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.

The —the nation’s first academic center dedicated to the advancement of interdisciplinary academics, independent research, policy engagement and support for creator-based ventures—today released the findings from its inaugural industry . Published monthly, these reports examine the issues creators, brands and audiences are talking about right now.

The inaugural edition examines public trust and credibility in news: specifically, how Americans weigh independent news creators against traditional journalists. The findings draw on a demographically representative survey of 1,001 U.S. adults conducted via Prolific.

Social media is now a core news source for Americans: 59% access general news from social media often or always and 55% get political information there at the same rate. Reliance runs highest among younger adults and those that identify as African Americans and Republicans.

YouTube ranks as the single most-used platform for political and election news at 16.5%, closely followed by broadcast and cable TV news (16.1%) and print and online news sites (15.7%). Combined, TV and news sites outpace YouTube nearly 2 to 1. Social platforms as a group, however, lead traditional sources 60% to 32%.

Perceptions of trust present a nuanced picture:

● 61% of Americans trust a well-known independent news creator as much as a
well-known professional journalist or a major news organization on political topics.
● 67% say doing the reporting matters more than formal journalism credentials.
● 86% trust independent news creators more when they publicly correct their mistakes, the strongest trust signal in the study.
● 79% still see a meaningful difference between an independent news creator and a
journalist.

Social media use and political affiliation both shape trust. Respondents who use social media for news and politics more often rate independent news creators as more credible.

Party lines matter too: compared with Independents, Republicans place greater trust in independent news creators, while Democrats place greater trust in professional journalists and news organizations.

Across these patterns, respondents recognize a clear distinction between independent news creators and professional journalists:

● 79% see a meaningful difference between an independent news creator and a journalist.
● Views divide on which is more trustworthy overall: 41% trust professional journalists
more, 35% disagree and 25% are neutral.
● Trust in independent news creators rises with social media news use. The link is weak
for professional journalists and absent for news organizations.

The findings show Americans trust independent news creators and professional journalists about equally on politics, but they see them as different roles. For both, the clearest path to trust is accountability: 86% say public corrections make them trust an independent news creator more.

Syracuse University Libraries’ awarded three student teams a total of $4,000 in prizes at its Freelance, Small Business and Creatives Pitch Competition on Oct. 2. Undergraduate and graduate students building careers or side hustles through services or products delivered 4-minute pitches followed by a 2-minute Q&A session with a panel of expert judges.

Winners were:

• First Place: EXCHKR, founder Gabi Josefson ’28 (Martin J. Whitman School of Management, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications). EXCHKR is a platform that simplifies how clubs, sports teams and Greek organizations manage payments and track budgets.
• Second Place: Frutecho, founder Carolina Aguayo Plá ’28 (School of Information Studies and Martin J. Whitman School of Management). Frutecho is a modular cooling retrofit for non-refrigerated trucks that reduces produce spoilage and helps small farmers access premium markets.
• Third Place: Scout Szn, founder Daelan Pinsky ’28 (David B. Falk College of Sport). Scout Szn is a free college football scouting platform covering all 15,102 FBS players across 138 programs.

Twenty-two student teams competed across three breakout rooms, with one team per room advancing to the finals.

The next entrepreneurial competition hosted by the LaunchPad is the ’ on Oct. 16 from noon to 3 p.m. ’Cuse Tank is hosted during Family Weekend, and judges include accomplished parent innovators, entrepreneurs and alumni. Winners receive prize funding to help advance their business idea. Students interested in pitching in ’Cuse Tank must

With the November elections fast approaching, the role of the news media will be in clear focus as candidates vie for as much positive air time as possible.

Educators believe the role of journalism is never as important as it is during the election season, yet many of us may be turned off by relentless political advertising.

Newhouse Professor Joel Kaplan is spending time in class this semester focusing on political coverage, and recently provided his perspective into the upcoming campaign season, and the news operations that cover it.

“Runners: Take your mark. Get set. Go!”

As finishes uttering those words, four members of the Syracuse University community take off from the starting line, racing to complete their opening leg of the 4×800-meter relay.

Each runner covers two laps of the Skytop outdoor track before passing a baton to a teammate in waiting. Even though the four teams in this heat are competing against each other, runners can be heard shouting encouragement to everyone on the track.

That spirit defines the , which recently completed its 53rd season on campus. Started in 1973 as an inter-university running competition between faculty and staff at Syracuse University and Stanford University, the league gives faculty and staff a weekly reason to step away from their desks and move during the workday.

The league consists of a , with events ranging in length from 100 meters to 15 kilometers. Runners of all abilities are welcome.

This year, runners were randomly placed on the Orange or Blue team and scored points based on age-graded times, which fosters a friendly season-long competition and introduces faculty and staff to fellow members of the running community.

From No Running Experience to 8 Miles a Day

When Patti Ford joined the math department in 1977, her colleagues encouraged her to try running. She had never run before, and she was an avid smoker. Then her father suffered a heart attack, and Ford vowed to quit smoking and get in shape.

Soon after joining the league, she took a liking to running, often logging eight miles over her midday work break.

“It’s an informal activity that can be as serious or as casual as you’d like,” says Ford, who served with her husband, Terry McConnell, as the league’s previous commissioners. “The best part is everybody is out here working on their health and supporting each other.”

Becoming a Routine for More Than 40 Years

Coffey joined the University in 1981 and has been an avid league participant for more than 40 years. The league has become an essential part of how he takes care of himself, physically, mentally and socially.

“This has been a great wellness activity for my health and fitness,” says Coffey, the league’s commissioner. “This is a needed opportunity to unplug, step away from your work for a bit and enjoy a mental health break during the day.”

Many league members, including Coffey, take pride in having their children join them on the track for a fun, spirited competition that reflects the welcoming nature of the league.

Tackling Problems Through Running

Both Coffey and Ford say the league has another, unintentional benefit: helping them solve problems at work.

As the manager of operations and engineering for the Dick Clark Studios in the Newhouse School of Public Communications, Coffey is responsible for booking more than 4,000 hours of student time in the studios. This includes developing the technology that ESPN and the ACC Network use when live broadcasting more than 120 Syracuse Athletics games each year.

Whenever a technical problem stumps Coffey, he turns to running to relax his mind, and often, when he returns to his office, he’s devised a solution.

“There’s something about running and unplugging your mind that leads to an epiphany. Running has often helped me solve the problems I’m working on,” says Coffey, an adjunct professor of television, radio and film.

Ford, who also served as budget manager for the Department of Physics, looked forward to the league as a welcome distraction from the day’s qualitative math problems.

“When I would get back to work, it was like I had a brand-new start to my day,” Ford says. “I found myself with more energy and many times I used my runs to solve a particular problem.”

Even now, Ford says, the league’s biggest appeal remains its members.

“There’s something special about getting together each week and running,” says Ford, who officially retired from the University at the end of 2025. “There have been so many meaningful connections formed out on the track.”

Join the League

Coffey and Ford are always looking to recruit runners for the next season. Interested faculty and staff can contact Coffey via email (necoffey@syr.edu) or by calling 315.443.5392, or Ford via email (pefordxc@gmail.com) or by calling 315.729.5263.

A recent campus event fueled by faculty expertise and passion brought accomplished professionals together with students for hands-on learning and training. It was the outgrowth of an industry partnership that could serve as a model for similar connections across campus.

, a professor of practice in public relations who previously served as the ’s associate dean for strategic initiatives, is the inaugural Provost’s Innovation Fellow. In that role, he is developing a Universitywide academic-industry strategy and working to support faculty in creating partnerships that provide experiential learning opportunities and professional connections for students.

We sat down with Horn to learn about how the Newhouse School’s thriving partnership with Sony Electronics has expanded to additional stakeholders across campus and how comparable partnerships might be developed at other schools and colleges to enhance student success.

More than 55% of publishers of independent local news organizations cite burnout as a concern, and about 52% view balancing journalism with business operations as one of their most pressing challenges, a finds.

Researchers behind the survey from Syracuse University’s����(IDJC) sought to examine the issues facing independent publishers as they seek to fill gaps created by the collapse of traditional local newsrooms.

Burnout is the most common challenge, cited by more than half of publishers, in the survey “.” Among those with 100-500 paying subscribers, 77% of publishers cited burnout as a challenge.

At that stage, the operation is “too successful to remain a hobby-sized operation, but not yet successful enough to become an adequately staffed business,” the report says.

The study was conducted by veteran news executive and educator��Merrill Brown, an IDJC visiting fellow, and researcher Jacob Spudich G’26, who graduated with a����from the����The institute is led jointly by Newhouse and the��.

Brown hopes the research helps inform the journalism industry and the public about the importance of understanding the current local news environment and the challenges facing entrepreneurs serving their communities.

“More financing, more training and more local support is required if the current independent local news revolution is going to be sustained,” Brown says.

The survey found a range of financial situations for publishers: roughly 1 in 4 drew their entire personal income from the outlet, while 1 in 5 earned less than 25% of their income from the venture—reflecting a need for publishers to draw from other income sources. Nearly 22% of publishers identified scaling their business beyond a one-person operation as their top financial hurdle.

Brown and Spudich argue the next phase of local news development should focus less on finding a single fix for the local news crisis and more on building the conditions, including raising capital, skills training and shared expertise, that let many different local solutions succeed.

Especially critical is entrepreneurial training, the report says, that places topics like revenue strategy, audience development and organizational leadership as core to the profession, alongside reporting, editing and storytelling.

“A business that survives because its founder works unsustainable hours is not yet a sustainable business,” the authors say. “A publication that depends upon a spouse’s salary or retirement income may produce excellent journalism but doesn’t necessarily provide a replicable economic model.”

Other key findings:

• Fewer than 5% became independent publishers out of necessity, and fewer than 2% said they would consider returning to a traditional newsroom.
• 3 in 4 respondents are highly dependent on a single distribution platform they����Dz�’t�����DzԳٰ��DZ�.
• 82% of respondents use advertising or sponsorships; more than half have used grants or fellowships and only 6.3% rely on subscriptions alone.

“We hope these findings can serve as a roadmap and support system for local journalism entrepreneurs, as well as a base on which additional research about efforts to rebuild local news can be built,” says Margaret Talev, Kramer Director of the IDJC.

The study drew on a spring 2026 survey of 277 independent local news operators that yielded 112 completed responses from publishers in 37 states and Washington, D.C., and follow-up interviews with nine publishers.

For detailed survey findings and interview excerpts, read the full report, “.”

Six Syracuse University students won a national pitch competition to design Uber’s next on-campus Uber One experience, with the global ride-sharing and delivery tech company bringing the victorious racing-themed concept to campus Friday.

The Syracuse students competed against teams from 13 other universities, including the University of Southern California, the University of Texas and Penn State University. The winning students all attend the in the following programs:

• : Carolyn Ellis ’28 and Katie Huang ’27
• : Rebecca Lipset ’28, Emilie Oestreicher ’28, Sophia Volz ’28 and Paige Wyant ’27

The competition was organized for an Uber back-to-school campaign through Home From College, a professional development and networking platform that connects brands with college students.

The Newhouse team’s idea, “The One Garage,” took its thematic cues from Formula One racing. They went through an initial round of pitching before getting an opportunity to present their campaign to Uber, which selected their entry.

The company developed the concept into the “One Crew” theme, including a racing simulator, merchant rewards, a photo booth, gift bags and an Uber One sign-up station.

The Oct. 2 stop at Syracuse runs from 11 a.m.- 5 p.m. on the Quad in front of Sims Hall and is open to all students who sign up for a free year of the Uber One membership.

It’s the latest destination on Uber One’s nationwide tour of campuses, following stops at Ohio State University, the University of Wisconsin, Purdue University and Indiana University.

Syracuse University Libraries, in collaboration with the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of English, is hosting several events as part of Banned Books Week, Oct. 5-9. All events will take place in the Peter Graham Scholarly Commons, Room 114 of Bird Library. All events are free and open to members of the University community.

This year’s Banned Book Week events include:

• The Libraries will feature a banned book display, “,” on the first floor of Bird Library from Oct. 5-9. The display was researched and created by Marissa Smith G’27 (School of Information Studies). There is also a for additional resources on book challenges, banning and intellectual freedom.
• A will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 6, from 2-3 p.m. This dynamic conversation on censorship, education and the right to read will be led by Teukie Martin, a Ph.D. candidate in inclusive education in the School of Education.
• A panel discussion, “,” will be held Tuesday, Oct. 6, from 4-5 p.m. The discussion will explore both the enduring value of academic freedom and the threats confronting it today. Panelists�� will include Roy Gutterman, director of the Tully Center for Free Speech and professor, magazine, news and digital journalism in the S.I. Newhouse�� School of Public Communications; Thomas M. Keck, Michael O. Sawyer Chair of Constitutional Law and Politics in the Department of Political Science in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs; and Thomas A. Perreault, professor in the Department of Geography and the Environment in the Maxwell School.
• A screening of the film “” and a post-screening discussion will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 7. The screening will take place from 3:30-5:10 p.m., with the discussion to follow from 5:30- 6:30 p.m. The film is the winner of the 2026 Primetime Emmy Award for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking.
• “” will be held Thursday, Oct. 8, from noon-2 p.m. In this interactive event, volunteers bring challenged and censored titles to life that patrons can “check out.” This event is being coordinated by the student group Beyond the Book.
• A lecture on “” will be held Thursday, Oct. 8, from 3- 4 p.m. Presented by Ian Spangler, visiting lecturer and interim director of the Spatial Analysis Lab at the University of Richmond. Spangler argues that we need a better vocabulary for understanding and disambiguating non-neutrality within cartography that bans and is banned.
• A will be held Thursday, Oct. 8, from 4:30-5:30 p.m. Participants can select a passage from a banned/challenged book and read it aloud. Bring your own title, select from a curated compilation or choose from books on hand. Every reader will be entered into a raffle for prizes, and refreshments will be provided.

“Censorship has no place in a library—or in academia. When we expose ourselves to the widest possible range of ideas, we don’t just protect an invaluable principle—we generate new knowledge, sharpen our critical thinking and ensure that we continue to grow,” says Melinda Dermody, associate dean for academic success at the University Libraries. “That’s why we’re proud to stand alongside our community partners in providing a robust program throughout Banned Books Week and taking a strong stand against censorship in any form.”

Banned Books Week sponsors include the Departments of Religion; Women’s and Gender Studies; Art and Music History; LGBT Studies; Languages, Literatures and Linguistics; Political Science; Writing; and the Humanities Center; as well as the Tully Center for Free Speech and the Maxwell School’s Community Geography Program. Thanks also to the Library and Information Science Student Association (LISSA), Beyond the Book and staff who volunteer to support these events.

Additionally, the Department of African American Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences is hosting a “” on Tuesday, Oct. 6, from 4:30-6 p.m. in the Martin Luther King Jr. Library in Sims Hall.

The Law Library in Dineen Hall will also be highlighting legal cases on banned books in the display case, along with handouts that provide access to free banned books online and a research guide on the legal issues around banned books.

For additional information, contact Patricia Giles pmgiles@syr.edu and/or Katherine Kidd��kakidd@syr.edu

Growing up in Los Angeles, saw friends and family members struggle with eating disorders and watched the emotional and financial toll those illnesses took on patients and the people closest to them.

Once on the Syracuse University campus, she decided to do something about it and found the entrepreneurial resources on campus to help build her idea.

After consulting with clinicians along with patients in recovery and their parents, Greene developed , a predominantly free, clinically guided, eating disorder-specific digital platform to fill the gaps in the healthcare system.

“I built Miirror because I refused to watch people keep disappearing into a system that had no room for them,” says Greene, who earned an advertising degree from the . “There is no platform built specifically for eating disorders and around eating disorder recovery that works. This is the gap I am trying to fill, and every single day I wake up knowing exactly why this matters.”

Miirror offers inclusive and stigma-free tools, support circles, crisis resources and therapy matching, providing a safe space for those in recovery. The app is available on the App Store by searching “Miirror: Recovery Support.”

“I grew up wishing I could create a support system for the people I knew who had eating disorders instead of feeling like there was nothing I could do to help, so this is my way of helping people,” says Greene, who serves as Miirror’s chief executive officer and founder.

Creating Real Connections

The platform combines product development with clinical collaboration to reduce stigmas, address gaps in the healthcare system and create technology that meets patients where they are.

“We want users to have real human connection built into their experience from day one,” says Greene, who credits the , the in the and the with developing her entrepreneurial skills.

Greene says Miirror was used in a pilot program with an eating disorder clinic for clinical validation before being released to the public.

Among the app’s primary goals and features:

• a therapeutic toolbox with more than 20 evidence-based techniques users can access anytime, anywhere
• a clinician dashboard that lets providers monitor patients between sessions, “closing a gap that the current healthcare system doesn’t address,” Greene says.
• a patterns page that tracks a user’s progress over time, creating a recovery process that feels personal and measurable
• a peer mentorship component to reduce the isolation and loneliness patients often experience

Baseline features are free, while users seeking a more personalized experience can purchase premium upgrades.

For University students seeking help with an eating disorder, please visit for more information about the available treatments and support services offered through the Eating Disorder Treatment Team.

Collaborative Spirit Fuels Team Success

Running Miirror is a full-time job for Greene and her nine team members, all full-time students balancing classes, coursework and company responsibilities.

The platform features a research department, a branding department and a development team, and Greene meets weekly with each of the department heads to reflect on successes and share research updates.

“It’s not easy being part of a student-run startup company, but what has helped is creating that sense of community on the team,” says Greene, who organizes team building activities like a Miirror Friendsgiving where colleagues can laugh and bond with each other.

Greene has also assembled a team of medical clinicians who ensure all platform resources are evidence-based, so users can trust them in their recovery.

To date, Miirror has won more than $21,000 in grant money at business competitions, including a first-place finish in the health and wellness category at the New York Business Plan Regional competition.

“Building something meaningful means nothing without the right people behind it. Everyone on this team brings something irreplaceable, and I truly couldn’t do this without them,” Greene says.

Her team includes Jacob Kaplan ’28 (front-end app developer, School of Information Studies (iSchool)), Shahaan Khan ’26 (cloud infrastructure architect, iSchool), Danielle Ofir ’26 (human resources director, College of Arts and Sciences), Reese Yoon ’26 (research analyst, College of Arts and Sciences and iSchool), Bri Gordon ’28 (research analyst, College of Arts and Sciences), Meghan Hoffman (user experience/user interface product designer, University of Michigan), Cole Meredith ’26 (head of branding, Newhouse School), Fernanda Kligerman ’26 (brand and digital designer, College of Visual and Performing Arts) and Martin Beredo ’26 (social media manager, Newhouse School).

Syracuse University today announced the launch of the , which brings together world-class researchers from across campus whose unique expertise in AI will help advance research, teaching and practice in the rapidly expanding field.

“Artificial intelligence is one of the defining research challenges of this decade, and Syracuse is making a serious commitment to it,” says , vice president for research. “The Institute for Artificial Intelligence brings our faculty together to pursue AI research at a scale no single lab or department could take on alone, to build lasting partnerships with industry and government, and to translate that work into real-world impact.”

Led by , the KG Tan Endowed Professor of Artificial Intelligence in the (ECS), the institute brings together with expertise spanning engineering, information science, public policy and communications.

“This institute reflects Syracuse University’s commitment to advancing artificial intelligence research that is both rigorous and responsible,” says Shakarian, who serves as director and executive committee chair. “We’re building a research community that is equipped to tackle AI’s hardest technical problems alongside its societal implications. We envision a future of resilient AI systems that lead to high impact applications.”

, associate professor of public administration and international affairs in the , is associate director and executive committee vice chair.

Four Research Areas

Research at the institute is organized around four areas of focus:

• AI and Security: Research spanning AI for cybersecurity, security of AI systems, formal verification and vulnerability discovery.
• Multidomain Intelligence: Sensing and perception research, including signal and image analysis and energy-efficient AI systems.
• AI in Socio-Cognitive Dynamics: How AI systems interact with human cognition, communication and social networks.
• AI for Governance and Policy: Trustworthy AI, AI safety and the policy frameworks needed to guide AI’s global development and deployment.

Federal research agencies and industry partners will also support the institute’s research agenda through collaboration and funding agreements.

Public Events, AI Community-Building

Planned public events, including lectures, workshops and symposia, will help the institute share knowledge, foster collaboration and engage the broader AI community. Events this fall include:

• (Oct. 12-13, Washington, D.C.): Sponsored by the , this invitation-only workshop will examine AI use for decision making across the domains of electronic warfare, radar, aerial and space.
• (Nov. 5-7, Arlington, Virginia): This symposium will feature traditional paper sessions with extended discussion, a poster session, three invited keynote speakers and a closing panel focused on artificial metacognition—AI’s ability to reflect on itself.

The Institute for Artificial Intelligence is part of , which includes undergraduate and graduate degree programs in AI, a suite of AI-focused minors and the peer-led AI Bootcamp for students, reinforcing the University’s position as a growing center for AI research and education. The institute will also create research opportunities for students and supports United AI, a student community that brings together undergraduate and graduate students from across the University to learn, build and lead in AI.

The Institute for Artificial Intelligence is located on the second floor of Hinds Hall. For more information, visit .

Student researchers participating in the 2025-26 fellowship in , will discuss their cultural experiences and research findings at a campuswide symposium .

The researchers took part in the program, which pairs ��selected fellows with academic programs offered at locations. The center has offered student-faculty research fellowships on social justice issues for eight years and began offering shorter-term global research opportunities two years ago.

Students will share findings from their research on human rights issues arising from the in Chile.

Ohemaa Asibuo ’27 analyzed archived lists of victims of political retribution from records at Santiago’s . The international relations and Spanish dual major in the �� and the analyzed data regarding Chileans who once supported Pinochet’s leadership but were later labeled as traitors.

Mauricio Paredes, director of Syracuse Abroad’s program, says Asibuo’s research of presenting the victims by demographic categories broke new ground and set the stage for further museum staff findings.

Asibuo regards her commemorative education work as “extremely important in preventing these types of things from occurring again. I hope to continue to advocate for using past historical events as warnings to help us navigate how we approach our futures.”

Jherlyn Brady ’27, a communication and rhetorical studies major in the , learned that Chile’s educational system “was used by the dictatorship to raise nationalism and neoliberalism. They closed institutions responsible for educating teachers; elites and the military created and governed their own schools. That exacerbated economic disparities that still affect Chileans today.” The experience “let me see the institution of education in a different context,” she says. “It can be either a source of social control or a tool of liberation.”

College of Arts and Sciences and Maxwell School political philosophy major Laila Terrell ’27 analyzed the rhetoric of , a women’s organization run by Pinochet’s wife. Though the group taught women skills for work and involvement in their communities, it also promoted the regime’s mantras and ideas about what women should be, Terrell says.

She observed that “these women could genuinely benefit from CEMA while also being part of an organization that helped support a violent dictatorship, making the idea of ‘empowerment’ much more complicated than it first appears.”

Sophia Ortiz-Heaney ’27, a Maxwell School economics and international relations dual major, says chatting with local residents and visiting former clandestine detention centers helped her “understand Chilean society on a more profound level. [They] pushed me to think about how history and movements shape the built environment…[and] understand the true extent to which the dictatorship has and still does impact the experiences, opportunities and everyday lives of Chileans.”

Also presenting are Mason Rosenbaum ’27 and Grant Montonye ’28, both international relations majors in the Maxwell School. Rosenbaum recalls conversations with Museum of Memory staff as “a particularly moving experience.” Montoye studied how Chilean constitutions were developed to justify Pinochet regime actions.

Madiou Bah ’27, a broadcast and digital journalism major in the , analyzed the use of propaganda and how governments use fear and media to control and maintain power.

Other students in the Syracuse Abroad Santiago Center program will now continue exploring those themes using teaching and learning materials developed by the Lender Global fellows, particularly those in the new .

Syracuse University’s Center for the Creator Economy will host��the��second annual��, bringing together the top creators, industry executives and thinkers who work in this growing space. ��

This year’s theme,��“Owned and Operated,”��reflects the��upward momentum of the creator economy, a discipline with real infrastructure,��partnerships��and interest��in an age where��social media dominates trends and conversations.����

The event opens Thursday, Oct. 22, with a��kickoff��celebration��at 6 p.m.��in Flaum Grand Hall at the .��Whitman co-leads the����with the , bringing together��two leading��schools in their respective fields.����

The opening night program features��a keynote from��,��founder and CEO of COEY, an AI-first media technology company,��on��the past, present and future of the creator economy.��Murphy also founded��IZEA and��previously served as the company’s CEO.����

Launched in 2025, the center recently����as��its��new executive director.��Schram will recap the center’s first year��and present��findings from the center’s inaugural research study. The first night concludes with an��“Official After Glow” event at the��Gaming and Esports Center in Schine Student Center.��

Programming continues Friday, Oct. 23,��at the Whitman School��with��panels and workshops led by��alumni creators, influencers and industry professionals building the future of digital media.������

The Center for the Creator Economy is the first academic center of its kind. Its interdisciplinary work rests on four pillars:��academics,��research, policy��engagement��and support for creator-based ventures built by Syracuse��University��students,��alumni,��faculty��and��staff.��

Email��creatoreconomy@syr.edu��to learn more��about ’CUSE��Creator Con.����

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.”