When visited campus during an admitted students day, she didn’t think she would end up attending the University. That quickly changed.

“I had no intention of coming here,” says Rafferty. “I had just applied on a whim. And we got on campus and I said, ‘I think I’m going here.’”

Syracuse checked all the boxes for her: a larger school with a tight-knit feel; a student body and alumni network that took pride in its school; and a that could set her on the path toward her career goal of being a sports agent.

She enrolled as a sport management major and became highly involved on campus. As a  she gave campus tours to prospective students and families. The spring semester of her junior year was spent in ���ٳ���dzܲ�����. She joined the ,��, and the . Each experience helped shape her vision for her future.

In particular, the Sport Management Club and its annual  opened her eyes to a possible new career path. Each year, students in Sport Management Club hold an auction during a Syracuse men’s basketball game with all proceeds benefitting a Syracuse-area charity. During Rafferty’s junior year the beneficiary was the  of Central New York, which had a lasting effect on her.

“I really saw the impact of collective action,” Rafferty says. “That if a lot of people came together, and worked hard together, it could make an impact on the community. And I realized community-focused work and events were more so where I wanted to be.”

Even when the auction was over, Rafferty remained involved with the local Make-A-Wish chapter and later, when she moved to Philadelphia, was connected with the Make-A-Wish chapter there to continue her work.

Her senior year also opened another door. She met her future husband, Luke Rafferty ’16, a photojournalism major in the , through the University’s . Both were  and were members of the program’s Community Impact Committee.

They married in 2019.

In the years after graduating, Luke worked as a freelance videographer while Hannah worked in marketing before moving into corporate event planning. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, canceling events for the foreseeable future, Hannah’s position was eliminated. A few local nonprofits hired her to plan virtual events, creating the opportunity for the couple to work together.

“You needed videos for the virtual events, so Luke and I started working together that way,” she says.

It was the start of what would later become their company: , with Luke handling the technical side and Hannah using skills she honed through the sport management program to manage all production logistics and oversee client development and relationships.

Their client list includes the American Red Cross, Make-A-Wish, the Jewish Federation of Philadelphia and other Philadelphia area nonprofits. They also work with companies like American Airlines, JetBlue and Visa, showcasing their community initiatives.

Hannah was named a for their work at Filmiamo Productions.

In starting their company, they leveraged Syracuse’s expansive alumni network and community to connect with clients.

“[Luke’s] Syracuse connections lead him to a variety of different clients,” Hannah says. “Now we’re like five, six, seven steps removed from that, but probably 85% of our business stems back to connections at Syracuse.”

Her bond with the University and the Falk College of Sport is something she is passionate about continuing to grow. She joined Falk College’s (ELC), a group of young alumni who provide guidance to current students, assist with capstones and internships and help them prepare for their futures.

She joined the ELC with encouragement from fellow sport management alumna , who Hannah heard speak at the admitted students day she attended. By chance, Wood became her Peer Advisor freshman year and the two became close friends. Wood later served as a bridesmaid at Hannah and Luke’s wedding.

As an engaged alumna, Hannah has made a  gift through the  to help students access all types of experiential learning, something that, at times, felt out of reach for Rafferty as the daughter of a single mom.

“I recognize the value of experiential learning, and I didn’t always feel I could afford those experiences while I was in college,” she says. “I don’t want another student to have that financial barrier to having that hands-on experience that is so valuable to education.”

The following article was written by , a member of the Board of the Ukrainian Library Association and a visiting assistant teaching professor at the in the .

Ukraine is suffering. Our communities are being ruined. Our souls are devastated. But we are alive. On February 24, 2022, the Ukrainians suffered a powerful blow from Russia. Nowadays, the Ukrainian people are facing destruction and heavy losses. Our communities and people’s lives are being destroyed, and we need support and protection more than ever. Libraries, created thousands of years ago to support the vitality of communities, nowadays help Ukrainians to survive in war conditions and provide physical, informational, psychological, and spiritual protection.

Here are the many ways libraries support the community:

• Libraries are bomb shelters. From the first days of the war, many libraries provided physical protection. For example, Central City Library for Children in Mykolaiv is a 24/7 bomb shelter that can accommodate up to 180 people at a time.
• Libraries are volunteer centers. Many have become hubs of volunteer activity. Librarians, library patrons and community members are cooking dinners for those who fought and are being treated at local hospitals. Together with volunteer organizations, librarians and community residents collect and make clothes and products for refugees and for the front. In this way, a community of practice is being built – providing a sense of unity, social integration and security for new members of the community who left their homes to escape the war. Along with weaving camouflage nets, people are creating social nets in library spaces.
• Libraries are territories of goodness. Since 2014, when the first forced migrants from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea appeared, libraries have taken a proactive position. The Ministry of Culture of Ukraine adopted an Order to launch the project, “Libraries as Community Support Centers in the Conditions of a War Threat: Working with Internally Displaced People.” According to the Order, libraries participate in helping those in need by actively participating in information, legal and educational work.
• Libraries help displaced people. Cooperating with state authorities, charity foundations, state structures, employment centers, psychological, social and legal services, libraries help displaced people find temporary housing and work, get information about their rights and ways to use them, renew social ties, get access to the Internet and computer equipment to continue studying, attend language courses, improve and acquire IT skills, and more.
• Libraries are hubs of digital education. About 6,000 libraries joined the national digital literacy campaign in Ukraine. Through the signing of the Memorandum on Cooperation between the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Library Association, many libraries have become digital education hubs.
• Libraries are media literacy training centers. An important direction of libraries is to increase the level of media literacy and the formation of critical thinking of the population, which is essential during this era of the information war. Many libraries organize lectures, trainings and webinars, and participate in media literacy weeks. Libraries joined the nationwide media literacy project from the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine. One of the latest initiatives supported by the Ukrainian Library Association is the recording of a series of conversations with famous Ukrainians about information hygiene and its role in everyday life through the lens of cultural, historical and personal experience.
• Libraries are sites of remembering. It is where the memories of the past are housed. Ukrainian Institute of National Memory noted that this war has brought up issues related to cultural characteristics, spiritual values and ideals, which determine the uniqueness of a community and its identity. The library is a memory institution that collects and preserves documented historical and cultural heritage. As such, libraries are integral to the politics of memory, helping people protect their values and identity.

Ideally, libraries’ memorial, socio-political, cultural, educational and other activities must be directed to the formation and establishment of national memory, contribute to the state’s information security and help its integration into the world humanitarian space.

Ukrainian culture is under the gun. Many libraries’ funds were lost, and buildings were damaged. 700 public and university libraries are damaged or destroyed and more than 4,000 are under occupation. An important achievement of the Ukrainian Library Association was the establishment of interaction with partners for reconstruction and the preservation of library and information resources, assistance to libraries to maintain service, and organization of efforts to restore damaged library buildings and lost library collections. At the same time, the American Library Association, in cooperation with the Ukrainian Library Association, launched the Fund for the Support of Ukrainian Libraries.

I am proud to say that among all the changes, what remains unchangeable is the dedication of librarians to their readers and the library work, the belief in victory and the capacity of the library community.

Visit the Syracuse Libraries website to .