Calling the biggest fan of “The Joe Murray Show,” 98.5 The Sports Hub’s weeknight program, might be an understatement. The sport management major estimates she tuned in to the Boston-based program nearly 300 times last year. So, when the station offered her an internship this summer, she knew it was the perfect fit.

“It’s just a really well-rounded internship, and that’s what I think is truly going to help me,” the aspiring sports broadcaster said.

While Marchand’s shift at the radio station doesn’t start until 6 p.m., she has her hands full with a wide range of duties the rest of the night. She answers incoming calls from listeners, assists with the station’s YouTube stream and creates graphics for social media. But what excites her the most is the chance to go live on the air.

“That’s probably the biggest opportunity I’ve had,” she said. “It’s really nice that they trust me to go on the radio with thousands of people listening.”

Early in the internship, the show’s producer wrote an entire segment for Marchand, giving her the chance to discuss the New England Patriots on the air. A few weeks later, she was helping the station’s social media team cover one of the most consequential days in Boston sports, following the Celtics’ blockbuster trade of Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers.

Those opportunities grew from a connection Marchand had pursued long before the internship began.

Because internships at 98.5 The Sports Hub aren’t publicly posted, Marchand said networking is essential. In fact, when Marchand initially sent Joe Murray a message on LinkedIn during her freshman year, securing an internship wasn’t on her mind.

“Funny enough, he left me on ‘read’ the first time I messaged him,” Marchand said. “A year later, I reached out again and said, ‘Hey, I waited a year. I’d still love to find time to chat. I know you’re really busy.’ The second time, he answered.”

When he finally responded, Murray asked a question that changed everything.

“Do you know Katie Bennert?” he wrote back, referencing the 2024 Elon graduate who both interned and worked at the station. Marchand had never met the Elon alumna, but had heard positive things about her from friends involved with Elon Sports Vision. That shared Elon connection prompted Murray to invite Marchand to tour the studio over Winter Break. That’s when he offered her a spot to join his production team.

“I decided that this would be the best opportunity for me, working at a major market Boston sports radio station, and it’s been amazing,” she said.

While her internship began this summer, Marchand is no stranger to sports broadcasting. During her first two years at Elon, she has contributed to more than 50 Elon Sports Vision broadcasts as a play-by-play announcer, sideline reporter and more. This past year, she became the youngest of three student hosts to call Elon Division I football games on the radio and co-hosted her own sports radio show with Scott Katz ’26. She has also worked more than 90 shifts with Elon Athletics, gaining additional behind-the-scenes experience in game-day operations.

“Being able to have that on my resume at just 19 years old, where a lot of people may not have those opportunities … I think that that’s really what Elon has helped me with,” Marchand said. “I don’t think I would have gotten those opportunities anywhere else.”

At Elon, Marchand has sharpened her on-air delivery and become comfortable working in a studio environment. Now she’s learning how to be more creative producing content centered on sports conversations rather than live competition. She’s also learning to separate her professional responsibilities from her passion as a fan.

Growing up just an hour outside Boston, Marchand has been a fan of the city’s professional sports teams since she was young. In August, she’ll attend Patriots training camp to capture photos and create content for the station.

“You do have to separate being a fan from your professional work, so I can’t fangirl over them when I’m there,” she said. “I have to be professional.”

While Marchand’s own initiative opened the door at 98.5 The Sports Hub, she credits the guidance she received at Elon with helping her walk through it. Assistant Professor of Sport Management Khirey Walker, in particular, played an important role in her internship search.

“He is just one of the most passionate, hardworking, selfless and kind people that I know at Elon,” she said. “He will literally drop anything to help any of his students.”

This fall, Marchand will continue her journey through The Sport Experience in Charlotte, where she’ll live, intern and study while expanding her experience in one of the nation’s fastest-growing sports business markets.

Over the past two decades, the Elon alumna has built a career at the intersection of sports, philanthropy, entrepreneurship and social impact. She began in professional sports, working with the U.S. Golf Open and in hockey before joining the Commissioner’s Office of Major League Baseball. She later helped drive scale and impact for the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, served as Chief Operating Officer of the Tory Burch Foundation, and ultimately founded Future Waves, a nonprofit program dedicated to helping children discover the power of nature, entrepreneurship, and active living, and most recently wrote a children’s book: “Ocean Superheroes.”

“The whole premise of the book is to remind kids that you can never be too young or too old to get involved with what’s happening in the world,” said McGee.

Raymond McGee started Future Waves because she noticed a gap in getting kids outside and giving them a voice to come up with entrepreneurial solutions in the world. The organization now hosts a program where children identify a problem the planet is facing, and they pitch their ideas to a “friendly shark tank.” Past judges have been former Apple CEO John Sculley, filmmaker Luca Martínez, and Sylvia Earle, the first chief scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Raymond McGee’s childhood hero. Raymond McGee works with Earle on global conservation, and she helped inspire the organization and book.

“I wrote ‘Ocean Superheroes’ because it was the book I wish I had when I was a kid,” Raymond McGee said. “The ocean is full of sea creatures that have superpowers that protect us and keep us healthy. And we also have superpowers that the ocean needs to keep our planet healthy. We’re interconnected and protecting the ocean is a team sport, and we all need to get involved.”

Her educational journey has also included that same “purpose.” After graduating from Elon with a degree in sport management, she earned a master’s degree in non-profit management and public policy from New York University and, a year ago, earned another master’s degree from The Wharton School of Business’s first global MBA program.

At Elon, her time as an Isabella Cannon Leadership Fellow heavily shaped many aspects of her life, including her focus of community. Founded in 1989 by Isabella Cannon ’24, the former Mayor of Raleigh, the Isabella Cannon Leadership Fellows program is a nationally recognized leadership development program designed to strengthen each student’s leadership skills and ability to impact themselves, their communities and their world.

“Our whole mission is to bring kids together so they can develop entrepreneurial solutions to real-world challenges, and so much of what I learned through the Fellows program has shaped the way we design our Future Waves programming,” Raymond McGee said. “I chose Elon because of the Fellows program, but I also chose it because there was an incredible sense of purpose, optimism and community. From the moment I visited campus, I could feel that students genuinely cared about one another and wanted to make a positive impact. That spirit of collaboration and service is what has always made Elon so special to me, and it’s something I’ve carried with me throughout my career.”

“Ocean Superheroes” is through Tiny Torch Books and distributed by Simon & Schuster. Readers can purchase individual copies or donate books to Title I schools, with 100% of net proceeds supporting Future Waves programs.

For Raymond McGee, the book is one chapter in a lifelong mission to help young people discover their potential. This fall, she’ll return to the two fields that first shaped her career—sports and entrepreneurship with the opening of Moonlight Graham, a sports boutique in South Florida designed to celebrate the joy of sports, collecting and community.

“I want every child who walks through our doors to see themselves reflected in the sports cards, collectibles and stories we share,” Raymond McGee said. “Whether they’re a baseball fan, a tennis player, a surfer, a dancer, or just discovering a new passion, I want them to feel welcomed, inspired, and connected to a community that encourages them to dream big. I hope that Moonlight Graham becomes more than a store; it becomes a place where families gather, friendships are formed, young people discover new passions, and our community is strengthened through the timeless values that sports teach.”

As thousands of soccer fans streamed toward San Francisco Bay Area Stadium in Santa Clara, California, draped in national flags and chanting hours before kickoff, the energy was palpable.

Swiss fans dressed as cows rang cowbells, Australian fans carried enormous inflatable kangaroos, and Jordanian supporters congregated early outside the gates, waving oversized flags and singing in unison. Together, they created the spectacle that makes the FIFA World Cup unlike any other sporting event.

For , those moments were part of her daily routine during the tournament’s opening stages.

As a ticketing operations manager for FIFA, the �þ��� graduate spent several months helping fans enjoy the FIFA World Cup. While much of her work happened behind the scenes, Cirby handled everything from validating each seat in the stadium and accessible seating requests to one of the tournament’s toughest challenges: helping fans who unknowingly purchased counterfeit tickets.

“The more games have been played, the more variations of fake tickets have come out,” she explained.

While resolving ticket issues is part of the job, it represents only a fraction of Cirby’s experience. For all six Bay Area matches – including Team USA’s Round of 32 win – she served as the stadium ticketing manager and welcomed more than 410,000 fans to the region she grew up in.

“It’s the World Cup,” she said. “It’s once in a lifetime to be able to be part of an event like this.”

Cirby joined FIFA in January after nearly six years with the San Francisco Giants, where she built a career in ticket operations and services with her hometown team. But the opportunity to work the World Cup was one she couldn’t pass up.

“I was just kind of looking for jobs casually, just to see what was out there, and I threw in an application – and then it worked out,” Cirby said.

Her responsibilities have stretched far beyond match days. Cirby helped hire local stadium staff, prepare cross-functional training for various departments, and ensure FIFA’s ticketing spaces were ready before fans arrived. Once matches began, she moved between entrances and ticket offices, supporting staff and assisting fans whose tickets would not scan, who needed accessible seating accommodations, or who could not locate their tickets.

The role also gave Cirby a front-row view of the tournament’s global fan culture.

“It’s mesmerizing to see these fans and the passion that they have,” Cirby said. “I don’t get to see the full fan marches, but I get to see them arrive at our entrance and go through our turnstiles, and they’re still chanting and cheering.”

Cirby’s path to FIFA began at Elon, majoring in sport management. She fondly remembers attending MLB’s Winter Meetings with her classmates, where she placed resumes in the mailboxes of organizations with job openings.

“I probably put 20 to 30 resumes in and got a couple of interviews, but that’s how I got my first job with the Atlanta Braves right out of college,” Cirby said.

That first role with the Braves eventually led to opportunities with the Giants and, ultimately, FIFA. Looking back, Cirby encourages students interested in the sport industry to cast a wide net.

“Honestly, just apply,” Cirby said. “Putting yourself out there and applying can make a real difference.”

Her World Cup assignment also demanded resolution. For nearly two months, Cirby was based at a hotel in Santa Clara with other FIFA staff because of the long hours and the proximity to the stadium. The work has been especially demanding because Cirby has been doing it with a torn ACL, an injury she sustained this spring playing in a rec league kickball game. After consulting with doctors, she decided to postpone surgery until after the tournament.

“It’s really funny to be like, ‘Not only am I working the World Cup, but I’m walking like 25,000 steps a day on a torn ACL,’” Cirby laughed.

With surgery scheduled for late August, Cirby is looking forward to a well-earned break – and where her career will take her next. But this experience has reaffirmed why she chose a career in sports.

“I grew up playing soccer through high school, and I’ve continued to be a big fan,” Cirby said. “Seeing supporters from so many different countries bring that passion to every match has been the best part of the job.”

The “Elon Dance Team Send-Off” video, directed and edited by Peter Sillitto ’26 and produced in collaboration with the Elon Dance Team, received a Sports Video Group (SVG) College Sports Media Award for Outstanding In-Venue Video – Collegiate Student Championship. The award was presented May 27 in Atlanta during the 18th annual SVG College Sports Media Awards ceremony.

The honor came just weeks after the Elon Dance Team captured two national titles at the 2026 National Dance Association College National Championships, winning the Division I pom and Division I hip hop competitions. The back-to-back victories marked a historic achievement for the program, including Elon’s first national championship in the pom category.

Produced for the team’s trip to nationals, the video took a more narrative approach than previous send-off productions.

“Producing a send-off video is something we do every year, with the final piece being shown in the Schar Center and shared across social media,” said Sillitto, a cinema and television arts major. “This year, we wanted to take a more story-driven approach by focusing on the team’s journey to nationals. Our goal was to showcase not only their performances, but also the hard work, dedication and experiences that led them there.”

In addition to Sillitto, the student production team included Kristen Pearson ’27 and Meghan McGarrigle ’28 as producers; and Zack Golub ’26 and Colin Dorroh ’27 as creative producers and camera operators.

across multiple locations, capturing both cinematic visuals and authentic moments from practices, workouts and team activities.

“One of the biggest challenges was making sure we told the team’s real story, which meant being present and ready to film during genuine moments,” Sillitto said. “Capturing those authentic interactions and experiences was an important part of the creative process and helped make the final video feel more personal and meaningful.”

For Sillitto, the award reflects months of collaboration and effort from both the dancers and the production crew.

“I’m proud of the project because every year our goal is to create the best video possible, and we have a lot of creative freedom to experiment with new ideas and push ourselves creatively,” he said. “The final video represents months of hard work from both the dance team and the production crew, so we’re excited and grateful that the project has been recognized.”

Sillitto graduated from Elon in May and recently accepted a position with Booz Allen Hamilton as a videographer and social media content creator.

Sillitto and Dorroh attended the 2026 SVG College Summit in Atlanta alongside Anthony Bamford ’25, coordinating producer for Elon Sports Vision; Patrick Cunningham, director of live broadcast production for Elon Athletics; and students/recent graduates Philip Doherty ’26, Anthony Eppolito ’27 and Joey Marinello ’28.

This year marked another strong showing for Elon at the national competition – the university won its first-ever award in 2025. In addition to the winning Elon Dance Team send-off video, four other Elon productions were recognized as finalists in the Collegiate Student Championship division: “Football: Elon vs. North Carolina A&T,” “Strength Beyond the Game – Brodie Carroll,” “Win The Moment – Asher Cunningham” and “What It Takes – Elon Men’s Basketball Halftime Hype.”

Several of this semester’s studies center on TikTok and the platform’s growing influence on media consumption, identity and audience behavior. “The emphasis on TikTok underscores its increasing prominence in today’s media landscape,” journal editor Harlen Makemson wrote in his introduction to the issue.

Among the featured studies, strategic communications major Kyra Briggs examines how TikTok users responded to the Idaho college student murders, analyzing emotional expression, narrative construction, misinformation and collective sensemaking on the platform. Fellow strategic communications major Avery Ferguson explores how women ages 18 to 25 perceive the “clean girl aesthetic” on TikTok and how it influences their well-being, self-esteem and lifestyle choices. Elizabeth Walker, another strategic communications major, analyzes 100 TikTok videos to examine how Gen Z users expressed nostalgia, emotional memory and generational identity through references to 2016.

Several students investigated the relationship between television, fandom and audience participation. Delaney Guidi, a communication design major, studies how popular film franchises borrow principles from sports merchandising to create team identification, while also examining how fan-made merchandise attempts to establish authenticity. Sport management major Shelby Keel looks into how institutional framing and participatory fan discourse elevated the reality television phenomenon “Scandoval” into a culturally and commercially significant media event.

Additional research focuses on representation and identity in television storytelling. Jenna Moylan, a cinema and television arts major, analyzes four contemporary animated television programs to study trans characters’ narrative roles, the centrality of transness and the visual legibility of character design. Strategic communications major Evelyn Ealey compares portrayals of the Strong Black Woman archetype in television series before and after 2000, finding that more contemporary programs tend to offer greater complexity and depth to those characters.

The issue also includes Halli Harwood’s examination of how three cruise lines frame port communities through excursion descriptions. The strategic communications major found that cruise lines often present selective portrayals of destinations that result in limited diversity, equity and inclusion representation.

“These articles, produced in collaboration with faculty mentors, each represent exceptional achievements in �þ��� research,” Makemson said.

To assemble the spring 2026 edition, Makemson worked with an editorial board of 21 School of Communications faculty who participated in a blind-review process to select the strongest submissions. Since launching in 2010, the Elon Journal has published 33 issues, with each research article on its own dedicated webpage.

Among more than 200 �þ��� research journals cataloged by the Council on Undergraduate Research, the Elon Journal remains one of the few focused exclusively on student work in journalism, media and communications.

Emily Beauvais, Graduate Student, Northeastern University (Boston)

Nia Bedard, Graduate Student, �þ��� (Elon, North Carolina)

Kiersten Bergman, Graduate Student, Georgetown University (Washington, D.C.)

Max Berkson, Media Intern, Carmichael Lynch (Philadelphia)

Aidan Blake, Digital Content Creator, Kaulig Racing (Kernersville, North Carolina)

Anna Brett Blinston, Media and Content Analyst, Big Valley Marketing

Merrie Byers, Graduate Student, North Carolina State University (Raleigh, North Carolina)

Coco Cameron, PR & Social Media Associate, Devaney & Associates (Owings Mills, Maryland)

Luke Carey, Head Coach, Seacoast United MA North (Andover, Massachusetts)

Aaron Chan, Production Specialist, Amazing Studios (Raleigh, North Carolina)

Alexa Citrin, Graduate Student, University of Edinburgh (Edinburgh, Scotland)

Delaney Dickinson, Social Media Manager, Works Design Group (Haddon Heights, New Jersey)

Ava D’Innocenzio, Graduate Student, Boston University (Boston)

Philip Doherty, Freelance Technical Director (Raleigh, North Carolina)

Julien Dupas, Video Director, Discover Blind Spots (Burlington, North Carolina)

Liam Dupas, Video Director Co-Lead, Discover Blind Spots (Burlington, North Carolina)

Kaelyn Elien, Fellow, Bully Pulpit International (Washington, D.C.)

Anjolina Fantaroni, Reporter, WAFF 48 (Huntsville, Alabama)

Elliet Faust, Marketing & Operations Intern, Rise Social Partners

Avery Ferguson, Intern, Golin (New York)

Lila Goldberg, Project Manager, Mediaplanet (New York)

Jesse Gordon, Reporter, Sports Business Journal (Charlotte, North Carolina)

Sever Gregory, Graduate Student, University of Texas at Austin (Austin, Texas)

Rachel Holley, Reporter, WECT6 (Wilmington, North Carolina)

Daniel Jaeger, Agent Training Program, United Talent Agency (Los Angeles)

Shelby Keel, Golden Gopher Fund Intern, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

Mira Maccarone, Graduate Student, Boston College (Boston)

Lucy McAfee, Graduate Student, Boston College (Boston)

Fiona McAllister, Media Rotation Program Fellow, Fox News (New York)

Morgan Minoff, Associate, ASC Advisors LLC (Stamford, Connecticut)

Maxine Motley, PR Intern, Jennifer Bett Communications (New York)

Tristin Oberg, Graduate Student, Montana State University (Bozeman, Montana)

Abraham Paley, Graduate Student, Saint Mary’s College of California (Moraga, California)

Max Quatroche, Graduate Student, John Wells Division of Writing for Screen & Television, University of Southern California (Los Angeles)

Hannah Riggs, Team Lead, HeadCount (New York)

Lexi Rogers, Graduate Student, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill, North Carolina)

Hudson Sabiston, Graphic Designer, Cone Health Drawbridge Parkway (Greensboro, North Carolina)

Anabella Shpak, Graduate Student, Columbia University (New York)

Ben Solis, Sales, Grainger (Charlotte, North Carolina)

Benji Stern, Springboard Fellow, Brandeis Hillel (Waltham, Massachusetts)

Grace Stetler, PGA WORKS Fellow, PGA REACH Foundation (Philadelphia)

Evelyn Stuart, Recruiter, ALKU (Washington, D.C.)

Bernardo Vargas-Lopez, Co-Founder/Co-CEO, YAPA Global (Austin, Texas)

Erik Winikur, Management Accelerator Program, Concessions Manager, Aramark Sports & Entertainment (Washington, D.C.)

�þ��� Assistant Professor of Sport Management Alex Traugutt was featured in a recent Spectrum News 1 story examining how visiting fans contribute to North Carolina’s sports economy during the Carolina Hurricanes’ playoff run. The article explored how travel tied to major sporting events generates spending that benefits hotels, restaurants and local businesses.

“We oftentimes have a misconception around the economic impact that a sporting event has,” Traugutt said. “Where we see the kind of economic drive is when we have outside fans from either outside the geographic area or traveling fans from away teams come into the host city and bring their money.”

Using the Hurricanes’ playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens as an example, Traugutt noted that traveling fans contribute new spending to the local economy through hotels, restaurants, transportation and entertainment. He emphasized that local fans shifting their entertainment spending within the same city typically do not create the same level of economic growth.

“We benefit from the Canadiens because they have a great fan base. So they will travel to see their fans play. There’s also a lot of Canadiens fans in the area, not maybe here, but that surround North Carolina,” Traugutt said.

Read and watch the story on . Traugutt also spoke about the topic on the .

When arrived at �þ��� as a first-year student, she envisioned a future in physical therapy.

Four years later, the graduating senior leaves Elon not only with two majors, but with published scholarship, national conference presentations, and a growing passion for research that ultimately reshaped her career ambitions.

This winter, the native of Walnut Creek, California, served as lead author on a research publication in the , collaborating with Elon faculty members Alex Traugutt, Caroline Ketcham and Eric Hall. The publication represents the latest milestone in a research journey that began during her sophomore year, when she approached Ketcham about becoming involved with Elon BrainCARE.

“At the time, I was an exercise science major planning to apply to physical therapy school, so while I was genuinely interested in concussions and brain health, I also saw research as a way to deepen my involvement at Elon and strengthen my future applications,” McAfee said.

As she became more involved with research, McAfee’s interests evolved beyond concussions and brain injuries. While reviewing existing scholarship, she became increasingly interested in the ways athletics influence student-athletes off the playing field.

“One article in particular sparked my curiosity about how sports shape athletes beyond their playing careers,” McAfee said. “This led me to explore whether competitive sports help develop career readiness and how athlete identity may influence academic performance.”

Those experiences ultimately inspired McAfee to add sport management as a second major, where she met Traugutt during her first course in the department.

“Lucy is an intellectually driven student researcher who, over nearly three years of collaboration, led data collection, identified research topics and conducted analyses that resulted in two first-author peer-reviewed publications before completing her �þ��� degree,” said Traugutt, assistant professor of sport management.

Traugutt explained that McAfee distinguished herself through both her intellectual curiosity and her ability to connect research with practical application.

“What sets Lucy apart is her ability to bridge scholarship and practice,” Traugutt said, noting that she has presented research twice at the Applied Sport Management Conference and participated in multiple SURF and SURE programs.

McAfee said that working closely with Traugutt, Ketcham and Hall helped strengthen both her confidence and critical-thinking skills.

“When I first started doing research, I felt uncertain about my future and my own abilities,” McAfee said. “Dr. Alex Traugutt, Dr. Caroline Ketcham and Dr. Eric Hall each played a key role in guiding me, giving me direction, and helping me build confidence in my research skills.”

She especially valued the collaborative nature of the work.

“I particularly enjoyed our meetings – especially the ones at The Oak House – where we would dissect the data together,” McAfee said. “Consistently learning and discussing research with such knowledgeable professors pushed me to think more critically and challenged me to contribute insights of my own.”

McAfee’s recent publication is not expected to be her last contribution to the field. In addition to a forthcoming publication in Case Studies in Sport Management examining career readiness programming for student-athletes, she and Traugutt recently submitted a third research paper examining the NCAA transfer portal and high school recruiting opportunities in college football to the Journal of Applied Sport Management.

That research grew out of McAfee’s desire to better understand the rapidly changing dynamics of college athletics.

“My interest in the transfer portal stemmed from conversations during my time at the ACC, where its impact on various stakeholders was frequently discussed,” said McAfee, who completed an internship with the Power 4 conference last summer. “However, I noticed there was limited research regarding its effects on high school athletes. I saw that as an opportunity to contribute meaningful new knowledge to the field of sport management.”

Traugutt said McAfee’s work stands out for both its academic rigor and its broader relevance within athletics and higher education.

“Her work examining athletic identity, career readiness and student-athlete development is not only carefully designed and executed, but deeply meaningful, directly addressing questions that matter to practitioners and institutions alike,” Traugutt said.

McAfee also served as an executive intern with Elon Athletics, an experience Traugutt said complemented the practical focus of her research.

After graduation, McAfee will pursue a master’s degree in higher education at Boston College, where she will hold two graduate assistantships – one as a student-athlete academic adviser within Boston College Athletics and another with Tufts Medical School’s graduate student services department.

Traugutt said those opportunities speak to both McAfee’s academic growth and the practical focus she brought to her research throughout her time at Elon.

“These achievements reflect a student who takes her work seriously and understands its real-world implications,” Traugutt said. “I have no doubt she will carry that same curiosity, independence and commitment into her graduate studies at Boston College and beyond.”

As Commencement approaches, McAfee said her �þ��� research experiences transformed her Elon journey in ways she never anticipated.

“When I received my acorn at convocation, I never imagined I would be doing research at this level,” McAfee said. “Now, as I prepare to receive my sapling at Baccalaureate, I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunities and support that made that possible.”

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What started as a conversation between friends in �þ���’s dining hall has grown into a startup venture with roots in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

Bernardo Vargas-Lopez ’26, a sport management major from Austin, Texas, and Juan Daniel Chiriboga ’26, an entrepreneurship major from Quito, Ecuador, are developing , a plant-based energy drink inspired by guayusa, a leaf long used by Indigenous communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon. The idea first took shape after the two friends traveled to Ecuador during Thanksgiving break in 2024 and visited the Amazon rainforest.

“We came back from visiting the Amazon forest and were just talking through the trip,” Vargas-Lopez said. “That’s when the idea came out. What if we took one of those plants and built a drink around it?”

From that early conversation, the idea quickly became something more serious. The two students began researching the beverage industry, speaking with community members in Ecuador, gathering feedback from mentors and testing whether the concept could become a real business.

For Chiriboga and Vargas-Lopez, YAPA has become more than a passion project. It has also become a way to explore how entrepreneurship can connect product development, cultural learning and long-term impact.

Building a business from the ground up

As they began shaping the company, the pair focused on a growing interest in cleaner, more transparent beverage options.

“I think the issue we were looking at was the energy drink industry and what a lot of those products contain,” Chiriboga said. “We saw people looking more for clean-label, natural ingredients and more transparency in what they consume.”

That focus helped define YAPA’s early direction. The students describe the drink as plant-based and made without preservatives, with an emphasis on ingredient transparency and product quality.

The company’s name also reflects that approach. In Ecuador, “yapa” refers to a small extra that someone gives you, something unexpected and added with generosity. The students say that the idea shaped both the brand name and the kind of experience they hope to create.

“It’s a little extra you were not expecting,” Chiriboga said. “That is what we want the product to feel like.”

Turning that idea into a business, however, has required far more than product vision. The students have spent months navigating sourcing, formulation, packaging, shipping and compliance, all while balancing the demands of college life.

“The biggest thing is persistence,” Vargas-Lopez said. “We could have stopped a long time ago, but we just kept going.”

They also made an early decision to prioritize product quality, even when that meant making tougher financial choices.

“We decided there were a few strategic points where we would not go for lower quality,” Chiriboga said. “Starting from ingredients and sourcing, we were not going to sacrifice what the product stands for.”

Learning through mentorship and hands-on experience

Both students say their experience in the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business helped them approach the company with more confidence and curiosity.

They pointed to classroom experiences and faculty connections as central to how they approached building the company, often working closely with professors including Sean McMahon, professor of entrepreneurship, Elena Kennedy, associate professor of entrepreneurship, and Brittany Mercado, associate professor of management and chair of the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship.

“The ability to communicate clearly with people who know a lot more than we do has been huge,” Vargas-Lopez said. “The Love School of Business does an amazing job of making professors approachable.”

That accessibility changed how they engaged with their coursework and mentors.

“There are professors that I’ve ended up talking to just because I saw them in the hallway,” Vargas-Lopez said. “They’ll come up to you, ask what you’re working on and start giving advice. You don’t feel intimidated asking questions.”

As the idea for YAPA developed, those conversations became more intentional.

“We started staying after class and asking more specific questions,” Chiriboga said. “The professors would connect what we were learning directly to what we were building.”

Faculty feedback also helped refine the venture as it evolved.

“We don’t need people to just cheerlead,” Vargas-Lopez said. “We need people who will tell us what worked, what didn’t and how to improve. That’s what has really helped us move forward.”

Their time studying abroad also played a role in shaping the venture, even as they were in different parts of the world.

“He was in Australia, and I was in Japan,” Chiriboga said. “We couldn’t really work on operations, so the only thing we could do was talk to people.”

Instead of slowing progress, that shift pushed them to focus on learning.

“We talked to people in the jungle, we talked to people at big companies and we talked to mentors in finance,” Vargas-Lopez said. “We were just trying to understand everything we could.”

“We were sponges during that time,” Chiriboga added. “We just gathered as much information as we could.”

Those conversations helped them return with a clearer sense of direction.

“When we came back, we had a better idea of what worked, what didn’t and what problems we needed to solve,” Vargas-Lopez said.

Friendship at the center

At the heart of YAPA is not only a product idea, but also a partnership built on trust.

The two met during their first year at Elon and became close friends before ever becoming business partners, something they say has made navigating the ups and downs of building a company more manageable.

“If I cannot do something right now, I know Juan Daniel can do it, and vice versa,” Vargas-Lopez said. “That trust was built before the business.”

That foundation has shaped how they approach both their work and their time as students.

“We’ve gotten really good at knowing when to talk business and when not to,” Chiriboga said. “If it’s not working time, we try to focus on being friends and being present with other people.”

Living together has only strengthened that balance, allowing them to stay in sync while also setting boundaries.

“It’s not always 50-50 all the time,” Vargas-Lopez said. “But we know we’re in this together, and that makes it easier to handle everything that comes up.”

For Chiriboga, the partnership is one of the most meaningful parts of the experience.

“I couldn’t be more grateful that my best friend is also my business partner,” he said.

As they prepare to graduate, both say some of the biggest milestones are still ahead.

“The biggest one is getting the cans,” Chiriboga said. “That’s when it becomes real, when you can actually hold the product and take that first sip.”

Even so, the process has already reshaped how they think about risk, learning and what it means to build something from scratch.

For other students considering a venture of their own, their advice is simple.

“Don’t be afraid to start,” Chiriboga said. “If you don’t believe in yourself, no one else will.”

Vargas-Lopez added that one of the most valuable lessons has been staying open to what others know.

“Use your resources,” he said. “Ask questions. Learn from every conversation. We haven’t had a single meeting where we didn’t learn something.”

With batting practice underway at Latham Park, the Department of Sport Management gathered just beyond the first-base line on May 8 to celebrate its graduating seniors and recognize student achievement from the past academic year.

Among the evening’s top honors, Abigail Selikoff ’26 received the Major of the Year award, recognizing excellence across academics, leadership and professional achievement. Emerson Baker ’25 and Lucy McAfee ’26 were presented with the Achievement Award, while Shelby Keel ’26 earned the James P. Drummond Service Award for her contributions to the department and broader community. Skylar Cook ’28 received the Rising Phoenix Award, and McAfee was also honored with the Excellence in Research and Scholarship Award.

The department additionally recognized Isaiah Scott ’28 and Kaylin Wong ’28 as recipients of the Sport Management Endowed Scholarship.

One additional highlight of the celebration was the recognition of 10 sport management students inducted into the COSMA Chi Sigma Mu Honor Society, which honors students for their academic success and commitment to the field of sport management. Elon’s 2026 inductees included Baker, Alli Gerson ’26, Keel, Carlos Rafael Levy Lanado ’26, Meghan Logue ’26, McAfee, Zeke Petrou ’26, Lauren Winslow ’27, Will Wranek ’26 and Mia Zebley ’27.

To take a closer look at the celebration, visit this .