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Check out the Valentine’s Day
special section for Elon-themed
cards and unique date spots
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
Elon, North Carolina
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Elon News Network
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virtues of
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How LGBTQIA students celebrate their love on a typically heteronormative holiday
ANTON 1. DELGADO AND RACHEL ELLIS 1 Enterprise Story Coordinator and Breaking News Manager | @JADelgadoNews and @rache _
T heir friendship be
gan with a simple
text over Thanks
giving break.
A few months
later, freshman fubitza Figueroa
started asking questions, “Are
we just friends or are we more
than that?”
By January she found herself
happily in love and dating her
best friend, her girlfriend.
This new relationship blos
somed at the perfect time, right
before Figueroa’s favorite holi
day _ Valentines Day.
“I love Valentine’s Day ... I
want to make everything mem
orable. Living your life should
be a novel-worthy experience
and I don’t ever want her to
look back on our relationship
and think that it wasn’t the very
best,” Figueroa said. “Hopeful
ly this will be a night she will
forever remember. Fifty years
from now if someone ever asks
‘What was your best Valentine’s
Day! hopefully she will be able
to bring me up. I want to be that
level of romantic.”
See LGBTQIA Ipg.n
Ir
PHOra SUBMITTEO BY SWANNtH BULLOCH
Fresltman Savannah Bulloch (left) smiles
with her boyfriend Omar Latif.
Long-distance relationships
prove to be a rewarding
challenge for couples
Victoria Traxler
[Ion News Network I @elonnewsnetwork
Huron L DELGADO 1ENIEBPRISE STORY com AT08
n
CLASS DF 2021 SEXUALITY
8%
of the 1648 freshman students
on campus this year, consider
themselves non-heterosexual,
according to the Gender &
LGBTQIA Center.
' ith Elon Univer
sity students hail
ing from 49 states
and 58 countries,
long-distance re
lationships are not uncommon.
Freshman Savannah Bulloch came
to Elon from Bracknell, United King
dom, an hour outside of London. 'This
change in location left Bulloch with a
decision to make about her relation
ship with boyfriend, Omar Latif.
“We started out our relationship
not wanting to date in college,” Bull
och said. “We sat down and had a
really serious conversation. I realized
that if I cared about someone that
much, why would I not want to be
with them?”
Bulloch said Latif is taking a gap
year abroad during her first year of
college in the United States.
“We just decided to see how it
works and go with every day’ Bulloch
said. “So far, it’s been working.”
Bulloch and her boyfriend have
been dating for a year and one month.
Six months of their relationship have
I Jlylf'J ' ANTONL DELGADO 1 ENTERPRISE SEORY COORE
Gir,,riunhstoHarris and Tiaualynn pet their cat luuamLynn'sroomint^^
See LONG DISTANCE 1 pg, 12
STEPHANIE HWSl DESIGN CHIEF
El Centro staff member denied work visa, returning to Spain
PHOTO SUBMITTED BY ALICIA LEJA
Prieto Vines (left) and senior Alicia Leja
celebrate at Leja's Turning 21 dinner.
Selina Guevara
Elon News Network l@SelinaGuevara
If people walked through
downstairs Carlton anytime
over the last five years, have
probably seen Diana Prieto
Vinas, assistant director of El
Centro de Espanol in the Cen
ter for Race, Ethnicity and Di
versity Education at Elon Uni
versity, through the windows of
El Centro, smiling and sharing
her culture with students from
around campus.
But now her office is emp
ty as she travels back to her
hometown in Spain because of
complications with her visa.
Legally, Prieto Vinas has a 30-
day window to leave the coun
try, but with no income and
no health insurance, she said
there’s no reason to stay.
Senior Evan Seder said when
Prieto Vinas told him she was
leaving, his first thought was
that she was kidding, but he
soon realized she was serious.
“I just didn’t really know
what to say,” Seder said, “I
could see in Diana’s face that
See EL CENTRO | pg I
KINDS OF VISAS
Prieto Vinas had been working
at Elon under a J-i visa, an
exchange visitor program
meant for temporary work
or studies. She applied for
another visa, an H-iB for
special occupations, to
continue working here.
The H-iB visa is intended for
talented foreign workers with
unique skills.
■MX"—
*SGA
ILMiVLlLMI Y
NEWS • PAGES 4-6
SGA candidates
campaign for
elections
NEWS • PAGE 9
Crest residents told
they can’t move back
in this semester
SPORTS • PAGE 14
Freshman basketball
players take charge,
gain confidence