�þ���’s participants at the might avoid the term “three-peat” – since it is a registered trademark owned by former NBA coach Pat Riley – but the sentiment fits all the same. For the third consecutive year, an Elon student captured the top prize in the conference’s , continuing a remarkable run of national recognition for the Department of Sport Management.

Seven Elon students and two faculty members traveled to Temple University in Philadelphia for this year’s ASMA Conference, held Feb. 11–13, joining more than 300 academics and industry professionals for three days of research presentations, panels and case study competitions. All seven students presented original research, with four competing in the �þ��� research competition against peers from top sport management programs across the country.

This year’s top honor in the �þ��� research competition went to , who earned first place for her project, “Does Conference Realignment Pay? Evidence from NCAA Division I Institutions,” advised by Assistant Professor of Sport Management Alex Traugutt. Logue’s win follows first-place finishes by Lena Gunn ’25 in 2024 and Sarah Dawkins ’25 in 2025, marking three straight years atop the competition.

For Khirey Walker, assistant professor of sport management, the sustained success reflects more than strong results – it signals a culture of preparation, curiosity and confidence among Elon students.

“There is something truly special about watching our Elon students compete at the ASMA Conference and present research they have genuinely poured themselves into,” said Walker who accompanied the students with Traugutt to Philadelphia. “You can hear it in their voices when they present – this is not just any project to them, it is a reflection of who they are as future sport management professionals. To then see them compete in the research competition against some of the strongest sport management programs in the country and take home top honors three years in a row … that doesn’t happen by accident.”

Walker credited the students’ success to a culture of curiosity and the program’s high standards for �þ��� research.

“That’s a testament to the intellectual curiosity these students bring into the classroom and the standards set within the Elon sport management program,” Walker said. “Dr. Traugutt and I are extremely proud of this group and excited to continue bringing our students to ASMA.”

The 2026 conference offered Elon students a professional stage to present research on topics ranging from NIL policy and international student-athlete experiences to minor league hockey attendance patterns and the impact of conference realignment. The seven Elon presenters included:

• , “Are MLS Teams Spending Wisely? An Empirical Analysis of Player Performance and Salary Allocation” (advised by Traugutt)
• , “Beyond Borders: NIL Rights and the International Student-Athlete Experience” (advised by Walker)
• , “Building the Fan Base: Season Ticket Holder Perceptions and Attendance Motivations in Minor League Hockey” (advised by Traugutt)
• , “Does Conference Realignment Pay? Evidence from NCAA Division I Institutions” (advised by Traugutt)
• , “The Transfer Portal Era: Crowding Out High School Opportunities in Power Four Football” (advised by Traugutt)
• , “International Student Athletes in NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer: Motivations, Aspirations, and Issues” (advised by Walker)
• , “From Transactions to Insights: Modeling Attendance Patterns in Minor League Hockey” (advised by Traugutt)

For students, the conference offered more than a platform to present research — it provided meaningful professional exposure and a chance to connect classroom learning with real-world conversations in the field.

“ASMA is more than a poster presentation,” said Anabella Shpak ’26, a sport management and business analytics double major. “It’s about networking with others in the field, listening to dissertations and presentations of professionals in their area of interest. I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity, and if any student has the opportunity to do �þ��� research and attend ASMA in the future, I would highly recommend it!”

Lucy McAfee ’26, a sport management and exercise science double major, said presenting at a national conference as an �þ��� helped her better understand the professional relevance of her work.

“I valued the opportunity to engage in conversations with professionals in the sport industry and learn from other researchers’ work,” McAfee said. “And I am extremely grateful that Elon – specifically the Department of Sport Management – promotes opportunities like this for students.”

For Maddy Baird ’27, the competition and feedback process reinforced her academic and career interests.

“Engaging in meaningful conversations, receiving thoughtful feedback, building connections, and learning from fellow students and faculty as they presented their research made this conference both inspiring and impactful,” the sport management and data analytics double major said. “Experiences like the ASMA Conference continue to fuel my passion for sport management, data analytics, and research.”

Drawing from her own experience and the voices of other neurodiverse students, Schlehuber authored a deeply reported, multimedia feature that explores where students thrive, where they need more support, and how campuses can better serve them. As she put it, “Being diagnosed autistic myself, I really just wanted to write the story I’ve always wanted to read.”

That story has now earned national recognition for a second time. The recent �þ��� graduate, who majored in journalism and minored in creative writing, captured second place in the Feature Writing Competition of the 2025–2026 Hearst Journalism Awards Program, selected from a record 162 entries from 87 schools. Her runner-up finish includes a $2,000 award and places her among the top student feature writers in the country.

Schlehuber’s piece stood out for its depth, empathy and multimedia approach, combining reporting, photography, video and design to tell a layered story about autistic and neurodiverse students at Elon.

“I always wanted to tackle an in-depth, multimedia piece about how autistic people navigate college life,” Schlehuber said. “Autism is a disability frequently associated with childhood, but I wanted to show how dynamic autism can be, especially in young adulthood.”

Her reporting centers on students who shared their experiences honestly – from finding community and confidence to navigating accommodations, social spaces and academic expectations. The story is also supported by insights from disability experts and includes ideas for how universities can better support autistic students.

Schlehuber’s work on the project grew out of both personal and academic interests. She first explored the topic through a research article published in the Elon Journal before developing the full multimedia feature. That early work shaped not just what she reported, but how she approached the story. Schlehuber said it was important for the final piece to reflect how varied the autistic experience can be.

“The biggest challenge I faced while writing and reporting was working toward interviewing a diverse range of people,” Schlehuber said. “My three student subjects not only had autism, but they had other disabilities and chronic illnesses as well, so I wanted to make sure that was represented in my article.”

Finding expert voices also took persistence, as there are relatively few specialists focused specifically on autism in higher education, which limited the pool of available sources.

While autism has been part of her life since childhood, Schlehuber said the reporting process still revealed new layers of complexity. “Since I grew up with autism, I didn’t learn anything new about the disability itself that surprised me,” she said. “But it was surprising that autism is often coupled with other disabilities and mental illnesses.”

She added that this reality makes accommodations more complicated – and more important.

Above all, Schlehuber said she wants her story to shift how people think about neurodiversity in higher education. She wants readers to understand that autism accommodations should not stop after K–12 education and that colleges must not only accommodate neurodiverse students, but represent them in daily campus life. “More students are neurodiverse than you think,” she said.

Additionally, she wanted to push back on the assumption that college is always harder for autistic students.

“For a lot of autistic students, college is not always as hard on us as people think it is,” she said. “The students I spoke with had supportive – often neurodiverse – friend groups and enjoyed the flexibility and niche opportunities that come with college.”

In addition to the Hearst second-place finish, “The Autistic Experience at �þ���” won third place in the Multimedia Feature Story category from the Associated Collegiate Press in October. For Schlehuber, the continued recognition is both surprising and deeply meaningful.

“Winning second place was shocking,” she said of her Hearst recognition. “Every time I win an award for my journalism, I am blown away with how much people care about what I have to say.”

She is especially excited that her reporting on autism is reaching a wider audience.

“I am so excited for my reporting on autism to get eyes on it, especially through a massive media company like Hearst,” she said. “I hope this will open more doors for me in my career, as I plan to write for the rest of my life in any way I can.”

The Hearst Journalism Awards Program, now in its 66th year, includes competitions across writing, photo, audio, television, podcast and multimedia categories, offering up to $700,000 in scholarships, matching grants and stipends. More than 100 accredited journalism programs participate each year, making it one of the most prestigious student journalism competitions in the country.

The second time around, Barnett received that coveted call: She had been selected as a digital marketing intern for the NHL franchise.

Barnett grew up an Islanders fan, inheriting her love for the team from her father, who grew up on Long Island. Eventually, her love for hockey turned into something more; a persistent goal to someday work for an NHL team. Her family’s shared passion for the franchise made her acceptance all the more special, with Barnett recalling she cried when she landed the position.

“I think part of it was relief but also a little bit of a ‘pinch me’ moment,” the Communications Fellow said.

To avoid added pressure, Barnett kept her application a secret from her parents, hoping that an acceptance would allow her to surprise them. Barnett said her father was speechless when he found out.

“He was obviously really proud of me, and it meant a lot to him that something we bonded over is something that I’m now doing with my career,” Barnett said.

As a digital marketing intern, Barnett primarily worked on building the email and text message promotions distributed to Islanders fans, which inspired an idea.

Every summer, interns in the IslesU program complete an individual project to present at the end of their internship. Barnett chose to create an email sweepstakes for fans who don’t live within driving distance of the Islanders’ arena to help more of the fan base feel included.

Barnett designed a three-email sweepstakes journey that the organization eventually decided to implement and share with fans in late August.

To be entered into the sweepstakes, fans were first asked to complete a survey in which they shared their opinions on the email and text message communications being sent out, as well as the reasons behind their passion for the Islanders organization. Prizes included signed memorabilia and other team merchandise.

“It’s one thing to be able to present something and feel proud of it, but the fact that they used my idea and took it and ran with it was so cool to me,” Barnett said.

One of Barnett’s goals during the internship was to impact the franchise, be it big or small, and through her sweepstakes project she achieved that goal.

“Yes, I did A, B and C on a day-to-day basis, but I also did something that the fans can benefit from,” Barnett said.

Barnett said she also values the day-to-day work she did during her internship because she was learning something new every day and felt as though she was truly part of the organization.

Looking back on her initial rejection from the program, Barnett said she is grateful she didn’t let a “no” stop her from pursuing her passion. Instead, she let it motivate her to try harder the second time around, reaching out to people within the organization to learn more about what they do, and networking as much as possible. She encourages others to do the same, and will always remember her experience working with the Islanders.

“There are going to be a million no’s and a million rejections, but don’t let that stop you from chasing your dreams and ending up where you want to be,” Barnett said.

For the fall semester of her final year at Elon, Barnett accepted another internship with the Islanders until the end of 2025, this time working in corporate strategy.

To Assistant Professor Israel Balderas, embodies the very best of student journalism at �þ���.

“Anjolina represents what we want to cultivate in our journalism program – students who have fearless curiosity, integrity and the ability to lead under pressure,” the journalism professor said. “When she arrived at Elon, Anjolina already had strong instincts as a communicator. But over the past three years, I’ve watched her grow into a confident journalist who commands the room. She exemplifies the qualities of a modern broadcast journalist – sharp, ethical and relentless in her pursuit of the truth.”

The National Press Club recently reached a similar conclusion, awarding Fantaroni – a first-generation student from Southbridge, Massachusetts – with the . The award supports aspiring reporters with $5,000 annually, renewable for up to four years.

The Leadership Fellow has built a standout résumé during her time at Elon. Fantaroni spent the 2024-2025 academic year serving as the broadcast news director for Elon News Network and was recently named executive director, the student-run media organization’s top leadership position. She has produced more than two dozen broadcasts and filed award-winning multimedia stories, including her , which earned first place in Best Crisis Coverage at the National College Media Convention.

“It is unbelievable and such an honor to be recognized by the National Press Club,” Fantaroni said. “I have been familiar with the NPC for a long time because of my interest and involvement in journalism. And I’m very grateful to have my work ethic recognized on a national level.”

Balderas, who wrote a recommendation letter in support of Fantaroni’s application, noted that the rising senior’s leadership is matched by her commitment to service.

“Whether she’s producing a live newscast on Election Day or reporting on stories during her study abroad trip to Australia, Anjo has been at the center of our most ambitious student coverage,” he said. “She approaches every assignment with a public service mindset. That’s what makes Anjo so deserving of the Wes Vernon Broadcast Scholarship. It’s not just her talent, but her deep sense of responsibility to the truth and to the communities she serves.”

Fantaroni credits her development to the support of Elon’s journalism faculty. She expressed deep appreciation for Kelly Furnas, Alex Luchsinger, Anthony Hatcher, Rich Landesberg, Lorraine Ahearn, and Balderas, noting their willingness to offer thoughtful feedback, encouragement, and hands-on guidance beyond the classroom. Whether discussing story ideas, reviewing show layouts, or simply checking in on students’ well-being, the faculty mentorship has shaped her growth as a storyteller and newsroom leader, she explained.

“The journalism faculty here at Elon care about their students. They want us to know how to produce work that informs the community, and they give us the opportunity to seek constructive feedback that make us better journalists.”

– Anjolina Fantaroni ’26

The Wes Vernon Broadcast Scholarship is named in honor of the longtime Washington, D.C., journalist and is one of the most prestigious student honors in the field. In addition to financial support, recipients receive a one-year membership to the National Press Club.

“Anjolina has already demonstrated a keen sense of visual storytelling and has covered heavy topics with grace and sensitivity,” said Mike Balsamo, president of the National Press Club, in a June 2 award release. “She is not afraid to put in the hard work to achieve her goals, and we’re thrilled to support her as she continues her broadcast journalism studies.”

This summer, Fantaroni is interning with CBS8 in San Diego, where she has already embraced the demands of morning television. Adjusting to a new time zone and a 4 a.m. newsroom shift, she is learning new production systems, shadowing producers, and contributing to live shows by writing VOSOTs. In the weeks ahead, she will take on additional responsibilities, including building rundowns and shadowing reporters during the evening shift.

She credits this opportunity to the support of several scholarships, including the D’Angelo Family Scholarship, Lieberman-Grant Internship Award, and Maguire Family Internship Endowment, in addition to the Wes Vernon Broadcast Scholarship. Together, these awards have helped offset relocation costs and provided financial support for her continued education and professional development.

“I would not have been able to accept this internship without this support,” she said.

Powered by Bryan Baker’s Audio for Sound and Digital Media class, �þ��� students and faculty collected 11 awards in the , an internationally known competition showcasing digital media and broadcast work. In total, the competition received more than 2,285 entries from more than 300 schools.

Collectively, students in Baker’s cinema and television arts course garnered seven awards, including the university’s lone Best of Festival honors. Brandon Cericola ’26 and Kate Rivera ’25, both music production and recording arts majors, captured the festival’s top prize for their entry, “” As part of the class assignment, the two students reimagined the complete sound design for an animated clip from the 2011 comedy about a chameleon with an identity crisis.

Cericola and Rivera will join other Best of Festival recipients at the BEA Festival of Media Arts awards show in Las Vegas on Monday, April 7, where they will receive $1,000 and a trophy, courtesy of the Diana King Memorial Endowment. In addition to their Best of Festival honors, Cericola and Kate Rivera earned first place in the festival’s Audio – Multimedia Sound Design category. A complete list of Elon’s award recipient is below – please scroll down.

Baker congratulated Cericola and Rivera for their work, calling it an “exceptional project.” The instructor noted how their award-winning entry used ambient sound and music to help establish the scene’s atmosphere, utilizing the stereo spectrum with a beautifully balanced mix.

“They tackled a scene with significant emotional range, allowing for powerful sound design moments,” said Baker, who serves as the director of technology, operations and multimedia projects in the School of Communications. “The way they layered sound effects to enhance the emotional depth really draws the viewer in.”

Baker commended his students, many of whom participated in his FreshTV cohort, for both their enthusiasm and their skill.

“The first day of class we talked about doing something special with our time,” he said. “The class is very much project based, and we decided to treat each assignment like a professional project. They pushed each other to do good work and often partnered with great teamwork. Now that the class is complete, I feel like they each have strong portfolio pieces as they move toward graduation.”

Among those strong portfolio pieces is Colin Dorroh’s , which captured the top spot in the Audio – PSA, Promo, or Commercial category. Baker credited the cinema and television arts major for his entry’s persuasive script, clear voiceover, concise editing and choice of music.

“We can be proud of our continued success in this annual competition as each year the entries increase, and the competition stiffens between a truly impressive list of universities and academic programs,” Baker said.

In addition to student awards, Assistant Professor of Communication Design Ahmed Fadaam earned an Award of Excellence for his short documentary, “Baghdad Graphic.” The short film, directed by Associate Professor of Cinema and Television Arts Doug Kass, is based on Fadaam’s graphic novel recounting his personal experiences in Iraq, focusing on the United States’ 2001 invasion of the Middle East.

Fadaam and Kass worked together on a script, incorporating illustrations Fadaam had completed previously. Kass then teamed with Assistant Professor of Cinema and Television Arts Max Negin to build out the film’s timeline. With support from Fadaam’s former animation students, they animated several illustrations.

Among the Elon alumni who contributed to the animations were Maddie Stokowski ’15, Chelsea Lindsay ’15, Jessica Grembowski ’16 and Evan Burdett ’17. The alumni support didn’t stop there, with Philip G Anderson ’13 handling the film’s musical score and Sam Costello ’14 overseeing sound design.

The deeply personal project has collected several awards across the globe, most notably earning Best Documentary at the Nefiltravanae Kino International Film Festival in Minsk, Belarus. Additionally, the film has been recognized at festivals in war-torn areas around the world, including Estonia, Nigeria, India and the Ukraine.

“Being recognized by the BEA Festival of Media Arts means a tremendous amount to Doug, Max and myself,” Fadaam said. “Hopefully, the documentary will help inform people about the horrors of war and how the 2003 invasion of Iraq simply ruined the lives of thousands of Iraqis and Americans alike.”

Elon award recipients

Audio – PSA, Promo, or Commercial:
1st Place: ; Colin Dorroh
2nd Place: ; Christian Kelly
Award of Excellence: ; Kate Rivera

Audio – Narrative Audio:
2nd Place (tie): ; Will Calkins

Audio – Non-Narrative Audio:
3rd Place (tie): ; Adam Alkins
Award of Excellence: ; Kate Rivera

Audio – Multimedia Sound Design
1st Place and Best of Festival: ; Brandon Cericola & Kate Rivera

Documentary – Short-Form Documentary
Award of Excellence: ; Aaron Chan & Evan Purnell

Film and Video – Narrative
Award of Excellence: I Killed My Boyfriend; Alex Chadwick

Sports – Audio/Video Sports Event: Play by play talent
3rd Place (tie): – Max Wallace; Max Wallace

Faculty Documentary – Short-Form Documentary
Award of Excellence: ; Ahmed Fadaam & D.K. Odessa

The Pendulum, �þ���’s student-run newspaper, earned several top honors from the Society of Professional Journalists’ , including the Corbin Gwaltney Award for Best All-Around Student Newspaper.

The Corbin Gwaltney Award, named after the co-founder of The Chronicle of Higher Education, includes a $5,000 prize for the newsroom.

“I am deeply honored to continue Corbin’s legacy of supporting student journalists who are committed to truth-seeking and professionalism in their reporting,” Pamela Gwaltney, chair of The Chronicle of Higher Education, . “He believed in the power of the written word, and it’s gratifying to see these student journalists share his lifelong passion for integrity and curiosity as they hone their craft.”

The judges of the newspaper contest praised Elon’s student journalists for their robust local news section, specifically noting their government and enterprise reporting, as well as their innovative design work and use of infographics.

“There’s a sense that the editors and designers don’t just care about the stories, they also care about the readers’ experience,” judges said of The Pendulum’s staff. “The work adds up to strong design, clean and clear copy, and all-around solid issues.”

, the student-run news organization that publishes The Pendulum, also won first-place national awards for in-depth reporting, photo essay and use of multimedia. It received national finalist awards in the categories of feature photography and narrative podcast. National contenders were previously recognized as first-place winners in one of the SPJ’s 12 regional competitions for work completed during the 2023 calendar year. Each first-place regional winner advanced to the national competition.

Winners and finalists in the Society of Professional Journalists national Mark of Excellence Awards include:

• National Winner – Corbin Gwaltney Award for Best All-Around Student Newspaper | The Pendulum | ;��;��and ����徱�پ��DzԲ�
• National Winner – Photo Essay/Slideshow | Clare Grant ’23 |
• National Winner – Best Use of Multimedia | Thomas Denome ’23 |
• National Winner – In-Depth Reporting | Sophie Rosenthal ’24 |
• National Finalist – Feature Photography | Katherine Martin ’25 |
• National Finalist – Podcast (Narrative) | Margaret Faust ’23 |

Additionally, The Pendulum racked up several awards in the student competition of the Society for News Design. Erin Martin ’25 won first- and second-place awards for sports page design, as well as a first-place award for digital storytelling design. The Pendulum won the first-place award for the student newspaper of the year.

Awards for the Society for News Design student competition include:

• 1st Place – Student Newspaper of the Year | The Pendulum |
• 1st Place – Sports Page Design | Erin Martin ’25 |
• 2nd Place – Sports Page Design | Martin |
• 1st Place – Digital Storytelling | Martin |

The Corbin Gwaltney Award

The Corbin Gwaltney Award for Best All-Around Student Newspaper recognizes the effort and dedication of student-run newspapers based on two divisions: large and small. The Pendulum was awarded the Corbin Gwaltney in the small university division, 1 to 9,999 students. The Indiana Daily Student at Indiana University was recognized in the large university division, 10,000-plus students.

The award is named after the founder of The Chronicle, who left a legacy of integrity and journalistic recognition after he passed away in 2019.

Elon’s School of Communications was named to the , a competitive distinction recognizing the nation’s most innovative schools for career advancement in PR and communications. This is the third year in a row that Elon has been named to this prestigious list.

The 20 honorees on this year’s list, hailing from across the country, were touted for their new degree specializations, the success of students earning multiple internship opportunities, and the institutions’ ability to provide access to top professionals working within the industry.

To compile the 2024 list, which was officially released on May 23, members of PRNEWS editorial staff examined factors such as curricula, diversity, faculty composition, academic awards and coursework. The group also considered off-campus offerings, such as internships, and how the schools’ coursework reflected the continued evolution of the communications field.

, the Education A-List website championed ElonComm’s faculty size, core curriculum offerings and elective courses. It also touted the school’s new interdisciplinary Health Communications minor, coordinated by Professor of Strategic Communications Julie Lellis.

“We are humbled to be recognized alongside other A-List programs from across the country, and it is a testament to the hard work of our students, faculty and staff who continue to raise the bar of excellence at Elon,” said Kenn Gaither, dean of the School of Communications. “Through rigorous coursework, internships, and Live Oak Communications – our in-house, student-run strategic communications agency – our students prove again and again to be industry-ready and prepared to make an immediate impact post-graduation.”

Among the institutions joining Elon on this year’s A-List are American University, Boston University, New York University, Syracuse University, the University of Florida and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, among others. According to PRNEWS, this year’s list was compiled following the review of hundreds of schools and universities.

“The Education A-List is the only editorial roster of its kind, dedicated to the most innovative higher learning institutions for PR & communications,” said Kaylee Hultgren, content director for PRNEWS. “This year’s esteemed list supports our view that PR and communications programs provide additional, high-quality training for professionals in the industry. Moreover, their continued evolution – through both a content and technological perspective – keeps apace with the real-world companies, organizations and new trends and specialties that are driving the industry forward.”

�þ���’s School of Communications continues to build on its success in the Broadcast Education Association’s annual rankings of schools based on student achievements in the Festival of Media Arts, .

ElonComm placed ninth overall thanks in part to the school’s third-place finish in the Film and Video category. The school also finished eighth in the Interactive Multimedia & Emerging Technology category, with top-20 finishes in the News (No. 12), Sports (No. 12) and Documentary (No. 19) categories. The rankings were derived from the results of the BEA Festival of Media Arts, an international media competition focused on student and faculty creative endeavors.

According to the BEA news release, the rankings – which are based on the past five-year period of student success – are not an overall evaluation of an academic program, but an evaluation of the quality and consistency of students’ creative works produced at one institution compared to those at other institutions.

The top 10 overall programs consisted of – in order – Arizona State University, University of Oklahoma, Syracuse University, University of Florida, Missouri State University, Huntington University, Ball State University, Taylor University, Elon and Rowan University.

“As always, we are in very good company and should be proud of our student success on a national level,” said Vic Costello, associate professor of cinema and television arts, and former BEA president. “This ranking represents really, really good work from our students. They are going head-to-head with the other universities that regularly enter the BEA Festival of Media Arts and we are standing side by side.”

Costello noted that unlike business schools, communications programs have no overarching national rankings. But Elon’s continued success in the BEA school rankings serves as “validation of the quality of our student work,” he said.

Elon students collected a total of nine awards in BEA’s 2024 Festival of Media Arts, with Max Wallace ’26 leading the way with two awards. The Elon journalism major earned a second-place finish for his in the festival’s Video Story/Feature (short) category, as well as an Award of Excellence in the Audio/Video Sports Event: Play by Play Talent category. Additionally, Brendan Antrosiglio ’23 earned a second-place finish for his “” submission in the Music Video category.

In the last five years alone, nearly 7,000 student creative works were submitted from BEA’s more than 300 member institutions around the globe.

Only the top 20% of entries become a festival winner. There are five levels of awards: Best of Festival, First Place, Second Place, Third Place, and Award of Excellence. The rankings take into account both the quantity and quality of student works. For instance, Best of Festival winners are given a higher weight than Awards of Excellence. While the BEA honors outstanding achievements of both faculty and students, the rankings focus solely on student accomplishments.

The Broadcast Education Association is the premier international academic media organization, driving insights, excellence in media production, and career advancement for educators, students, and professionals. The Festival of Media Arts was created and is organized by BEA faculty across the globe to honor the amazing works of both students and faculty.

Rankings recap

How did ElonComm do this year compared to the last two years? Check out the rankings below.

Overall: No. 9
(No. 9 in 2023, No. 6 in 2022)

Documentary: No. 19
(No. 20 in 2023, No. 21 in 2022)

Film and Video: No. 3
(No. 3 in 2023 and 2022)

Interactive Multimedia and Emerging Technology: No. 8
(No. 2 in 2023 and 2022)

News: No. 12
(No. 13 in 2023, No. 12 in 2022)

Sports: No. 12
(No. 20 in 2023, No. 15 in 2022)

�þ���’s Sport Management Department was recently granted accreditation by the Commission on Sport Management Accreditation (COSMA), a national accrediting body that promotes and recognizes excellent sport management higher education. It is the only organization offering discipline-specific accreditation in sport management.

With its accreditation, Elon becomes one of 35 accredited programs in the United States, and only the second institution to earn the status in North Carolina (Winston-Salem State University). Fellow COSMA-accredited institutions include Ohio University, Louisiana State University, Northeastern University, Troy University and the University of Louisville.

“To receive this accreditation is affirmation of what we have known for some time – our sport management program and its curriculum, initiatives, faculty and students are among the best in the nation,” said Kenn Gaither, interim dean of the School of Communications. “We have long been fortunate to have faculty committed to producing students who are outstanding in their chosen field. We are delighted to receive this stamp of approval, and we will remain committed to producing industry-ready graduates.”

According to Associate Dean Tony Weaver, who chaired the Sport Management Department from December 2015 to May 2020, the SPT faculty initially began conversations about accreditation in 2010, shortly after the department moved into the School of Communications. With support from former Deans Paul Parsons and Rochelle Ford, department faculty members became active COSMA members and eventually conversations turned to serious consideration, followed by preparation to apply.

“This process gave us a chance to reexamine our department as a whole and, more specifically, the curriculum, how we are infusing the university’s priorities – like ELRs and high-impact practices – and how we think about our own strategic plan as a department,” said Weaver, who led the application process. “Accreditation gives you the chance to really examine and measure if you are doing what you think you should to be doing. It some ways, it is an internal measure of quality, and to others it is an external evaluation of excellence.

“For us, it was really about the internal reflection of what we teach, how we teach it and who teaches it,” he added.

As part of the process, the department redesigned its student learning outcomes, reviewed its curriculum, rubrics, measurements, resources and faculty, and submitted a comprehensive self-study document. Elon also hosted a site team visit last fall as a final evaluation by the COSMA Board of Commissioners. The board ultimately approved and finalized Elon’s accreditation status during an early February meeting.

Following the board’s announcement, �þ��� President Connie Ledoux Book commended the department’s faculty for their efforts to reflect on the program’s offerings and objectives, while looking for ways to enrich the academic experience on campus.

​“​Building and maintaining transformational academic programs is a strength of our faculty and staff,” Book said. “I want to congratulate our sport management program for reaching this important milestone and for its continued pursuit of excellence in engaged and experiential learning. We are thrilled to receive this gold standard for our program that ensures Elon graduates will continue to meet the needs of the sport industry.”

According to Weaver, the department’s self-study was deliberate in connecting with the eight principles highlighted in the COSMA accreditation process. This task also gave faculty a chance to align the department’s strategic plan with the school’s strategic plan and the university’s priorities outlined in the Elon Commitment and Boldly Elon plans.

“The self-study process provided clarity on what the accreditation body felt was important – and they are the same things we feel are important,” said Weaver, referencing a commitment to �þ���, engaged learning, high-impact practices, high-quality scholarship and service. “Earning accreditation is external acknowledgement that we achieve those objectives – and we do them well.”

While the self-study process was a significant undertaking in terms of time and resources, Cara Lucia, associate professor and chair in the Sport Management Department, explained that the department gained tangible benefits – ones that will positively impact faculty, staff and students.

“The process gave us an opportunity to see the holistic picture of what we do as a department and helped identify areas of strength and identify opportunities for growth,” she said. “We also got to see the positive results from the department’s student learning outcomes and department goals. We found our graduates are proficient in their communication skills, possess the ability to think critically, and apply course knowledge to practical experiences to make informed decisions. We also identified areas needing attention. This process provided a means for SPT faculty to examine ways to improve student learning and reach our department goals.”

For Weaver, the accreditation process is confirmation that the department is on par with the best sport management programs in the nation. This is largely thanks to university and school support, access to resources to pursue educational priorities, and its own comprehensive strategic plan.

But ultimately, he explained, the strength of the Sport Management Department is its people.

“We hire really good faculty and staff, and we recruit students who believe in the things that we believe in terms of experiential education, engagement and participation,” Weaver said. “We can’t do this without committed faculty and staff, and without the students who want to be taught and pushed to succeed.”

COSMA awarded Elon’s program the maximum seven-year accreditation through February 2030.

The School of Communications earned full accreditation from the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications in 2006 and has completed two successful reaccreditation processes during the 2011-12 and 2017-18 academic years.

About COSMA

The (COSMA), located in Fort Collins, Colorado, is a specialized accrediting body whose purpose is to promote and recognize excellence in sport management education worldwide in colleges and universities at the baccalaureate and master’s levels through specialized accreditation.

The city-block-wide graphic couldn’t be missed, but the thousands of passersby likely had no idea of its connection to Elon. Though they can hardly be blamed. There was no maroon and gold, nor a phoenix or even a branded acorn in sight.

Yet, it was very much an Elon collaboration.

The billboard was created as a joint effort by Ian Myers ’23, Melanie Meisner ’23 and Elizabeth Daria ’23 – all three majoring in communication design – in support of the and its charitable run to raise awareness and educational funding. In a one-of-a-kind font created by Meisner, the enormous billboard read, “Walk to Support Holocaust Education.” To the right were a pair of shoes and the text, “Journey for the Living.” Tiptoeing in the background were footprints to give the sign a sense of movement.

The massive advertisement, which launched on Nov. 1 and ran through the end of the month, came to fruition because of several relationships on Elon’s campus. It was an endeavor that loops through the Doherty Center for Creativity, Innovation & Entrepreneurship and the Department of Communication Design, connecting one student’s good idea with three others with the creativity to bring it to life.

For Myers, the project’s objective was appealing far beyond the opportunity to have his work displayed in one of the world’s most famous locations. The project felt – and was – deeply personal.

“As a Jewish American I have personal connections with the Holocaust and am directly affected by ‘uneducation’ surrounding the Holocaust,” said Myers, who serves as president of the Elon Hillel. “When the opportunity to create this billboard and to promote this great foundation came about, I was all in to promote their important message.”

15 miles to escape

As a young Jewish boy in Brzostek, Poland, Mark Schonwetter – for whom the foundation is named – survived the Holocaust under the direst of circumstances. After his father was taken by the Nazi Gestapo, Schonwetter fled with his mother and younger sister, walking 15 miles in a single night to escape. Over the next three years, and until the end of the war, his family hid in the homes of kind Polish families and the surrounding forests.

In recent years, Schonwetter and his daughters, Ann Arnold and Isabella Fiske, have shared their family’s heroic story. The family has published a book, hosted speaking engagements and established the Mark Schonwetter Holocaust Education Foundation to fund school programs that enhance Holocaust curriculum.

Lexi Arnold ’23, daughter of Ann Arnold and granddaughter of Mark Schonwetter, is an Elon senior majoring in entrepreneurship and a scholar intern with the Doherty Center. And it was her idea to have Elon students create a Times Square billboard for her family’s foundation. As only a daughter can do, Lexi Arnold told her mother that the previous year’s design looked underwhelming. This led to a conversation with Arnold and Alyssa Martina, who directs the Doherty Center, about a possible Elon student competition to select a new billboard design. Martina then turned to her colleagues in the School of Communications for direction.

“All of the professors I contacted were amazingly supportive of this idea,” Martina said, “but Ben Hannam pointed out that there might not be sufficient time for a competition since our window was quite tight. So, he suggested that we identify specific students to work with Lexi and the foundation. And he was right.”

According to Hannam, several students showed interest in the project, with Daria, Meisner and Myers ultimately teaming up. As it turned out, Daria is also a Doherty Center scholar intern, “so there was a lot of synergy between our programs and the school,” Martina noted.

Hannam said it wasn’t a coincidence that Myers was recommended given his Hillel presidency, but the associate professor also saw the billboard as a perfect professional development opportunity. “This project hit a sweet spot for Ian because it provides him with an opportunity to talk about his leadership participating in Elon Hillel and collaborating and leading a team in a rather unique project that would be displayed for thousands,” the professor said.

For Meisner, who is Jewish, her involvement stemmed from a place of appreciation for her teachers and educators who discussed the Holocaust as part of her public school curriculum in New Jersey. Those important conversations as a youngster allowed her to “truly appreciate how important it is to spread awareness,” she said. Additionally, the project provided Meisner with a place to convey her feelings in a visual form.

“I often turn to art to help me cope and spread awareness about the things bothering me in society,” Meisner said. “The opportunity to design an ad for Journey for the Living for the largest billboard in Times Square helped me understand how my work is making a difference to create a better-educated community when it comes to knowledge and remembrance of the Holocaust.”

‘Bad drafts’ lead to great design

Before the design process could begin, introductions had to be made.

To kick off the project this fall, the student design team held video meetings with Schonwetter, his two daughters and his granddaughter to get a sense of their vision, their expectations and what past versions of the billboard and graphics looked like. The three design students then spent weeks brainstorming, designing, collecting critiques from professors and redesigning until they landed on a final version.

“We created a ton of what we called ‘bad drafts’ that we shared with the foundation,” Daria quipped. “These were drafts that we knew had solid pieces to them, but were not anywhere near ready to be up in Times Square.”

The students worked to create design elements – redesigned logos, possible layouts and motion graphics – that “we felt would make the billboard pop,” Myers added.

The multiple meetings with the foundation and subsequent feedback allowed the students to understand the valuable insights of previous design choices. “We learned that the logos were built with intention because of a powerful story of remembrance, which we made sure to keep in the redesigned logos that we built,” Myers said. “While it took a lot of time … the final product was better than we could have imagined.”

Hannam recalls that he and Myers met informally throughout the semester to discuss the project’s status. At one point, the duo sketched out a proposed layout on a 4-foot by 16-foot whiteboard. The mock-up allowed the student and professor to take a step back and visualize the board – albeit without thousands of tourists milling about.

According to Myers, the students were confronted with two overarching challenges with their project. First, the sign had to deliver its information quickly – the board rotates every 15 seconds. The second obstacle was identifying ways to grab people’s attention in a crowded environment. As part of their research, the students learned that most successful billboards use motion and, so, they incorporated walking footprints in the background.

“I built these three sets of walking footprints in Adobe After Effects to represent the 15 miles walked by Mark and his family members while also using the motion to grab the viewer’s eyes,” Myers said.

Hannam called Meisner’s illustrated shoes one of his favorite parts of the project. Early concepts featured running and walking shoes – in reference to the Journey for the Living running/walking challenge – but the professor didn’t sense it fit the foundation’s story.

“What I like most about the shoes Melanie illustrated was that she chose shoes that represented ‘the community’ rather than ‘athletics,’” Hannam said. “A poetic and insightful design decision that might go unnoticed, but it added a subtle layer of visual information that reinforces their concept beautifully.”

Hannam also appreciated the students’ utilization of a QR code so that passersby could connect with the initiative quickly and easily. “Who doesn’t go into Times Square without their phone and camera?” he noted.

On the biggest of screens

Two weeks after the billboard’s launch –  –Schonwetter and his family were officially introduced to the student designers during an unveiling celebration on Nov. 15 in Dwight C. Schar Hall.

Chronologically, the launch and unveiling are a bit out of order, but it didn’t temper the joyful mood in the conference room. Schonwetter’s campus visit also included a public lecture for the Elon community.

As it were, the three student designers did not see the billboard live in person. Instead, on the day of the billboard’s first public appearance, Myers and Hannam resorted to a web camera positioned on Times Square. “Luckily, the Elon network was able to spring into action since, and the team received some great photos and videos of the billboard in action,” Hannam said.

“I am very proud of our final design,” Myers said. “It was an incredible feeling that my work was being shown in New York City to thousands of people. It also brought me a sense of pride as a Jewish person to promote this important education.”

Admittedly, the group said it was an emotional project given its content and meaning. However, they took solace in each other’s support.

Meisner said she relished the collaborative nature the design trio had, and how they aligned their skills to “create something we could all be proud of.” Myers appreciated the different perspectives his partners contributed, leaning on one another to make the most appealing billboard they could.

Hannam expressed his thanks to Martina, the Doherty Center and the Mark Schonwetter Holocaust Education Foundation for seeking out the School of Communications, collaborating with the students, and serving as both a client and as a partner.

“I think this was a highly successful, sometimes stressful project that epitomizes Elon’s mantra of engaged learning and community involvement,” Hannam said. “I’m proud of the solution that our students were able to produce – a design worthy of the bright lights of Times Square.”