The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs has again earned the No. 1 overall ranking, according to the latest . The school also remains highly ranked in 10 subspecialties, including the top ranking in public management and leadership.

“To be recognized by peers who share our dedication to public service means a great deal,” says Dean David M. Van Slyke. “What this recognition speaks to is people—faculty who are doing research that matters and teaching with genuine commitment, staff who work every day to make sure our school achieves its mission, students whose scholarship and drive will define our future, and alumni who have taken their Maxwell foundation and done remarkable things with it. I’m grateful to our peers for seeing what we see every day.”

The Best Public Affairs Schools rankings are based solely on surveys of deans, directors and department chairs representing 266 master’s programs in public affairs and public administration. Each school is numerically ranked by peer school leadership on a 5-point scale, with the average score determining the school’s overall rank. Additionally, survey respondents can nominate up to 15 schools for excellence in 12 subspecialties, with the number of nominations determining each school’s position in the ranking. This year, Maxwell shares the top ranking with Indiana University’s O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs.

U.S. News began ranking graduate programs in public affairs in 1995. Since then, the Maxwell School has been ranked No. 1 in every survey but one. Maxwell also ranks highly this year in the following subspecialties:

• Environmental Policy and Management
• International Global Policy and Administration
• Information and Technology Management
• Local Government Management
• Nonprofit Management
• Public Finance and Budgeting
• Public Management and Leadership
• Public Policy Analysis
• Social Policy
• Urban Policy

G’01, L’01, the Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor of Teaching Excellence 2024-2027 at the College of Law, has spent her career teaching at the intersection of constitutional law, disability law, human rights and international security. The Meredith Professorship has given her sustained support to pursue her focus on universal design in higher education, not as an abstract principle, she says, but as a lived challenge institutions are navigating in real time.

As part of her teaching award, she has organized a daylong symposium on April 10 at the College of Law, sponsored by multiple University partners, including the Burton Blatt Institute, Center for Disability Resources, Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence, D’Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) and the College of Law’s Disability Law and Policy Program. The event will examine the transformative global impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the evolution of universal design principles in higher education.

That global lens is grounded in True-Frost’s own research. Studying accessibility law at the European Court of Human Rights, she has found that the ADA’s most significant international influence has been conceptual rather than doctrinal: the foundational idea that disability is a rights issue, not a welfare issue and that the burden of accommodation belongs to institutions rather than individuals.

True-Frost hopes the event will prompt a harder look at how higher education institutions approach accessibility.

“Inclusion is not a disability resources office problem,” she says. “It is a campuswide design challenge—and getting it right is how we honor the promise that higher education makes to everyone who comes here seeking to grow.”

Below, True-Frost shares what she hopes students, faculty and administrators take away from the symposium.

The (BBI) at Íř±¬ĂĹ sponsored students from the College of Law to attend the . The annual symposium is a leading national disability law meeting, bringing together disability rights practitioners, educators and scholars to advance the civil rights of people with disabilities. The annual event honors the legacy of tenBroek, who founded the National Federation of the Blind in 1940. The theme for the 2026 symposium was “Collaboration and Creativity: Addressing Challenges and Advancing Opportunities Now and in the Future.”

The students participating in the symposium were Kaitlin Sommer and Emely Recinos, both third-year law students and co-presidents of the Disabled Law Students Association at the College of Law, sponsored by BBI, Carly Bastedo, a third-year law student and Sydney Sheffield, a first-year law student.

BBI’s goal in supporting the students was to further their shared commitment to advancing opportunity and access in the legal profession. “Our participation at the symposium deepened our understanding of issues in disability law and helped us to build professional networks that support our careers in public interest law, policy and advocacy,” says Sommer. “I hope to attend the symposium for years to come.”

, University Professor and chairman of BBI, believes that “the symposium enables students to engage with the broader work of BBI, which seeks to advance the civic, economic and social participation of people with disabilities through research, education and outreach.”

Spectrum News and the are launching a dynamic partnership that will provide students with hands-on experiences and professional development opportunities in journalism and media production.

The new initiative reinforces the Newhouse School’s commitment to working with newsrooms on innovative ways to support local news. Student-produced content will enhance Spectrum News coverage across the country and provide viewers with a look at top issues from the perspective of Newhouse student journalists.

“This collaboration brings real-world experience to the classroom and underscores our commitment to fostering the next generation of journalists,” says , executive vice president of Spectrum Networks. “We’re supporting students as they embark on their journalism careers and providing a pathway to create a sustainable future for local news, supported by these talented emerging reporters.”

Bair and  announced the joint initiative March 23 at the Toner Prizes Celebration in Washington, D.C., an event that honors the best political reporting. More than 40 Spectrum News journalists and executives then traveled to Newhouse for a March 26 panel discussion about the initiative, followed by about a dozen programs to help students better understand the challenges and opportunities of local newsrooms.

Sessions covered topics including investigative journalism, sports reporting, data analytics and building social media brands. Newhouse students also had the exclusive opportunity for reel and resume reviews with members of the Spectrum News team.

As part of the broader initiative, Spectrum News journalists will collaborate with Newhouse faculty to teach production and investigative journalism classes in Syracuse. Students will also have the opportunity to take part in an internship program that would place them in newsrooms across the country.

Organizers are also planning a distinctive field study program that will provide students the chance to report on significant events like the 2026 midterms from Washington, D.C., and coverage in Los Angeles of Major League Baseball and the 2028 Olympics.

“This unprecedented partnership with such a respected media platform will blaze a new trail in how news organizations and universities can work together to serve local communities,” Lodato says.

As part of the initiative, student journalism will be showcased across Spectrum News social media channels, along with web and mobile platforms, starting in the fall.

“Experiential learning has always been at the heart of a Newhouse education,” Lodato says. “This collaboration, which places our students alongside some of the best journalists in the business while reporting for real audiences, is exactly the kind of transformative opportunity that defines Newhouse’s legacy of excellence in journalism education.”

Students will produce local news coverage and an issues-based magazine show for Spectrum News networks, and student reporting will contribute to the Syracuse network’s daily on-air sports coverage. Additional content will be produced as the partnership develops, providing local student perspectives on the important issues of the day to Spectrum News viewers across the country.

“We are building a mutually beneficial partnership with the Newhouse School that supports both the professional development of emerging journalists and our recruiting efforts for Spectrum News,” says Paul Marchand, executive vice president and chief human resources officer at Spectrum. “Many Íř±¬ĂĹ alumni have gone on to become leaders and journalists at Spectrum News, and this collaboration will deepen those connections while helping us identify and nurture new talent for our newsrooms.”

Peter and Aphrodite Tsairis turned grief into purpose following the death of their daughter Alexia in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.

Their commitment is galvanized through an initiative named after their daughter, honoring Alexia’s passion for photography and promoting the power of visual storytelling to shed light on significant issues around the world.

In recognition of the Tsairises’ dedication and generosity that dates back more than three decades, the presented the couple its highest honor, the Newhouse School Medal for Distinguished Service, during a ceremony held March 27 at the school.

It is thought to be the first time that Newhouse had awarded the medal since 1977, when legendary CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite received the award from publisher S.I. Newhouse, for whom the school is named.

“It is fitting and long overdue that we recognize Peter and Aphrodite for their contributions to the mission of the Newhouse School and their extraordinary efforts to promote the power of visual storytelling,”  said before awarding the medal.

The ceremony took place during this year’s judging weekend for The Alexia competition. Before an audience that included their family and friends, along with Chancellor Kent Syverud, Chancellor-elect J. Michael Haynie and Provost Lois Agnew, the Tsairises thanked Lodato and highlighted the decades-long collaboration with previous deans and visual communications faculty.

From Tragedy to Purpose: The Story Behind The Alexia

was a 20-year-old photography major in Newhouse when she was one of 35  killed in the terrorist bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, as they were returning home from a semester abroad in London. The victims are honored on campus in a memorial in front of the Hall of Languages.

Now in its 35th year, the initiative  has become an internationally recognized granting organization that supports documentary photographers and filmmakers worldwide. Also, the  is a marquee experiential learning opportunity at the University for visual communications students.

“The welcoming support extended from Newhouse to us for these 35 years is the glue that has held us all together, united in one goal—to inspire visual storytellers to go where we cannot, to bring us stories that enlarge our understanding and to give us hope in the future of humanity. Thank you so much,” Aphrodite Tsairis said.

The Tsairises remain close with David Sutherland, professor emeritus of visual communications and the former Alexia Chair. Sutherland taught their daughter in London and worked with the couple to establish The Alexia following the tragedy.

A Legacy of Support for Visual Storytellers Worldwide

Over its history, the foundation has awarded about $1.7 million in grants to 170 student and professional photographers and filmmakers through annual competitions.

Peter and Aphrodite Tsairis “might not realize that they have affected [the lives] of that many students around the world,” Sutherland said. “The ones that they gave awards to obviously ended up with life-changing events—getting scholarships and grants.”

The Alexia also has deep roots with the current Alexia Endowed Chair, , an associate professor of visual communications.  who also teaches graphic design and writing in the Newhouse School, is The Alexia’s curator of communications, design and exhibitions.

Aphrodite Tsairis said The Alexia will continue to thrive under the leadership of the Strongs.

“Your story is not the darkness. You refused to stay there,” Bruce Strong told the Tsairises from a podium. “You struck a match. That small act of creating light in a moment of overwhelming darkness became something far greater.”

The Newhouse School Medal for Distinguished Service recognizes friends of the school whose contributions have a lasting impact on students, the Newhouse School’s mission and the wider world.

The Íř±¬ĂĹ has launched the nation’s first joint J.D. and M.S. in sport analytics program in conjunction with the . The joint program, to be offered starting the Fall 2026 semester, allows College of Law students to earn their J.D. and M.S. concurrently, typically graduating in three years and at no cost beyond that of the J.D.

College of Law on-campus students entering their second year can apply for the J.D./M.S., the College of Law’s 13th joint program.

The master’s degree requires 36 credits. A total of 15 credits from the sport analytics program can be counted toward the J.D. Further, six designated law credits will count toward both the J.D. and the M.S. electives. Law students enrolled in the joint JD/M.S. must take 72 unique law credits and 30 unique M.S. credits. Therefore, obtaining the joint J.D./M.S. requires completing 102 total credit hours.

“This is a program that only Syracuse can offer,” says College of Law Dean Terence J. Lau L’98. “Our College of Law and the Falk College of Sport are literally next door to each other, and that proximity translates into a truly integrated curriculum. No other law school in the country can pair a J.D. with a world-class sport analytics program under one roof.”

The joint J.D./M.S. is designed for law students interested in working in the front office of sports teams, the legal departments of sports leagues, sport agents, sport gambling companies and others involved in sport.

“Being able to combine a law degree with a master’s degree in sport analytics provides our law students with an advanced credential that will set them apart when entering the workforce,” says College of Law Professor Todd Berger.

The M.S. follows Falk College’s established graduate sport analytics curriculum that emphasizes applied statistics, econometrics, databases and machine learning, R/Python programming, sport gambling analytics and visualization, among other disciplines.

“There is increasing demand for professionals who can navigate the complex intersection of law, analytics and sport business. The combined J.D./M.S. degree prepares graduates to meet this demand by equipping them with both legal acumen and advanced quantitative skills these roles increasingly require,” says Rodney J. Paul, Ph.D., professor and chair in the Department of Sport Analytics at Falk College.

“Analytics has been largely popularized in the sport industry, but it has the ability to impact many other industries. Based on my personal background as a sport lawyer, bringing analytics into the study of law is a natural extension for Falk College of Sport. But it is also an incredibly valuable tool for practicing attorneys and even judges to better understand trends and precedents in the law and to predict probable outcomes of cases,” says David B. Falk ’72, Íř±¬ĂĹ Life Trustee and founder and CEO, Falk Associates Management Enterprises.

Graduates will be uniquely positioned for roles in compliance, regulation, governance, player representation, sport betting and gaming law, collective bargaining and analytical decision-making across professional teams, leagues, sportsbooks and regulatory agencies.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine just over four years ago, roughly 500,000 soldiers and civilians have been killed and 1 million people injured. Millions of Ukrainians currently live under Russian occupation. At least 20,000 Ukrainian children have been kidnapped and deported to Russia. Millions have fled the country.

These sobering statistics were shared by Brian Taylor, professor of political science and director of the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs, as he introduced Oxana Shevel, a leading scholar who grew up in Ukraine, for a talk reflecting on the ongoing war and the possibilities of what’s to come.

Before Shevel took the microphone, Taylor, a renowned expert on Russian politics himself, asked the audience to observe a moment of silence “for those who have suffered as a result of this war.” Students, faculty and staff who filled the Hall of Languages conference room quietly bowed their heads.

Shevel, who grew up in Kyiv during the Soviet era, directs Tufts’ International Relations Program, is president-elect of the Association for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies and vice president of the Association for the Study of Nationalities. Her talk at Syracuse, titled “Russia’s Invasion, Ukraine’s Resistance and Prospects for Peace,” was hosted by Moynihan’s Center for European Studies with support from the College of Arts and Sciences’ Russian Program within the Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics.

The talk was the latest in a series of events and initiatives by the Maxwell School intended to expose community members to unique perspectives and lend greater understanding to the conflict’s legal, strategic and humanitarian dimensions. Maxwell is home to a community of faculty including Taylor, Michael Williams, the Hon. James E. Baker and Vice Admiral Robert Murrett (U.S. Navy, retired) who research the rule of law, international politics, and peace and security, and are helping build networks of scholarship and training to support democracy in Ukraine. They have spearheaded programs such as the US-Ukraine Veterans Bridge to support the country’s bourgeoning veteran population and have contributed to research and commentary in major media outlets.

Growing Identity

During her talk, Shevel shared a view from her co-authored book, “Russia and Ukraine: Entangled Histories, Diverging States” (Polity Press, 2024), that the roots of Russia’s war on Ukraine lie not in NATO enlargement but in the growing identity and regime divergence between the two states since 1991. She cited Russia’s confidence in its security, the improbability of Ukraine’s NATO entry from the beginning, and Russia’s desires for far more than Ukrainian neutrality.

“Russia is deporting children, trying to re-educate them, banning Ukrainian books, destroying Ukrainian culture,” she said. “These actions have nothing to do with hard security and everything to do with identity.”

The lecture centered on what Shevel calls the “escalatory cycle”—the cycle of events and growing differences between Russia and Ukraine that eventually led to war. “It progressed gradually,” she said. “The more Ukraine pulled away, the more Russia pushed. The more Russia pushed, the more Ukraine pulled away.”

Throughout the escalatory cycle, Shevel identified several critical junctures—times of ideological split between Russia and Ukraine that could have been mended, but were not. Each was an opportunity to end the cycle, and each an identity divergence that built on the last, leading to the point of no return, she said.

The start of the cycle came with the 1991 Soviet collapse, often called a “civilized divorce,” dissolving the 15 united republics peacefully. “In Russia, this was seen not as a divorce, but as an opportunity to draw closer together again later, perhaps not in the Soviet Union, but in some other form,” she said. “The idea that Ukraine would permanently separate was not widely accepted in the Russian political class.”

As Shevel identified further critical junctures—such as the 2004 Orange Revolution and 2014 Euromaidan protests—her own experience of the post-communist region offered a personal dimension.

“I remember how things were taught,” she explained. She recalled clicking to the presidential website after Yanukovych’s election and finding that all mention of the 1932-33 Ukrainian famine had vanished.

War Not Likely to End Soon

Shevel expressed doubt that the Russo-Ukrainian war is likely to end anytime soon.

“The war has been horrendous for Ukrainian society. The people are tired. I have family there, sleeping in tents in Kyiv,” she said.

Though data shows that Ukrainians are slowly becoming more open to compromise in some areas, they do not believe that negotiations alone will lead to peace. “Ukrainians know what they’re fighting for,” she said.

When her formal remarks concluded, several students asked Shevel a range of questions, including about the role of the United States in supporting Ukraine.

Shevel said the U.S. could help Ukraine by applying greater pressure on Russia. “We do have leverage,” she said, “both economic and military—we just aren’t using it how we should be.”

Shevel ended the lecture on a note of hope. For the war to end, she said, Russia needs a fundamental mindset shift—whether that comes from new leadership or outside pressure. Russia needs to understand it will not gain more than it already holds.

“There has to be a leader in Russia who decides Russia can still be important without Ukraine,” she said.

Story by Catherine Scott

As rain fell over the Luxembourg American Cemetery last summer, Kaitlyn Kushner ’26 stood before a grave marker bearing a family member’s name she knew little about growing up, her great uncle. He died 80 years ago while serving as a private first class in the U.S. Army during World War II.

George T. Kushner Jr., who fought and survived the Battle of the Bulge during his time in the Army, died on March 18, 1945. Kaitlyn knew that his sudden death from battle wounds “was a devastating loss” and had “generational impacts” on her family.

“Everything in my family was changed by his death and I had this light bulb moment that I needed to do more research on this,” says Kushner, a television, radio and film (TRF) student in the .

Thanks to a “once-in-a-lifetime” study abroad experience through a collaboration between the , Kushner walked the same streets he walked 80 years ago, developing a strong spiritual connection while producing a documentary honoring his life.

Partnering with the World War II Foundation, Newhouse professor Shaina Holmes brings students abroad to assist with the production of documentaries that tell the stories of World War II soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice.

“Walking the same locations he walked brought up emotions I didn’t know were possible. I was processing and grieving someone I never knew,” says Kushner, who participated in the . “This was such an impactful journey, and I felt like being in the places where he was helped me get to know and better understand his life.”

Assisting Documentary-Makers in Preserving the Past

On each trip, Holmes’ students serve as production assistants on sets spread across locations that played a pivotal role in the war. Íř±¬ĂĹ was the first higher education institution to partner with the World War II Foundation in the summer of 2022. This summer’s trip to Normandy will be the fifth.

Students work alongside seasoned crews of documentary makers, shooting video, conducting interviews with historians and surviving family members and lending a hand while learning valuable lessons and gaining one-on-one mentorship.

“This is a great educational experience that elevates what they’re understanding from the classroom,” says Holmes, an associate TRF professor. “That’s the purpose of the World War II Foundation, for the next generation to hear these stories and keep these stories alive.”

Holmes says students contribute to between two and three different documentaries while in Europe while also mapping out their own short- and longform content, which can take the form of a documentary, articles, videos on YouTube, photo essays, podcasts or multimedia content for social media.

“The energy and the creative environment working alongside these professionals was just electric and I learned so much working with them,” says Kushner, who wants to help clients bring their stories to life as an account manager at a video production agency once she graduates in May.

A First Hello, 80 Years Later

One of the prized family possessions Kaitlyn carried with her around Luxembourg was a digitized version of the binder containing the letters her great uncle wrote to family back home in Pennsylvania during the war, along with newspaper clippings and photos of George.

Through those letters home, in which George described his movements and the sights he saw along the way while awaiting updates from his family, Kaitlyn was able to “track his weekly movements through Europe.”

“This experience brought him to life for me. I could imagine seeing what he saw when he fought in the Battle of the Bulge,” Kushner says. “I have specific letters where he mentioned certain locations and I was able to go there and picture things as he saw them. I really felt attached to my great uncle, even though nearly a century separates us.”

The most moving and spiritual experience happened when, with some help from Holmes and director of photography Jim Karpeichik, Kushner was granted permission to film in the Luxembourg American Cemetery where her great uncle was buried.

As part of Kushner’s capstone and Renée Crown University Honors Program thesis, she is working with Holmes to turn in her final project, a documentary about the life of her great uncle.

“I got to say my first hellos to my great uncle in his final resting place, and that’s when I took a moment to really feel his presence,” Kushner says. “That was when I felt the closest to him and it was such an existential moment standing in the spot where he was buried and getting to meet him for the first time.”

While applications have closed for this summer’s trip to Normandy, students interested in the 2027 summer trip to Poland can contact Ěý(shholmes@syr.edu) or Ěý(csbrody@syr.edu).

Milton Santiago, assistant professor of visual communications in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, has received the 2026 Innovation in Teaching Award (BEA)—one of the organization’s most prestigious honors for media educators.

The Washington Post won the 2026 Toner Prize for national political reporting for a series of stories that documented the impact of sweeping federal government policy changes.

The Chicago Tribune has won this year’s Toner Prize for local political reporting for “64 Days in Chicago: The story of Operation Midway Blitz,” a series that examined how the Trump administration’s immigration policy unfolded in Chicago, including mass raids and public protests.

The winners of the annual were announced Feb. 27 by the  . Awarded annually by the Newhouse School, the Toner Prizes recognize the best political reporting of the past year. They are named for Robin Toner ’76, the first woman to hold the position of national political correspondent for The New York Times.

Toner Prizes Ceremony Set for March 23

The honors will be formally presented March 23 at the in Washington, D.C., where CBS justice correspondent Scott MacFarlane ’98 will serve as master of ceremonies. The ceremony will be preceded by a conversation with award-winning journalist, podcaster and author Kara Swisher and moderator Shelly Palmer about political reporting in the age of technology, artificial intelligence and social media. Palmer is the at the Newhouse School.

In addition to the winners, ProPublica took an honorable mention in the national political reporting category for a story that was co-published with The New Yorker.

The judges were:

• Christina Bellantoni, journalism professor at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, columnist and former editor-in-chief at Roll Call.
• Ann Compton, retired Emmy Award-winning reporter for ABC News and the first woman to cover the White House for network television.
• Lucy Dalglish, professor and dean emeritus at the Phillip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland; former executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press; attorney and former reporter and editor at the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
• Beverly Kirk, director of Washington programs and professor of practice of broadcast and digital journalism at the Newhouse School, with more than two decades of experience in journalism working at national and local outlets.
• Rick Rodriguez, former executive editor and senior vice president of The Sacramento Bee. He later joined the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University as professor of the Southwest Borderlands Initiative.
• Maralee Schwartz, former national political editor and reporter at The Washington Post. She held fellowships at the Harvard Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School of Government, and the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard.
• Joseph B. Treaster, professor at the University of Miami School of Communication. A prize-winning reporter, he spent more than three decades as a reporter and foreign correspondent at The New York Times.

Toner Prize for Excellence in National Political Reporting

Winner: The Washington Post

Reporters: Hannah Natanson, William Wan and Meryl Kornfield

Entry: “The year Trump broke the federal government”
(Subscription may be required.)

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Judges’ Comments

“This series was powerful, vast, richly detailed and just gutting.” (Bellantoni)

“Beautifully written…the visuals are powerful.” (Compton)

“The insight into the affected families was touching and horrifying.” (Dalglish)

“An emotion-provoking account of the human impacts of the Trump/DOGE federal job cuts.” (Rodriguez)

Honorable Mention: ProPublica and The New Yorker

Reporters: Andy Kroll, Lisa Riordan Seville, Katie Campbell and Mauricio RodrĂ­guez Pons

Entry: “The Shadow President”

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Finalists

• Bloomberg News, “Trump Crypto Grift,” Zeke Faux, Anthony Cormier, David Kocieniewski, Muyao Shen, Max Abelson and Leonardo Nicoletti
• The New York Times, “Holding Trump Accountable,” Peter Baker, Charlie Savage, Eric Lipton, David Yaffe-Bellany, Bradley Hope, Tripp Mickle, Paul Mozur, Helene Cooper, Maggie Haberman and Eric Schmit
• NPR, “Trump’s revamped SAVE system,” Jude Joffe-Block, Miles Parks, Ben Swasey and Brett Neely
• ProPublica, “The Breakdown of Democracy in North Carolina,” Doug Bock Clark
• Reuters, “The Revenge of Donald Trump,” Ned Parker, Peter Eisler, Linda So, Mike Spector, Joseph Tanfani, M.B. Pell, Benjamin Lesser, Isaac Vargas, Nate Raymond and the Reuters team

Toner Prize for Excellence in Local Political Reporting

Winner: Chicago Tribune

Reporters: Andrew Carter, Gregory Royal Pratt, Laura RodrĂ­guez Presa, Caroline Kubzansky and Jason Meisner

Entry: “64 Days in Chicago: The story of Operation Midway Blitz”

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Judges’ Comments

“Riveting narratives documenting the human impacts of federal immigration raids on local communities. Stories like these take extensive research and effort to gain the trust of people in the super-charged environment. The writing was clear and compelling.” (Rodriguez)

“The depth of reporting in a response to breaking news that drew national attention is impressive.” (Bellantoni)

“Spectacular work, beautifully written and reported—made all the more powerful by the photography.” (Schwartz)

Finalists

• CalMatters, “Digital Democracy,” Ryan Sabalow
• Chicago Tribune, “Inside Illinois Senate President Don Harmon’s Campaign Contributions,” Ray Long, Rick Pearson, Addison Wright, Dan Petrella and Jeremy Gorner
• The Indianapolis Star, “God and politics,” Alexandria Burris, Kayla Dwyer and Hayleigh Colombo
• The Texas Tribune, “A billionaire megadonor’s political awakening,” Kate McGee and Carla Astudillo
• (Albany) Times Union, “New York’s Public Campaign Finance Program,” Emilie Munson

About the Toner Prizes

First presented in 2011, the Toner Prizes for Excellence in Political Reporting highlight and reinforce quality, fact-based political reporting—work that illuminates the electoral process, reveals the politics of policy and engages the public in democracy.

They are named after Robin Toner, who covered five presidential campaigns, scores of Congressional and gubernatorial races and most of the country’s major political figures during her nearly 25-year career at The New York Times. A 1976 graduate of Íř±¬ĂĹ, Toner earned a bachelor’s degree as a dual major in journalism from the Newhouse School and political science from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

Toner died in 2008, leaving a husband and two young children. To honor her legacy, family and friends established the Toner Program in Political Reporting at the Newhouse School.

The ’s Disability Employment Policy Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (DEP RRTC) has the second grant cycle of their podcast series, “Let’s Get to Work: Reimagining Disability Employment Policy.” The podcast series is hosted by Peter Blanck, University Professor and Chairman of the Burton Blatt Institute, and produced by the in collaboration with leading economic and social policy researchers at Mathematica, Rutgers, Harvard and Cornell Universities. The series brings together scholars, national leaders, researchers, policymakers, business leaders and disability community advocates examining the future of employment policy for people with disabilities.

The inaugural episode spotlights Lex Frieden, a pioneering disability rights advocate and key architect of the independent living movement and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The episode explores Frieden’s life journey and his vision for advancing meaningful employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

Frieden emphasizes the central role of employment in civic and economic participation.

“If we’re not working, then we’re not contributing to the public good,” he says. “We’re not paying taxes, we are not engaging in the economy to the extent that we can. By working, we are contributing to the product in the workforce, and we’re generating income that we can circulate back through the economy that will benefit the employers.”

Frieden notes that while significant advances have been made since the passage of the ADA, barriers remain.

“The younger generation is finding that there are still barriers to employment,” he says. But he remains optimistic and confident that young and future advocates will “pick up the torch and move on, as I’m seeing happen.”

Listeners can access the inaugural episode online and with Frieden.  

The is a research, education and training center dedicated to enhancing employment opportunities and outcomes for people with disabilities, developed under a grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research. The center has an expansive, five-year agenda of coordinated research projects designed to explore and identify the policies, factors and conditions that empower people with disabilities to access and succeed in the workforce. More information can be found on the center’s .

Íř±¬ĂĹ will unveil a portrait of alumnus and 46th U.S. President Joseph R. Biden Jr. L’68, H’09 in Dineen Hall at the during a private ceremony with the former president on Tuesday, April 14, 2026.

The artwork, painted by distinguished American portrait artist , is an oil-on-canvas portraiture completed in 2025-2026. The portrait was commissioned by Íř±¬ĂĹ to honor one of its most prominent alumni. Neal is one of America’s foremost portrait artists, whose works hang in the U.S. Capitol, the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery and the Pentagon, among other prominent institutions.

“Syracuse Law is proud to count a former president among our many outstanding alumni,” College of Law Dean Terence J. Lau L’98 says. “President Biden has never forgotten where his legal career began, and we have never forgotten him. His portrait in Dineen Hall will remind every student who passes through our doors that a Syracuse Law education doesn’t just open doors. It can change the course of history.”

Biden earned a juris doctor from the College of Law in 1968 and has maintained a close connection with the University ever since. He delivered the College of Law Commencement address on four occasions—in 1994, 2002, 2006 and 2016—and returned to campus in 2009 to deliver the University’s Commencement address and receive an honorary degree.

Biden received the University’s Chancellor’s Medal in 1974; the Law Alumni Association’s Distinguished Service Award in 2003; and the George Arents Pioneer Medal, the University’s highest alumni award, in 2005. In 2018, he was honored with a prestigious Syracuse Law Honors Award from the Íř±¬ĂĹ Law Alumni Association and the College of Law.

The portrait will be on permanent display in the college’s Law Library Reading Room, where the public can view the painting during normal library hours.

Faculty from the Newhouse School of Public Communications and College of Law have teamed up for the seventh consecutive year in an innovative cross-campus collaboration to allow future television reporters and future lawyers to experience the drama of a high-profile murder trial.

Professor Elliott Lewis, graduate program director of broadcast and digital journalism in the Newhouse School, and Professor Todd Berger, director of advocacy programs for the College of Law, brought the students together for the mock trial of State v. Cullen, a fictional case involving the deaths of two bar workers. One of the victims’ coworkers is accused of the double murder.

The law students are playing the roles of prosecutors and defense attorneys, delivering opening and closing statements, questioning witnesses and making objections during testimony.

The Newhouse students are practicing their skills as television journalists, performing live updates during breaks in the trial and producing a narrated report after its conclusion.

“With a top-rated journalism school and a top-rated trial advocacy program located on the same campus, it doesn’t make sense for us to stay isolated in our academic silos,” Lewis says.

In previous years, the journalism exercise was incorporated into one of the law school’s trial advocacy classes. This year, Berger and Lewis decided to build it into the law school’s annual Lionel O. Grossman Mock Trial Competition, making the experience of interacting with the student journalists available to a wider array of law students.

“I honestly don’t know of another law school that has attempted something like this,” Berger says. “It gives law students a taste of having to represent a client in the media as well as in the courtroom.”

The Newhouse students were required to request permission from the court, overseen by Berger, to allow a television camera in the courtroom and must adhere to the court’s restrictions limiting its movement. The law students were encouraged to make themselves available for interviews with the reporters following the verdict.

The experience marked a role reversal for law student Jackie Napier, a former television reporter at WHAM-TV (ABC) in Rochester, New York, who played the role of a prosecutor in the competition.

“I cannot overstate just how important I think accurate court reporting is,” Napier says. “The broadcast students I met through this competition really showcased the high level of training that Newhouse is known for.”

Lewis and Berger came up with the idea when Lewis approached the law school about having his students observe a mock trial to learn more about the court system. Berger proposed having the journalism students cover it like an actual trial, exposing the law students to working in the media spotlight.

“You never know, some of these students could meet again at a real trial someday,” Lewis says. “My hope is that both the reporters and the lawyers will have a better understanding of where the other side is coming from as a result of this experience.”

The entertainment industry is experiencing one of its most turbulent periods in years as streaming continues to disrupt long‑standing TV and film business models.

What once seemed like the future of media has fallen short of the revenue traditional studios need to stay afloat. This in turn has accelerated consolidation, reshaping who controls Hollywood’s most prized assets.

Who Is Competing to Acquire Warner Bros. Discovery—and Why Does It Matter?

At the center of this latest chapter is Warner Bros. Discovery. It’s a company with one of the industry’s richest catalogs. Both Netflix and the combined Paramount Skydance group are now competing to acquire it, each viewing the deal as a strategic play that could redefine their power in the streaming marketplace. With rights to iconic characters, franchises and story worlds, Warner Bros. Discovery’s library represents a content engine capable of producing new films, shows and spinoffs for years to come.

, assistant professor of television, radio and film in the Newhouse School of Public Communications, says the instability hitting legacy studios has been building for some time. “The industry has been in a really fluid place these last few years, primarily because of how disruptive the streaming business model has been to traditional business models in TV and film,” he says. Despite the promise of digital distribution, “streaming has not delivered the revenue that they’ve needed to sustain their operations.”

For consumers, the impacts may be felt quickly. “If Netflix acquires Warner Brothers Discovery, there’s no question your subscription fee is going to go up,” Hamilton says. On the other hand, a Paramount–Skydance takeover raises different concerns. Some observers worry that the company’s close political ties could influence future programming choices and storylines.

What Does Media Consolidation Mean for the Future of Streaming and Storytelling?

As Hamilton puts it: “When you can shape a story in terms of a narrative in a movie or TV show, you can shape a cultural perception—and that can be very powerful in a good way, in a bad way.”

Looking ahead, Hamilton predicts the trend toward consolidation isn’t slowing down. “We’re going to probably see more tech titans picking up for scraps legacy media companies,” he says.

With trillion‑dollar market values, major tech firms can acquire studios for relative pocket change. “To a company worth $3 trillion in market value … buying a company that’s ten, fifteen, twenty, thirty billion isn’t really that much of a blip on the radar,” he says.

As the future of entertainment continues to shift Hamilton believe strongly the companies shaping the next generation of stories will look very different from the ones that built Hollywood.

Who is allowed to work in the United States—and under what conditions—has long been shaped by the intersections of immigration and employment law. While these questions are frequently in the national spotlight today, the complex layers and legal frameworks behind them have been evolving for decades.

Recognizing both the historical significance and modern urgency of these issues, the launched its first residency focused on the interweaving of immigration and employment statutes and regulations, drawing students eager to explore how policy, economics and legal precedent converge.

The Intersections of Immigration and Employment Policy and Law: In the Courts, the Agencies, and in the Congress, a four-day residency option designed for JDi students and open to on-campus students, took place last December in Washington, D.C. This popular residency drew a range of students— including a union steward, a sheriff, an individual with an H-1B visa and many other professionals working in a variety of fields—all of whom brought interesting perspectives to the classroom.

The residency was led by the , Chair and Chief Judge, Administrative Review Board, U.S. Department of Labor (presenting on his own behalf) and a distinguished immigration law scholar with more than 25 years of experience working in immigration and employment law on Capitol Hill, with the Department of Labor and in the private sector.

Curriculum Addressed Broader Immigration/Employment Issues

According to Johnson, the residency offered a broad perspective, looking at how conflicts between the courts and enforcement agencies are resolved using a review of general statutory interpretative principles and court cases that examine the interactions of immigration and employment laws. The residency also examined other legal conflicts as exemplified under the Federal Arbitration Act; the congressional deliberations surrounding the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act; and the Administrative Procedure Act, as well as some of the more influential court decisions handed down over the past six years, such as “Loper Bright, v. Raimondo,” “SEC v. Jarkesy” and “Muldrow v. City of St. Louis.”

“This residency clarified that immigration law, employment law and administrative law do not operate as separate systems but continuously shape one another— and that their interaction has long-term consequences beyond individual cases,” says attendee Kate Fioravanti L’26, who is a full-time school administrator in a Connecticut urban public school district and the president of the local union affiliate of the AFL-CIO.

“Through discussion of doctrines like Hoffman Plastics, mandatory arbitration, agency deference and cases such as Plyler v. Doe, the course highlighted how legal rules governing work authorization, enforcement and access to institutions ultimately influence who participates in the workforce, who remains economically stable and how communities develop,” she adds. “For me, the important takeaway was understanding how these legal frameworks collectively affect the country’s labor force, schoolsand economic capacity, making them questions of structural design rather than isolated doctrinal debates.”

Jacie Rodriguez L’26 also found the residency enlightening.

“The best thing I took away was that immigration policies and laws are not simple,” says Rodriguez, a bilingual claims specialist for the U.S. Social Security Administration. “There are many parties invested in the outcome of immigration law, and reform can come to a near standstill without compromise. Policymakers, administrative agencies, Supreme Court decisions, public interest groups and the president himself—everyone has a role that will either stagnate or propel momentum.”

Extensive Network of Speakers Added Unique Expertise

Not only did Johnson utilize case studies and examples from his extensive career in immigration and employment law, but he also tapped into his vast network of experts in this space to speak to and network with the JDi students, adding to the richness of the experience.

“I’m blessed to have such a huge network of professional colleagues—and I’m grateful they took time out of their very busy lives to share their views and experiences with our JDi students,” says Johnson. “When I was going through the students’ final exams, everyone identified different speakers and their appeal, as well as the opportunity to hear about various career backgrounds and, to some degree, think about post-graduation opportunities outside of big law.”

Students left the residency with a greater knowledge and understanding of U.S. immigration and employment law, including the layered complexities within each area. They also gained insight into how courts resolve seemingly inconsistent mandates between statutes, and how to effectively advocate for clients when confronted with conflicting and/or overlapping mandates. They further honed their skills by analyzing immigration law cases and looked closely at how trends shape the law and Congressional deliberations.

“I believe the JDi students walked away with a sense of how this topic is more than just today’s headlines but is a blend of the law and societal mores, and that, as these societal mores change, the law does not remain static,” says Johnson. “The skills shared at the residency are transferable to a lot of other aspects of the legal field. So no matter what area of the law they choose to pursue, I hope the experience gave them another arrow in their quiver as they go through life and represent clients.”

Residency Welcomes High-Level Thought Leaders

The following joined the JDi residency to share their expertise on various topics related to immigration and employment law:

• Jon Baselice, Executive Vice President and Head of Government Affairs, Vantoe, explained negotiations over the worker program in S. 744 and why employers were quite willing to overrule Hoffman while unions thought it would be a win
• Josh Bernstein, Director of Immigration Policy/Director of Immigration for the Service Employees International Union SEIU, U.S. Chamber, immigration programs, spoke about immigration policy, Capitol Hill negations with the U.S. Chamber and immigrant worker programs
• Joshua Breisblatt, Democrat Chief Counsel, Immigration Subcommittee, U.S. House Judiciary Committee, spoke about immigration negotiations on Capitol Hill
• Kristie De Pena, Vice President for Policy and Director of Immigration Policy, Niskanene Center, gave an update and observations on recent immigration developments and chance of reforms
• Danny Kaufer, Partner, Borden Ladner Gervais, Montreal, spoke about lessons and parallels under Canadian employment law
• Roger King, Senior Labor and Employment Counsel for the HR Policy Association, presented the basics of the NLRA and crossroads with immigration law
• Camille Olson, Partner, Seyfarth Shaw, and Chair, U.S. Chamber’s EEO subcommittee, presented on statutory overlaps
• Laura Reiff, Shareholder at Greenberg Traurig and Co-chair of GT’s Immigration Practice, talked about union management negotiations and compliance issues
• Gene Scalia, past Secretary of Labor and Solicitor of Labor, explained the balancing legal interpretations of statutes and review of key Supreme Court decisions relating to the APA
• Chris Thomas, Partner, Holland & Hart, spoke about immigration enforcement focus and practical problems faced by employers