No, not that Elon ... An NC university tries to distance itself from the DOGE leader
The leafy, red-brick campus of Elon University shares no connection with tech billionaires, electric cars or slashing federal jobs with a symbolic chain-saw.
But the students there still find themselves on guard these days, defending their hoodies, hats and bumper stickers against would-be haters.
Not that Elon, they explain. Not Elon Musk.
“Our parents have been getting dirty looks,” said Tara Venkataraman, a senior. “We definitely have to stay aware. We all wear Elon hats. We all have to clarify. I understand, but it’s a university.”
Founded in 1889, the private Alamance County school predates Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency by more than a century.
But drive through campus and the small town of 11,000 for which it is named, and it can be easy to confuse the place for a DOGE-related Mecca:
▪ Burgundy banners blaring “ELON” in gold letters line the campus streets;
▪ Sweatshirts blaring “ELON” are stacked in tall piles at the bookstore;
▪ Drive a block around campus and you encounter Park Place at Elon, The Rosemary at Elon and Elon’s Farmer’s Market.
“My mom went in the bookstore, and she wanted to be sure she had a shirt with Elon University on it — not just Elon,” said Molly Hunt, sophomore.
“You have to be sure you say the second part,” said sophomore Matthew Brantley. “We’re Elon University — no affiliation.”
Erroneous link between Elon University and Elon Musk
Elon Musk became a household name thanks to his various business ventures long before his rise to highly visible and controversial DOGE role within the Trump administration.
Two years ago, Fortune Magazine wrote about the erroneous link between Musk of Tesla and SpaceX fame and the fighting Phoenix of Elon University, and the tone was mostly jovial.
Dean of Admissions Evan Sprinkle told Fortune that strangers had tried to buy his Elon sweater off his back while he was far away in California, mistaking his campus pride for Musk fandom. And while Elon stresses as a university that its school is named for the Hebrew word for “oak tree,” it had some fun with the frequent error.
“Our office doesn’t shy away from that connection, too,” Sprinkle told Fortune. “Because I think it’s obvious people are going to make that connection.”
At the time, Fortune reported, Elon included this quip in its emails to prospective students: “We may not be able to buy you a social media platform or offer you a ticket to space, but the value of an Elon education is arguably just as good.”
Sprinkle did not respond to an email this week asking if those statements held true in 2025.
Meanwhile, senior Emily Stober said she has a friend who graduated and met with this brand of bewildered hostility driving into Connecticut with her alma mater’s bumper sticker on her car:
“Why would you have a sticker that says Elon on your car?”
A year ago, she said, none of this would happen.
Musk losing popularity across NC, says Elon poll
An Elon University poll, published in the campus newspaper The Pendulum, showed NC residents are wary of Musk’s work and largely oppose his federal job cuts.
An informal survey of non-students around downtown Elon Wednesday suggested at least a touch of indifference.
“I don’t mind,” said one man on a park bench, who asked not to be identified. “It’s just a name.”
“I don’t care about politics at all,” said his companion, also requesting anonymity. “I just want our country to be peaceful and prosperous.”
And while the campus must certainly have Musk supporters who enjoy the connection — the campus Republicans did not immediately respond to an email — those downtown on Wednesday sighed when they asked to describe their feelings.
“Not great,” said Hunt.
“It just seems he stands against the policies we believe in and why we chose to go to this university,” Brantley said, standing half a block from a large, multi-colored art installation at Elon Community Church, which reads “God’s doors are open to all.”
The confusion flows all the way to alumni, including Holly Stewart, who earned her MBA at Elon and has gone on to form her own consulting firm.
She offered this suggestion, noting that Elon students now carry his reputation with them when they travel abroad, whether they like it or not:
“Perhaps,” she said, “he should pay my alma mater usage rights.”
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This story was originally published March 27, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "No, not that Elon ... An NC university tries to distance itself from the DOGE leader."