announced via
Twitter that he
would allow the
release of the re
maining JFK files
to the public.
The files
consisted of
thousands of
articles regarding the 1963 assas
sination of President John F. Ken
nedy, and were released Thurs
day, Oct. 26.
Despite his promise to the
public, Trump has withheld the
release of some documents con
taining the names and addresses
of living people.
In an attempt to diminish the
conspiracy theories surrounding
the assassination, the files were
classified for more than fifty years
at the National Archives.
The files were planned for re
lease on Oct. 26, 2017 under a law
set by George H. W. Bush. Accord
ing to Bush’s law, on the 25th an
niversary of the law enactment, the
sitting president has the power to
A: Not my normative domain, but
President Trump has legitimate le
gal authority to make this decision
barring an empowered court say
ing otherwise.
Q; Do you think there may
be information contained
in the documents that is
potentially harmful to our
country?
A: Maybe. Some bureaucrats sug
gested not releasing documents,
suggestions we should have cau
tioned. But it is likely that every
covert asset from this era is no
longer in the field.
JFK ASSASINATION TIMELINE
NOV. 22,1963
• 12:21P.M.
The Presidential motorcade turns
off ot Harwood onto Main Street
12:30 P.M.
The President is shot
O 12:33 P.M.
Lee Harvey Oswaid ieaves the
Texas Schooi Book Depository
building after being stopped and
reieased by Dallas police
SCREEN GRAB FROM THE ZAPRAUDER FILM
Q: Will the release of the files
put an end to the multitudes
of conspiracy theories still
swarming society?
Q: How do you think the re
lease of the files could effect
politics in our country mov
ing forward?
collective American experience be
tween Pearl Harbor and 9/11.
A: Conspiracy theories rarely die,
but often mutate.
Q; Do you think the release
of the files might have an
effect on our nation’s his
tory?
A: I suspect they will have no im
pact with an outside chance they
temporarily open old wounds.
Q: Is there anything the as
sassination said about the
state of our nation? Does
that hold true today?
A: Only in the unlikely event that
they change the dominant historical
understanding of events.
Q: At the time of JFK’s as
sassination, how did it af
fect the country and how
will it continue to affect the
future?
—., ........... ....................... ... ,.,,.1.10. At The JFK assassination was one of one we sum siiuggie uo uiiuer- USWUiP ISCtl9rs?6[l With tP6
sitting president has the power to the most terrible moments for the stand over a half century later. murder of President JFK
New Alumni network enagages Latinx and Hispanic students
HAN has several events planned to ^
Olivia Zavas Rvan pnaaap with tVip T ntinv/Hicnanir Tnp Tnrrp^cp nf T.;4tinV ^tiinpntc sit Plrtn
A; I expect these released papers
are much ado about very little —
only whiffs of insight into a cli
matic historical event that fail to
change our overall understanding
of a global tragedy enacted by a
moment of depraved violence,
one we still struggle to under
stand over a half century later.
1:33 P.M.
News wire service announces
President JFK's death
1:50 P.M.
Oswald arrested after a struggle
in Texas Theatre
• 2:15 P.M.
Casket lifted onto Air Force One
• 2:38 P.M.
Lyndon B. Johnson takes the oath
of offioe on Air Force One
NOV. 23,1963
1:30 A.M.
Oswald is charged with the
murder of President JFK
Olivia Zayas Ryan
Senior Reporter i @oliviazryan
Homecoming Weekend brings
hundreds of alumni back to Elon
University to visit the campus they
once called home. This year, a new
alumni group
ronuiiup making their
bUMMUNIIT Latinx Hispanic
The Latinx Alumni Network
Hispanic (eLHAN).
community
has increased ,
in the past few ^ alumni
years, growing network for Lat-
from 1.7 inx- and His-
percentto6.i panic-identified
percent of the students has been
undergraduate ,^6 works for
population. , L .
several years, but
considering the
growth of the Latinx Hispanic pop
ulation at Elon over the last sevei^
years, many saw now as the perfect
time to create a formal group.
In the 2006-2007 school year,
there were only 81 Latinx/Hispan-
ic students on campus, making up
just 1.7 percent of the undergraduate
population. In the 2016-2017 school
year, ten years later, there were 386
Latinx/Hispanic students on campus
— making the community the largest
minority group at Elon at 6.1 percent
of the population. These numbers
have been steadily increasing over
the last decade and will continue to
grow as the Latinx/Hispanic com
munity becomes more prominent in
the United States.
The new alumni network was
first announced in April, but was not
officially launched until Hispanic
Heritage Month in September. This
Homecoming Weekend will be the
first time the group is brought to
campus as an official alumni net
work.
For Homecoming Weekend, EL
HAN has several events planned to
engage with the Latinx/Hispanic
community at Elon, including an
ELHAN party table at the Rock the
Block party on Nov. 3 — a brunch for
members of ELHAN and any Latinx/
Hispanic faculty and staff members
on Nov. 4, as well as a Homecoming
tailgate later that day.
Claudia Rodriguez, a 2017 grad
uate who serves as the Homecom
ing Program and Events Co-chair,
shared ELHAN s many goals. These
goals include supporting current
students as well as alumni. The net
work plans to work to support and
advocate for current Latinx/Hispanic
students, alumni, feculty and staff for
an inclusive and welcoming environ
ment where undocumented students
and alumni have tangible resources
and university support to thrive.
The goals also include generat
ing financial support to fund schol-
ar^ips and enrichment events. For
dumni, ELHAN plans to provide
regional and campus events and
programs that engage our domestic
and international alumni, and guide
both current students and alumni in
seeking professional development
opportunities through on campus
programs and alumni networking.
For Rodriguez, and many other
members of ELHAN, the ability to
connect with and support current
Latinx/Hispanic students, faculty
and staff is what makes this network
truly special.
“This alumni network is full of
passionate, intelligent, incredible
Latinx/Hispanic alumni who can
continue to be involved within the
Elon community,” Rodriguez said.
“As our network grows, we hope
to continue giving back to the Elon
community and its students. I hope
to continue connecting with current
Latinx/Hispanic students at Elon and
learn about their experiences as weU
as offer them any advice or mentor
ship that I can provide them.”
The Increase of LatinX Students at Elon
400 --
350
300
250 +
200
150 -■
100 --
50
367
-+-
-F-
2006- 2007- 2008-
2007 2008 2009
-F-
-+-
-+-
2009- 2010- 2011- 2012- 2013- 2014- 2015- 2016-
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
REE PEUMEfVl DESIGNER
This group is joining other similar
networks, including the Elon Black
Alumni Network (EBAN) and the
LGBTQIA Alumni Network. But the
diversity within the Latinx/Hispanic
alumni at Elon makes running and
organizing ELFLAN more difficult.
Sylvia Munoz, the assistant director
for the Center for Race, Ethnicity
and Diversity Education said that be
cause there is “no one way to define
what it means to be Latinx or His
panic,” being able to recognize and
celebrate these differences has made
the creation of the group possible.
“I think that this understanding
of the diversity of the group is what
made us say, ‘Now we’re ready for
this,”’ Munoz said. “Because I think
now we understand that this group
has the same goal in mind, which is
the support of every single member
of the community, regardless of what
background they have.”
Despite the progress that this new
group offers, there are differences
that do offer a challenge to the group.
This group of alumni includes stu
dents from a range of different back
grounds, and some from other coun
tries. Munoz shared that too often,
Latinx/Hispanic people are placed
into a box, and the community has
had to learn how to work within that
box.
“Whether we want it or not, they
put us in a box together,” Munoz
said. “The moment that we marked
that thing of being Latino, Hispan
ic, whatever it is that you marked.
you were put in a box. So, we are
just going to work within that box,
while still being respectful and un
derstanding that we all have different
background and those backgrounds
are what actually make us different
than any other groups.”
While the differences between
students may be prominent, the goal
of bringing the community together
and supporting one another keeps
ELHAN thriving.
“Being Latinx means so many
different things, and all those things
are valid for the person that is iden
tifying and how they identify; and at
the end of the day, there is something
that links us together,” Munoz said.
“And that identity is stronger than all
those differences that we have.”