For more than a decade, has built a reputation as one of Charlotte’s most trusted journalists, reporting on breaking news, holding public officials accountable, and keeping his community informed.

On Oct. 9, as part of the university’s Homecoming Weekend, the WSOC-TV reporter returned to his alma mater to receive the School of Communications’ 2026 Outstanding Alumnus Award.

Bruno, the 16th recipient of the honor, was recognized during the school’s Alumni Campus Connect gathering in Snow Family Grand Atrium, surrounded by students, faculty, staff and fellow graduates. Among those in attendance was retired journalism professor Rich Landesberg, Bruno’s longtime mentor, whose presence made the recognition especially meaningful.

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Since graduating in 2014, Bruno has established himself as a leading voice in investigative journalism, earning Walter Cronkite, Alfred I. duPont-Columbia, Edward R. Murrow and George Polk awards, along with six Emmy Awards. He was named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list in 2020, and his investigative reporting helped expose election fraud in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District, drawing national attention.

“Without Rich and without this school, this kid from Schwenksville, Pennsylvania, would have never had any of these opportunities,” Bruno said during his acceptance remarks. “Thank you, �鶹��Ƶ, for everything you have given to me.”

In presenting the award, Communications Dean Kenn Gaither praised Bruno’s professional accomplishments and his commitment to the communities he serves.

“It is always gratifying to watch an �鶹��Ƶ graduate succeed, but there’s something particularly special about watching one of our own become such an important and trusted voice in the community he serves.”
– Dean Kenn Gaither

Gaither also highlighted Bruno’s continued connection to �鶹��Ƶ, noting the significance of honoring him in the same atrium where Bruno and fellow alumnus Gary Grumbach ’16 organized two years earlier.

“That day, Joe was here to honor someone who helped shape him,” Gaither said. “Today, in the very same space, we have the privilege of honoring Joe.”

The connection came full circle when Bruno, visibly moved, spotted Landesberg standing among the attendees and thanked the former professor for his guidance and friendship.

“I also could not have done any of this without my Rich Landesberg, who I consider a member of my family,” Bruno said. “You are a trusted adviser and friend, and you have made such an impact on my life and so many others.”

Gaither also shared praise from Landesberg, who described Bruno as one of the hardest-working students he had ever taught.

“He is tireless in his commitment to holding the powerful accountable and making sure the people of Charlotte know what is happening in and around their city,” Landesberg said.

At home at �鶹��Ƶ

During his acceptance remarks, Bruno recalled how his mother first introduced him to �鶹��Ƶ, a university unfamiliar to many in his hometown. But during a campus visit, he found himself drawn to the school’s student television studio, where the opportunity to gain hands-on broadcasting experience helped convince him �鶹��Ƶ was the right fit.

As a high school senior, Bruno began watching Phoenix 14News broadcasts, eager to join the student journalists he saw on screen. Once he arrived at �鶹��Ƶ, he quickly became involved in the student news organization, gaining on-air and production experience within weeks of starting college.

“The best thing about �鶹��Ƶ is I didn’t have to wait until my junior year to get involved,” he said. “I was able to hit the ground running right as a freshman.”

Equally influential were the relationships he developed with fellow student journalists. Bruno recalled an environment where students challenged and supported one another, united by their enthusiasm for reporting and serving their community.

“We never competed against each other. We rooted for each other,” he said, explaining that the collaborative spirit continues to shape how he approaches his work today.

Addressing current students, Bruno encouraged them to embrace their interests and make the most of the opportunities available at �鶹��Ƶ.

“Whether it’s about news, whether it’s about sports, whatever you do, keep that light under you and pursue what you are pursuing with all of your heart,” he said.

Alumni return to connect with students

Bruno’s recognition was a highlight of Alumni Campus Connect, an informal networking event where eight graduates shared career insights and advice with current students.

Dan Erdman ’06, vice president of creative media at WWE, drew a crowd of students interested in his work in sports entertainment. Nearby, students connected with Los Angeles-based actress, writer and producer Paige Hullett ’16 to discuss careers in Hollywood and Women of the �鶹��Ƶ Entertainment Empire (WEEE), the alumni organization she leads. Also returning to campus was recent graduate Anjolina Fantaroni ’26, now a reporter at WAFF 48 in Huntsville, Alabama, who offered a firsthand perspective on transitioning from �鶹��Ƶ to the professional newsroom.

Participating alumni included:

• Halle Brennan ’21, Sales Associate Manager, Amazon Ads
• Joe Bruno ’14, Reporter, WSOC-TV
• Dan Erdman ’06, Vice President of Creative Media, WWE
• Anjolina Fantaroni ’26, Reporter, WAFF 48
• Caroline Grell ’17, Program Manager of Product Development Program, Capital One
• Paige Hullett ’16, Los Angeles-based actress, writer, producer, president of Women of the �鶹��Ƶ Entertainment Empire
• Becky Lane ’95, Senior Vice President-Marketing Development Manager, Bank of America
• Sarah Stone Richter ’19, Growth Marketing Manager, Quantam Health

A new chapter in �鶹��Ƶ’s global sport education programming officially began Sept. 7 in Pistoia, Italy.

Five �鶹��Ƶ students arrived in the Tuscan city as the inaugural cohort participating in the university’s partnership with Lumos Pistoia Basket 2000, a professional basketball organization, and the Accademia Europea di Firenze (AEF). Their arrival was marked by a from the club as the students prepare to begin a semester combining study abroad with hands-on experience in the professional sport industry.

As part of their initial visit, the students explored Pistoia’s historic center before making their way to LumoSquare, the 3,835-seat home of Pistoia Basket and a growing community hub. Accompanied by Professor Marco Bracci and Elisabetta Santanni, academic director of AEF/�鶹��Ƶ in Florence, the group toured the facility, met members of the club staff, and received a personal welcome from Pistoia Basket President Joseph Mark David.

The visit offered the students their first look at the organization, where they will soon become part of the day-to-day operations. Beginning in mid-September, they will work alongside Pistoia Basket staff on projects involving sport management, marketing and social media.

“This experience is over a year in the making and couldn’t have come together without the amazing work of our partners at AEF, especially Elisabetta Santanni and Marco Bracci,” said David Bockino, professor of sport management. “As we launch the partnership this semester, we’re already discussing how to make it accessible to more students moving forward. The reception on campus has been great – we have students lining up to participate in the future.”

A global professional experience

Announced last fall, �鶹��Ƶ’s partnership with AEF and Pistoia Basket was developed in collaboration with the Department of Sport Management to expand experiential learning opportunities for students studying in Florence. It combines two hallmarks of an �鶹��Ƶ education – global engagement and professional experience – placing students inside a European professional sport organization while they study abroad.

“This experience was the logical next step as �鶹��Ƶ grows its sport-related experiences,” Bockino said. “As a university, we’re great at study abroad and at helping our students get internships. Why not put those two together? When these students eventually hit the job market, they’ll arrive with a true resume differentiator: an internship with a professional Italian basketball club that allows them to better understand sport from a global perspective.”

As part of a mentored, two-credit internship with Pistoia Basket, students will spend approximately 10 hours each week gaining practical experience in event operations, fan engagement, marketing, communications and social media. Their responsibilities will be tailored to their academic backgrounds and professional interests.

For example, students interested in media analytics may evaluate the club’s social media performance, while students studying sport management or strategic communications will work to increase Pistoia Basket’s visibility among college students studying abroad in Florence. Participants will also meet regularly with accompanying professors and complete applied and reflection-based assignments.

The cohort will also contribute to a video storytelling project designed to introduce Pistoia Basket to new audiences in the United States. Funded by the �鶹��Ƶ Innovation Council and coordinated through �鶹��Ƶ’s Sports Media Lab and �鶹��Ƶ Sports Vision, the project will use footage captured by the students to tell the story of Pistoia’s 2026-27 season. According to Bockino, the resulting videos are expected to appear on �鶹��Ƶ social media channels and during �鶹��Ƶ Athletics broadcasts.

This fall’s inaugural cohort includes Robbie Pataky ’28, a strategic communications major; Amelia Weaver ’28, a sport management and media analytics double major; Riley Greenwald ’28, a sport management major; Olivia Tichnor ’28, a marketing major; and Max Edelstein ’28, a sport management major.

Qian Xu, professor of strategic communications and A.J. Fletcher Professor, collaborated with Cheng Chen, assistant professor at Oregon State University, on a study examining how AI conversational styles interact with users’ expectations of the roles AI should play.

Their article, “” was recently published in Behaviour & Information Technology, a peer-reviewed academic journal that focuses on human-centered information technology.

The experiment randomly assigned 137 college students to one of three Microsoft Copilot conversational styles of Copilot  – creative, balanced or precise – and measured which role they expected the tool to fulfill: co-author, creator, curator or converser. Participants then completed at least three rounds of interaction with Copilot to develop a strategic plan addressing a public health issue in their home county.

Key findings include:

• Copilot’s conversational style affected the readability and linguistic features of its responses, including the use of words associated with analytical thinking and authenticity.
• Users adapted their writing based on Copilot’s conversational style, particularly in the readability of their prompts.
• Users and Copilot showed linguistic alignment in emotional tone and clout across all three conversational styles but diverged in analytical thinking.
• Mismatches between Copilot’s conversational style and users’ expectations of its role reduced perceived credibility and relevance of its responses.

“AI conversational style is more than a matter of preference. What matters is how well the style fits the roles users expect AI to play,” Xu said. The findings point to opportunities for more adaptive AI interfaces that adjust conversational style based on users’ expectations and tasks.

Behaviour & Information Technology is an international peer-reviewed Taylor & Francis journal covering the human aspects of information technology, including usability, user experience, human-computer interaction and human-centered design.

School of Communications faculty members earned research and teaching honors and shared their expertise on topics ranging from artificial intelligence and internships to mentorship and First Amendment issues at the .

Held Aug. 5-8 in New Orleans, the conference brought together journalism and mass communication educators and scholars from around the world to present research, exchange ideas and explore emerging issues across the communications field.

Several �鶹��Ƶ faculty members were recognized for their work during the conference.

Shanetta Pendleton and Michele Lashley, assistant professors of strategic communications, earned second place in the Teaching Paper Competition for their research, “Exploring the Perceived Efficacy of Custom AI Chatbots in Public Relations Education.” Their study explored how course-specific AI chatbots can serve as instructional supports in undergraduate communications courses, providing students with additional opportunities for formative feedback and iterative learning. The findings highlight the potential for thoughtfully designed AI tools to complement classroom instruction by helping students refine their work and deepen their learning while encouraging responsible and ethical AI use.

Qian Xu, professor of strategic communications and A.J. Fletcher Professor, and Jenny Jiang, associate professor of visual communication, were recognized during the Internships and Careers Interest Group’s Top Refereed Research Paper Session. They presented “AI in Media Analytics Job Postings: A Computational Analysis of AI Mentions, Expectations, and Semantic Networks,” a study analyzing more than 5,400 media analytics job postings to examine how AI is mentioned, framed and structurally embedded in job descriptions.

Presentations and panels

�鶹��Ƶ faculty also contributed to research and teaching sessions examining mentorship, internships, emerging technologies, workplace experiences and First Amendment concerns.

• Israel Balderas, assistant professor of journalism, served as a panelist for “Compelling Faith: The Growing Tensions between the Free Speech, Free Exercise, and Establishment Clauses of the First Amendment.” The panel examined how recent Supreme Court rulings are reshaping debates over religious expression, compelled speech and civil rights in schools and universities. Balderas also moderated “Disrespected and Derailed: Women of Color Journalists Covering the Trump Administration,” a research panel examining the experiences of women of color journalists covering the administration.

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  Vanessa Bravo, professor of strategic communications, served as a panelist for the teaching session “Mentoring Minoritized Students and Fostering Resilient Young Professionals,” which examined how faculty can mentor and support students from historically underrepresented backgrounds. Bravo also served as a discussant for “Media, Vulnerability, and Empowerment: How Mediated Spaces Both Endanger and Support Marginalized Groups” and moderated the International Communication Division teaching panel “Global Inclusivity in Comparative Research: Experiences and Reflections.”

• Hal Vincent, associate teaching professor of strategic communications, moderated a research panel session, “Spotlight: Research Scholars Exchange,” and served as a discussant for multiple refereed research paper sessions. He also moderated the members’ meeting for the Internships and Careers Interest Group.
• Qian Xu and former �鶹��Ƶ Comm faculty member Chris Chen presented “Customizing Communication Styles in Claude: Control Benefits, Cognitive Cost, and Task-Dependent Effects” during a scholar-to-scholar refereed research paper session on AI and relationships. Their research examined how different levels of customization and task type influence psychological responses in human-AI interaction and perceptions of AI-generated output.

As digital editor at WUSA-TV, a CBS affiliate in Washington, D.C., Rosenthal handles a wide range of responsibilities, from writing for the station’s website and producing social media content to gathering sources and reporting in the field. The journalism major said she fell in love with news reporting when she was in high school, which led her to apply to �鶹��Ƶ.

“I joined my high school newspaper club in ninth grade, and it was the 2016 election season,” Rosenthal recalled. “There was a ton of news, and I got the ‘news bug,’ and I’ve been doing it ever since.”

At �鶹��Ƶ, Rosenthal found opportunities through student media to develop her reporting skills outside the classroom.

“I feel like the hands-on experience that I got working with my peers and friends, and actually going out and doing reporting, and putting together a paper every week showed me more of the skills that I use on a day-to-day,” Rosenthal said.

She also credits The Pendulum’s critique sessions with teaching her how to receive feedback and use it to improve her work.

“You don’t need to qualify a mistake or qualify a reason why you did this or that,” Rosenthal said. “What I learned so much from critique was how to take feedback and move forward and use that in the next piece. Now I’m somebody who asks for feedback all the time because, I think, in part, because of those critiques.”

Those lessons have followed Rosenthal into her professional career. Earlier this year, she spent three weeks covering a murder trial in Fairfax, Virginia, an assignment she described as a significant learning experience.

“My station sent me to a murder trial in January, and I spent three weeks covering a very high-profile case every day in court, and that has been a huge learning and teaching moment for me,” Rosenthal said. “I feel like I learned so much from covering this trial, especially as somebody who has covered many court hearings and smaller things.”

For current �鶹��Ƶ students interested in journalism, Rosenthal recommends getting involved in student media early and pursuing the subjects that interest them.

“My biggest advice is to be involved in student journalism,” she said. “Just start doing stories and meeting people and doing things that are out of your comfort zone. When I was at �鶹��Ƶ, I was interested in courts. I would go to the courthouse in Graham to pick up court documents for stories, and go to the police station, and pick up crime numbers, and things like that. If there’s something that you’re interested in, just start doing it.”

Like Rosenthal, Phengsitthy discovered her love of writing through her high school newspaper, where she served as editor-in-chief. She brought that interest to �鶹��Ƶ, double majoring in Communication Design (now Visual Communication) and Media Analytics while becoming heavily involved with �鶹��Ƶ News Network.

“I’ve always been a writer,” Phengsitthy said. “I know that people don’t really like talking about high school when they talk about their experience, but high school is when I really started.”

Phengsitthy served as design chief of The Pendulum during her sophomore year and managing editor as a junior. She credits those experiences with providing the foundation for her professional journalism career.

Everything I did in �鶹��Ƶ News Network is what set me up for my journalism experience today. I joke with my friends that ENN was like my third degree in college because I got so much done and learned so much there. From just writing every single day, that’s what helped me get better.

— Nyah Phengsitthy ’23

While at �鶹��Ƶ, Phengsitthy interned with Bloomberg Law on its environment desk. Following graduation, she returned to the organization through a rotational program and now works as a health reporter. In that role, she has covered the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, drug pricing and other complex issues affecting the pharmaceutical and health care industries.

Her work at Bloomberg Law requires reporting on complex subjects, but Phengsitthy said young journalists shouldn’t feel pressure to become experts on every topic they cover. Instead, they should focus on developing the skills necessary to find knowledgeable sources, understand complicated information and explain it clearly to readers.

“Be an expert in being a reporter and writing and learning how to break down information for your readers,” Phengsitthy said.

Phengsitthy also encourages �鶹��Ƶ students to complement their campus journalism experience with internships that allow them to apply their skills in professional settings.

“You can have all the skills, and you can have all the clips that you have from ENN, but it’s more powerful if you go and get to apply them somewhere else,” she said, noting the value of internships. “The more experience you have, the better.

“The job market is really hard right now, but I feel like if you’re able to show that you can get your foot in the door somewhere, that’s good.”

The strategic communications major is serving as a strategy and account intern, where he rotates between McKinney’s strategy and account teams. With a few weeks of the internship behind him, Arrasmith said the transition has been seamless thanks to the strong sense of community at the agency.

“Everyone here is so welcoming,” Arrasmith said. “Even though I’m the youngest person both in the agency and in my internship class, I don’t feel out of place.”

Arrasmith said McKinney has been on his radar for years. After his early exposure to the agency, he regularly checked the company’s internship page in hopes of one day earning a spot in the program.

As an account management and strategy intern, Arrasmith helps bridge communication between the agency and its clients. While the role has introduced new challenges, he arrived with a foundation built through classroom experiences and leadership roles at �鶹��Ƶ.

For the past two years, Arrasmith has been involved with �鶹��Ƶ’s student-run communications agency.

Arrasmith has served as an account supervisor with Live Oak and credits the organization for preparing him for the fast-paced agency environment.

“I feel I have a good grasp of what’s going on and what people are talking about,” he said.

While familiar with agency work, Arrasmith said the internship has broadened his understanding of how different departments collaborate to serve clients.

He’s also gained exposure to an industry he knew little about before arriving at McKinney. Working with the agency’s health division has required him to learn healthcare terminology, pharmaceutical companies and industry-specific concepts.

“I didn’t know anything about health or pharma, so it’s been a lot of just taking the time afterward to educate myself,” he said.

Despite the learning curve, Arrasmith said the experience has reinforced the value of curiosity and continuous learning.

“I found great success in just always asking questions, always wanting to learn the most I can about a subject, because that shows people that you are interested, you’re engaged, and you actually care about what you’re doing,” he said.

As he enters his third year at �鶹��Ƶ, Arrasmith hopes to leave the internship with meaningful relationships across the agency, developing a network he can lean on for guidance. To make that happen, he has set a personal goal of taking at least 10 colleagues out to lunch before the summer ends.

Some lessons start with a lecture. Others begin with a camera in hand, a deadline looming, and a story waiting to be told.

That’s how Blake Pierre-Louis described his experience in �鶹��Ƶ’s Emerging Journalists Program, where the rising senior from Rochester, New York, joined 17 other high school students for a 12-day immersive journalism experience.

“It was like a two-week crash course in everything you might need to know if you’re getting into journalism,” Pierre-Louis said. “It’s a great opportunity to get hands-on experience and actually learn by doing instead of sitting in a classroom. You get to actually go out, apply concepts and use what you’ve learned.”

During the residential program, which ran June 15-26, the students worked as members of a functioning newsroom while reporting on stories on and off campus. Their assignments took them to the North Carolina State Capitol, the International Civil Rights Center & Museum in Greensboro and the Winston-Salem Dash, while media tours introduced them to journalists at WUNC News and ABC11 WTVD-TV. They also produced professional web stories, a newspaper and a television news broadcast.

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“We had an incredibly cohesive and collaborative group of students join us on campus this summer,” said Colin Donohue, assistant professor of journalism and EJP program director. “They were diligent and enterprising and intrepid. As important, they were generous and kind. They possess tremendous potential, and I look forward to seeing them apply their skills in their hometowns and in their schools.”

Led by Donohue and Kelly Furnas, EJP curriculum coordinator and associate teaching professor of journalism, students quickly moved from classroom instruction to real-world reporting.

For Thailik McCormick, a rising senior at Central Carolina Academy in Sanford, North Carolina, the experience built on the foundation he established as a founding member of his school’s broadcasting program.

“EJP does a really good job of throwing a lot at you, but then also making sure that you can apply these things really quickly, so you can retain them,” McCormick said. “I was presented with the information, and then immediately told to go apply it.”

The experience also expanded his vision for what his future might hold.

“Two weeks ago, I might have told you I’d study entrepreneurship or accounting, but now I’m really looking into public relations or marketing – and use the hard skills that I’ve worked on here and translate them into a field of my choice,” McCormick said.

Aly McFadden, a rising senior from Clark, New Jersey, said one of the most memorable experiences came while producing a full-fledged television newscast, where students were trusted with everything from anchoring and audio work to directing and producing.

“Everybody in that room made us feel like we were professionals,” McFadden said. “Even if I made a mistake, everybody made me feel like it was OK. It was such an interesting collaboration of people that you’ve known for two weeks who are all using their skills together to create one big production.”

McFadden said working alongside classmates from across the country became one of the most rewarding aspects of her time at �鶹��Ƶ.

“It’s really eye-opening to see so many people have so many different life experiences,” she said. “Being in a room with people who are just as passionate about journalism as you are is incredibly motivating. I can’t wait to see them on the news or read their articles.”

Established in 2021, the Emerging Journalists Program introduces high school students interested in journalism and media careers through immersive, experiential learning. Students earn four hours of college credit and are paired with �鶹��Ƶ student mentors who continue to provide guidance after the program concludes.

This year, a record 52 students from across the country applied to the program, with all applicants invited to participate in the virtual Exposure experience before 18 students were selected for the on-campus Immersion cohort.

Donohue also credited School of Communications students Charlie Crum ’28, Blair Mitchell ’29 and Emma Perman ’29 for serving as strong counselors and mentors throughout the experience.

“EJP is one of the most professionally fulfilling experiences I’ve participated in,” Donohue said. “I hope a year from now we can celebrate a sixth cohort.”

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 undergraduate 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 �鶹��Ƶ Journal has published 33 issues, with each research article on its own dedicated webpage.

Among more than 200 undergraduate research journals cataloged by the Council on Undergraduate Research, the �鶹��Ƶ 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, �鶹��Ƶ (�鶹��Ƶ, 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.)

Legalization has reshaped markets across North Carolina, and the sports betting landscape continues to evolve. Bockino, Squadron and Tobias impressed upon the audience that this wasn’t just a sports story, but it’s actually a business, data, and policy story, too. The panelists explored the industry’s economic impact, regulatory environment, and the growing role of data and analytics. They spoke about consumer trends and fan engagement and answered questions from the audience about the NCAA’s role in sports betting and how taxes on sports betting could be used to support community areas like K-12 public education.

“It’s always fun to talk about sports betting with people from a variety of industries,” Bockino said. “This is a growing industry that affects not only amateur and professional sports but education, finance, and tourism, and I appreciate the opportunity to connect with Charlotte’s leaders across all these sectors.”

“Sports betting is having a major impact and has a lot of elements that people don’t always see,” Squadron said. “�鶹��Ƶ’s bringing together the Charlotte community to discuss it was a great opportunity to explore all the different pieces of this growing area.”

�鶹��Ƶ University Charlotte will hold future  with the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance. Interested in learning more about sports betting? Bockino will release a book on the topic on Tuesday, June 2.