In the world of Charlotte Lillie Balogh ’17, rowing and storytelling have long played prominent roles. This fall, those two influential forces came together for Balogh with the publication of “,” (Delacorte Press), a young adult mystery novel centered on a girls’ competitive rowing team.

“I can’t help but see a story anywhere I go,” says Balogh, a Remembrance Scholar who majored in at Syracuse University’s . “I’m always people watching or taking notes.”

The Los Angeles-based author, screenwriter and former competitive rower turned coach spent eight years working on “Capsized,” which she originally pitched as a TV script. Now, in a full-circle moment, she’s developing it as a pilot for Hulu. In summer 2025, she published her first young adult novel, “Kill the Lax Bro,” (Delacorte Press), a darkly comic murder mystery.

At Syracuse, the Boston area native competed for the Orange women’s rowing team for a year and got a firsthand look at the entertainment industry through the , interning with NBCUniversal. But it was screenwriting professor Keith Giglio who recognized her affinity for superheroes and comics and put Diane Nelson ’89, then head of DC Entertainment, and Geoff Johns, an acclaimed superhero screenwriter and executive, on her radar.

She met Nelson on a Newhouse visit and built a relationship with her that eventually helped her land a job as an assistant to Johns at DC Entertainment, where she worked on numerous projects, including “Wonder Woman 1984,” and the CW series “Stargirl.”

Balogh shared more insights in a conversation with Syracuse University Today.

As a four-year member of the offensive line for the Syracuse University football team, prided himself on being a team player, someone who would do the little things every day to help the Orange succeed on the field.

That selfless strategy helped Tarullo become a starter for the final 36 games of his career, including earning First-Team All-Big East honors during his senior season.

That same approach guided Tarullo’s entrepreneurial career as partner, financial advisor and vice president of recruiting and sales for , part of Cetera Investors.

For the second straight year, Tarullo is being recognized during the University’s fourth annual��, which on Nov. 12 will celebrate 50 of the fastest-growing global businesses and nonprofit ventures owned or led by Orange alumni.

“I’m very honored,” says Tarullo, who earned dual degrees in psychology and communications and rhetorical studies from the . “It’s a phenomenal event showcasing the entrepreneurial spirit our alumni have, and I strongly encourage other alumni to be a part of this celebration.”

While he’s looking forward to the awards ceremony, Tarullo says he’s equally excited to impart his business acumen to student entrepreneurs at the ’CUSE50 Student Summit, when honorees will share insights with students at the .

Over the summer, Tarullo’s company hosted several current students for internships. Tarullo plans to use this year’s Student Summit to emphasize the importance of giving back to future students.

“It’s beneficial for students to hear stories of success, but also how we overcome problems. I tell students how important it is to have a niche, a passion that motivates your work,” Tarullo says.

for the ’CUSE50 Student Summit and Alumni Awards Ceremony.

The Student Summit runs from noon to 3 p.m. in the Flaum Grand Hall in the Whitman School, with Chancellor J. Michael Haynie and Whitman Dean Alex McKelvie delivering remarks. Latavius Murray G’20, a retired NFL running back, community builder and entrepreneur will serve as the keynote speaker, followed by two panel discussions featuring ’CUSE50 alumni entrepreneurs and a “Five for Five” pitch competition, where five student startups will compete for a winner-takes-all $5,000 prize judged by the ’CUSE50 honorees in attendance. To support student entrepreneurs, consider a gift to the which makes the student prize money possible.

The Alumni Entrepreneur Awards Ceremony begins with check-in and light refreshments at 5 p.m., followed by the awards at 5:30 p.m. in the K.G. Tan Auditorium and a reception starting at 6:45 p.m. in the Bisignano Grand Hall. All events occur in the National Veterans Resource Center at the Daniel and Gayle D’Aniello Building.

Tarullo sat down with Syracuse University Today to preview the ’CUSE50 Alumni Awards.

Lockerbie, Scotland, is well known as a place of tragedy connected to Syracuse University through the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. But for a new generation of Syracuse University students, the small Scottish town is also an international classroom, a research laboratory and a second home.

In spring 2024, Anna Newbould received a happy call: She had been named a Lockerbie Scholar and would head to Syracuse University that fall. The same day, an orange calf was born on her family’s dairy farm. They named the baby cow Syra.

A few months later, Syracuse students met Syra during their visit to the low-carbon farm, which is part of Syracuse Abroad’s travelling summer course on .

The course exists because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In fall 2021, students at Syracuse London expected to travel to Scandinavia for their course. Plans were cut short by the Omicron variant, as international borders closed abruptly once again. But thanks to Kirsty Boardman, a 2007-08 Lockerbie Scholar who now teaches geography at Lockerbie Academy, an alternative, UK-based itinerary was quickly created. Students instead traveled to Scotland, learning from former Lockerbie Scholars and their families about ecosystem restoration projects, Passivhaus housing developments and sustainable forestry.

Green Britain is just one example of Lockerbie opening doors to learning for Syracuse students at short notice. Inclusive education major Mason Burley ’27 was meant to spend summer 2026 in Ghana exploring education policy in diverse contexts as a

When the program was suddenly canceled, a team of Lockerbie Scholars and local teachers came together to host Burley in Scotland instead, enabling him to complete an independent study on civic education practices. A 2026-27 Remembrance Scholar, Burley is now supporting a special project to develop a music video celebrating the “” that have characterized the Lockerbie community since 1988.

These learning experiences are possible thanks to ongoing partnerships between the and community groups in Lockerbie. Each semester, students from Syracuse London travel to Lockerbie on a Remembrance Exchange program, which is made possible by the generosity of Trustee Mike Venutolo ’77 and his wife, Kim. The trips include workshops with local students, a forensic tour of impact sites and a community dinner. These weekends serve not only to build meaningful relationships but also to provide academic enrichment for education abroad.

Yida (Rick) Li ’26 first visited Lockerbie in February 2024 through the London program. He was so inspired by his time at Tundergarth Kirks Trust—a preserved church and educational charity located near a prominent impact site—that he returned two years later to conduct field research for his senior honors thesis.

“,” argues that traditional memorial architecture fails when it attempts to contain memory within a singular, formal object. Rather, sustaining a network of spatial, institutional, oral and ritual practices allows for remembrance to be a “living thing” that can continually be encountered. Li conducted multigenerational interviews, creative workshops and site visits to inform his thesis, which received an honorable mention in the creative category of the and won .

Last month, 23 Syracuse London students traveled to Lockerbie as part of the exchange. For Brynn Wisniewski ’28, time in Lockerbie brought to life “what I have been learning in my Death as Political class and previous political science classes about grief, mourning and the lasting impact of violence on communities.”

Conversations with first responders were especially meaningful for Mouna Toure ’28, a psychology student, who hopes that “my future role as a victim advocate will showcase the value of maintaining a relationship between Lockerbie and Syracuse University.”

Meanwhile, the trip encouraged John Fitzhenry ’28, a television, radio and film major, to consider the limitations of his chosen professional sector. “No piece of media can recreate the kindness that the Lockerbie community gave us. I realized the importance of putting the camera down sometimes.”

Wisniewski, Toure and Fitzhenry had the opportunity to spend time with the 2026 Lockerbie Fellows, 10 senior students at Lockerbie Academy who will soon be traveling to campus to participate in this year’s . Students in the U.K. will honor the victims through a parallel rose-laying event at the London campus, and later in the year will participate in a special Service of Remembrance held by the .

Learn more about , taking place Oct. 18-24.

Story by Becca Farnum

Thirty-eight years after the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, the 2026-27 Remembrance Scholars and Lockerbie Fellows will lead Syracuse University’s annual Remembrance Week, Oct. 18-24.

Remembrance Week activities are planned to look back on the impact of the Dec. 21, 1988, bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland. The bombing claimed the lives of 270 people, including 35 students returning from a semester of study abroad in London and Florence through the University’s Division of International Programs Abroad (now Syracuse Abroad) and 11 Lockerbie residents.

The week will also highlight how students are acting forward. During their scholarship year, this year’s Remembrance Scholars are engaged in a broad range of “Act Forward” projects on Remembrance education, community healing through the arts, a participatory awareness art campaign, remembering through recipes, a Remembrance and global citizenship and walking tour, intercultural dialogue and aviation safety.

The Remembrance Scholars will be joined by the 2026-27 Lockerbie Fellows on the Syracuse campus for the week. The fellows are 10 students from Lockerbie Academy chosen through a competitive process. During their time in Syracuse, the Lockerbie Fellows, accompanied by Lockerbie Academy Deputy Head Teachers Catherine Carrick and Kerry Currie (a 1996-97 Lockerbie Scholar), will represent the 11 Lockerbie residents who died in the bombing and 2002-03 Lockerbie Scholar Andrew McClune, who died during his scholarship year in Syracuse.

This year’s Lockerbie Fellows are Max Atkinson, Carly Black, Anna Byers, Megan Curry, Falon Oliphant, Amy Oliver, Imogen Reid, Emma Sloan, Joshua Thompson and Lewis White.

Remembrance Week will be held Sunday, Oct. 18, through Saturday, Oct. 24. All activities are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted. For more information, visit .

Those who require accommodations to fully participate in these events should contact Tamara Hamilton at��315.443.4282 or��tnhami01@syr.edu. The week’s schedule is as follows:

��All Week��

• Empty Seats Display, Kenneth A. Shaw Quadrangle:��The Empty Seats Display is a visual representation of the Syracuse University students lost aboard Pan Am Flight 103. The exhibition is meant to serve as a reminder of how a loss in the past can inspire positive actions in the present. This year’s Remembrance Scholars and Lockerbie Fellows will sit in solidarity in the chairs for 35 minutes on Wednesday, Oct. 21, beginning at 2 p.m.
• Pen-and-ink drawings of the Syracuse University study abroad student victims will be on display in Hendricks Chapel.
• Blue and white flags, one for each of the 270 Pan Am 103 victims, will be on display in the area between the Newhouse School of Public Communications and Schine Student Center. Also, the Hall of Languages, Hendricks Chapel and the JMA Wireless Dome will be lit in blue in honor of Remembrance Week.
• The Remembrance Quilt will be on display in Hendricks Chapel. The quilt was created by the 1998-99 Remembrance Scholars, members of the Hendricks Chapel Quilters and many other contributors to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the bombing. The stories of the SU student victims are told through the design of each quilt block.
• Pan Am Flight 103/Lockerbie Air Disaster Archives temporary exhibition, Bird Library, first floor display case near Starbucks café: A temporary exhibition of materials from the Pan Am Flight 103/Lockerbie Air Disaster Archives’ collections pertaining to the sculptural work��“Dark Elegy”�� by Suse Lowenstein will be on display throughout the week. Lowenstein lost her eldest son, Syracuse University student Alexander Lowenstein, in the bombing.

Sunday, Oct. 18

• Candlelight Vigil, Hendricks Chapel steps, 5 p.m.: The Remembrance Scholars will remember the 270 victims of Pan Am 103. American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation will be available. The event will be .

Tuesday, Oct. 20

• A Remembrance Week Reception will be held from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the Syracuse University Washington D.C. Center. Contact Cameron MacPherson at camacphe@syr.edu for more information or to register.

Wednesday, Oct. 21

• “Sitting in Solidarity,” Kenneth A. Shaw Quadrangle, 2 p.m.: The Remembrance and Lockerbie Fellows will sit in the empty chairs on the Quad for 35 minutes.
• Film Screening, 107 Hall of Languages, 6:30-8 p.m.: The first installment of the Netflix drama series “The Bombing of Pan Am 103” will be presented.

Thursday, Oct. 22

• Act Forward Symposium, lobby of Heroy Geology Laboratory, 6-7 p.m.: The Remembrance Scholars will present posters that share their plans to “act forward” through outreach, research, education and creative projects designed to benefit the community.
• Lockerbie Fellows Presentation, Heroy Geology Laboratory, 001 Auditorium, 7-8 p.m.: The Lockerbie Fellows will speak on their personal experiences and offer reflections.

Friday, Oct. 23

• Rose-Laying Ceremony, Place of Remembrance, 2:03 p.m.: American Sign Language interpretation will be available for this event. The Rose-Laying Ceremony and Remembrance Convocation will be .
• Remembrance Scholar Convocation, Hendricks Chapel, 3 p.m.: ​This annual convocation will honor the 2026-27 Remembrance Scholars. ASL interpretation and CART will be available. A reception in the Allyn Innovation Center, located on the first floor of Link Hall, will immediately follow.

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The Revolutionary War is often celebrated as a unified bid for self-governance. But rebellion against the British was far from universally embraced.

Tensions around independence divided many communities, including the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, according to Maxwell historian Tessa Murphy.

“The Tuscarora and Oneida chose to side with the Patriots, and the rest of the nations were on the side of the British,” Murphy told Syracuse University alumni gathered Sept. 23 at Philadelphia’s Museum of the American Revolution. “This transforms the place where you all went to school into a really contested battleground.”

Murphy spoke about these and other complexities of the Revolutionary War as the featured speaker at the event, where over 75 alumni and their guests, including dozens of graduates from the Maxwell School, gathered to explore the nation’s past, present and future.

The event was hosted by Maxwell in partnership with Syracuse University’s Office of Alumni and Constituent Engagement. It was part of Maxwell’s ongoing programming in commemoration of the nation’s 250th anniversary. The museum was a fitting historic setting—two blocks from where the Declaration of Independence was signed.

“USA@250 is inspired by Maxwell’s founding mission of citizenship and public affairs and grounded in a single central question: How has the United States lived up to its founding principles of equality, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?” Dean David M. Van Slyke asked the crowd. “This is exactly the kind of question a university and the school ought to be asking.”

Differing Motivations

In her talk, Murphy shared that British colonies stretched from the Caribbean to what became Canada. Loyalists were a “diverse group of people with differing motivations,” said Murphy, who is the Maxwell Dean Associate Professor of Atlantic History. “I think it’s important not to miss the extent of division within the British colonies in order not to assume that independence was some kind of foregone conclusion.”

Citing research by historian Maya Jasanoff, she noted that “up to 100,000 people would ultimately leave the independent United States in order to remain within the British Empire.”

Murphy’s lecture highlighted how America’s fight for independence was a story of global governance with far-reaching implications. After the British lost the 13 colonies, they went on to rule other colonial subjects with much tighter control. But the war also inspired movements beyond the nascent United States.

In the Q&A that followed her talk, Murphy shared that the Haitian Revolution led to the second independent republic in the Americas.

“Some of the people who fought for Haitian independence were troops in the Battle of Savannah during the American Revolution,” she said. “So there’s a direct line in terms of some of the inheritances of U.S. independence in other parts of the Americas, which I think is something to be proud of.”

Autographs from U.S. Presidents

Throughout the evening, attendees also had a chance to browse autographs from U.S. presidents such as George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, from the collection of Matthew Correia ’08. Correia shared the stories behind acquiring the signatures from every U.S. president and vice president, and he told fellow alumni he is the first person to have an autograph by every vice president.

Correia’s signed Washington artifact is a soldier discharge from 1783, the Revolutionary War’s final year, and includes a message from the then-general: “The road to glory in a patriot army and free country is thus open to all.” This, Correia said, alludes to the Revolution’s reach for meritocracy. “They wanted to create a different type of governance, a different type of relationship of the people to the government.”

Murphy’s historical perspective, along with the backdrop of the museum and Correia’s collection, served as reminders that America’s story is a work in progress.

“We are still learning so much more, both about our history, but then also what it means for our future,” said Philadelphia-based education consultant Heidi Ramirez ’96 after Murphy’s presentation. “This year has reminded us that there are so many voices in this thing we call American history and that just keeps evolving.”

That sentiment is captured in Maxwell’s USA@250 lecture series, which features faculty talks on women’s rights, Frederick Douglass, immigration, the U.S. Constitution and more and is available to all on . The series reflects Maxwell’s mission to bring scholarship on the nation’s founding directly to the public in this semiquincentennial year.

“A milestone like this isn’t just for scholars to study,” Van Slyke said. “It’s a call for all of us who care about the health of American self-government to carry forward.”

Story by Janine White

The Maxwell School is pleased to welcome six accomplished alumni to its advisory board: John R. Bass, Dr. Evelyn C. Granieri, Phil Porter, Ian Schuman, Hailey Williams and Dan Zhang.

They represent a range of fields across sectors and join a distinguished group of entrepreneurs, finance leaders, attorneys, educators, public servants and friends of the school.�� Board members meet twice a year and play a vital role in advising the dean and school leadership on policy, planning, fundraising, alumni relations and communications.

Bass, Porter, Schuman, Williams and Zhang were appointed to the advisory board in August. Granieri was appointed by the board this past spring. The board will convene in late October.

“I’m delighted to welcome these new board members and appreciate their strong support and engagement with the school,” says Dean David M. Van Slyke. “Their diverse experiences and commitment to becoming active advisors helps ensure that the school remains the number one ranked school in the nation.”

John R. Bass

Bass, of Arlington, Virginia, received a bachelor’s degree in international relations in 1986. A veteran diplomat, he served the U.S. for 37 years, departing government in 2025 as the highest-ranking member of the Foreign Service. Most recently, he served in three of the top five roles in the State Department, including as chief operating officer, where he oversaw the department’s global workforce of 85,000, and lead crisis manager. He concluded his service as acting under secretary for political affairs, where he oversaw U.S. diplomatic activity globally, including to sustain support for Ukraine’s defense, intensify counterterrorism efforts against ISIS-Khorosan and prevent state collapse in Syria.

A three-time ambassador, Bass led U.S. missions in Afghanistan (2017- 20), Türkiye (2014–17) and Georgia (2009–12) and served in Iraq, Italy, Belgium and Chad. In August 2021, he returned to Kabul to lead the civilian side of the non-combatant evacuation that moved over 120,000 people to safety in two weeks. He has received numerous presidential and State Department performance awards and is currently a diplomatic fellow at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University.

Dr. Evelyn C. Granieri

Granieri, of New York City, is professor emerita of medicine at Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and an affiliate professor at the City University of New York School of Medicine and Hunter College. She previously served as chief of Columbia University Medical Center’s Division of Geriatric Medicine and Aging, a division she was instrumental in developing.

Granieri received a bachelor’s degree in dietetics (now nutrition) in 1977 from the Falk College of Sport, followed by a master of public health from the University of Pittsburgh, a master’s in education from the University of Southern California and a medical degree from Northwestern University. She has held leadership positions with the American Geriatrics Society and the Association of American Medical Colleges and has received numerous honors, including the Dennis W. Jahnigen Memorial Award in 2001.

Phil Porter

Porter, of New York City, received a bachelor’s degree in history in 2017, followed by a master of public administration (M.P.A.) in 2018. He previously worked as a project assistant at Cydecor, a veteran-owned federal government solutions provider as well as a senior consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton and a senior program analyst at V2X, providing on-site contractor support to the Navy’s International Programs Office. While working for the Navy, Porter received two commendations.

Porter served on the University’s D.C. Regional Council from 2021-26 and has volunteered with the Maxwell Alumni Ambassador Program. In 2020, he established the Philip E. Porter Endowed Scholarship to support Maxwell undergraduates. Porter has visited 193 countries and all seven continents. He’s in the process of applying to doctoral programs with hopes of beginning studies in fall 2027. Another focus: Planning a July 2027 wedding.

Ian Schuman

Schuman, of New York City, received a bachelor’s degree in political science and economics in 1997. He is a capital markets attorney and global chair of Latham & Watkins’ Capital Markets Practice, representing issuers and underwriters in complex, high-profile equity and debt offerings, both in the United States and internationally. He advises on matters involving a range of industries, including in the life sciences, technology, digital infrastructure and consumer retail sectors. He also represents companies and their boards with respect to corporate governance and securities matters.

He received a law degree from New York University in 2000 and has hosted Syracuse University students participating in the Winston Fisher Seminar, through the Maxwell School and the College of Arts and Sciences at Latham & Watkins, in 2024 and 2026. He is a member of the board of directors of Melanoma Research Alliance, the world’s largest private nonprofit funder of melanoma research.

Hailey Williams

Williams serves as the board’s young alumni representative. A resident of Washington, D.C., she received a bachelor’s degree in policy studies and political philosophy in 2023 and an M.P.A. in 2024. She works on the diversity, equity and inclusion team at the international law firm Crowell & Moring LLP, where she has worked as an inclusion and organizational strategist since 2025.

As a Maxwell student, Williams supported engagement with the advisory board while working in the dean’s office and launched the Maxwell BIPOC Mentoring Program. She also helped shape the design of the Barner-McDuffie House, which supports academic and cultural success for students of color, and co-founded Syracuse’s Black Honors Society.

Dan Zhang

Zhang, of Palo Alto, California, received a master’s degree in sociology in 2011 as well as a master of science (M.S.) in applied statistics from the College of Arts and Sciences and an M.S. in finance from the University of Illinois. As the chief financial officer and chief business officer at the project management software firm ClickUp, she oversees finance, accounting, corporate development, human resources, legal and strategic initiatives. Previously, she worked in finance, “software as a service” (SaaS), and global sales strategy.

A recognized voice on AI transformation in enterprise businesses, Zhang was named one of the Top 25 Software CFOs of 2024 by Top CFOs and was an inaugural 2026 Bridge Award recipient by Financial Women of San Francisco. Beyond ClickUp, Zhang advises early-stage startups and mentors students at San José State University. A recent gift to the Maxwell School reinvigorated its Student Emergency Support fund, which helps students with emergency funds for housing, food, healthcare and other needs.

Story by Paige Schoen

No matter the assignment from her photography professors at Syracuse University, always chose horses as her subject.

Depict a cemetery? Livingston captured the gravestone of Man o’ War, widely considered the greatest American thoroughbred, buried at Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky.

Shoot a sunset? Livingston staked out the stables at , waiting for the ideal moment when the sun’s rays descended into the foreground, perfectly illuminating the horse.

This love affair with documenting horses began at age 10, when Livingston’s parents made the 30-minute trek from Schenectady to Saratoga to watch legendary horses like Secretariat, Alydar, Affirmed and Ruffian. Livingston still proudly displays the prints depicting Ruffian’s victory in the Spinaway Stakes at Saratoga, when Livingston was 13 years old and knew she was destined for this line of work.

“I was determined to become the best horse racing photographer possible,” says Livingston, who currently has an exhibition at the . “I’m driven to shoot the best photographs I can and always aim to do the ‘right thing’ for each equine subject. I have near-limitless patience and will stay at a farm for many hours awaiting just the right light. Does it always work out as I’d like? Definitely not, but it’s the pursuit of excellent images that drives me.”

That same eye for the perfect equine moment has defined more than 50 years behind the camera. Livingston, chief photographer of the , has garnered six Eclipse Awards (racing’s highest honor), with four��awards for photography and two for audio/multimedia projects.

Livingston has also published seven books, including her popular “Old Friends” series, which spotlights the lives of retired thoroughbred racehorses. The series in part inspired journalist and philanthropist Michael Blowen to start , a home for retired racehorses in Georgetown, Kentucky. Blowen says Livingston’s photography has helped raise more than $50,000 to .

Livingston, who graduated with an experimental photography degree from the , sat down with Syracuse University Today to reflect on her decorated career. Scroll to the bottom to view a photo gallery of Livingston and some of her favorite photos.

Students at the Martin J. Whitman School of Management now have a new way to grab a hot meal between classes, thanks to a Campus Dining initiative that swaps traditional vending machines for a lineup of smart, food-tech-driven kiosks.

The reimagined café space (now known as Olsten Market) is designed to serve students whenever their schedules demand it—whether that’s breakfast before an 8 a.m. lecture, a quick lunch between classes or fuel for a late-night study session. Rather than the usual prepackaged snacks, the new setup offers meals prepared fresh at the touch of a button. The space, which was formerly named Olsten Café, will continue to bear the name of the donor, Stuart P. Olsten ’74.

The rollout includes several branded machines:

• A Just Baked smart oven that heats fresh entrées on demand
• California Pizza Kitchen pizzas, ready hot in minutes
• A Carlo’s Bakery machine from celebrity baker Buddy Valastro P’27, P’29, dispensing fresh cake slices
• Pico Smart Coolers stocked with grab-and-go meals, snacks and healthy options, including salads and sandwiches from local favorite Brooklyn Pickle
• Bean-to-cup coffee systems serving espresso drinks, lattes, cappuccinos, iced coffee and hot chocolate

The new layout offers speed and flexibility, letting students build the café into their day (and nights) rather than working around long lines and limited hours. Machines accept ‘Cuse Cash and all major credit cards.

These improvements are the product of multiple rounds of focus groups and conversations with students, addressing requests for greater selection, healthier options, coffee and round-the-clock access—complemented by a microwave for students who wish to heat their own meals and ice machines for added convenience. The renovated market answers the student requests for a reliable “go-to” for meals within Whitman, so they no longer need to leave the building, no matter the time of day or night.

Free Sampling Event Sept. 30

Members of the campus community are invited to a free sampling event on Wednesday, Sept. 30, from 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. at Olsten Market. Products from Just Baked, Carlo’s Bakery and California Pizza Kitchen will be available to try, along with fresh salads and sandwiches from Brooklyn Pickle. Coca-Cola representatives will also be there to offer free samples of their products as well.

A Syracuse Connection Behind the Machines

The technology arrives at Whitman by way of Servomation Refreshments Inc., a vending and micro-market company founded by Brian Bruno. In 2025, the University awarded Servomation the contract for its campus vending services, adding SU to a client roster that has helped land the company on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies for five consecutive years. Bruno is also the new operator of Varsity Pizza, a University Hill staple that was transferred to the Bruno family in September 2026.

The company’s ties to Syracuse run deeper than vending. Bruno’s father, Mark, is a graduate of the Whitman School’s Executive MBA program. The elder Bruno came to the program during a turning point in his career: after helping steer the family’s vending business through a period of crisis, a sale to Howard Johnson and a subsequent shift into management under Marriott, he enrolled in the newly launched EMBA program on the encouragement of a friend, Dr. John Blasi.

The elder Bruno has credited the program—with its mix of full-time work, weekday study groups and weekend sessions—with giving him the confidence, credibility and skills to later manage more than 100 industry acquisitions across 22 states. He has called his Whitman MBA a cornerstone of his career.

Years later, his son launched Servomation, and the elder Bruno said he was thrilled to assist in realizing his vision. That family venture has now come full circle: the company built in part on lessons from a Whitman classroom is now supplying the technology reshaping how Whitman students eat.

Events and media coverage marking America’s 250th anniversary this year have largely spotlighted historic milestones, founding fathers and revered changemakers. Yet the nation’s foundation—and the durability of its democracy—has depended on a vast, largely unsung network of public servants.

A new traveling exhibition, “The Promise of Public Service,” created by the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA), aims to put some of those lesser-recognized individuals in the spotlight. After debuting in the Great Hall of the Library of Congress in June, the exhibition’s first stop is the Maxwell School—the nation’s first school of citizenship and public affairs, and home to its top-ranked graduate program in the field.

“There could hardly be a more fitting place,” said Dean David M. Van Slyke during a Sept. 18 reception celebrating the exhibition’s opening in the Maxwell Hall foyer, flanked by the school’s statue of George Washington and the guiding words of the Oath of the Athenian City-State.

Van Slyke said the oath’s charge—for each generation to leave the world better than they found it—“is part of Maxwell’s history and identity” and central to NAPA’s work. “The DNA of both Maxwell and NAPA is a commitment to public service, a respect for those who undertake it, and the belief that citizenship carries responsibilities to one another and to the greater public good,” he said.

More than 70 living Maxwell faculty members and alumni currently hold the distinction of NAPA Fellow, including Van Slyke. Another connection: James-Christian Blockwood, an adjunct professor for Maxwell’s Washington, D.C., programs since 2022, has served as NAPA’s president and CEO since January 2025.

Maxwell alumnus Wally Bobkiewicz G’89, city administrator of Issaquah, Washington, and a current member of NAPA’s board of directors, was among those who gave remarks during the opening reception.

“Two hundred fifty years in, it would be easy to let the story of public service become a story about presidents and governors and generals,” said Bobkiewicz who received a master of public administration (M.P.A.). “This exhibition doesn’t let us off that easy. It puts faces and names to the people who actually make government function day to day.”

Bobkiewicz asked those in attendance to think of the public servants who rarely get noticed. “The public knows the mayor, they know the city council, but they rarely know about the finance clerk who makes payroll,” he said. “Local government runs on thousands of people like that—professional staff who show up and do unglamorous work well.”

The exhibition at Maxwell features 12 large panels with biographies and photos of individuals such as Kimberly McGuire, social services director for Wayne County, North Carolina, and John Donnelly, fire and EMS chief for the District of Columbia, alongside more prominent figures like George C. Marshall and the late Paul Volcker, a longtime Maxwell Advisory Board member. Marshall served as U.S. secretary of state, U.S. secretary of defense and Army general, and Volcker served five presidential administrations including as chair of the Federal Reserve.

In his remarks, Blockwood described the exhibition as arriving at a consequential moment—one marked by declining trust in institutions, political division and rapid technological change. “The disruption can be positive, depending on how you respond to it,” he said, adding that the exhibition was meant to remind visitors “where we’ve been, who has helped us get here” and to inspire hope in what comes next.

Blockwood reminded the audience that the exhibit tells only a “small part of the story” of public service. He pointed to a guiding belief behind NAPA’s work: “What we nourish grows.” That means creating pathways for the next generation of public servants, he said, supporting those who serve today, and honoring those who have already given so much through lives of service.

Syracuse University Trustee Stephen Hagerty ’91 B.S./’93 M.P.A. also gave remarks at the event, tracing his own path into public service to a dinner in that same room years earlier.�� Then-Dean James Steinberg challenged a room of academics and officials to explain why more Maxwell graduates weren’t running for office. Hagerty, one of the youngest people in the room, spoke up in response. Already leading a highly regarded national emergency management company—Hagerty Consulting—he made the decision to run for mayor of Evanston, Illinois, and then won. He led the city through the COVID-19 pandemic, and, separately, his consulting firm has led recovery efforts after Hurricane Andrew, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and, more recently, following the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment and Southern California wildfires.

“There’s no better way, in my opinion, to spend your time than helping other people,” Hagerty said. He recalled how a similar traveling exhibition on redlining in 2019 helped push Evanston toward becoming the first city in the nation to establish a local reparations program.

The exhibition’s arrival at Maxwell also landed on a milestone day for Syracuse University: the same afternoon the University installed J. Michael Haynie as its 13th chancellor and president.

Van Slyke pointed to that afternoon’s investiture ceremony in the JMA Wireless Dome. Haynie, a former U.S. Air Force officer, embodies the same values the exhibition celebrates, Van Slyke said, describing public service as “a choice people make to accept responsibility, contribute their talents and place the well-being of others alongside their own ambitions.”

Van Slyke closed the program by thanking NAPA and the Maxwell staff and advisory board members who helped bring the exhibition to campus, and by inviting attendees—students in particular—to spend time with the panels and consider “not only the individuals whose stories are represented, but also the question at the heart of the exhibit: What does public service ask of those who serve?”

“At Maxwell, we believe it asks for confidence and integrity,” said Van Slyke. “But it also asks for humility, courage, curiosity, perseverance and a willingness to work with people whose experiences and perspectives differ from our own. It asks us to see public problems not as someone else’s responsibility, but as an invitation to contribute.”

Standing at the podium in the JMA Wireless Dome on Sept. 18, made a promise: the University will not retreat from the turbulence of the moment in which artificial intelligence, climate change and fraying democratic institutions are outpacing society’s ability to adapt.

Syracuse University will meet it directly.

“We must commit to being a place that reflects the full breadth of human experience, because the problems facing this world will not be solved by any one kind of mind,” Haynie said.

Students, he said, are not people waiting to become leaders—“you already are those people”—and the University’s obligation is not to shield them from difficulty but to forge in them the capacity to engage it.

To faculty, he asked them to model intellectual humility, to reach across disciplinary lines “with generosity, grace and civility,” and to hold students to standards that honor their potential.

Haynie referenced a 1966 speech Robert Kennedy delivered in Cape Town, South Africa, in which Kennedy described acts of moral courage as “ripples of hope” that build into unstoppable currents.

“We know that each time one of our graduates goes out into the world—and acts with courage and knowledge and care and clarity—they send forth a ripple,” he said. “And at our best, Syracuse University is where those ripples begin.”

Ceremony and Spirit

Haynie’s remarks capped an inauguration filled with enthusiasm, optimism, sentimental moments and Orange spirit.

Chancellor Emeritus Kent Syverud and Dr. Ruth Chen were in attendance, drawing a standing ovation. It was Chancellor Syverud’s first return to campus since beginning treatment for his cancer diagnosis. More than 30 college and university delegates from around the country were also present.

Music throughout the ceremony was provided by the Syracuse University Marching Band, University Singers and Hendricks Chapel Choir. OlaRose Ndubuisi ’29, a student in the College of Arts and Sciences and S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and the 2024-25 New York State Youth Poet Laureate, delivered an original poem that highlighted Haynie’s connection with students.

‘Mike Is Just Mike’

Vice Chancellor and Provost Lois Agnew said Haynie’s influence reaches well beyond Syracuse’s campus, particularly his advocacy for veterans’ education. Asked often what it’s like working alongside him, she said he doesn’t just talk about the work, he does it; and he doesn’t just say students are the University’s North Star—he lives it.

Vice President and Chief Facilities Officer Pete Sala said Haynie’s promise of partnership isn’t new. Sala said, “Mike is just Mike.” Sala recalled building the Daniel and Gayle D’Aniello Building alongside him and watching him lead the University’s pandemic response in 2020 with clarity and decisiveness.

But what Sala’s own staff remembers the most is that Haynie fishes, works in his yard on Saturdays and opens every conversation by actually wanting to know how you’re doing.

Greetings for the chancellor were also offered by Emily Castillo-Melean ’28, president of the Student Government Association; Jennifer Karas Montez, University Professor and director of graduate studies in sociology in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs; Trustee Alonna Berry ’11, president of the University’s Alumni Association; and trustees Shelly Fisher ’80 and Lisa Fontenelli ’86, co-chairs of the Chancellor’s Search Committee.

‘One of the Best Decisions This University Has Made’

Keynote speaker Melvin Stith G’73, G’78, dean emeritus of the Martin J. Whitman School of Management, opened his remarks with two words that got the biggest laugh of the day: “You’re welcome.”

Stith, a Vietnam Army veteran, spoke of how 20 years ago, Haynie, a young Air Force veteran, walked into his office to interview for a job teaching entrepreneurship.

“There was something about him,” Stith said. “He captured me from the first conversation.”

Haynie already had a competing offer from Ohio State’s business school, so Stith moved fast to put a Syracuse offer in Haynie’s hands. “That, my friends, is how Whitman hired Mike Haynie,” Stith said, “and it’s one of the best decisions this university has ever made.”

Stith recalled how two months into the job, Haynie came back with an idea to build a bootcamp teaching entrepreneurship to veterans with disabilities and to make it free.

Seventeen veterans showed up for that first Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans in 2007. Four years later, Haynie founded what became the Institute for Veterans and Military Families, which eventually anchored the National Veterans Resource Center at the Daniel and Gayle D’Aniello Building.

Today, those programs have reached more than 235,000 veterans, service members and military families. “One idea, one conversation in my office,” Stith said, “launched a Universitywide commitment that has changed thousands of lives.”

Board of Trustees Chairman Jeffrey Scruggs said that Haynie is the right person to lead Syracuse University into the future. “Chancellor Haynie brings the record of a proven scholar, a celebrated educator, a collaborative builder, a tenacious innovator and a widely respected leader in higher education,” Scruggs said. “Syracuse is fortunate to have a leader of this caliber guiding the University as it continues to build its standing among the world’s great private universities.”

During the Charge of Office and Medallion Presentation, Scruggs placed the Chancellor’s Medallion around his neck and delivered the charge that comes with it: to govern with integrity, to guard the University’s freedom to teach, learn and question without fear, and to build on what his predecessors built.

Moving Ahead With a Promise

Haynie said he stood in front of the University community with a promise.

“We will ask the right questions, together, with honesty and without fear. We will not mistake comfort for excellence. We will not mistake tradition for wisdom,” he said. “Instead, we will engage the world as it is, in all its speed and strangeness and moral complexity. And we will do that because it’s the only honest starting point. And because we understand that engaging what unsettles us is not capitulation, but instead it’s the precondition of transformation.”

On the Grosso family’s small farm in Tully, New York, everyone had responsibilities.

The rule was simple: the animals ate before the family did. Tractors needed fixing. Fences needed mending. There was always another project waiting.

It wasn’t glamorous, but it taught daughters Taylor, Sydney and Lauren Grosso lessons that would carry them far beyond the rolling hills of Central New York.

“We all have a strong work ethic,” says Taylor ’21, G’22. “There was always something to do.”

That work ethic led to the , where all three earned master of public administration degrees, the last completed by Lauren this past June. It wasn’t an orchestrated family tradition. Taylor switched paths after considering a career in medicine. Sydney discovered that public policy, not biochemistry, was her calling. Lauren chose the M.P.A. over a graduate degree in data analytics.

What each found at Maxwell was the same: mentors who challenged them, opportunities to tackle real-world problems and a community that continues to shape their careers.

The Grosso family’s Syracuse roots stretch back generations. Their grandmother worked at the University. Their mother, Michelle Grosso ’90, graduated from Syracuse and now works on campus. Two uncles attended.

“We would go up and visit my grandma in the Hall of Languages when we were kids,” Taylor recalls. “The campus just always felt like home.”

Taylor entered as a biochemistry major, conducting lab research toward medical school. Two years later, Sydney followed a pre-med path before realizing she was chasing someone else’s dream. Two years after that, Lauren arrived undecided before discovering policy studies through the program’s founder, Professor Bill Coplin, on both her sisters’ and mother’s recommendation.

“I found my passion,” says Lauren ’25, G’26.

Although all three sisters gravitated toward public policy as undergraduates, they did so through different lenses. Taylor augmented her M.P.A. degree with a certificate in security studies. Sydney combined public health, policy studies and Spanish before discovering a passion for national security. Lauren blended policy studies with data analytics, initially hoping to do policy advocacy for New York’s agricultural community.

The common thread was Maxwell, and more importantly, its people.

The People Who Shaped Them

For Taylor, that journey began with a campus job in the Maxwell School Dean’s Office.

Working alongside Dean David M. Van Slyke exposed her to new research opportunities, faculty mentors and policy questions. As she considered medical, law and graduate school, Van Slyke encouraged her to look beyond the paths she had envisioned.

“He opened my eyes to what I could do beyond what I was pursuing,” Taylor says. “He told me the M.P.A. is a great way to kind of figure out what you like, because once you go into the public sector, you can do so many different things.”

Van Slyke says he told Taylor early on that if she wasn’t going to study a Maxwell major, he “didn’t know why we were employing her.”

“She thought I was joking—I wasn’t,” he says. “That became the pattern with Taylor, Sydney and Lauren: figure out what they cared about, then show them the full range of what Maxwell could offer. What made it easy was who they are: humble, curious, appreciative, always willing to listen and asking good questions.”

For Taylor, research projects for Van Slyke led to a graduate assistantship with former Secretary of the Navy and NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe G’78, cementing her interest in governance and national security.

“Working with the two of them is where I found my love for policy research,” she says.

Although Sydney had decided to pursue the M.P.A. before Taylor enrolled, she also found herself working alongside O’Keefe—first conducting undergraduate research, then serving as his graduate assistant.

“He brought us into everything,” she says of O’Keefe, University Professor Emeritus and University trustee. “We were always the youngest people in a room full of people who had been in government or highly ranked admirals.”

“The Grosso sisters are mature well beyond their years, enthusiastically dive into anything they’re asked to do, energize those around them, and, as a bonus, are great fun to be with,” says O’Keefe. “Their parents raised three remarkable women who are the Maxwell vision of model citizens.”

Through O’Keefe, Sydney found herself in conversations with senior military leaders and astronauts, learning firsthand how policy decisions are made.

“They’re the kinds of experiences you just don’t expect to have,” says Sydney ’23, G’24.

Although Taylor and Sydney insist they didn’t pressure Lauren to follow them into the M.P.A. program, she chose Maxwell for graduate school over a master’s program in data analytics. “Between the reputation of the degree and the people that I was surrounded by, Maxwell felt more like a family than just a school,” Lauren says.

“I got to see how much the faculty and the deans care about the students,” Lauren says. “I could see how much they genuinely want us to succeed.”

With Lauren’s graduation, Van Slyke says this is the first time since he became dean that there isn’t a Grosso in the dean’s office.

“We’ll notice their absence,” he says. “I know they’ll all make important contributions and I’m grateful for the engaged citizen leaders they’ll become.”

Two alumni have earned Creative Arts Emmy Awards, with Jason Blumenthal ’90 joining Janique Robillard ’08 as winners of golden statues this year.

Blumenthal picked up the honor at the����ceremony Monday night in Los Angeles as one of the executive producers for HBO Max’s “,” which won for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series.

Robillard earned her award during the����on Sept. 5. She was a producer for “,” which won Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking. In 2025, Robillard also received an����for Best Documentary Short Film for “Death by Numbers.”

Another Newhouse graduate, Monica Levinson ’90, was nominated as an executive producer for FX’s “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette,” also in the Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series category.