Costello College of Business

Mason Now: Power the Possible

Costello student’s start-up mixes her love of baking with a passion for business

sholla4 — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 15:43:17 +0000

Costello student’s start-up mixes her love of baking with a passion for business sholla4 Mon, 10/19/2026 - 11:43

Do you smell that? Sharp cinnamon, sweet brown butter, subtle banana: mouth-watering cookies layered in a ribbon-tied box. This is Mama’s Table, a brand-new business started by 911�� senior Noor Musa. With a lifelong love of baking and dual majors in marketing and business analytics from the Costello College of Business, Musa is tackling small business ownership and her education with a cup of creativity, a dash of determination, and a whole helping of heart.

Noor Musa tabling at a farmers market. Photo provided.

Baking is a family affair. Taught by her mom, Musa found passion and serenity in measuring, stirring, and decorating. “If I have a stressful day, I bake. If I have a good day, I bake. Everything comes back to baking,” she said. Turning her hobby into a business was something she’d considered for a few years before taking the plunge.

“I went back and forth about it. ‘I shouldn’t start this, I don’t have enough time,’” she said. “But I realized you’re never going to have enough time. You just start it and see where it goes.”

Mama’s Table sells original, homemade baked goods, all made by Musa and her mother, Soraya Amra. They’re selling their tasty treats at local farmers markets and pop-ups around the Washington, D.C., metropolitan region.

In many ways, baking and marketing are extensions of one another: disciplines where creativity exists within exactness and precision. “If you’re following brand guidelines, you can’t stray from that. The words you choose have to be exact,” she said. The same is true of her minor in business analytics. “You have to be specific.”

Musa in the local paper at 9 years old. Photo provided.

But between those exact measurements and precise temperatures, magic happens for someone like Musa. Her three cookie flavors for fall—salted brown butter chocolate chunk, double chocolate chunk banana bread, and cinnamon swirl espresso—are original creations. And, according to Musa, they’re flying off the shelves.

“Being a student at 911�� during this time while I build my business has really helped,” she said. “You have access to this wide community of people who are going to advocate for you.” The Women in Business student organization, of which Musa is the vice president of administration, provided feedback when she soft-launched Mama’s Table. And her coursework has helped her hone the required skills for a small business owner.

An underlying thread in all Musa’s work is the dedication and patience required. Every recipe starts as trial and error; that banana bread cookie was a long, arduous experiment until she found the right ratios to make it a bestseller.

Developing her skills in marketing and business analytics is no different. Self-described as “anxious and very shy” speaker when she first arrived at 911��, Musa embraced being forced out of her comfort zone in order to grow into a successful communicator.

Photo provided.

“All my classes were public speaking and group work on real-world projects with real businesses,” she said.

MKTG 335 Strategic Brand Management included a brand audit, where she and her team are meeting with senior executives to better understand the branding choices made and offer suggestions for how to improve.

“I think most people think that public speaking just comes naturally,” she said. “That’s so not true. I think it’s a taught skill, whether you teach it to yourself or learn it in a class.” And her coursework at 911�� has given her the opportunities to learn, practice, and improve; so much so that Musa became a consultant for the university’s Communication Center until recently leaving the position for an internship.

“It all really helped my personal development, which led to me building the courage to launch my business,” she said. “Three years ago, I could not have imagined myself here. You’re constantly growing at 911��, and that’s really prepared me for the real world.”

Topics

Costello Marketing Department

Entrepreneurship

See why Costello Means Business

Childhood experiences of war loom large over CEOs’ decision-making

Katelynn C Hipolito — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 14:15:51 +0000

Childhood experiences of war loom large over CEOs’ decision-making Katelynn C Hipolito Mon, 10/19/2026 - 10:15

Likening business to war has become a cliché. This shopworn comparison glosses over the grim fact that war informs the backdrop, and backstory, of a great many companies, and their leaders.

Eun Hye (Grace) Jo, accounting professor at the Costello College of Business. Photo provided

The trauma of war has long-lasting reverberations, influencing business decisions taken decades later, argue Eun Hye Jo and Jenny Jung-Wha Lee, accounting professors at Costello College of Business based in 911�� Korea.

Their recent paper in Journal of Business Research (co-authored by Laurelle (Ellie) Chapple of Queensland University of Technology) examines how early-life experience of the Korean War (1950-1953) affected CEOs’ responses to business challenges.

“The project had a personal motivation that emerged from a conversation about the Korean War. We realized that war and military service had meaningful connections to both of our family histories: Eun Hye’s grandfather was a Korean War veteran, while Jenny’s father was a retired South Korean Army lieutenant colonel. Growing up with these family histories exposed us to stories about war and military service and made this research question especially meaningful to us,” comment the pair of Costello researchers.

The three-year conflict between North and South Korea claimed more than two million casualties, over half of whom were civilians. All in all, approximately ten percent of the population of the peninsula lost their lives in the conflagration. The traumatic aftereffects of the Korean War on both sides may be intensified by the lack of formal resolution, with no peace treaty signed and tensions between the combatants continuing into the present day.

“The project had a personal motivation that emerged from a conversation about the Korean War. We realized that war and military service had meaningful connections to both of our family histories: Eun Hye’s grandfather was a Korean War veteran, while Jenny’s father was a retired South Korean Army lieutenant colonel. Growing up with these family histories exposed us to stories about war and military service and made this research question especially meaningful to us.”

– Eun Hye (Grace) Jo and Jenny Jung-Wha Lee, accounting professors at Costello College of Business

The research team collected financial performance data on Korean-listed companies during the period 2002 to 2023 (excluding the smallest companies and those in the finance industry); their data-set comprised 24,703 firm-year observations. They segmented the data by CEO age, allowing them to analyze firm activity in light of whether the focal CEO was born prior to the Armistice Agreement that ended Korean War hostilities.

They were particularly interested in sales downturns, which could act as trigger events for war-exposed CEOs. Their theory was that these CEOs would have a stronger emotional response to a decline in sales, resulting in larger workforce reductions.

And indeed, the researchers found that when Korean firms were led by war-exposed CEOs, they exhibited lower employment stickiness—hiring about 22 percent less aggressively during sales upswings and cutting employment about 106 percent more sharply during downturns.

On closer investigation, the researchers saw that the entirety of the effect was concentrated among CEOs who experienced the Korean War between the ages of 4 and 15, as opposed to earlier childhood years, which do not usually produce lasting memories, due to the phenomenon known as “infantile amnesia.”

Jenny Jung-Wha Lee, accounting professor at the Costello College of Business. Photo provided

“Our interpretation is that early-life war exposure may heighten sensitivity to downside risk. War is an extreme environment marked by uncertainty, loss, and resource scarcity, and exposure to that kind of instability during formative years may shape how individuals perceive threats and make decisions under pressure later in life,” the Costello co-authors explain.

As additional verification that their findings were due to war exposure in formative years and not a generational mindset or the effects of aging, the researchers performed birth-region comparisons between war-exposed CEOs. They identified a direct relationship between CEOs’ downside risk sensitivity (as measured by employment stickiness) and the number of civilian Korean War casualties in their home environment as they were growing up.

“For us, the broader takeaway is that experiences during formative years can leave lasting imprints that may surface decades later in managerial decisions,” Jo and Lee say. Because their study dealt with a historically specific example of wartime trauma, they are hesitant to broaden their findings to other potentially scarring events, such as economic depressions or pandemics. However, they say, “We do not view war as necessarily unique in the broader theoretical sense. It is plausible that other severe formative experiences could also leave lasting imprints on how leaders perceive risk and make trade-offs later in life.”

For Jo and Lee, these findings highlight the need for power balance as a counterweight to the effects of wartime trauma and other early-life experiences that may inordinately impact an individual leader’s decisions.

“Boards can provide greater oversight of major workforce decisions, particularly during downturns,” they suggest. “Senior leadership teams and HR functions can introduce more structured decision processes that require managers to consider not only immediate cost savings, but also operational continuity, talent retention, and longer-term organizational costs. Bringing multiple perspectives into the process may help balance the influence of any one executive’s personal experiences.”

Learn more about Costello College of Business

Learn about Mason Korea

Topics

Costello College of Business Faculty Research

Accounting - Costello

Costello Research Health & Well-being at Work

Costello Research Corporate Governance

Costello Research Evaluating Performance

Research

Mason Korea

911��’s Alumna of the Year champions education and opportunity

Katarina Benson — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 21:41:45 +0000

911��’s Alumna of the Year champions education and opportunity Katarina Benson Wed, 10/14/2026 - 17:41

Guylaine Saint Juste, BA International Studies ’94, understands education’s power.

Raised in Haiti and the first in her family to attend college, Saint Juste put herself through college while working full-time, attending class two nights a week. It took her seven years to graduate. One generation later, she was able to give her daughters a very different experience—the opportunity to attend college full time with their education paid for.

“This is the power of education, and the power of what 911�� does,” she said.

Today, Saint Juste is a globally recognized transformational leader and president and CEO of NABA Inc., a business leadership organization representing more than 200,000 accounting, finance, and business professionals. This October the 911�� Alumni Association recognized her as the 2026 Alumna of the Year.

With more than 25 years of experience in the financial services industry, Saint Juste has been repeatedly named among the Most Powerful Women in Accounting by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and CPA Practice Advisor, and as one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting by Accounting Today for five consecutive years. The accolades reflect her leadership in advancing access, opportunity, and representation across the accounting and finance professions.

Guylaine Saint Juste. Photo provided

Saint Juste said, 911�� was preparing students for the “workforce of tomorrow” before that phrase was commonplace and that the university taught her “to think about things differently, to explore other opportunities, to encourage the hearing out of people—even if I have a different view or set of data.”

These skills have served her throughout her career.

“There’s no playbook for CEO,” she said. “You have to figure it out.”

She credits her time at 911��—and specifically the university’s Robinson Professors—for teaching her fundamentals that have served her in the fast growth and impact of NABA.

“So much of how I lead, learn, and play has [grown from] those [911��] experiences,” she said. “I care deeply about this institution. I love that [911�� is] proving that providing wide access does not dilute the outcome or the quality of the talent.”

After graduating from 911��, Saint Juste completed graduate studies in retail banking management at the University of Virginia. Before joining NABA, her distinguished career included serving in leadership positions at Capital One and as a regional executive director of Year Up, a nonprofit organization that provides students the opportunity to pursue careers in business and technology.

In 2014, Saint Juste cofounded the 911�� Women in Business Initiative, which provides scholarships, mentorship, and networking opportunities to students. She is also proud to support scholarships and research at 911�� and wants people to think differently about philanthropy.

“Don't give—invest,” she said. “I want people to think about the importance of investing in institutions. I want people to ask, ‘What have you received?’ And how do you ensure that it is there for generations to come?”

So much of the power in attending 911�� is intangible, Saint Juste said. “911�� is the institution, but the relationships that we form, the communities around which we gather—that's the magic of it.”

Topics

Alumni

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Patriot Profile: Maya Bayat

ckearney — Tue, 13 Oct 2026 15:51:48 +0000

Patriot Profile: Maya Bayat ckearney Tue, 10/13/2026 - 11:51

Maya Bayat

Year: Senior

Major: Business with a minor in visual art

Hometown: Arlington, Virginia

It might be difficult to guess based on how much 911�� student-athlete Maya Bayat, BS Business ’26, fits into her day, but she says she’s grown a lot when it comes to time management. Bayat is in the Bachelor’s-to-Accelerated Master’s Program working on a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in finance with a minor in visual art. In addition to her classes, she trains and competes for the women’s tennis team, works as an intern at two galleries and an art nonprofit, and creates her own art.

Home Away from Home: For Bayat, the chance to play Division I tennis while staying close to her family in Arlington made 911�� the right choice. “Having my family’s support means a lot to me. They help me every step of the way,” she said. As someone with many interests and the determination to follow them, Bayat has taken advantage of the myriad opportunities she’s had a 911�� to build relationships with teammates and coaches, network in the Costello College of Business, and expand art connections through Mason Exhibitions. “I would say as a person—not necessarily that I'm more extroverted—but I'm more open to connecting with people,” she said.

Maya Bayat. Photo by Art Pittman/Athletics

Leveling Up: Bayat, who plays both singles and doubles, started tennis later than most Division I players, but her enthusiasm for the game fueled her extra hours on the court. “We all love winning,” she said, but her training focuses on the process as much as the results: “I'm always trying to improve technically, mentally, physically.” She is also on the university’s Student–Athlete Advisory Committee, where representatives from all the Division I teams collaborate to improve the experience of current and future Patriots.

No Canvas, No Problem: “For as long as I can remember, I've been making art,” said Bayat. “I did my first structured art class when I was around five years old.” Painting in particular has provided an outlet. “[During COVID] I ran out of canvases because I was painting so much.” She had already transformed the mailbox, the driveway, and an old cabinet into artwork, so her parents said she could decorate some walls, and she discovered a new “love for murals.”

Finding Her Niche: This summer, Bayat interned at Mason Exhibitions Arlington and the Fred Schnider Gallery of Art in Arlington. Her Mason Exhibitions supervisor made sure she could apply her finance skills to real-world projects like grant applications, but she also learned about every aspect of running the gallery. Bayat helped with exhibit de-install; learned how to care for artwork; and contributed research, wall text, and press releases to the What Remains? exhibit, which features art by veterans and runs through November. The experience, she says, “makes you respect…art galleries, art institutions, museums so much more.”

The Art of the Deal: Bayat describes herself as entrepreneurial—she has sold her own paintings to fund tennis expenses. She is now interested in pursuing a career in the art value investment market, which combines her love of art and her interest in investing. As for tennis, she’s begun coaching recently and would like to play in professional tournaments. “I'll always have it in my life. . . I love tennis. I feel like it has its own art form too. It's a way of expressing yourself.”

Topics

College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA)

Patriot Profile

Student Athlete

Mason Exhibitions

Internships

Athletics

Faculty-Staff Enrichment Day keeps people at the center of a changing workplace

lclarkg — Thu, 08 Oct 2026 14:40:45 +0000

Faculty-Staff Enrichment Day keeps people at the center of a changing workplace lclarkg Thu, 10/08/2026 - 10:40

How do we embrace rapidly evolving technology while continuing to put people first? That question is at the heart of 911��’s Faculty-Staff Enrichment Day, a university-wide professional development event on October 21.

This annual event hosted by Human Resources offers faculty and staff a chance to build new skills, navigate change, leverage emerging technologies, and make meaningful connections across the university. A fireside chat with university leaders, keynote address, networking opportunities, and a range of breakout sessions will support professional and personal growth.

Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

This year’s theme, "People First, Future Ready," reflects 911��'s commitment to innovation: embracing new technology to support employees and students, increasing efficiency, and staying on the cutting edge, all while keeping people at the center.

"As we explore new ideas, technologies, and ways of working, it's important to remember that our success begins with people,” said Chris Ackerman, vice president and chief human resources officer. “Supporting one another and investing in our community are essential to building a workplace where everyone can thrive."

The fireside chat with 911�� Provost and Executive Vice President Marion Underwood, Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff Rose Pascarell, and Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Julie Zobel will explore the opportunities and challenges of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and what they mean for day-to-day work at 911��.

Kevin Rockmann, professor of management and assistant dean for research in the Costello College of Business, whose research focuses on working relationships in organizations and new ways of working, will deliver the keynote address.

Participants can customize their experience by choosing from a robust slate of 17 different breakout sessions designed and presented by faculty and staff from across the university. The planning committee accepted and reviewed session proposals this summer.

“Our breakout session presenters are all 911�� faculty and staff, and they are ready to share their knowledge and expertise with their colleagues,” said Robyn Madar, assistant vice president of talent development in Human Resources. “We are grateful for our talented presenters who showcase the creativity and innovation across our workforce and support professional development across 911��.”

Photo provided

Breakout sessions cover a wide range of topics: learning lessons about trust, accountability, and teamwork from the experiences of student-athletes; tapping into shared expertise and group intelligence to solve problems together; leading through change; using artificial intelligence to support everyday work; and more.

"What keeps me coming back are the conversations, connections, and practical takeaways I can use throughout the year," said one participant.

A lunchtime resource fair offers participants a chance to connect with representatives from campus offices and services that support well-being and professional development.

The day will close with a service activity—assembling well-being kits for members of the 911�� community—and a conversation about how supporting others contributes to a healthier workplace, bringing home the theme of People First, Future Ready.

"We wanted to focus on how faculty and staff can feel supported and inspired in an environment where technology and workplace expectations are changing so quickly,” said Bridget Peabody, training coordinator in Human Resources and long-time member of the Faculty-Staff Enrichment Day planning committee. "This event will help them see these changes as exciting opportunities to grow."

Faculty-Staff Enrichment Day will take place on Wednesday, October 21, on the Fairfax Campus. Registration is now open for 911�� faculty and staff.

In This Story

Kevin Rockmann

Rose Pascarell, MA

Topics

Faculty and Staff News

Human Resources

professional development

College of Education and Human Development

Alumni build careers behind the scenes of the Washington Commanders

Katarina Benson — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 14:44:50 +0000

Alumni build careers behind the scenes of the Washington Commanders Katarina Benson Wed, 09/30/2026 - 10:44

On an NFL game day, tens of thousands of fans see the finished product.

They see the players take the field, the brands lining the stadium, the in-game experiences, and the moments that will be replayed long after the final whistle. What they rarely see are the hundreds of professionals whose work began hours, days, months, and sometimes years before kickoff.

911��’s College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) alumni Matt Hayes, BS Sport Management ’15, MBA ’23, and Mark McCracken, BS ’12, are two of those professionals.

Both work for the Washington Commanders, but their careers occupy distinctly different corners of the organization. As director of partnership development, Hayes builds relationships between the team and companies seeking to connect with Commanders fans and the broader Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.

Mark McCracken, BS ’12, assistant head athletic trainer for the Washington Commanders. Photo provided by Washington Commanders.

As assistant head athletic trainer, McCracken helps lead the sports medicine operation that keeps players healthy and safely returns injured athletes to the field.

Their paths offer a glimpse into the breadth of careers that exist behind professional sports.

For McCracken, few moments capture the meaning of that work better than game day. “When all the work is put in, your effort is recognized when a player you’ve been working on all year scores his first touchdown, [or] the player who you rehabbed last week makes an open-field tackle,” he said. “There have been so many individual moments like that. It’s a nice feeling to have, knowing you played a part in that.”

Hayes sees game day through another lens. His work may take the form of a partnership activation, hospitality experience, community initiative, or brand presence, but the process starts much earlier with a conversation. “I work to build relationships with companies that may become strategic partners of the organization,” Hayes said.

And that starts with discerning what the company is trying to accomplish. “My role starts with understanding a company’s business goals, whether that is regional awareness, customer engagement, or community impact, and then showing how the Commanders can help bring those goals to life,” Hayes said.

That means following business news, researching prospective partners, making calls, and collaborating with colleagues across the organization. “The strongest partnerships are about finding an authentic connection between a brand, the Commanders, our fans, and the broader DMV community.”

It is a side of professional sports Hayes did not know existed when he arrived at 911�� in 2011. Growing up, he imagined a career in sports media, being drawn to sports talk radio and “the energy, opinions, and storytelling around teams and athletes.”

Then, at CEHD he realized how much happened outside the broadcast booth and off the field. “As I moved through the Sport Management Program and gained hands-on experience through practicums, volunteer work, and internships, I started to see the scale of the industry behind the games,” Hayes said.

Matt Hayes, BS ’15, MBA ’23, is the Commanders' director of partnership development. Photo provided by Washington Commanders

One of his earliest opportunities came when he volunteered at the Washington Wizards’ training camp at the Patriot Center (now EagleBank Arena). That connected him with 911�� Athletics’ marketing and promotions department, and he continued volunteering with 911�� Athletics from 2012 until his graduation in 2015. “That was my first real glimpse behind the scenes of the sports business,” he said.

That experience led to a part-time ticket specialist position with the Washington Nationals in 2014. From there came opportunities in ticket sales, premium sales, leadership, and partnership development. His career would ultimately include chapters with the Nationals, Pittsburgh Penguins, and now the Commanders. “My transition into sports business began with saying yes to opportunities and treating every experience as a chance to build relationships,” Hayes said.

He said CEHD Professor Craig Esherick and Professor Emeritus Robert Baker also helped make an industry feel accessible. “What stood out was their willingness to help and pay it forward,” Hayes said. “Hearing firsthand career stories from coaching and media to other areas of sports made the industry feel more accessible and showed me the value of learning from people who had lived the experience.”

McCracken’s introduction to professional football also began while he was a 911�� student, although his route took him from the classroom and clinical setting directly to the sideline. He knew he wanted sports to be part of his future and was equally fascinated by exercise, science, human anatomy, and physiology. 911��’s Athletic Training Education Program (ATEP) introduced him to a profession that could combine those interests. “911��’s ATEP program opened up my eyes to the expansive world of athletic training and sports performance as a whole,” McCracken said.

As a rising senior, McCracken interviewed for a clinical position with Washington’s NFL franchise and was selected for a full-season rotation in 2011.

His CEHD faculty and clinical mentors remained part of that journey long after the rotation ended. “My professors like Dr. Shane Caswell, Dr. Amanda Caswell, Dr. Candace Lacayo, Dr. Jatin Ambegaonkar, and so many other adjunct professors and clinical preceptors were very supportive of me,” McCracken said. “They continued to support me and invest in my growth even after graduation and well into my career. That is something I will never forget.”

Today, McCracken helps lead the Commanders’ athletic training staff across injury prevention, short-term and long-term injury management, and the process of returning players to football as quickly and safely as possible. He works closely with team physicians and alongside professionals in strength and conditioning, sports nutrition, sports science, and player mental health and wellness.

McCracken helps lead the Commanders' athletic training staff. Photo provided by Washington Commanders

It’s up to clinicians to manage a particular injury based on the athlete, available resources, sport-specific demands, and the body’s healing process. “My foundation of athletic training knowledge began at 911��,” he said, “but my skill set continues to grow, even still. My knowledge continues to advance as the medical world advances.”

That commitment to lifelong learning is one of several themes that connect McCracken and Hayes.

Both say success in professional sports requires more than a love of the game.

“One of the first lessons I learned is that you have to separate fandom from the job,” Hayes said. “Many students interested in the industry lead with, ‘I love sports,’ or, ‘I know everything about this team.’ Passion is important, but it is only the starting point.”

An NFL franchise, he said, is ultimately a complex business. “My role is about building relationships, understanding business challenges, and using the excitement of sports to help companies meet their goals.”

Still, that excitement matters. Hayes believes sports offer something that few other industries can replicate. “That combination of business strategy and emotional connection is powerful.”

On the medical side, McCracken sees his work as more than technical expertise.

“The ‘science’ is the building blocks,” he said. “Their ability to blend all aspects of sports performance and deliver it on an individual case-by-case basis is the ‘art’ of this profession.”

That art requires being relatable, personable, and genuine, he explained. An athletic trainer must understand the medicine but also know how to communicate it to an individual athlete—and make a plan meaningful enough for a player to embrace.

For Hayes, relationships are equally central. His advice reflects a principle he has carried since the beginning of his career: work hard, follow through, and make people have “happy thoughts” when they hear your name. “In sports, relationships and reputation can create opportunities years down the road,” Hayes said.

That philosophy became even more valuable as his responsibilities expanded. About six years into his tenure with the Washington Nationals, the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic prompted Hayes to think more intentionally about the kind of leader he wanted to become. He returned to 911�� and earned his MBA from the Costello College of Business in 2023. “The MBA gave me a more analytical lens.” Together, those experiences help him look beyond the inventory a sports organization has to sell and instead understand the business problem a potential partner wants to solve.

Both alumni say students interested in professional sports should broaden their understanding of what working in the industry can mean. “As a student, I naturally focused on the visible side of the industry: teams, games, athletes, and media,” Hayes said. “Today, I see sports as a broad business ecosystem.”

Professional teams need expertise in finance, law, human resources, marketing, technology, analytics, real estate, operations, community relations, sales, sports medicine, performance, and many other areas.

McCracken highlighted emerging fields such as sports science and opportunities for additional credentials in areas such as strength and conditioning, dietetics, physical therapy, and other clinical professions that continue to expand what a career can look like.

“As a student, you don’t know what you don’t know,” McCracken said. “My advice would be to be a sponge, and treat each day as an interview.”

He also cautions students that a dream career is rarely immediate. “Do the fellowships, do the internships, do the hard work now, and it will pay off for you in the long run,” McCracken said.

Hayes offers similar advice for students seeking careers on the business side: Be curious. Be proactive: Reach out to professionals whose careers interest you. Ask about their experiences before asking them for employment. “Wherever you start, focus on building a reputation,” Hayes said. “Be prepared, work hard, follow through, treat people well, and leave every interaction in a better place than you found it.”

Visit 911�� Alumni Association

Learn more about Costello College of Business

Topics

Alumni

Costello College of Business Alumni

Costello MBA program

Game, Set, Content: This 911�� student-athlete brings followers inside Division I tennis

Katarina Benson — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 18:45:33 +0000

Game, Set, Content: This 911�� student-athlete brings followers inside Division I tennis Katarina Benson Mon, 09/14/2026 - 14:45

For most student-athletes, the work happens behind the scenes. Early-morning lifts, long days of classes, hours on the court, and weekends spent traveling to competitions are rarely seen by anyone outside the team. For 911�� women's tennis senior Cenan Liu, sharing that experience has become part of her story.

Through a growing social media presence, the Markham, Ontario, Canada native majoring in a business with a concentration in marketing and business analytics has built an audience by documenting the realities of Division I athletics—from practice sessions and match weekends to "What I Eat in a Day" (WIEIAD) videos and the challenges of balancing college, tennis, and content creation. What started as a creative hobby has evolved into a platform that connects with thousands of aspiring student-athletes while opening doors to opportunities with brands such as LEGO Canada and Audible.

Cenan Liu. Photo by Rafael Suanes/911�� Athletics

“I started creating content during my freshman year of high school because I saw a girl who I knew post about getting free tennis shoes from social media, and I figured if she could do it, I could too,” Liu said. “I built a very engaged tennis community, and I would post about my training, tennis videos, etc.”

While tennis was the foundation of her content, the COVID-19 pandemic helped shape her platform's direction. "During a time where everybody was online, it was hard to feel connected to my peers and fellow creators," Liu said. "I started to explore different niches including fashion and tech, before ultimately falling in love with watching 'What I Eat in a Day' videos, leading to my transition to creating WIEIAD videos in college."

During that time, Liu found inspiration in creators who shared their experiences as college athletes. "I really resonated with college athletes, specifically Kaila Novak, who shared her D1 life at UCLA as a soccer player," Liu said. "She really inspired me to film those same videos I enjoyed watching so much."

Watching creators document their daily lives helped Liu realize that some of the most compelling content wasn't centered on results or accomplishments, but on the experiences that came with being a student-athlete.

Tennis naturally became the foundation of her content. “Whether I want it to or not, tennis is a huge part of my life and always will be,” she said. “I think it’s super important for me to create content about tennis because I personally think there is a lack of college content out there about a lot of the stuff I talk about, whether it’s about recruiting, college food, tournament experiences, etc.”

Liu practicing at 911��. Photo by Rafael Suanes/911�� Athletics

Her content isn’t just highlights; it’s the honest middle ground of being a student-athlete. “Our spring season is incredibly busy, with constant travel, training, and competition, and I enjoy bringing my audience along for that journey through vlogs and behind-the-scenes content,” Liu said. “I love being able to show them what college tennis actually looks like beyond the highlights they see online.”

Content creation quickly became more than a hobby—it became a creative outlet and a career. “Content creation is the best way for me to funnel my creative ideas into videos that hopefully resonate with my audience,” Liu said. “During tennis practice, lift, and classes, I don’t feel like I get the opportunity to be as hands-on and as creative as I can when I create content.”

That creativity opened doors she never expected, including commercial shoots with major brands. “A casting producer reached out to me via email saying she found me through YouTube Shorts, and they needed a tennis player for an Audible commercial,” she said. “They flew me out to LA, and I stayed there for two days before taking a redeye flight to land back in Washington at 7 a.m. to compete in a tournament the same day!”

Another moment that stands out came with LEGO Canada. “They needed a tennis player in Toronto for a video shoot,” Liu said. “It was an insane full-circle experience because the commercial was filmed at my childhood tennis club. Getting to go back after so many years brought back so many memories of when I was a junior player, and I had no idea the next time I was back, I’d be filming a LEGO commercial.”

Despite the growing opportunities, Liu's content remains grounded in the experiences that first connected her with her audience.

"Being a college athlete is a major part of my identity, and a lot of my content revolves around sharing the realities of student-athlete life," Liu said, "whether that's balancing classes and practices, traveling for matches, managing a busy schedule, or navigating the highs and lows that come with competing at a high level."

Beyond documenting her own experiences, Liu sees her platform as a way to help others better understand what college athletics is really like. "I also think it's interesting for students at other schools to get a glimpse into what life at 911�� is really like, both academically and athletically," Liu said. "At the same time, a large portion of my audience consists of high school students who are interested in playing college sports, so I love being able to show them what college tennis actually looks like beyond the highlights they see online."

Liu hopes her content offers a glimpse of the student-athlete experience. "I hope my content gives people a more realistic understanding of the student-athlete experience while helping them feel inspired and connected to the journey." she said.

Liu’s message is simple but powerful: Show up and be yourself. “The most important piece of advice that you’ve probably heard a bajillion times is to be consistent with your posting,” she said. “Authenticity is also really important and that’s something that I try to really focus on because it’s something that I believe you can genuinely feel through the screen, whether somebody is genuine or not.”

As she continues competing for the Patriots and growing her platform, Liu remains focused on telling stories that resonate with people. By sharing the realities of student-athlete life, she's created more than content—she's built a community.

Learn more about Mason Athletics

Topics

Student Athlete

Mason Athletics

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

NIL

GCI Catalyst Project aims to tackle human rights issues with help of AI

Katarina Benson — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 17:45:10 +0000

GCI Catalyst Project aims to tackle human rights issues with help of AI Katarina Benson Thu, 09/10/2026 - 13:45

Cher Weixia Chen hopes being mindful of human rights will one day be just as automatic as looking both ways before crossing the street.

The 911�� professor is spearheading an innovative project she hopes will give educators and students, along with NGOs, government, technological, and business leaders, the tools to better approach human rights issues.

Cher Weixia Chen. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

Chen, a professor in the School of Integrative Studies in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, serves as the principal investigator of one of seven 911�� Grand Challenge Initiative (GCI) catalyst research projects: “AI-Powered Human Rights Education for All: Toward a Better World.” Collaborating with faculty from the College of Engineering and Computing (CEC) and the Costello College of Business, her team is creating an AI‑driven virtual human rights classroom prototype that will provide access to practical, personalized tools to learn and apply human rights principles in daily life.

“If someday this concept could be so with us, that whenever we make a decision that affects another person, our first instinct is to ask, ‘Is this respectful of their dignity and rights?’ Then we could at least inch closer to a better world,” said Chen, who is the founder of the 911�� Human Rights and Global Justice Initiative and was recently named the 2026 Faculty Member of the Year by the 911�� Alumni Association. “So that is the idea, and I feel like the emergence of AI makes this possible.”

The 18-month project began this summer with the team recruiting a graduate student and two undergraduate students through the Office of Creative Student Activities and Research (OSCAR).

Using a built-in Human Rights Impact Assessment (HRIA) toolkit, users of the classroom will explore interactive scenarios and receive personalized guidance to help them navigate real‑world dilemmas and assess the impact of human rights decisions, policies, and technologies.

Helping with the project’s design is a trio of professors from CEC: Ziwei Zhu and Antonios Anastasopoulos from the Department of Computer Science and Sungsoo Ray Hong in the Department of Information Sciences and Technology. CEC faculty will provide expertise in artificial intelligence, natural language processing, trustworthy AI, and human-AI interaction.

“Together, we will help develop a platform that is technically robust, reliable, culturally responsive, and easy for both students and educators to use,” Zhu said. “The project could make high-quality human rights education more accessible, personalized, and engaging for learners well beyond a traditional classroom. Over time, it can help people better understand how decisions in technology, business, government, and other sectors affect human rights, supporting more informed and responsible decision-making.”

Lei Gao, an associate professor of finance in Costello, believes human rights are impacted just as much by the decisions made in boardrooms and financial markets—through supply chains, investment choices, labor practices, and the design of new technologies.

Gao will pilot the HRIA toolkit prototype with students in his finance courses, FNAN 444 Socially Responsible Finance and FNAN 483/MSF 683 Ethical and Professional Standards in Finance. He said targeting students is key as they represent “future analysts, managers, and entrepreneurs who will actually be making these decisions.

“Some of the most consequential decisions affecting human rights are made in boardrooms and financial markets,” Gao said. “This project helps the next generation of business leaders treat human rights as part of sound decision-making, not an afterthought—and gives them a practical tool to do it.”

Also contributing input in a consulting role will be renowned human rights educator Felisa Tibbitts, who served as co-editor with Chen on the book, Disciplinary Frontier of Human Rights in Higher Education. Tibbitts is currently the UNESCO Chair in Human Rights and Higher Education at Utrecht University in the Netherlands and will serve as consultant on the project.

In addition to reaching higher education audiences, the toolkit can also apply to educators and students at the K-12 school levels. Chen said she aspires to work with the Department of Modern and Classical Languages in CHSS to translate the toolkit for other languages. The team is looking beyond the business and technological industries, hoping to later reach international organizations, NGOs, nonprofits, and government and private sectors.

“Using human rights education as a tool, and now with the help of this, new technology—AI—it seems possible and plausible to make human rights reach as wide an audience as possible around the world,” Chen said. “This project essentially highlights the transformative power of these three factors: human rights, education, and AI. For all of us, this is something new and I think it’s worth trying. And for me, the most exciting part of this is it’s doable, it’s scalable, and it’s adaptable.”

This initiative supports the Advancing 21st-Century Education for All solution of 911��'s Grand Challenge Initiative

Explore AI at 911��

Topics

Research

GCI-Grand Challenge Initiative

GCI-Education

School of Integrative Studies

Artificial Intelligence

College of Engineering and Computing

Costello student explores business side of Northrop Grumman through internship

Katelynn C Hipolito — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 19:24:45 +0000

Costello student explores business side of Northrop Grumman through internship Katelynn C Hipolito Tue, 09/01/2026 - 15:24

When 911�� business major Neha Bandaru saw Northrop Grumman's table at the on-campus Career Fair, she figured that any opportunity the company had to offer would be catered to engineering students.

Neha Bandaru, Costello College of Business student. Photo provided by Neha Bandaru.

However, when she spoke with a Costello College of Business alum about what the aerospace and defense company had on the business side, it opened her eyes to the exciting opportunities available to her. After seeking out more conversations and doing her own research, Bandaru eagerly applied for the role of contract admin and analytics intern.

With Northrop Grumman divided into four business sectors—aeronautics, defense, mission, and space—Bandaru's position was located within the defense sector. From day one of her internship, she was thrown into meeting calls. After a few weeks of meeting everyone and learning about the company culture, she began her assigned projects, working intensely on one for a few days before being rotated to another.

"The biggest thing I learned was how important attention to detail is. Even one small mistake can hold up the entire contract. It definitely taught me to be thorough and make sure every point of contact, approval, and detail was in place before moving something forward.”

—Neha Bandaru, Costello College of Business student

Primarily working on contract closeout, she completed more than 60 projects throughout the summer. "The biggest thing I learned was how important attention to detail is," she says. "Even one small mistake can hold up the entire contract. It definitely taught me to be thorough and make sure every point of contact, approval, and detail was in place before moving something forward.”

Costello College of Business student Neha Bandaru studying abroad at the University of Oxford, Christ Church College. Neha took a legal aspect of AI tutorial there that helped her through her Northrop Grumman internship. Photo provided by Neha Bandaru.

Among her favorite experiences from the internship was visiting the hangar to see the planes being built, as well as taking a look at the old technology in laboratories. Getting to know and collaborating with employees and other interns was another highlight.

Two months of interning in this high-intensity environment have helped Bandaru think more deeply about different directions she may want to take her career. She also found that most people she spoke with had not followed a direct career path, figuring out their ambitions along the way.

“That provided some relief for me because I feel like there’s stress in your early 20s, like knowing exactly where you have to be for the next 40 years,” she says. “So, it was definitely very relaxing to be able to talk to people who say it’s OK not to know exactly where you’re going to be.”

She remains highly interested in project management and analytics but has now also begun considering business law.

Bandaru completed her internship with the meaningful experience of seeing both the business and production sides of a major company, along with the confidence that comes from being better able to work under pressure. By putting her skills to the test in real-world settings, she discovered career paths that she had not previously considered. As she begins her senior year at the Costello College of Business, she brings a sharpened skillset, an expanded network, and a clearer vision for her future career.

Explore Internships at 911��

Learn more about Costello College of Business

Topics

Costello College of Business Students

Experiential Learning Program

Internships