Elon University has announced that the incoming class of 2024 will open its academic year with Hanif Abdurraqib’s memoir *There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension* as the Common Reading selection. The choice reflects the university’s desire to pair rigorous literary engagement with the cultural currents that shape its diverse student body.
Abdurqib’s work, a collection of essays rooted in his 1990s upbringing in Columbus, Ohio, uses basketball as a prism for examining identity, community and the pressures of expectation. The book’s blurb highlights LeBron James as a defining figure of that era, a ‘golden era’ that left an indelible mark on the author’s own aspirations and on the broader cultural imagination.
Literature Meets Campus Culture
Paula Patch, associate director of the Common Reading program, emphasized that the selection committee looked for a text capable of stirring strong emotions and resonating with Elon’s increasingly varied student population. The memoir’s focus on home and belonging dovetails with the university’s recent athletics rebrand, which aims to foreground student‑athletes as a central part of campus life. In practice, the book will be woven into Patch’s English 1010 course, where discussions will explore how regional heroes — from Michael Jordan in North Carolina to local figures in each student’s own story — shape personal values.
Cole Henderson, who championed the choice, noted that Abdurraqib’s basketball background will likely attract student‑athletes, giving them a space to reflect on identities that extend beyond the hardwood. The First‑Generation Student Office has also been invited to co‑host events, ensuring that conversations about belonging reach students who might otherwise feel on the margins. By linking literature to both academic and athletic narratives, Elon hopes to foster a campus‑wide dialogue that resonates with the lived experiences of its newest cohort.