From “Rocket League” and “Valorant” to “Overwatch 2” and “Counter-Strike 2,” it doesn’t matter what game student casters Carson Kass ’28 and Ryan Blankenhorn ’26 are calling.

The play-by-play and color commentary duo has developed an uncanny ability to predict what the other is going to say during a competition. After broadcasting hundreds of matches, Kass and Blankenhorn have formed a back-and-forth rapport and an understanding of what it takes to effectively call esports for Orange fans.

“When I came to Syracuse, [Executive Director of Esports] said he wanted me to bring the broadcast element of what Syracuse could be as an esports program to our broadcasts. Working with Carson has helped me excel in what it means to be a color caster,” says Blankenhorn, who followed Gawrysiak from Shenandoah University to Syracuse and��earned an major from the ��and the��.

Kass brought a traditional background as a sports broadcaster to the esports realm and says he prepares for an esports match with the same attention to detail as if he were calling a baseball or a soccer game.

“You have to get the color commentator involved explaining why something just happened. Ryan and I have called so many games together that we’ve formed this great on-air chemistry,” says Kass, who is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in broadcast and digital journalism from the Newhouse School. “But how we cast a match is different for each game.”

When Howard G. “Howie” Phanstiel ’70, G’71, H’22 was a student at Syracuse University, the state of the nation was not dissimilar to what it is today. “It was a time when the general public questioned both the capabilities and credibility of government. Were we getting straight answers about the war in Vietnam?” he recalls. “Meanwhile, New York City was under significant financial pressures and ultimately had to be bailed out by the state.”

Phanstiel saw his graduate education in public administration at the as an opportunity to improve the way government—local, state and federal—functioned. “I wanted to show people that it could work, that the trains could run on time, so to speak.” That aspiration drove his early career successes and is the underlying motivation for his continued support of Maxwell, its faculty and students. “Maxwell not only gave me the analytical skills to improve government; it gave me the confidence.” As a 22-year-old, he took a job in Wisconsin and was charged with briefing the governor on legislative issues and defending budgetary decisions. Phanstiel describes that early work in government as being “on the hot seat.”

Honoring a Dean, Endowing a Future

The latest gift from Howie and Louise Phanstiel is intended to ensure that motivated and talented students have the same opportunity to do graduate work at Maxwell and gain the skills and confidence to improve the way governments function. The Phanstiels’ $1 million gift creates the Dean David M. Van Slyke Endowed Scholarship. With an additional $500,000 match as part of The Syracuse Promise scholarship initiative, the fund will provide scholarship support for students for generations to come, and honor the contributions and impact that Dean Van Slyke has had on Maxwell.

“David lives and breathes Maxwell, traveling around the globe to raise funds,” says Phanstiel. “I don’t think there’s anybody in the world more dedicated to maintaining Maxwell’s No. 1 standing as the for public affairs. Louise and I are inspired by his level of commitment.”

“Howie and Louise have demonstrated a deep and lasting commitment to Maxwell, its students and the importance of public service over the nearly 20 years I have known them,” says Van Slyke. “Their generosity will help make a Maxwell education possible for talented students who want to serve the public good and strengthen the institutions our communities depend on. I am deeply grateful for their counsel and support and honored that they would associate my name with a scholarship devoted to those purposes. I hope their example inspires continued investment in the students who will lead and serve in the years ahead.”

“Howie Phanstiel is a rare example of someone whose vision, leadership and commitment to the public good have never dimmed,” says Chancellor J. Michael Haynie. “For decades, he and Louise have invested in Syracuse University, the Maxwell School and our students in ways that have shaped this institution profoundly. This scholarship is a testament to everything they believe in, and it will open doors for Maxwell students and future public servants for generations to come. On behalf of Syracuse University, we are deeply grateful to Howie and Louise.”

Phanstiel envisions that the Van Slyke Scholars, as they will be known, will choose to work in government, non-governmental organizations and charitable organizations, becoming the next generation of strong managers able to deliver on mission and goals in efficient and effective ways. Phanstiel himself moved on from government to leading organizations in both the public and private sectors—in healthcare, banking and finance—and always approached good management as good public service. He led the transformation of PacifiCare Health Systems from a Medicare HMO to a diversified Fortune 150 consumer health company offering affordable consumer-driven health products, including one of the nation’s largest Medicare Advantage plans.

A Lasting Pattern of Giving Back

After retiring from prolific and rewarding careers in the financial and healthcare sectors, Howie and Louise Phanstiel formed a private consulting and investing firm. They found ways to make their work most meaningful, investing in worthy causes, with Syracuse University and its students being major beneficiaries of their philanthropy.�� Their historic $20 million gift creating the in 2011 has opened the doors of opportunity to more than 125 students and included community service and civic engagement in the requirements for scholarship recipients. Phanstiel Scholars gain an appreciation for what it means to pay it forward, in time and treasure.

In addition to their own financial support of Maxwell, Syracuse Athletics and other programs, Howie is a life trustee on the Board of Trustees, and Louise is currently a voting member of the board. Howie serves on the Maxwell Advisory Board, and led fundraising campaigns that have inspired thousands of people to support the University.

Phanstiel says their latest gift is an investment in human capital. “For democracies to function successfully, they need citizens who are both informed and engaged,” says Phanstiel. “Our governments need public administrators who are skilled and motivated to make a difference and produce results that benefit others. The Maxwell School produces the kind of people who will do just that. The students I meet today want to make a difference. Louise and I want to make sure the economic pressures on those students are alleviated by scholarship support, to keep them in school so they can make that difference after they graduate and go on to serve the public interest.”

When prominent content creators met with U.S. policymakers earlier this summer during Creator Row, a first-of-its-kind content creator gathering organized by the , Syracuse University was the only higher education institution represented on Capitol Hill.

Thomas O’Brien, project coordinator for the (CCE), was part of the University delegation invited to help inform and educate lawmakers on the unique challenges content creators face and learn more about potential legislative priorities involving creators.

O’Brien met face-to-face with elected U.S. representatives, content creators and employees from leading platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Meta, Patreon, Substack, Adobe and Rumble, to help advance the conversation around the creator economy as a growing economic sector.

“We’re the first school to create an academic resource center entirely focused on social media content creation and the revenue streams that exist within that industry, so it was fitting and a great honor to be able to represent both Syracuse and the Center for the Creator Economy at these events,” O’Brien says. “We’re paving a path forward and it’s an exciting time for content creators.”

It was the perfect opportunity for O’Brien and the University delegation—consisting of Carrie Welch, CCE launch director, and Cameron MacPherson, senior director of operations and government affairs with the —to share how the CCE helps students build real-world skills in media, entrepreneurship and digital strategy.

The CCE,��a joint initiative between the and the , is a first-of-its-kind academic initiative dedicated to preparing students for careers in the creator economy.

Through meetings with elected representatives, the University’s delegation learned why support for the creator economy has become a priority at the local, state and federal levels, and how Congress is addressing the growing gap between what content creators need to be successful with potential overregulation of this emerging industry.

“The room was full of some of the biggest names shaping the creator economy, from tech companies and platforms to creators themselves, and it’s great that Syracuse University was in it,” MacPherson said of the event. “All in all, it couldn’t have gone much better for the University. It was a fantastic, dynamic event for us to participate in.”

The Creator Row event was organized and hosted by U.S. Reps. Beth Van Duyne of Texas and Yvette Clark of New York.

Kennedy King ’27 grew up in Pasadena, California, in the 28th congressional district represented by Judy Chu—the first Chinese American woman elected to Congress. This past spring, the rising senior in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs came full circle as an intern in Chu’s Capitol Hill office.

“It was the best news ever,” says King about first learning she would have the opportunity.�� “She really represents our district so well. She’s been a big inspiration to me and her career has really shaped some of my own aspirations in public service.”

Early on, King’s internship took an even greater personal dimension. Her grandmother has lived in the United States for 40 years but speaks limited English. At doctor’s appointments, family members come along to help, but the language gap doesn’t always close. “For instance, I don’t know the word for cataracts in Chinese, so we’re both just kind of confused,” says King.

That experience got King thinking about health care access for seniors with limited English proficiency—a common challenge in districts like Chu’s. During her internship, she began researching incentive structures like physician fee reimbursement programs that encourage doctors to serve in rural areas, and she wondered why a similar model couldn’t work for bilingual providers.

“If that incentivizes people to live in rural areas, why can’t we do the same thing for bilingual health care providers?” says King, who is majoring in anthropology and political science at Maxwell and art history in the College of Arts and Sciences. “It would encourage more of them to live in high-LEP (Limited English Proficiency) districts.”

She brought the idea to the office’s legislative aide covering Asian American and language access issues, and to the legislative director for health care.

“I came in bright-eyed and excited,” King says. Her legislative director liked the idea, but walked her through why broad health care legislation wasn’t a realistic near-term goal—and what a more achievable path forward might look like.

She narrowed the scope. Rather than pursuing new legislation, the proposal for her intern project now advises Chu to write an oversight letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services requesting data on language access gaps—laying the groundwork for a legislative push down the road.

The experience reshaped how King thinks about public service. Real change, she learned, rarely arrives all at once.

The daily pace of King’s internship, which wrapped up May 15, depended largely on the congressional calendar. When Congress was in session, she often fielded calls from constituents, wrote memos for Chu’s staff and conducted policy research. When Congress was in recess, she had more time to network and collaborate across the office.

will spend several months in the Bahamas this fall, supported by a as she studies how human practices surrounding the , a critically endangered reef fish, create conflicts over culture, economy and governmental regulation in that region.

The assistant professor of anthropology in the will pursue a project titled “Poaching in Bahamian Waters: Conservation and National Security in Caribbean Seascapes.”

The project extends Mallon Andrews’ earlier research among spearfishermen along the northern coast of the Dominican Republic, where declining fish stocks forced divers to go deeper into the water and farther out to sea, risking their physical safety and potentially crossing national borders to earn a living. Some eventually crossed into Bahamian waters and�� were arrested and jailed as poachers.

For this project, the anthropologist will examine the issue from the perspective of Bahamian regulators. She will embed with personnel charged with poaching enforcement, including members of the , the , ��the and .

During peak poaching season, Mallon Andrews will participate in training programs for law enforcement officers and lawyers. She will accompany fishing patrols and speak with public officials who process illegal catches. She will follow Bahamian government agencies as poaching arrests play out in the country’s courts.

National Security Stakes

The proper regulation of marine resources is central to , according to the . ��sustains roughly 20% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), although ��threatens the economy’s long-term sustainability.

Tourism activity based on the country’s marine ecology—coral reefs, mangroves and pristine beaches—attracts millions of visitors yearly and generates about 50% of the country’s GDP. Although the country controls 250,000 square miles of maritime territory, about 35% of lobsters harvested from Bahamian waters are taken illegally. Between 2013 and 2019, 24 fishing vessels were apprehended, and the boats of 375 Dominican nationals were confiscated. Collectively, those poachers were sentenced to 239 years in prison, Mallon Andrews says.

Several conditions affect how the countries deal with those issues, Mallon Andrews says. Both Dominican fishers and Bahamian environmental agents are reacting to the increasing scarcity of Caribbean fisheries, a reality she says makes it easy for Bahamian institutions to blur the lines between environmental protection and national security. Global climate change is exacerbating the conditions that lead to poaching. And the Bahamas struggles with poaching on two fronts: Dominican fishers from the south and American poachers from the north.

Alternative Perspective

In the next phase of research, Mallon Andrews will focus on how poachers are perceived by Bahamian institutions, how conservation and security measures overlap in practice and what becomes of confiscated ships, gear and fish. She’ll view those issues from the perspective of those she describes as “being charged with navigating an uneven and difficult-to-control tapestry of conservation enforcement.”

“I’m hoping people will take seriously not only the regional and international implications of environmental crime but the upending of the narrative of criminals and enforcers,” Mallon Andrews says. “It is much more difficult to think about what that means for people whose lives are impacted by seafood industries, and for the people who are asked to enforce those regulations.”

Research With Real Stakes

Mallon Andrews’ previous research resulted in the forthcoming book “.” During that project and as an avid freediver and underwater photographer, she built a rapport with those she interviewed by diving alongside them and learning to spearfish as she heard their stories.

“A gesture like that really makes a big impact because its unique in the researcher-to-researched relationship. You really attempt to ask someone to integrate you into their daily life,” she says.

An Enforcement Perspective

Mallon Andrews expects to find the same willingness to share perspectives among the regulatory enforcers she encounters this time. “I feel lucky to have Fulbright support on this project because it’s a different relationship,” she says. “[These] enforcers are very concerned about the issue of poaching and what they want people to know about the practical conundrums they encounter on a daily basis.”

She also plans to organize a photo exhibition and produce a short documentary film and will present workshops and talks at the University of the Bahamas as the community engagement aspect of her work.

What makes this new project particularly interesting to her as an anthropologist, Mallon Andrews says, is that the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic differ in their histories, cultures and governmental structures. Those differences shape the values and politics each nation brings to the poaching problem.

She is excited to spend time “with people who have life stories entirely different from my own. I’m an ethnographer through and through, and I’m excited to learn things by walking in someone else’s shoes in the Bahamas—[things] that I couldn’t imagine from sitting here in an office in Syracuse.”

Maxwell sociologist has been named a 2026-27 visiting scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation in support of her research into how court-supervised programs, such as mandated treatment and electronic monitoring, shape the lives of the people assigned to them.

Kirk-Werner is one of 19 selected for the program, one of nation’s most selective social science fellowships. With collaborator Mary Ellen Stitt of Rutgers University, she will use the spring 2027 residency to write a book manuscript that reveals their findings on the alternative programs courts use to supervise people in lieu of or alongside incarceration. These programs include community service, electronic monitoring and mandated treatment for mental and behavioral health as well as substance use.

Drawing on interviews, ethnographic fieldwork and administrative records, the two researchers aim to document what these programs look like day-to-day for affected individuals. Kirk-Werner says their work challenges a widespread assumption that these alternatives represent a simple departure from punishment, revealing instead a court landscape that looks quite different from the one portrayed in most news coverage and academic research.

“Professor Kirk-Werner is at the forefront of scholars studying how everyday citizens interact with the legal system in the United States,” says , associate dean for research and Merle Goldberg Fabian Professor of Excellence in Citizenship and Critical Thinking at the Maxwell School. “This visiting fellowship is a recognition of that work and a launchpad for future work and collaboration.”

Kirk-Werner is an assistant professor of sociology at Maxwell and a senior research associate for the Center for Policy Research. Her work focuses on the intersection of law, economics and power—specifically, how financial incentives and institutional pressures drive decision-making within the U.S. legal system and how those dynamics produce or entrench inequality.

She also is a principal investigator of the Captive Money Lab, a public-facing research lab supported with a $1.5 million grant from Arnold Ventures that is currently examining the use of prison pay-to-stay statutes that leave millions of incarcerated individuals subject to the partial or total cost of their imprisonment.

Kirk-Werner’s work has been published in journals such as Social Problems, American Journal of Sociology, Sociological Forum, Sociological Perspectives and Punishment & Society. In addition to the Russell Sage Foundation and Arnold Ventures, her research has been supported by the Social Science Research Council and the American Society of Criminology’s Ruth D. Peterson Fellowship for Racial and Ethnic Diversity.

Founded in 1907 by Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage, the Russell Sage Foundation is one of the nation’s oldest philanthropic organizations dedicated to strengthening social science research and improving public policy. It works to support innovative research that diagnoses social problems and advances evidence-based solutions. Through its visiting scholar program, it brings researchers from institutions across the country to its New York City headquarters to collaborate and advance their work.

Kirk-Werner says the fellowship’s structure—which places scholars together in shared space for the year—is a central part of its appeal.

“This fellowship is all about being in community with the other invited scholars—working, eating and living alongside each other,” she says. “I am honored and excited to be a part of this community and looking forward to the dedicated time for writing and working with my collaborator, Dr. Stitt.”

—Story by Jacob Spudich

Housing in cities across North America has become increasingly unaffordable. Most people blame land scarcity, rising construction costs or speculative investors.

But in a study , Austin Zwick, for the policy studies program in the and the , points to a less visible culprit: planning processes municipalities are using.

Zwick’s research, published in March, examines how de facto discretionary approval systems—which require developers to meet all code requirements but also see approval depending on back-and-forth negotiations with regulatory bodies and case-by-case judgments from planners, elected officials and sometimes organized public organizations—drive up housing costs and suppress supply.

In contrast, a “by-right” system allows developers to get approval, with no additional steps to follow, as long as they meet or “check every box” on the municipality’s list of requirements or standards.

“In theory, discretion is meant to allow flexibility and responsiveness,” Zwick says.

Negotiation with developers is intended to promote ��better outcomes by requiring them to build public amenities and social housing units they wouldn’t otherwise build. In practice, though, builders with the time, money and political access can endure prolonged negotiations, and then they will pass those endured costs onto the buyers, whereas small-time builders can’t. The end result is that only large-scale luxury development gets built, not regular housing for regular people, he says.

Zwick offers a case study in his research of a stalled development in Vancouver, British Columbia, in which lengthy negotiations, public hearings and political approvals added hundreds of thousands of dollars per unit to a condo building before construction ever began. He suggests that tackling the housing crisis isn’t just about federal funding or sweeping new policy, but for local governments to streamline their own processes.

Below, Zwick, tells Syracuse University Today what’s broken in planning processes, why it matters for the housing crisis and what cities can do about it.

Publishing magnate Donald Newhouse H’16, whose family’s philanthropy changed the face of Syracuse University and set the course for generations of communications students, died May 26. He was 96.

“Donald Newhouse was one of the most consequential figures in American media and one of the greatest benefactors this University has ever known,” says Chancellor . “His generosity, leadership and vision have given generations of Syracuse University students the education, preparation and opportunity to pursue meaningful careers in journalism and communications. He built a media empire that pushed the industry forward, embracing the demands of modern storytelling while never wavering in his belief that local journalism is essential to informed and engaged communities. We are deeply grateful for everything he gave to Syracuse University, and our hearts are with the Newhouse family.”

“Donald Newhouse deeply understood Syracuse University—not just its history and mission, but its character,” says Chancellor Emeritus Kent Syverud, who worked closely with Newhouse during his tenure as chancellor. “Over the many years I knew him, I came to appreciate his abiding commitment to the idea that journalism done well is one of the highest forms of public service. Losing him is a profound loss for this university, and personally, for me. I am grateful for every conversation we had and for his great love and care for Syracuse University. My deepest sympathies go to Steven, Katherine, Michael and the entire Newhouse family.”

“Donald Newhouse set a standard for what it means to be a true champion of this university,” says Chairman of the Board of Trustees Jeffrey Scruggs. “As an honorary trustee, he inspired our board not just through his extraordinary philanthropy but through his genuine, tireless advocacy for Syracuse University—the kind that came from someone who believed in this institution with his whole heart and showed up for it in every way. My thoughts are with the entire Newhouse family, especially Trustee Michael Newhouse, as he and his family grieve an extraordinary man.”

Dedicated to Communications Education

The is named for Newhouse’s father, Samuel I. Newhouse, who was born to immigrant parents in a New York City tenement in 1895 and by the time of his death in 1979 had built the publishing empire .

His $15 million gift to the University in 1960 supported the construction of the first two buildings of the Newhouse complex: Newhouse 1, , and Newhouse 2, . In recognition of his philanthropy, the school was named for Samuel Newhouse in 1971.

Donald Newhouse and his brother, Samuel I. “Si” Newhouse Jr., took over Advance Publications following their father’s death. They continued his legacy as shrewd and successful publishers, and as dedicated supporters of communications education at Syracuse.

“Donald Newhouse’s impact on American media, and the school that bears his family’s name, is difficult to put into words,” says Newhouse Dean . “He believed deeply in the core values of journalism, and in the importance of diverse voices in the newsroom as a way of strengthening coverage of the communities we serve. His generosity made it possible for Syracuse University to become home to the country’s top communications programs and train generations of journalists.”

Moving Into the Future

With continued philanthropy in the years following the naming of the school, the Newhouse family—through the Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation led by Donald Newhouse—became the University’s largest benefactor. A $15 million gift in 2003 supported the construction of Newhouse 3, .

An $18 million renovation of Newhouse 2, supported in part by the Newhouse Foundation, produced the Newhouse Studio and Innovation Center—featuring Dick Clark Studios, the Alan Gerry Center for Media Innovation and the Diane and Bob Miron Digital News Center—which was dedicated by Oprah Winfrey in 2014. In 2020, a marked the largest-ever gift in University history.

Donald Newhouse visited the school to announce the gift in January of that year. In a full-circle moment, he posed in the Newhouse 1 lobby, just as he had done alongside his father and the rest of his family on the day of the Newhouse 1 dedication. “The Newhouse School resulted from my father’s dream to establish the finest journalism school in the world,” he said. “In this era in which public communications is undergoing continual and radical change, my family and I expect to continue our long-term commitment to ensure that the school my dad helped found almost 60 years ago remains the leading communications school in the world for another generation.”

Lifelong Connection

Donald Newhouse’s vision for the school embraced technology and innovation while honoring the core values of journalism that remained key to its foundation. In this new era, the Newhouse family’s generosity was indeed a cornerstone of the school’s strength. “Without this Newhouse money, the school would not be what it is today,” says Newhouse Dean Emeritus . The foundation’s gift in support of Newhouse 3, he says, “catapulted the school to the very top of communications education.”

Newhouse funds also supported technological advancements, endowed professorships, student scholarships and other areas of need. The Newhouse Dean’s Leadership Fund, established in 2007 with a $10 million matching challenge, provides discretionary funds allowing the dean to leverage opportunities to enhance the educational mission of the school. The , which began in 1994 as a partnership with the Advance-owned Syracuse Post-Standard, was undergirded by Donald Newhouse’s commitment to diversifying news reporting. “Donald recognized that the quality of journalism would only be as good as the people in the newsrooms who produced it,” Rubin says.

The family’s philanthropy touched other areas of the University as well, including , and the , where a gift from the foundation helped establish the Chancellor Kent Syverud and Dr. Ruth Chen Endowed Chair in Applied Artificial Intelligence. Newhouse also gave to the fund for the Marley Building, which is named for the parents of his late wife, . And he and was awarded an honorary degree in 2016.

Throughout his life, Donald Newhouse remained connected to the University, offering his quiet guidance and steadfast support—a presence that was appreciated by numerous deans, Rubin included.

“Despite his wealth and success, he was an idealist, a man devoted to the greater good, a man of warmth and empathy,” Rubin says. “Look around. How many such industry titans does one see who are like him?”

Three Newhouse School students set out to tell stories often overlooked: a business owner surviving a wildfire’s economic fallout, a traveling veterinarian’s life serving rural communities and a man lifting others out of homelessness. What they filmed earned top honors from the White House News Photographers Association—and lessons about the privilege of sharing someone’s story.

The annually recognizes the best in visual journalism with its “The Eyes of History” contest, and its calls out emerging journalists for their storytelling with video and photography.

The three honorees—Jess Van ’26, a photography major in the visual communications department; Kaitlin Campbell ’26, a broadcast and digital journalism major; and Alex Fairchild ’29, an active duty Marine Corps sergeant in the program—each approached their stories with the aim of looking past the obvious narrative and shared conviction that the people in front of their cameras deserved to have their stories told.

Jess Van: ��

Van was awarded first place in the category of in-depth features and documentary for her film “After the Ashes” on the economic impacts of the Los Angeles wildfires to small business owners in Pacific Palisades. The 13-minute documentary, which served as Van’s capstone project, follows Ruby, a nail salon owner whose building miraculously survived the flames but was still severely disrupted by the disaster.

Van, who is from Cambodia, has a personal connection to the Palisades. When she first came to the U.S. for school, she connected with two mentors who lived in the area.

She visited in March 2025 during spring break, months after the destructive fires swept through the community. Both mentors lost their homes in the fire.

“I always felt like it’s my second home,” Van says. “It was heartbreaking to see the town and the people that lost their homes. It’s not just property, it’s about memories and the connection that you have.”

Van, who minored in geography, decided to make a film focused on the impact to those who worked, but didn’t live, in the affluent neighborhood.

“The backbone of the place, like the gardener, the nail salon owner, the restaurant worker, who also were impacted by this fire,” Van says.

Through one of her mentors, she connected with Ruby, a nail salon owner, whose business survived the fires, even though everything around it burned to the ground. Still, the impact to Ruby’s livelihood was severe as the community’s local economy ground to a halt following the fires.

“It’s a privilege for me to be let in to someone else’s life,” Van says. “It’s their story, and the fact that they feel like comfortable enough to share their vulnerability with me is a privilege.”

In all, she spent 14 months working on the documentary, which she plans to continue submitting to film festivals.

“Hearing what people say after they watch the film, ‘I never thought about this’ and ‘This angle is very rewarding,’ we all know the disaster affects everyone, regardless of their economic background,” Van says. “But to have the opportunity to capture [it] in a way that people don’t really think about is the most important part. That’s the goal of the film, and to have that accomplished, and hearing that feedback, just feel really good.”

Kaitlin Campbell:

Campbell was awarded first place for her story “” in the category of broadcast news storytelling. Campbell wanted to do a feature story to push herself outside of the daily headlines she typically worked on. Driving around upstate New York, she was struck by the farms she passed and began brainstorming stories.

She began to notice, as she looked up farms in the area, that even separated by hundreds of miles, they listed the same veterinarian: Melanie Parker.

Campbell filmed Parker over the course of a few days and then put together the three-and-a-half minute feature. The story ultimately aired on , Newhouse’s broadcast and digital news outlet.

The best part of working on the story was getting to know Parker, Campbell says. Parker is someone, she says, who “hypes up other people, but doesn’t hype up herself.”

Having her story recognized by the White House News Photographers Association affirms for Campbell that she’s “doing the right thing” with her career.

“It just makes me feel like, ‘OK, I’m where I’m supposed to be,’” she says. “I’m supposed to be producing stories like these. I’m supposed to be getting out in the community and pushing myself.”

Alex Fairchild:

Fairchild was awarded second place in the category of broadcast news storytelling for his story “Hire Ground: A Hand Up, Not a Hand Out.”

Fairchild, an active duty sergeant in the Marine Corps, worked on the feature with classmates Dillon Buck and Devin Andrews as part of a broadcast journalism class with , associate professor and chair of broadcast and digital journalism at Newhouse. At the time, Fairchild was participating in the Advanced Military Visual Journalism program, but he is now pursuing an online .

The original goal, he says, was to do a story related to , a local nonprofit that hosts programs that help unhoused individuals in the Syracuse area.

“All of us had the mindset that the story is always more important than getting an assignment done,” he says.

The nonprofit connected Fairchild and his classmates to Kevin, a man who used to be unhoused but who now helps others through Hire Ground, a jobs program run by In My Father’s Kitchen. The story ended up airing on Spectrum News.

“The most rewarding part was actually being out there and participating in the work that In My Father’s Kitchen was doing,” Fairchild says. “Yes, we reached out to do a story on Kevin, but it ended up being an eye-opening experience for all of us and we met people that we’ll never forget.”

A new online database aimed at helping solve the local news crisis gives newsrooms, funders and policymakers access to critical research about how local news makes communities stronger and what we lose when local news sources close.

The was developed by the Local News Experimental Testing Lab () at Syracuse University’s in partnership with , a nonpartisan nonprofit coalition. The initiative brings together research from disciplines including communications, economics and political science.

Since the start of this century, nearly 40% of all local U.S. newspapers have closed, leaving 50 million Americans with limited or no access to reliable local news. The number of local journalists in the United States has fallen by more than 75% since 2002, according to Rebuild Local News’ .

This decline has led to a wave of new scholarship about the impact of local news, however, and the Research Hub aims to make that work accessible.

“Though the industry is facing many crises and issues, it’s an exciting time to study local news,” says , director of Local NExT Lab and senior researcher at the . “There is so much good work being done across disciplines. We wanted to help ensure that the industry can benefit and use this research to make arguments to policymakers, funders and audiences about their civic and economic value.

Darr is also an associate professor of communications in the , which co-leads the institute with the .

“To move the needle on policy, we need more than just anecdotes; we need data and evidence that demonstrates the specific needs and measurable impact of local reporting,” says Steven Waldman, president of Rebuild Local News.

The Local News Research Hub provides that essential evidence by showing policymakers how a lack of local news leads to higher taxes, increased corruption and lower civic engagement, Waldman says . “By identifying these gaps, we can help craft targeted solutions that ensure every community has the information it needs to thrive.”

The project also includes a search function, key findings and summaries, and links to source materials. The resource builds on an earlier developed by the Democracy Fund, an independent foundation that supports initiatives that foster reliable, equitable and community-focused journalism.

“We know a lot about why local news is declining and what’s at stake for communities,” says , IDJC research director and professor of at the Maxwell School. “This resource bridges the gap between that research and the people positioned to do something about it.”

Based in Washington, D.C., the IDJC engages in research, teaching, experiential learning, partnerships and events to address challenges to democracy related to the information environment.

“Strengthening local news reduces polarization and empowers communities,” says , Kramer Director of the IDJC and professor of practice of at the Newhouse School. “We are proud of Local NExT’s innovative work and our partnership with Rebuild Local News.”

The nonprofit Rebuild Local News is a coalition of more than 55 organizations representing more than 3,000 newsrooms and 15,000 journalists. The coalition advocates for public policies to strengthen community news and information.

For more information on the hub or to contribute to the database, contact Darr at jpdarr@syr.edu or Matt Baker, research director at Rebuild Local News, at mattbaker@rebuildlocalnews.org.

The University’s honored five of its alumni on April 30�� ,�� the school’s signature alumni recognition event. Held at the Syracuse University Washington, D.C., Center, the evening brought together members of the Maxwell community—alumni, faculty, advisory board members and friends of the school—for a lively, standing-room only celebration of careers that have spanned climate finance, diplomacy, food security, public administration and the law.

Dean David M. Van Slyke welcomed guests and set the tone for the evening with remarks that acknowledged both the weight of the current moment and the enduring relevance of Maxwell’s mission.

“We are gathering tonight at a moment when the ideals that animate this school—free inquiry, rigorous evidence, the willingness to engage across differences—remain under considerable pressure,” Van Slyke said. “Taken together, these five careers span climate, diplomacy, food security, equity and the law, but they share something more fundamental: a willingness to engage the hardest problems of our time with rigor, integrity and a genuine sense of public responsibility. That is what Maxwell prepares people to do, and these honorees have done it at the highest levels.”

Emily Fredenberg | Compass Award

The evening’s first honoree was Emily Fredenberg G’16, recipient of the Maxwell Compass Award, which recognizes an early-career alumna for professional accomplishments and impact. As senior officer of programs and advocacy at the Global Child Nutrition Foundation, Fredenberg has spent the decade since earning her M.P.A. degree and a master’s degree in international relations at Maxwell working to ensure that the world’s most vulnerable children have access to school meals—serving with the World Food Programme in Lebanon and Rwanda before moving to her current global role.

Reflecting on her time at Maxwell, Fredenberg credited not only her education but the community it gave her. She also offered a personal note: her husband, Sean Mills, a Syracuse University College of Law graduate, was at home in Alaska caring for their five-month-old son, Rhys.

“Becoming a new mom, this past year has made my work feel even more urgent,” Fredenberg said. “Holding my infant son, I feel the weight—and the hope—of the world he will grow up in which continues to motivate me. Maxwell helped shape my compass. It’s the place that taught me that service is not just a career path. It’s a lifelong journey.”

Susan T. Gooden | Charles V. Willie Advocate Award

Susan T. Gooden ��G’95, G’96, who received a master’s degree and Ph.D. in political science from the Maxwell School, was awarded the Charles V. Willie Advocate Award, named for the late Maxwell scholar and community activist. The award honors individuals whose contributions reflect Maxwell’s commitment to an environment that is welcoming to all and oriented toward engaged citizenship. Gooden is dean of the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University, a founding editor of the Journal of Social Equity and Public Administration, and a past president of the American Society for Public Administration.

Accepting the award, Gooden reflected on what the honor meant in the context of its namesake’s legacy—and of what citizenship demands.

“Maxwell instilled in me the belief that scholarship must engage the world it seeks to improve, and that it must inform policy, strengthen institutions and expand opportunity,” she said. “I accept this award with gratitude and with a continued commitment to advancing a public service that is thoughtful, engaged, grounded in equity and worthy of the communities it serves.”

Jeff Eckel | Bridge Award

Jeff Eckel G’82, founder and longtime CEO of HASI, received the Maxwell Bridge Award, which honors outstanding, transformative leadership in business with a commitment to advancing the public good. Eckel, who earned an M.P.A. from Maxwell, pioneered the use of finance as a tool for accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy, including overseeing HASI’s 2013 public offering as the first dedicated climate solutions investor and developing CarbonCount, a tool for measuring how efficiently capital investments reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

In his remarks, Eckel drew a direct line from his Maxwell education to the investment philosophy that has guided his career.

“The Maxwell School instilled in me the idea that the public and private sectors do not have to be opposing forces,” he said. “Our investment thesis is that in a world increasingly defined by climate change, we will make superior returns investing in climate solutions—that you can do well by doing good, and that capital can be a powerful tool in the transition to a low-carbon economy.”

The public relations programs at the University’s have been recognized as the best in the country by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA).

The Newhouse����and����public relations programs each received prestigious Silver Anvil Awards during the����on May 14 in New York City. The honor goes to the nation’s outstanding higher education programs in public relations.

, a professor of practice and chair of the PR department, and��, assistant teaching professor and director of the PR master’s program, accepted the awards for the Newhouse School.

PRSA is the leading professional organization serving the communications community through a network of more than 400 professional and student chapters in the United States and around the world. The Anvil Awards represent the highest standard of performance in the public relations profession.

The University’s����announced the winners of the 2026��, which recognize excellence in media industry reporting.

The top prizes were announced Tuesday night at an event in New York City that also featured a conversation with NBC News journalist and “Dateline” anchor Lester Holt,��.

Cheryl Wills ’89, an Emmy Award-winning journalist and anchor for Spectrum News NY1, served as master of ceremonies.

Finalists were��. Chosen by a panel of journalists and journalism educators, the winners of the juried categories are:

Best Single Article/Story

Jesse Barron
The New York Times Magazine
“”

Best Profile

Antonia Hitchens
The New Yorker
“”

Best Commentary

Pamela Alma Weymouth
The Nation Magazine
“”

Best Media Newsletter

Oliver Darcy
Status

• “
• “
• “

Special Topic: Best Coverage of the Future of Late-Night Television

Kayla Cobb and Adam Chitwood
TheWrap
“”

John M. Higgins Award for Best In-Depth/Enterprise Reporting

Josh Dzieza
The Verge
““

Additionally, the following�� were formally presented:

Fred Dressler Leadership Award

NBC News award-winning journalist and “Dateline” anchor

Lorraine Branham Award

About the Mirror Awards

Established by the Newhouse School in 2006, the����honor the writers, reporters and editors who hold a mirror to their own industry for the public’s benefit. The competition is open to anyone who conducts reporting, commentary or criticism of the media industries in a format intended for a mass audience. Eligible work includes print, broadcast and online editorial content focusing on the development or distribution of news and entertainment. Winners are chosen by a group of journalists and journalism educators.

Ads generated by artificial intelligence are nearly indistinguishable from human-made ones, but new research shows they consistently underperform compared to human-made work when it comes to predicting short-term sales impact.

The�� from global research firm Ipsos in collaboration with two faculty members from the�� tested 20 ads across 10 brands with 3,000 U.S. respondents. They found that human-made ads outperformed their AI counterparts, though the gap between the two was surprisingly slim.

The study paired existing human-made ads, produced before 2021 to ensure AI tools were not used, with fully AI-generated counterparts built from the same strategic brief, the document that ad professionals use to outline objectives, messaging and tactics for a campaign. Ads were then viewed by real consumers.

The results challenge assumptions the advertising industry can no longer afford to ignore, faculty ��and�� say, while the project overall reflects Newhouse’s commitment to train students with the skills and forward-thinking strategies needed to be effective and ethical communicators.

The Research Team

Peruta, director of the����M.S. program, and Riby, professor of practice in the��, led the University side of the study. Ryan Barthelmes, senior vice president of creative excellence at Ipsos, guided the project for the research firm.

Peruta oversaw the technical process of deconstructing existing ads and building the pipeline to produce their AI counterparts. AI was assigned to do everything a creative team would do, from interpreting strategy to developing a concept to producing the final spot.

“The human ads and the AI ads started from the same brief,” Peruta says. “The only thing that changed was who made them, and that’s exactly what we wanted to measure.”

Riby brought advertising strategy and creative expertise, including insights drawn from her The Big Idea in Advertising class, where Newhouse students have spent three years creating AI-generated ads and evaluating the results.

The 10 brands selected for the project spanned various sectors, including consumer packaged goods, fashion, automotive and technology: Cheerios, Chewy, Febreze, Fiat, H&M, Old Navy, Herbal Essences, Ray-Ban Meta, TurboTax and Visa.

Raina Rice ’26, an advertising major, supported the project behind the scenes, helping organize and manage the ad assets across all 10 brand pairings.

What They Found

The study produced three findings that promise to generate conversation across the advertising industry.

• Consumers largely cannot tell the difference.��Only 13% of viewers who saw an AI-generated ad were at least somewhat confident it was made by AI—the same share as viewers who suspected human-made ads were AI-generated. With 40% of all viewers uncertain either way, the line between human and machine-made advertising is blurring quickly.

• Despite that perceptual similarity, a measurable effectiveness gap emerged.��Using Ipsos’ sales-validated measures of advertising performance, human-made ads over-indexed against the benchmark by 11 points on average, while AI-made ads under-indexed by five. In practical terms, human ads are predicted to drive stronger short-term sales impact. AI can produce credible work, but on average it does not move the needle the same way.

• AI performed best when the brief was straightforward and product-driven, but struggled when the creative challenge called for storytelling, emotion or a genuine point of view.��The strongest result in the study came from the Cheerios pairing, where a deeply human brief produced the highest combined effectiveness scores across both versions.

“Every semester in my class, I watch students create AI ads about themselves, and not one of them has ever loved their output enough to put it on their refrigerator,” Riby says. “That reaction is the premise of this entire study. If the creators themselves are underwhelmed, why would we expect consumers to feel differently? The data now backs that up.”

An Industry Perspective

Barthelmes says the study addresses a question the advertising industry has been circling but is reluctant to answer directly.

“Every [chief marketing officer] is being asked whether AI can replace their creative agencies, and creative directors are wondering about their futures,” Barthelmes says. “This research gives us a framework for that conversation. AI is a powerful tool, but the data shows that the human capacity for storytelling and emotional connection still creates a measurable competitive edge. The future is humans and AI working together.”

Looking Ahead

The Newhouse-Ipsos partnership reflects the school’s broader investment in industry-facing research that shapes how the next generation of communicators understands and works alongside AI.

The study’s key recommendation is clear: do not settle for “good enough.” AI has an important role in modern campaign strategy and execution, but it is not a replacement for the human-led creativity needed to deliver a competitive advantage.

On Jan. 2, Justin Dalaba’s phone rang.

It was his former professor, , who teaches photojournalism, documentary photography, filmmaking and visual storytelling at the , with a question.

Did Dalaba G’25 want to come with him on assignment for National Geographic to photograph turtles under the Canadian ice? Before he could second-guess himself, Dalaba said yes.

“It was definitely a rare opportunity,” Dalaba says. “Those kinds of stories don’t just happen in that way. And he pretty much said, ‘Well, we’ve got to leave in about an hour. So are you ready to go?’”

Luckily, Dalaba had his go-bag ready and the batteries for his cameras were charged. Later that day, the Newhouse graduate was driving to Canada with his former graduate advisor.

Peering Under the Ice

The January assignment Snyder brought Dalaba onboard for is part of work he’s been doing for the last three years for the Preserving Legacies project. The organization funded by the National Geographic Society highlights how World Heritage Sites, along with cultural heritage and natural heritage sites, can be adapted to climate change. Working on a long-term grant, Snyder tells the stories of communities working to adapt and preserve the sites.

One of the stories he was assigned to work on was about how biologist Grégory Bulté is studying a . The creatures are one of the world’s northernmost reptile species in the system, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that runs from Ottawa to Lake Ontario. During the winter months, the turtles live underwater and bring their body temperatures down to near-freezing. They don’t eat, breathe or mate, waiting under the ice until they can emerge in the spring.

Bulté, who has been studying the turtles for 20 years, has observed when ice thins during the winter, principally because of climate change, it allows river otters to slip under and eat the turtles. In 2022, he documented 10% of the turtle population in Ontario’s Opinicon Lake died, likely because of otters.

“Because they can’t move, it’s a free snack,” Snyder says.

In 2025, Snyder went up to do a story on Bulté and his work, but a blizzard prevented him from getting the images he needed.

For the return trip in January, Dalaba helped Snyder design a rig system to capture the images of the turtles under the ice. Not only was it freezing and underwater with low visibility, but they had to be sensitive to the turtles and avoid disturbing them.

“They’re not supposed to move very much,” Snyder says. “You have this tiny window to operate.”

The videos and photos they captured were published as part of a in National Geographic, one of the publication’s most-viewed stories of the month. The images may also be the first-ever published of turtles under the ice.

What Went Into the Shoot

Snyder says the recent Newhouse grad proved “instrumental” in helping him get video and photographs on the shoot.

“He’s both incredibly technically capable and he’s a very, very good image maker and storyteller,” Snyder says. “He can do that across platforms with photo, design, video, and that’s super, super important.”

The shoot required them to get up at 4 a.m. and trek through the snow, pulling their gear on a sled across the frozen lake. At one point, the equipment got too cold and the mount they were going to use to submerge the camera broke, so they had to remount their gear on the fly.

The pair also had to work closely and build trust with Bulté, listening when the scientist expressed concern about the impact on the turtles if they pushed the shoot longer.

“That’s a powerful learning opportunity for someone working in the documentary space to understand—it’s not all about you, it’s not even all about the image,” Snyder says. “At the end of the day, it is about the ethics that underlie this practice. It is about relationships, and it is about doing the maximum amount of good with the work you’re doing.”

He says Dalaba had the ability to be adaptive, not just with the changing weather around them and the physical demands of the assignment, but to be collaborative and responsive to the other people and species involved.

“Both the practice and the product of documentary work is relationship building,” Snyder says. “You need to be highly relational. It’s a soft skill in a lot of ways, and he has this aplomb.”

Dalaba and Snyder both came to photojournalism and documentary work with science backgrounds. Dalaba previously worked as a wildlife biologist in conservation, while Snyder is a geologist and climate scientist by training.

For Dalaba, working on the assignment felt like the culmination of his path as a wildlife biologist turned storyteller.

“Seeing that come together went beyond the personal gratification and more of that deep hearted feeling of this is what a collaboration feels like,” he says. “It was a collaboration between two storytellers, scientists, multiple climate custodians who are working to adapt their heritage in Canada.”

The experience also resulted in additional work for Dalaba with Preserving Legacies. The former wildlife biologist says he’s excited to continue that work, telling stories of hope and resilience related to climate change.