When walking into the workplace, one might assume that the staff would be as diverse as the local community it’s in. Chris Wairegi ’14 (cinematography and photography), a cinematographer based in Brooklyn, N.Y., found that this isn’t the case in the film industry. “I’ve worked jobs where there are at least 200 people on set and I’m the only Black woman. When I walk around New York City I pass every kind of person, so it’s surprising when that does not carry over into the workplace,” said Wairegi. “My dream of dreams is that the film and television industries reflect the world in which they operate.” Wairegi is the founder of 600 Black Women, a collective of motion picture filmmakers, still photographers, and publicists who are Black women, femmes, and gender expansive people in the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 600 guild. When Wairegi was recruited for a job by a large television network, she was required to join the guild. After joining, another Black woman informed her that she was the fourth Black woman camera operator in the union. “I thought she was joking, but then I got onto set and every person I came across said that they’ve never seen a Black woman operator or had never seen Black women in the camera department at all,” she said. Wairegi explained that these comments weren’t meant to be negative, it was just a reflection of the industry. Of the over 10,000 current members of the union, only 108 of them are Black women, femmes, or nonbinary—and they are all members of 600 Black Women. Since its founding in 2022, the collective continues to grow and now hosts annual “camera cookouts,” where members meet for a series of workshops and networking on Juneteenth weekend. Wairegi said that professional networking is actually the least important opportunity that the group provides. She described the camaraderie between members as “part friendship, part mentorship, and part therapy.” “All of us at one time, in whatever industry you’re in, had someone who gave us an extra boost to help us achieve a goal. That’s what 600 Black Women is all about,” said Wairegi. “We benefit from each other by supporting each other. It’s a network of people who are dedicated to seeing you win.” When reflecting on the growth of 600 Black Women, Wairegi shared that she believes that everyone has the capability to make change happen and that it isn’t always as difficult as it may seem. “If there is something in your world that you’d like to change, you might be the person you’ve been waiting for,” she said.

RIT’s new real estate in hospitality minor gives students the opportunity to connect real estate knowledge with hospitality management practices. Launched in fall 2023, this minor at Saunders College of Business is designed to equip students with specialized skills for careers in both industries. Edwin Torres Areizaga, associate professor and chair of the Department of International Hospitality and Service Innovation, created the minor to offer students a unique career path focused on understanding commercial properties within hospitality. To learn more Saunders College of Business will host a real estate conference from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 21, at the Susan R. Holliday Center in Max Lowenthal Hall. Led by keynote speaker Mark Laport ’92 MS (hospitality tourism management), co-founder and CEO of Concord Business Enterprises, the conference offers a chance for students to interact with real estate executives and other industry professionals and gain a comprehensive understanding of the diverse pathways in real estate. “In recent years, the hotel industry has separated ownership, management, and branding, meaning the company that owns a hotel building is often not the same one that runs or brands it,” Torres Areizaga said. “Our new minor gives students a pathway to work in areas like hotel development, brokerage, and asset management—preparing them for roles beyond hotel operations and aligning with these industry shifts.” This minor is open to students within Saunders College and from other disciplines who are interested in real estate. Students will learn analytical thinking, marketing, and the key roles of ownership, management, and branding, as well as the value of networking and the power of negotiation. “We don’t just want to teach people how to work spreadsheets,” Torres Areizaga said. “We want them to know how to communicate with architects and engineers and understand how major hospitality investments like hotels, restaurants, or theme parks operate. That way, if a property is underperforming, they can look beyond the numbers to identify the root cause.” Courses in the minor build these essential skills. Debanjana Dey, an assistant professor who teaches Hospitality Real Estate Development and Hospitality Analytics, sees untapped potential for students in this field. “There’s a lot of interest in hospitality, but many people don’t realize the strong career and earning potential in hospitality real estate,” Dey said. “I cover both commercial and residential real estate, since both offer valuable insights. I find that most students have some exposure to real estate, like a family investment property or a construction background, but they don’t see it as a career option. My goal is to show them that this minor is more general than people realize; that it can open many professional paths they might not have considered.” Assistant Professor Soon Hyeok Choi brings an additional perspective with his Hospitality Asset Management and Investment course, integrating AI and machine learning to help students prepare for technology-driven changes in the industry. Choi also shares insights from his research on legislation, such as Hawaii Senate Bill 2919, to show how laws affect both residential and commercial sectors. “We’re not just learning how to pick a site and generate cash flow for the next nine years,” Choi said. “That’s a one-dimensional approach. We’re trying to understand the entire ecosystem of real estate—the local labor market, demographics, and housing market—so we can effectively tackle the commercial side. When you think about hotel resorts, who works in those spaces? The local workforce, tied to local residences. Understanding demographics and housing affordability directly impacts a property’s ability to operate successfully.” The hope is that students who graduate get a good return on investment from their education, transitioning into careers such as analysts, marketing specialists, commercial brokers, or those who want to build their own real estate portfolio as entrepreneurs. Looking ahead, Torres Areizaga hopes to expand the program by adding more introductory courses to draw non-majors and offering students the chance to study these principles internationally through existing hospitality global rotation programs at RIT Croatia, with an opportunity to add courses at RIT Dubai as well.

An online community for sonographers channels the professional excellence and passion that is a hallmark of RIT’s diagnostic medical sonography program. Hayley Bartkus ’17 (diagnostic medical sonography) and Christina Werth ’13 (diagnostic medical sonography) created EchoMentor as an educational platform for healthcare professionals working in sonography or ultrasound, a medical imaging method that uses sound waves to peer inside the body. EchoMentor is an evolving resource for continuing education, mentorship, professional development, and patient-focused case studies. It launched last spring with Bartkus teaching “Approaching Appendicitis.” New content this fall included her class on kidney transplants, and Werth’s session on fetal skeletal dysplasia. Colleague Samantha Grimsley ’15 (diagnostic medical sonography), a vascular sonographer at Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, taught a third class on subclavian steal syndrome, a condition in which the subclavian artery narrows and causes blood flow reversal in the vertebral artery. Courses developed for EchoMentor are accredited by the American Society of Radiologic Technologists and satisfy continuing medical education requirements of the American Registry of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers and the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists. EchoMentor grew from the co-founders’ experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, when they worked together in high-risk maternal fetal medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. They saw first-hand the need to promote the important—yet often overlooked—role sonography plays in healthcare, said Bartkus, director of the diagnostic medical sonography program at Johns Hopkins Schools of Medical Imaging and host of the ultrasound podcast 256 Shades of Gray. EchoMentor represents a grassroots effort to bring awareness and visibility to a profession that emerged alongside technological advances in the latter part of the 20th century. “One of the gaps we want to fill with EchoMentor is helping sonographers learn how they can further their careers without leaving the field,” said Werth, an echosonographer at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “Opportunities are unclear because those paths aren’t yet well forged.” As an online platform, EchoMentor can work toward establishing professional representation. To Bartkus, that means being part of the conversation around current issues facing the medical field, such as gender affirming care and the Black maternal health crisis. “EchoMentor is meant to empower other sonographers to get excited and motivated about these things, too,” Bartkus said. “It’s how they can make a change in the field and in the world because sonography is life-saving healthcare.” The name of their organization underscores the importance of mentorship in the niche ultrasound field, said Werth, who mentored both Bartkus and Grimsley. EchoMentor will expand to include a mentorship program with a lineage that traces back to Hamad Ghazle, director of RIT’s diagnostic medical sonography program and an influential figure in the field. In many ways, EchoMentor is a conduit for sharing Ghazle’s legacy in ultrasound education and imparting his high level of excellence and joy for sonography, Bartkus said. Graduates from the RIT program have a reputation for growing in their positions and embodying an inclusive, extra quality that lifts up the people around them. “They want to do more than the bare minimum of scanning patients,” Werth said. “They want to be involved in education and research, mentorship opportunities, patientcare improvement, and quality projects.” This is where EchoMentor comes in as a resource for lifelong learning that furthers the profession and helps patients. “We learned from our time at RIT that when you’re passionate about what you do, that passion trickles into all areas of your life and can make for a joyful career,” Werth said.

RIT’s new entrepreneurial hub is designed to support entrepreneurs at every stage of their journeys—from ideation to launch, growth, and exits. The Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, in partnership with students, faculty, staff, alumni, industrial partners, and investors, will catalyze the development of successful ventures, and will strategically consolidate several existing departments and centers supporting the university entrepreneurial community, and beyond. The office encompasses the Simone Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Center for Urban Entrepreneurship, Venture Creations incubator, and the Office of Intellectual Property Management to benefit startups, corporate partners, investors, and government entities looking to collaborate with RIT. It’s housed in Student Innovation Hall. According to Ryne Raffaelle, vice president for Research and associate provost, the vision is bold: to foster a culture where innovation becomes integral to RIT life, creating lasting economic impact both within the university and beyond. “The formation of this office is the result of multiple studies, review sessions, strategy development, and implementation plans created and reviewed by entrepreneurs, alumni, business executives, academics, and university leadership,” said Raffaelle. “It will be the epicenter of our efforts to leverage our research strengths, unlock the commercial potential of our ideas and discoveries, and foster a culture of entrepreneurial thinking that spans across disciplines. This center is the next step in advancing RIT’s status as a catalyst of entrepreneurial endeavors.” ‌ RIT Johan Klarin is leading the office as assistant vice president and managing director. Johan Klarin, formerly the director of Venture Creations, is leading the office as assistant vice president and managing director. An experienced business startup creator, adviser, and serial entrepreneur, Klarin believes that RIT is the perfect place to develop the best entrepreneurs, citing its fast and astute learners. “RIT is well positioned to support entrepreneurs both within the university ecosystem and externally,” he said. “With our strengths in research, outstanding students, campus resources, alumni, business partners, and generous supporters, we can accelerate the creation of successful companies. While failures are part of the journey when creating new things, by building an environment and culture where entrepreneurs and their endeavors are celebrated and supported, we can reach our bold goal of establishing RIT as a recognized dynamic engine of innovation with real-world impact.”