In the News
- Death of the cheap seat: How sports figured out they could charge you almost anything for a ticket: Yahoo Sports (feat. Stephen Shapiro)
- Babies, cancer and TIME magazine: How Dawn Staley became a target of AI fake news: Post and Courier Columbia (feat. Keshav Gupta)
- Will the World Cup bring more drama on the field or off? Bloomberg Businessweek (feat. Nick Watanabe)
- From surplus to support: National Association of College & University Food Services (NACUFS) Campus Dining Today magazine (feat. Feed the Flock)
- Best Chase Credit Cards: WalletHub (feat. Mike Watson)
- How Bangladesh’s Garment Suppliers Are Being ‘Squeezed Dry’: Women’s Wear Daily (feat. Md. Rafiqul Islam Rana)
- Meet Me in Columbia - The Midlands’ tourism transformation: Columbia Metropolitan magazine (feat. Rich Harrill)
Faculty and Staff Notes
- Samuel Todd was named USC associate vice president and vice provost for Global Affairs.
- Kathy Smiling earned a 2026 USC Staff Excellence Award for Excellence in People Development.
- Cierra Pinckney earned the USC Institutional Academic Advising Award for Outstanding Student Advocacy in Advising.
- Martiez Moore earned the USC Institutional Academic Advising Award for Outstanding Advising Initiative.
- Kiara Hare began her term as HRSM’s USC Staff Senator.
- Stephanie Richards began her term as a USC Staff Senate Parliamentarian.
- Chang Ma co-authored “A socio-technical exploration of bias in generative AI travel planners” in Tourism Management.
- Keshav Gupta presented research entitled “When Goals Backfire: The Effectiveness of Limit Setting Tools in Online Sports Betting” at the 2026 North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM) conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
- Catherine Wiggins was chosen as an 2026 SC Women in Business Award winner by Integrated Media Publishing
Student Notes
- Many HRSM students worked the PGA Championship at Aronimink Country Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.
- Chloé Abellard (Sport and Entertainment Management) will be joining the Hartford Athletic as a ticket sales & service intern.
- Kiersten Calkins (Retailing - Retail Management) was selected to attend the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in France this summer with the USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications.
- Audrey Elmendorf (Hospitality Management, ‘25) accepted a new position as senior coordinator, track content with NASCAR.
- Jenna Fallon (Retailing - Fashion Merchandising and Digital Innovations) started a new position as a sales associate at Nordstrom Rack in Midtown Manhattan.
- Ries Kahn (Sport and Entertainment Management) began a summer internship with the Lexington County Blowfish.
- Nicholas Mautone (Master of Sport and Entertainment Management) started a new role with the Indy Eleven Professional Soccer organization as manager, merchandising & fulfillment.
- Kartik Midha (Sport and Entertainment Management Ph.D.) presented research entitled “When Green Turns Risky: Understanding Green Trust in Technology-Based Sustainability Initiatives Through Attribution Theory” at the 2026 North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM) conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He was selected as a finalist for the NASSM Student Research Award.
- Quincy Morin (Retailing - Retail Management) will be joining Carters Inc. as a merchandising intern in their Atlanta headquarters.
- Michaela Rice (Sport and Entertainment Management) started a stadium operations internship with the Columbia Fireflies.
- Preston Schmitz (Sport and Entertainment Management), serving as a stadium operations intern with the Columbia Fireflies, earned a Game Changer award from the team.
- Christopher Seguin (Retailing - Retail Management) is serving as a Cisco Sales Support Intern at ScanSource this summer.
- Perry Taylor (Sport and Entertainment Management) will be spending this summer as a ticket sales intern with Taymar Sales U at The Citadel.
- Yang (John) Zhuang (Hospitality Management Ph.D.) won the Best Paper Award at the 2026 Alliance for Research on Wine and Hospitality Management Workshop at Cornell University for his paper, "Swallowing or Spitting Out: Exploring the Likelihood of Continuous Purchase of Tariffed Wines Through Terroir and Trade Ideology,” co-authored by faculty members Scott Taylor, Jr., and Cortney Norris.
Alumni Notes
- Carys Abbott (Retailing - Fashion Merchandising and Digital Innovations, ‘25) earned her Georgia real estate license and recently joined Keller Williams Realty at Peachtree Road.
- Riley Ammons (Sport and Entertainment Management, ‘22) started a new position as employee benefits consultant at USI Insurance Services.
- Kerri Bassett (Sport and Entertainment Management, ‘26) accepted a new position with Eventive Sports as events coordinator for the Colonial Life Charity Classic, a role that began with an internship.
- Patrick Corbett (Sport and Entertainment Management, ‘24) accepted a new position with Constellation Furyk & Friends as a partnerships coordinator.
- Luke Dionian (Sport and Entertainment Management, ‘25) started a new position as an inside advertising sales representative with Professional Sports Publications.
- William Dissen (Master of International Hospitality and Tourism Management, ‘06) served as a guest judge on Top Chef’s Appalachian Celebration episode.
- Kailey Esposito (Retailing- Fashion Merchandising and Digital Innovations, ‘26) accepted a new role as a merchandise assistant at Dillard's Corporate Headquarters in Little Rock, Arkansas.
- Lillian Hayes (Sport and Entertainment Management, ‘25) started a new role at NASCAR as a personal ticket consultant.
- Alexandra Kantrowitz (Sport and Entertainment Management, ‘26) accepted a new role as event operations coordinator at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
- Ashton Lebed (Sport and Entertainment Management, ‘26) will be continuing his academic journey at UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law.
- Jessie Lessin (Sport and Entertainment Management, '18) received iHeartMedia’s CEO Club Award for the second time.
- Hannah Margeson (Sport and Entertainment Management, ‘24) was promoted to senior coordinator, client services at Aquarius Sports and Entertainment.
- Kendall Ness (Sport and Entertainment Management, ‘26) will return to USC this fall to pursue a Master of Sport and Entertainment Management and Master of Business Administration through the combination program offered by HRSM and the Moore School.
- Angelo Rodrigues (Sport and Entertainment Management, ‘26) will be joining Guild Mortgage as a loan officer assistant.
- Ivy Soucheray (Hospitality Management, ‘26) began a new role as a villas hospitality intern at Hazeltine National Golf Club.
- Nyla Staples (Sport and Entertainment Management, ‘26) joined the New York Liberty as a business operations intern for the 2026 season.
- Charles Thomas (Hospitality Management, ‘26) accepted a management trainee position with Cintas in their fire protection division.
- Maria Vale de Gato (Hospitality Management and Finance, ‘26) accepted a new position with GFI Capital Resources Group, Inc. as an asset management associate in New York City.
- Ryan Wallace (Sport and Entertainment Management, ‘24) started a new position as coordinator, media relations with the Kansas City Royals.