Unlocking the world through connection

Eli Noonan ’26 | Photos by Matt Smith

By Stella Katsipoutis-Varkanis

“Education is how you unlock your world,” says Eli Noonan ’26 (who also goes by “Camsey”). And the moment they toured Lafayette for the first time as a high school senior, Noonan saw their future unfurl right before their eyes. It was the perfect day, with crisp fall sunshine and the exciting buzz of Homecoming and Garlic Fest filling the air. But deeper than that, Noonan had the overwhelming feeling that they had found a home on campus. 

“I felt the strong sense of community here, and that was important to me,” Noonan says. “I had gone to a small high school where community was a pillar of our experience, and I wanted to go to a college that not only had a strong academic reputation, but also replicated that close-knit community. And I got that here at Lafayette.”

Noonan discovered Lafayette when they were nominated for a Posse Scholarship by their high school guidance counselor. After applying at their counselor’s encouragement, Noonan entered the College as a member of the Lafayette Posse D.C. 17 cohort, beginning a four-year journey of self-discovery and building everlasting bonds. 

“My Posse mates have been there for me since day one, even before we arrived on campus,” Noonan says. “And that’s what the program is all about. Creating that connection and knowing you have a family that’s there for you to lean on. It’s a collection of incredible people doing inspirational things across campus, and it’s opened my eyes to so many different experiences that I wouldn’t have had otherwise. It will live with me forever.” 

Trent Gaugler, associate professor of mathematics and Noonan’s Posse adviser, in particular, has been a constant source of support for Noonan throughout their Lafayette experience. “On my best days and on my worst days, whether I’m trying to figure out what my classes and my future look like, or even for little things like when I need to borrow a screwdriver—I know the No. 1 person I can go to is Trent, and he will be ready to listen and help,” Noonan says. “He is the best mentor of all time, and he is my Lafayette rock.”

At the same time, Noonan found another home in the McKelvy Scholars program, a community of intellectually curious students who engage in civic discourse, critical thinking, leadership building, and community involvement. Since they were introduced to the program in their first year by a fellow student, Noonan has been living in the McKelvy House and immersing themself in the program’s weekly discussions, and its culture of intellectual curiosity and shared responsibility. As a recruitment chair, Noonan has also helped select new scholars for the program over the last three years.

“McKelvy Scholars are leaders on campus and in the community, and McKelvy is a place where—especially during our weekly discussions, to which the whole campus is invited—we all listen to each other and value what people have to say,” Noonan says. “Finding a space where you feel respected, heard, and valued is really powerful, and it instills a confidence in you that you carry with you in the classroom and for the rest of your life. I am so grateful to have this community. I found my people here.”

Noonan adds that the experience has also made them a better listener, thanks to the format of the weekly discussions and the guidance of Ben Cohen, professor and chair of Engineering Studies, and McKelvy resident faculty adviser since 2022. The discussions—which bring together students, faculty, and staff from all disciplines and departments of the College—is an opportunity to respectfully engage with people of diverse backgrounds and perspectives on equally diverse discussion topics.  

“The topics are usually something I’ve never thought or heard of before,” Noonan says. “They encourage me to open my mind to something new and exciting, and I always walk away with much more knowledge than I walked in with.” And Prof. Cohen, Noonan says, is a model of the best values of McKelvy. “During discussion, he will only speak once or twice, but I know when he raises his hand to speak, Prof. Cohen is going to say something that gets to a core of the topic in ways I hadn’t even thought of, noticed, or realized. He completely reframes my thinking.”

Noonan says their experiences with Posse and McKelvy—in addition to their involvement in the Lafayette Speech and Debate Team and their role as a writing associate for the College Writing Program over the last three years—have strengthened, contributed to, complemented, and expanded their passion and skills as a writer, which they pursue through their English major.

When they first came to Lafayette, Noonan didn’t know what they wanted to study. “I was searching for the experience that would spark joy for me,” Noonan says. “I knew as soon as I walked into my first English class with Prof. Steven Belletto, who is now my thesis adviser, that was what I wanted to do.” Noonan was inspired by the passionate teaching of not only Belletto, but also professors such as Meg Fernandes and Owen McLeod. “Prof. Fernandes is the smartest person and best poet I know, and she has changed my life. And Prof. McLeod has this special power to make you feel so appreciated and accepted.”

Pursuing an English degree, Noonan adds, has shaped them into a critical thinker. “How lucky am I that my homework is to read books and to write?” Noonan says. “I would have been doing that anyway.” The education they’ve earned as an English major at Lafayette, they add, will be valuable no matter what career they pursue. 

Today, Noonan gives tours of the Lafayette campus and shares their experiences with prospective students and families as an ambassador for the Office of Admissions. Currently an intern at the Northampton County Public Defender’s Office, where they have gained experience in legal aid and helping trans community members legally change their names, Noonan hopes to find work as a paralegal following graduation this year. Their dream is to eventually attend law school and work in the field of legal aid as a public defender—and to perhaps even teach English in the distant future.

“The most important thing I’ve learned at Lafayette is to believe in myself,” Noonan says. “I can’t even put words to the way my confidence has bloomed here. The Lafayette community has this beautiful way of making me feel like my ideas are worth something, and it’s made me a better person in every way. Empathy is truly the most powerful thing we all possess—and using that empathy, being kind, helping others, and stepping up is what I want to dedicate my every day to. Just as others have impacted me, I wanted to have that impact on others. And I can only hope it does something as cool as change the world for the better.”