Case Study Analysis:
The Center on a Mission to Promote
Spirituality and Diversity at Elon University
Oluwatoberu Jaiyesimi
Elon Univeristy
Abstract
Diversity isn’t only about race, ethnicity and sexuality. It also embodies spirituality and
religious perspectives. It is important to be knowledgeable about one’s own religion. On the
other hand it is more important to be aware of other religions others practice and the possibility
that some individuals rather not claim or practice a religion. This not only makes individuals
aware of different religions, but makes them tolerant and global citizens. This is what the Truitt
Center at Elon University tries to accomplish. For a few years, Elon University has been trying to
promote diversity in a number a ways through the number of minorities for each incoming class,
huge events (fall and spring commencement) and guest speakers. Unlike the university as a
whole, The Truitt Center focuses on the spiritual aspects of diversity. This case study examines
the different strategies and the many forms of communication the center takes on in its daily
operations and for the recent events it has been holding for Elon’s campus and the Elon
community.
Background
Religion has always been part of Elon University both through education and the
community. Since the 1970’s, Elon University has housed the Chaplain’s Office. The Truitt
Center is the program arm of the Chaplain’s Office. The Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual
Life was endowed in 2003 by 1944 alum, Edna Truitt Noiles to help students and the Elon
community learn about their own and other people’s faiths and religious beliefs. In 2009, the
development of a multi-faith center, the Numen Lumen Pavilion, was underway. The pavilion
was completed in March of 2013 and now houses the Truitt Center and other religious centers
such as the recent Sklut Hillel Center.
The mission of the Truitt Center is to “encourage students to honor the spiritual
dimension of life, be vitally connected to a faith tradition, embrace the present responsibility and
the future with hope, and live the principles they value.” The center’s mission encompasses
Elon’s Mission Statement which is the “vision of an academic community that transforms mind,
body, and spirit.”
The Truitt Center employs a twenty-one person faculty team to help students with
understanding different religions and discovery of spirituality. In addition to its operation, it has
seventeen spiritual and secular student ran organizations to assist students with religion and their
world views. Over a few years, the Truitt Center has grown and expanded to reach the people of
Elon University and the Town of Elon. The following are a few highlights of what the center has
accomplished: A faculty, staff, and student advisory committee to advise, support, and steward
the campus multi-faith initiative, Programming and engagement inclusive of those who are not
religious, and Inter-faith and inter-group dialogues between InterVarsity Christian Fellowship
and Spectrum and Campus Outreach and Hillel.
Current Programs and Events
To carry out their mission, the Truitt Center has implemented many programs and events.
Every year, the center has annual programs such as “Holiday Festival of Light” and “Turning 21
Celebrations.” During the Holiday Festival of Light, hot chocolate is served to attendees. In
addition, carols are sung and hundreds of luminaries line up the walkways of Elon’s main
campus. Every quarter of the academic year, juniors and seniors are welcomed to celebrate their
21st birthday. The celebration is for a coming of age for students and focuses this transition into
adulthood to help students “fully accept their new adult status in life and move with greater
confidence into the future.”
Recently, the Truitt Center has created and implemented programs to spread cultural and
spiritual awareness. The recent programs have been informative, fun and have brought the
community together. Some of the recent programs are Hindu Holi Festival and Mardi Gras
Celebration. Holi Festival is a Hindu tradition that symbolizes the end of winter and the
beginning of spring. It is tradition, during the festival, for people to throw colored powder at
each other to represent the colorful nature of spring. For the 2013-2014 academic year, the Truitt
Center introduced a new event called the “Four Weddings Series.” This was a newly
implemented program that started in the fall semester of 2013 and ended in March of 2014.
The Development of the Four Weddings Series
The idea of having the Four Weddings series came about when Jan Fuller, one of the
chaplains at Elon University and a coworker, LeAnna Matarazzo attended the 2013 spring
convocation. The convocation featured a multi-faith panel discussion. Both Fuller and Matarazzo
wanted to create a way for students to continue the conversation of different faiths and to invite
students into the understanding of various religions in a fun way. Through this experience, the
idea of having the Four Weddings Series started. Fuller then extended the idea during a summer
retreat in 2013 to other religious faculty of the Truitt Center. Prior to this, there had never been a
collaboration for an event that included all the various religious groups on campus. When the
idea was extended, all of the faculty that were present, decided to participate in the series without
hesitation.
Integrated Communications for The Four Weddings Series
The Four Weddings Series accompanies the mission of the Truitt center and is a fun way
for attendees to learn and see the fusion of culture and religion. To make the series easy to put
together yet realistic and diverse, the weddings consisted of Catholic, Muslim, Jewish and
Southern Baptist weddings which are the major represented groups on campus. Each of the
weddings was planned by each religious group and came out the Truitt Center’s budget. Before
the execution of the wedding series, the Truitt Center had to develop a campaign plan to make
the community and student body aware of its newest event.
Many forms of communications and marketing were used to bring awareness to the target
audience. One of the first forms of communications that was used was the making and
distribution of flyers. The flyers were sent out in the beginning of the academic year to resident
Assistants (RAs) Orientation Leaders (OLs) and the Student Mentors Advising Rising Talent
Mentoring Program (S.M.A.R.T) to target incoming first year students. Another form of
communication that was used for the series was social media. The Truitt Center has interns to
assist with the daily operations and planning of events of the center. The Truitt Center has two
interns that are responsible for the public relations and marketing aspect of the center’s affairs.
The interns promoted the Four Weddings Series using the center’s Facebook and Twitter
accounts to update followers and post small excerpts about each wedding. Other kinds of
communications strategies and tools that were utilized were the digital boards in Moseley Center,
E-net and the Monday newsletters the Truitt Center would send out to individuals that were on
their email lists. Their newsletters introduced the series and also gave a preview of each of the
weddings.
Word of mouth was evident among students and was frequently used to target members
of the Elon Community. Examples of word of mouth include afternoon programs that were for
community members. To interest community members to attend the series, the tactic used in this
setting was the serving of food at the wedding reception. The Life at Elon Group – a weekly
program to educate older community members also gave the Truitt Center the chance to promote
the series to their target audience.
Evaluation of Four Weddings Series
Campaigning lasted for approximately eight months before and during the running of the
series. When the center holds an event, attendance and occasionally surveys are used. For
example, for programs such as the Turning 21 Dinner or Thursday Reflection things taken into
consideration for evaluation are the speaker for the event, the weather of the day and how many
people attended. The evaluation of the wedding series was solely based on observation instead of
hard data. Observation of the series included if the number of attendees of each wedding seemed
large or small in size and the number of questions asked by the people who came for the
weddings. Although the series was meant to be informative and fun, it is essential to collect data
to evaluate and see what elements of the campaign could be changed for future reference.
Chaplain Jan Fuller explained that having surveys or sign in sheets for the event wasn’t
important at the time due to a few factors. Since this was a new program, evaluation was the least
important. Another reason that was mentioned was that having people fill out a survey seemed
awkward and would disrupt the learning aspect and integrity of the event. Based on Fuller’s
perspective, the event was successful considering the raw number of people that attended and the
observation conclusion that they learned and asked great questions.
Fuller did mention that if the series were to be launched again for the next academic year,
she would make some changes, but would still want them to target the purpose of the center’s
mission. These changes included having other cultural and religious ceremonies such as
baptisms, coming of age ceremonies and intercultural weddings.
Recommendations
With any campaign, it is essential to take steps towards planning, implementation and
evaluation. Although the Four Weddings Series was deemed to be successful through
observation, it cannot be accurately conformed without collected data. Jan Fuller expressed that
she wanted to market to a more broad audience pertaining to any future recurrence of the series.
One concern of Fuller was what strategies could be utilized to get the attention of the average
student who is not part of the Truitt Center’s email list. Questions that Fuller asked about after
the end of series were “what would help participants understand the world they live in, how to
live it better and how to participate in different cultural and religious settings?” To answer these
questions and know what things did and didn’t work for the series, a form of data based
evaluation needs to be created and distributed to attendees. If another Four Weddings Series or
any event is hosted by the Truitt Center, data must be collected with surveys or any other form of
evaluation. Surveying maybe the best option because it is easy to create and distribute. Different
forms of questions such as short answers, multiple choice or yes/no can be asked on the survey.
The survey should be short and direct so as to not cause distraction, but ultimately to know what
improvements can be done for the series.