ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Assistant Professor of JournalismĀ Israel Balderas was featured in a recent examining campaign press access in North Carolinaā€™s closely watched U.S. Senate race. The story explored recent decisions by the campaigns of Republican Michael Whatley and Democrat Roy Cooper to restrict access to certain media outlets during campaign events and the implications for voters.

Balderas, a First Amendment attorney and former journalist, emphasized the important role journalists play in helping the public stay informed.

ā€œIf you take the reporter out, itā€™s not that youā€™re getting less information, itā€™s that youā€™re getting information nobody checked,ā€ Balderas said. ā€œAnd thatā€™s the issue because in a free society, the idea is that voters want to be well-informed so they can make their own judgment come Election Day, but you take that out of the equation, and itā€™s the voter that loses.ā€

Balderas explained that reporters serve as stand-ins for voters who cannot attend campaign events themselves, documenting what candidates say and do. He noted that banning reporters from these events is a “Trump strategy,” and one that won’t work in this election.

He added that whatā€™s driving the electorate now on both sides of the aisle and for independents is that people are tired of a system that is rigged.

ā€œI think … authenticity is what voters are craving and maybe in the past, this would have been red meat for the people on the right, but this is a general election in a purple state where 2-3% of the electorate are going to decide this election,ā€ Balderas said. ā€œMaybe him saying no to … The Assembly, thatā€™s going to stir up his base, but the fact that you are excluding the press is going to send a signal, that well, is Michael hiding something?ā€

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• ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ holds largest-ever Spring Undergraduate Research Forum
• Personal experience inspires ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ studentā€™s research to help children experiencing homelessness

Dozens of students showcased research projects inspired by personal experiences and academic interests, guided by faculty mentorship, during the 2026 Summer Undergraduate Research Experience presentations on July 23 in Schar Hall.

The most recent SURE symposium featured more than 50 students from both ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ and Queens University of Charlotte, marking the latest example of collaboration between two institutions in the process of merging into a united community.

ā€œSURE continues to be one of the flagship events of ĀŅĀ׏Óʵā€™s Undergraduate Research Program. This poster session is a celebration of their dedication and growth as budding young scholars,ā€ said Justin Clar, director of undergraduate research and associate professor of chemistry. ā€œI was especially pleased that we were joined by amazing students from Queens who shared their work with the ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ community.ā€

At ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ, the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience has for years provided student researchers with a stipend to spend eight weeks working full-time on a project in collaboration with a faculty mentor with substantial and recognized expertise in the discipline.

The program concludes every July with a symposium that deepens studentsā€™ knowledge of the research experience while offering an opportunity to grow their public speaking and presentation skills.

“It was a great opportunity for the students to share their summer research in a low-stakes environment,” said Kira McEntire, director of undergraduate research and creative work; and associate professor of biology at Queens. “It was also fun to see the ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ students sharing their summer projects and to learn about some of the interests of ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ colleagues.”

At Queens, the university holds its annual in the spring, a campus-wide celebration of academic inquiry and community impact. The day starts with oral and poster presentations, followed by service activities in the afternoon.

Personal connections

For many students at SURE, like ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ studentĀ Thomas Gress ā€™27, projects carried a deeply personal connection. Gress designed a four-week study comparing exercise approaches for people with chronic fatigue syndrome, inspired in part by his brotherā€™s experience with the condition.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the condition is a serious and often long-lasting illness that keeps people from doing their usual activities. It makes physical and mental exertion difficult, and symptoms include difficulty thinking, severe tiredness, and other issues.

ā€œBefore I started this project, (my brother had) been suffering for four years, and there seemed to be no end in sight. So, this was something small that I could do to be of use,ā€ said Gress, a biology major from Savannah, Georgia. ā€œFor all of these patients, thereā€™s no other option. There are no drugs available, only a few supplements with very little efficacy. So, it seems the best option is experimenting with lifestyle. And if not this, then there is nothing.ā€

Queens student Isabella Sherman ā€™27 has a love for nature that inspired her to explore plant communities at the Carolina Wildlands Foundation with mentor E. Davis Carter, assistant professor of biology at Queens.

ā€œIt was an excellent experience,ā€ said Sherman, a conservation biology major from Charlotte. ā€œItā€™s really close to what I want to do with my career. I love research, I love forestry, and every time I went out there, I was like, ā€˜This is exactly what I want to do.ā€™ This kind of information is what people take into consideration when theyā€™re trying to develop land or provide an additional environment for fauna and flora.ā€

Mentoring relationships

A common thread among many of the projects was the close relationship students developed with their faculty mentors.

Anna Grace Gilbert ā€™27, an ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ psychology major from Knoxville, Tennessee, says Associate Professor of Psychology Sabrina Perkins ā€œcompletely changedā€ her undergraduate experience through their work studying infant motor development.

ā€œIā€™ve worked with (Professor Perkins) technically since the summer of my freshman year. I just reached out to her and was like, ā€˜I love babies. Iā€™d love to work with you,ā€ Gilbert said. ā€œIā€™m very grateful. Weā€™ve really bonded over these almost three years.ā€

For Jack VanValkenburg ā€™27, a Queens student majoring in data analytics, undergraduate research provided an opportunity to apply his technical skills. He worked with Queens Assistant Professor of Biology Denni Einersson to develop a computerized system for organizing trash collected during community cleanup events.

ā€œIt was a great opportunity to work with people who know more than me. The coding that Iā€™ve done in the past is more analytical and this was more developmental,ā€ said VanValkenburg, who is from Atlanta. ā€œ(Clean-up crews) would go out with field cards, like pencil and paper, and just mark things down, which was super timely and itā€™s very inconvenient, and then that just led to a lot of data that wasnā€™t being used.”

Pushing through the learning process

ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ business analytics major Chase Hannibal ā€™28 examined the sense of belonging among Black business students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Predominantly White Institutions. It can sometimes feel isolating as a Black female business student, Hannibal said.

ā€œI just wanted to see if other students felt that way, and if it was a pattern, what could be fixed,ā€ Hannibal said. ā€œ(I wanted to) let other students know that youā€™re not alone.ā€

Hannibal says her mentor, Shanetta Pendleton, assistant professor of strategic communications, pushed her to be better, even when she was at her ā€œstopping point.ā€

ā€œEven when I felt at the worst of the worst, she supported me throughout everything,ā€ Hannibal said. ā€œShe was great, and Iā€™m very excited to work with her in the future.ā€

Amelia Weaver ā€™28 also explored the experiences of college students, particularly women. Her ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Honors Fellows research examines the motivations of college-aged women who participate in sports betting after she noticed women were less vocal about the topic in class discussions.

ā€œIt made me think about why the women in the class werenā€™t as talkative or excited about their own experiences with sports betting,ā€ said Weaver, a sport management and media analytics double major with a minor in . ā€œI wondered if this was because they didnā€™t participate, didnā€™t care, or they just didnā€™t want to say anything.ā€

Weaver said her mentor, Alex Traugutt, an assistant professor of sport management, has helped guide her through the process.

ā€œHe immediately said, ā€˜This is going to be a partnership. Weā€™re going to take steps together. Weā€™re going to figure this out together. Iā€™m not just going to throw you into everything,ā€™ā€ said Weaver. ā€œThatā€™s been really helpful in the learning process.ā€

The Odyssey Program is a merit-based scholarship that provides students with access to mentorship, community building, leadership development, service learning and more. The program also includes a stipend for books and supplies, and an ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Experiences grant, which will be used for global experiences.

Students admitted to the program come from a variety of backgrounds, including first-generation college students, Federal Pell Grant recipients and/or those who have achieved success despite hardship or other challenges. With 76 students in the Class of 2030, it is the largest yet and brings the program closer to its Boldy ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ goal of 100 Odyssey Program scholars by 2030.

Throughout the week, the students worked on a collaborative project exploring ā€œwhat it means to thrive as an Odyssey Scholar.ā€ They also participated in sessions focused on academic planning, community building, financial aid, global learning, etc. The week concluded with a block party celebrating their accomplishments with music, lawn games, volleyball, food and more.

Eliza Scott ā€™30, from Chapel Hill, North Carolina plans to study strategic communications with a minor in poverty and social justice, and says she was nervous coming into the week, but has grown closer to her cohort.

ā€œThereā€™s so much diversity within the group, and itā€™s so lovely to figure out what things we share and what things we have differences in,ā€ said Scott. ā€œItā€™s so easy, in the world we live in, to think of someone and generalize and create a wall of division ā€¦ Itā€™s been so beautiful to connect as a cohort and a family.ā€

On Thursday, July 16, the cohort came together with ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ faculty and staff for ā€œPizza with the Pros,ā€ an opportunity to network and also hear from and ask questions of a professional panel. Panelists includedĀ Luis Garay, director of the Gender and LGBTQIA Center; Brandy Propst, director of ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ 1010; Abdul-Malik Harrison ā€™21, assistant director in the Center for Race, Ethnicity and Diversity Education; Alaina Mills, community director for the Historic Neighborhood; John Moses Brownson, associate director of career advising pre-professional health; and Stephanie Baker, associate professor of public health studies.

The panelists gave a range of advice on topics including what they would tell their past self in college, how to build relationships with faculty/staff and how to manage social and academic life in college. They all emphasized that students should use the resources available to them at the university.

ā€œAsk for help, even when it’s the most difficult thing for you to do; make sure you reach out to all the resources that we’re sharing with you,ā€ Probst said.

The panelists advised the students that, while structure is important, college is also meant to be a time for exploration, and you shouldnā€™t be so strict that you miss out. Harrison, who graduated from ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ in 2021, noted that itā€™s important to be flexible and also accept failure as a learning opportunity.

ā€œYou’re going to fall flat on your face a couple of times, but itā€™s how you get back up,ā€ Harrison said. ā€œYou have this plan, either written down, physically or in your head. Take it, ball it up, throw it away because it’s not going to necessarily turn out like that. Now, the end goal might look kind of like what you wanted it to be, but how you got there, it’s not going to look like that.ā€

Brandy Davis ā€™30, from Charlotte, North Carolina, plans to study accounting and says sheā€™s enjoyed meeting new people and ā€œcreating a sense of community and familyā€ throughout Odyssey Week.

ā€œEven though we have differences, everyone respects each other and, if anything happens at the end of the day, I can always come back to Odyssey,ā€ said Davis.

Students apply to the annual research symposium, which usually takes place during the summer before the junior or senior year. It is one of several opportunities for students to showcase undergraduate research, a cornerstone of the ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ education and one of the fiveĀ ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Experiences. Students are also able to present scholarly work at theĀ Spring Undergraduate Research Forum.

Presentations encompass a variety of topics, including helping teachers work with students facing homelessness, finding therapies for an ‘elusive chronic disease‘ and studying the motivations of women participating in sports betting.Ā 

There will be two separate poster presentations:

• 9 to 10:15 a.m.
• 10:30 to 11:45 a.m.

The ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ community is invited to attend and learn more about the studentsā€™ scholarship.

For his first undergraduate research project at ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ, Thomas Gress ā€™27 is looking to make an impact on people suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome, including his own brother.

ā€œBefore I started this, heā€™d been suffering for four years, and there seemed to be no end in sight,ā€ said Gress, a biology major from Savannah, Georgia. ā€œSo, this was something small that I could do to be of use.ā€

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a serious and often long-lasting illness that keeps people from doing their usual activities. It makes physical and mental exertion difficult, and symptoms include trouble thinking, severe tiredness and other symptoms.

ā€œItā€™s a bit of an elusive chronic disease,ā€ Gress said. ā€œThere are no pharmacotherapies available and there are no biomarkers for confirmed disease, so all we can do is experiment with lifestyle, and a big part of that is exercise.ā€

Exercise is the focus of Gressā€™ research, working with Professor of Exercise Science Eric Hall to design a four-week study to compare two different approaches to exercise. Before the study begins, each participant undergoes a walking test to determine their comfortable walking distance. Most participants are expected to walk between 10 and 20 minutes, although no one is expected to walk for more than 45 minutes.

Participants are then divided into two groups: graded exercise therapy and pacing therapy. The study focuses on the concept of an ā€œenergy envelope,ā€ a term used to describe the amount of physical activity a personā€™s body can comfortably perform. One approach suggests that people may benefit from gradually pushing beyond their usual limits, while the other suggests that people should stay within their comfort zone and adjust activity levels based on how they feel.

During the study, participants use their baseline walking time to set weekly goals. In the first week, they are asked to walk for 80% of their baseline time. This increases to 90% in the second week, 100% in the third week and 110% in the fourth week. However, there is an important difference between the two groups. Participants in the graded exercise therapy group are required to follow this schedule exactly. Participants in the pacing therapy group are encouraged to follow the schedule but have the flexibility to adjust their activity based on their energy levels and personal needs.

Gress will present his research at the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) presentations on July 23 in the Snow Family Grand Atrium. Students apply to the annual research symposium, which usually takes place during the summer before the junior or senior year. It is one of several opportunities for students to showcase undergraduate research, a cornerstone of the ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ education and one of the fiveĀ ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Experiences. Students are also able to present scholarly work at theĀ Spring Undergraduate Research Forum.

Gress hopes this research will reveal which approach is more effective at helping participants stay committed to the program and whether either method leads to lower levels of fatigue, hopefully helping people with CFS.

ā€œFor all of these patients, there’s no other option,ā€ Gress said. ā€œThere are no drugs available, only a few supplements with very little efficacy. So, it seems the best option is experimenting with lifestyle. And if not this, then there is nothing.ā€

The impact of reading

For Lyric Gregory ā€™28, that impact is measured one child, and one book, at a time.

ā€œItā€™s amazing. I feel like Iā€™m making such a big difference,ā€ said Gregory. ā€œI feel like Iā€™m actually contributing to making Alamance a little bit better.ā€

Gregory, a psychology major from Virginia Beach, Virginia, is spending his summer as an intern with Alamance Partnership for Children, a nonprofit organization serving young children and families throughout Alamance County. He supports the organizationā€™s efforts to provide supplies to families in need, advance literacy initiatives and redesign its library and childrenā€™s area.

ā€œItā€™s a really cool feeling to give a child a book and see their eyes light up,ā€ Gregory said. ā€œI never thought kids would be so excited to see books. There was this one kid, just seeing the joy on his face when he asked his mom, ā€˜Look, theyā€™re going to have books. Can I have one?ā€™ It hit me in the feels.ā€

Launched in 2021, Campus Alamance connects ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ students with paid internships throughout Alamance County while helping build a pipeline of talent for local organizations. Since its launch, 97% of participants have reported their internships were valuable to their professional development.

Gregory has long been fascinated by psychology and hopes to become a child therapist. He said the internship has strengthened his passion for helping others.

ā€œIā€™m already motivated, but it motivated me even more to continue to pursue psychology, because Iā€™m looking at people in this office who still have the same passion as me, and theyā€™re making a difference,ā€ he said.

ā€˜Real timeā€™ experience

Like Gregory, McKenna Blount ā€™27 entered college with an interest in psychology. A psychology major with minors in and criminal justice studies, Blount wanted an internship that combined both fields but initially struggled to find opportunities that fit her interests.

Through the Student Professional Development Center, she connected with the Campus Alamance Program and secured an internship with the Burlington Police Department, where she works with both the Aerial Reconnaissance & Tactical Intelligence Center (ARTIC), and the Crime Scene Investigation unit.

ā€œIā€™ve had a lot of broad experience in the police department,ā€ said Blount, who is from Raleigh. ā€œTheyā€™re super flexible, just letting me have as much experience that I possibly can.ā€

In ARTIC, a real-time crime center, Blount assists officers by monitoring camera systems and databases during active investigations. In the Crime Scene Investigation unit, she observes investigators and gains firsthand experience with forensic work.

ā€œI didnā€™t know how interested I was in the law enforcement aspect of things,ā€ said Blount. ā€œI thought I was more interested in the psychology aspect. Itā€™s really nice to meet people outside of the ā€˜ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ bubble.ā€™ā€

Connecting the community and history

Katie Baylett ā€™27, a strategic communications major from Highlands Ranch, Colorado, is also gaining hands-on professional experience through Campus Alamance as a social media intern for the Alamance Historical Museum.

ā€œThe internship has helped me know how to work and navigate in a professional environment,ā€ Baylett said. ā€œI took a class at ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ where we briefly touched on the local history and the textile industry history of Alamance County specifically, but this has really given me hands-on experience and helped me connect with the local community and also just connect with the local history.ā€

Baylett develops the museumā€™s social media content calendar, creates photo and video content, updates the museumā€™s website and assists with an email marketing campaign. A key part of her role is translating the work of museum staff into engaging, accessible content for the public.

ā€œMy classes at ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ have helped me know how to create a social media calendar and have helped me know how to navigate a wide variety of systems that I am using with my internship,ā€ she said.

Internships are a central part of the ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ experience. Through the universityā€™s Experiential Learning Requirement, students must complete two of five ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Experiences: internships, service, leadership, undergraduate research or global engagement.

For Blount, the internship has also changed how she sees the community surrounding campus.

ā€œYou take the same three roads to get where you need to go as an ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ student, and I had no idea how much more goes on in Burlington,ā€ Blount said. ā€œThis internship has really benefited my professional career development.ā€

ā€œThe class told us about ā€˜doubled-up homelessness,ā€™ where youā€™re living with family or others, and youā€™re living under a roof, but itā€™s not your home. I had no idea that was a thing,ā€ said Brandon, an elementary education major from Hastings, Michigan.

Now, Brandon is working with Jill McSweeney, assistant director of the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning, and assistant professor of wellness, on a project examining the ways that North Carolina elementary school teachers and homeless liaisons are collaborating to help students experiencing homelessness.

According to Brandon, each North Carolina school district has a homeless education liaison responsible for managing resources, funding and teacher training. Brandon and McSweeney are working with the North Carolina Homeless Education Program to survey and interview teachers across the state to improve the training educators receive on supporting students experiencing homelessness.

ā€œA liaison can be the best liaison in the whole world, and they can’t be with every student in the district supporting their needs every day and seeing their day-to-day life like a teacher does,ā€ Brandon said. ā€œBut in North Carolina and nationwide, most teachers are never trained by their liaison just because there’s not enough time. They have no idea about all the funding that is available to them, and instead they’re spending hundreds of dollars every year out of their own pocket to buy food, clothing and hygiene products.ā€

Brandon will be presenting her work at the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) presentations on July 23 in the Snow Family Grand Atrium. Students apply to the annual research symposium, which usually takes place during the summer before the junior or senior year. It is one of several opportunities for students to showcase undergraduate research, a cornerstone of the ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ education and one of the five ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Experiences. Students are also able to present scholarly work at the Spring Undergraduate Research Forum.

Working with McSweeney, Brandon says, has been a transformative experience. McSweeneyā€™s research area focuses on college student experiences on campus and in the classroom, along with a broad focus on teaching and learning. But Brandon says, despite not focusing specifically on K-12 education, McSweeney was excited to work with her.

ā€œI cannot imagine what my undergraduate experience would be like if Jill McSweeney was not my mentor,ā€ Brandon said. ā€œShe taught me how to do research because Teaching Fellows are not only expected to do research, but our course schedules are so rigorous that we can’t take a methods course. So, she was helping me with my research, teaching me how to do research, and what research methods were, and also showing me how to navigate higher education as a system.ā€

As Brandon prepares to graduate next spring, she hopes to continue her education at ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ through the Teach for Alamance program. The ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ scholarship program provides full tuition remission and a small stipend to teacher-candidate graduates of the Dr. Jo Watts Williams School of Education who wish to enroll inĀ ĀŅĀ׏Óʵā€™s Master of Education program. This project, she hopes, will also help her future colleagues in the Alamance-Burlington School System.

ā€œI wanted to make sure that I was doing research that would have an impact that reached the people that it was about and not just the academic community,ā€ Brandon said. ā€œI know that I can’t redesign legal systems, and I canā€™t fix all of the stateā€™s problems that are causing homelessness to happen. I wanted to see what the most is that I could do with undergraduate research to make sure that more students are supported.ā€

ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ Professor of Political Science and Public PolicyĀ Jason Husser provided analysis for a recent ABC 11 report examining the growing amount of money flowing into midterm races this season.

Husser noted that with the recent death of North Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham, it puts South Carolina Republicans in a new spot.

“The Republicans now are going to need to run a non-incumbent in South Carolina means they may have to spend a couple million dollars that they would not have otherwise spent there,” said Husser.

But he also noted that spending and competitiveness in other Senate races could have an impact on the Senate race in North Carolina betweenĀ former Gov. Roy Cooper and Republican nominee Michael Whatley.

“The money’s not totally going away, but right now, I don’t know that we’re seeing the same level of sort of demand to spend the dollars in North Carolina over Georgia or Maine or Alaska or Texas and some other places,” said Husser.

ĀŅĀ׏Óʵā€™s Lee Rainie, director of the Imagining the Digital Future Center, was featured in a recent Chronicle of Higher Education article examining how artificial intelligence is creating new challenges for college and university leaders.

The story, Ā highlights the firing of the University of Wisconsin System due to what the regents described as unclear policy around AI.

ā€œThis is what chaos looks like. Itā€™s hard to be a leader in chaos,ā€ said Rainie, who has studied the use and perceptions of AI on campuses. ā€œThere is no consensus at all about what are the right things to do.ā€

Rainie noted that faculty members are also eager for guidelines telling them what they can and cannot do.

Over the past two decades, the ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ 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 childrenā€™s book: ā€œOcean Superheroes.ā€

ā€œThe 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,ā€ 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 ā€œfriendly shark tank.ā€ Past judges have been former Apple CEO John Sculley, filmmaker Luca MartĆ­nez, and Sylvia Earle, the first chief scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Raymond McGeeā€™s childhood hero. Raymond McGee works with Earle on global conservation, and she helped inspire the organization and book.

ā€œI wrote ā€˜Ocean Superheroesā€™ because it was the book I wish I had when I was a kid,ā€ Raymond McGee said. ā€œThe 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.ā€

Her educational journey has also included that same ā€œpurpose.ā€ After graduating from ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ with a degree in sport management, she earned a masterā€™s degree in non-profit management and public policy from New York University and, a year ago, earned another masterā€™s degree from The Wharton School of Businessā€™s first global MBA program.

At ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ, her time as an Isabella Cannon Leadership Fellow heavily shaped many aspects of her life, including her focus of community. Founded in 1989 byĀ Isabella CannonĀ ā€™24, the former Mayor of Raleigh, the Isabella Cannon Leadership Fellows program is a nationally recognized leadership development program designed to strengthen each studentā€™s leadership skills and ability to impact themselves, their communities and their world.

ā€œOur 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,ā€ Raymond McGee said. ā€œI chose ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ 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 ĀŅĀ׏Óʵ so special to me, and it’s something I’ve carried with me throughout my career.ā€

ā€œOcean Superheroesā€ 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 careerā€”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.”