Syracuse University Promotes Diversity With All-Female Production Team The production highlights the school's open-door' policy, strong ties with alumni By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor
Thursday, January 16, 2020 - 11:58 am
Print This Story
Story Highlights
In the sports-video-production industry, Syracuse University ranks among other major collegiate institutions. The university is lauded for its stellar achievements, including once being the home of industry notables Bob Costas, Marv Albert, and Ian Eagle. Today, another feather will go in the school's cap when an all-female broadcast team, led by on-air talent Beth Mowins (Class of 1990) and Isis Young (2019), produces a Syracuse -. Georgia Tech women's basketball game on ACC Network Extra.
[This game] continues to strengthen the reputation that [S.I.] Newhouse [School of Public Communications] has in terms of being strong in the sports-production industry, and that's both in front of and behind the camera, says Kristin Hennessey, producer, Syracuse. It gives the next generation that's going to go out into the workforce a chance to talk about the incredible experience they had as an undergraduate at the university.
A No-Brainer: Women's Basketball Schedule Generates an Idea
Prior circumstances and the right timing made this special event possible. The crew already houses a good number of female staffers at the front bench and in other behind-the-scenes roles, but Hennessey saw an opening in the women's basketball schedule to pull this off.
Tonight's Syracuse - Georgia Tech women's basketball game will have an all-female production crew of 17.
[Laura Bailey, director, Syracuse, and I] were sitting around in the office and talking about scheduling, and we identified that there would be one more non-linear game that I was producing and she was directing, she says. We talked about how great it would be to have a female play-by-play announcer and analyst since we already had [an all-female front bench.
When names started swirling around in the ether, the pair found a mixture of old and new voices.
I reached out to Isis and Beth, and they immediately responded and said, We'd love to be a part of it,' she says. This seemed like an organic opportunity that presented itself, and we saw how we could maximize it.
This isn't a first-time occurrence for Syracuse, but adding a marquee name to the on-air talent turned the event into a collaborative experience showcasing the school's strong ties to its alumni.
When it comes to famous alumni, Syracuse University, and Newhouse, it doesn't get much better than [ESPN and CBS sports journalist] Beth Mowins. She has really been a leader for women in sports, says Hennessey. For her to come to the university and do something where students are involved in the production, it's something students can take with them in their professional careers and know this was a one-of-a-kind moment that's going to define what they go on to do. If they have this experience as a student, who says where they can or can't go in the future?
A Steady Backing: Athletics, Academics Give the Green Light
The administration in both the athletic and academic sides at Syracuse have offered their support by promoting the game's significance. Syracuse University Athletic Director John Wildhack has been an enthusiastic advocate of this and other monumental ideas that the production staff has had during his tenure, which began in July 2016. After a distinguished career at ESPN spanning more than 30 years, the industry veteran is accustomed to innovative projects like this.
He completely understands the messaging, and we've received his fullest support for these kinds of projects that Kristin and I come up with, says Scott Hecht, senior producer, Syracuse, who also worked at ESPN. When we presented this to John, he didn't blink an eye and said, Let's do this.'
The university's academic and marketing teams have joined in to help spread the word. The university is very excited because they're doing all sorts of PR work on their own as well to promote it, Hecht adds. It's an initiative they're very supportive about.
The Day's Leadup: The Tasks of the 17-Person Staff
Although this is another pivotal moment in raising awareness for equal opportunities in the industry, the crew will have a relatively normal schedule leading up to tipoff. After arriving at the Carrier Dome at 3:30 p.m., the crew will memorialize the night with a group photo on the court. At 6:00 p.m., meetings and rehearsal with the on-air talent will commence, and the broadcast will go live at 7:10 p.m. from the pregame studio before the start of the game at 7:30 p.m.
Besides Mowins and Young on the call, commentators will include feature reporter Michelle Knezovic, host Nicole Weaving (Class of 2020), and analyst Jenna Fink (2021) will be in the studio. Their crew will comprise Newhouse Sports Media Center director Olivia Stomski (2001), producer Mackenzie Pearce (2021), director Maria Trivelpiece (2020), associate director Jenna Elique (2022), technical director Jillian O'Mitchell (2018), and engineer Roxanne Niezabytowski.
In the control room will be Hennessey, Bailey, technical director Ally Heath (2020), associate director Kara Hitt (2020), audio technician Summer Stubbmann (2023), Xpression operator Melissa Thorne, stage manager Samantha Rothman (2020), and Alyssa Lyons (2020).
The Strength of Syracuse: Lasting Memories, More Career Possibilities
Besides the history awaiting this group inside one of the university's iconic venues, the broadcast will also represent an example for any university student interested in sports-video production.
We've had a lot of success in regard to bringing in wom
North America Stories
12/06/2026
YES Network and The Gotham Sports App will air seven Athletes Unlimited Softball...
12/06/2026
The United Football League will host its FAST Innovation Suite at the 2026 United Bowl presented by Credit One Bank on Saturday, June 13 at 3:00 p.m. ET at Audi...
12/06/2026
PTZOptics and LayerJot will present live demonstrations at InfoComm 2026 showing how natural-language AI prompting, robotic camera control, and on-device comput...
12/06/2026
MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will exhibit at InfoComm 2026, featuring...
12/06/2026
Ateme has announced that Eurovision Services is using Ateme's software-based frame-rate conversion technology for international live event workflows. The de...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin and Simplestream have announced a partnership with Xperi to simplify the launch of OTT streaming services on TiVo OS smart TVs and devices. The collabo...
12/06/2026
Net Insight has announced that a multinational technology company is deploying a...
12/06/2026
MLB Players Inc., the business arm of the MLB Players Association, has announced a partnership with Athletes First to develop and sell brand partnerships across...
12/06/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D) and VuWall have announced the CommandKeyboard-Advanc...
12/06/2026
Comcast Smart Solutions announces a new smart technology deployment with Major L...
12/06/2026
Elevation Worship completed the initial leg of its Elevation Nights 2026 tour ...
12/06/2026
AJA Video Systems has announced KONA IP25 support for Colorfront Transkoder and ...
12/06/2026
Audinate Group Limited (ASX: AD8) will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C7321, Ce...
12/06/2026
Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould has announced the appointment of Scott Adametz as Chief Technology Officer. The Pac-12 describes the hire as the first CTO appo...
12/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced AMPP Edge Live, a production system combining Grass Valley hardware, NVIDIA Blackwell GPU acceleration, and AMPP OS in a single platf...
12/06/2026
At one time a trailblazer with the launch of the Longhorn Network, the Universit...
12/06/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
12/06/2026
Chyron has announced PAINT 10.4, an update to its illustrated replay and sports ...
12/06/2026
SVP, Production Mark Gross: With the new schedule, with not having every Sunday night, it's given us an opportunity to take a step back and reimagine what ...
12/06/2026
For Televisa Technical Engineering Manager Roberto N nez Ibarra and the small team of 12 technicians and two production personnel at the IBC things are already ...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
AJA Announces KONA IP25 Integration with Colorfront Software
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Collaboration enables uncompressed SMPTE ST 2110 I/O ...
12/06/2026
URSA Cine 12K LF Used to Create Visuals for STUTS' K-Arena Concert
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Organic visuals projected on a giant scre...
12/06/2026
MTI FILM Acquires Mango New Edit, Expanding its Global Post-Production Services ...
12/06/2026
AI Point Tracking Speeds Up Complex VFX Tracks in Mocha Pro
Jessie Electa Petrov June 12, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic point trac...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Simplestream, a provider of OTT and broadcast solutions, and technology provider Xperi, to...
12/06/2026
Leostream Corporation, creator of the world-leading Leostream Remote Desktop Access Platform, today announced Jigsaw24, a leading B2B IT solutions provider wit...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils First-Look Images from Villaflor, Santiago Mitre's New Film
Entertainment
12 June 2026
GlobalArgentina
Link copied to ...
12/06/2026
Back to All News
Cross the Boundaries of the Real World into the Spirit Realm i...
12/06/2026
A fentanyl countermeasure that adapts to combat future black-market drugs Scripps Research scientists developed a vaccine that teaches the immune system to rapi...
11/06/2026
The immense size of the tourney and its Atlantic-spanning operation also disting...
11/06/2026
Nielsen has released a new soccer fandom consumer research report, The Fans Behind The Game: FIFA World Cup 2026 Edition, examining the soccer audience in the...
11/06/2026
Telemundo will launch its FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage on Thursday, June 11 with...
11/06/2026
FuboTV Inc. has announced a distribution agreement with NBCUniversal. Fubo customers can now stream Telemundo and Universo, with NBC Sports Network (NBCSN), NBC...
11/06/2026
DAZN has announced its in-app features for FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage in Spain...
11/06/2026
Roblox has released the 2026 Roblox Digital Expression Report: Wave 4 - Sports D...
11/06/2026
FIFA has unveiled DNA, the Official FIFA World Cup 2026 Anthem, performed by A...
11/06/2026
ESPN will provide English- and Spanish-language news and information coverage of FIFA World Cup 2026 across its U.S. media platforms from June 11 through July 1...
11/06/2026
The latest product of the outstanding RIT Sports Network program, this recent grad from Long Island is carving out a promising path in broadcast engineering
In...
11/06/2026
DAZN has announced a multi-year agreement to make DSPORTS channels available to ...
11/06/2026
Laura Dern at the 1986 Sundance Institute Directors Lab (Photo by Eric Edwards)
By Lucy Spicer
It takes a village to bring together the Sundance Institute lab...
11/06/2026
MTI FILM acquires Mango/New Edit Posted by MTI Film on June 10, 2026
LOS ANGELES, CA - June 2026 - MTI FILM, the multiple Emmy Award winning Hollywood post-p...
11/06/2026
Study underscores the need for authoritative content intelligence to build trust...
Syracuse University Promotes Diversity With All-Female Production Team The production highlights the school's open-door' policy, strong ties with alumni By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor 
