From New Orleans to Tallahassee: Loyola CECD at GCEC 2026

Bright and early Thursday morning, Center for Entrepreneurship and Community Development (CECD) Director Sam McCabe ’14 and Program Director Farah Wells ’23 hit the road from New Orleans to Tallahassee, Florida, for the 2026 Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (GCEC) Conference, hosted by Florida State University.

The annual conference brings together university entrepreneurship centers from across the country and beyond to exchange ideas, share what's working, and explore new approaches to entrepreneurship education and community engagement.

Starting with Our Jesuit Community

Our first stop on Thursday afternoon was a gathering of the Jesuit Entrepreneurship Centers Alliance (JECA), where we connected with colleagues from fellow Jesuit institutions.

The afternoon was an opportunity to share updates from our respective centers, discuss priorities for the year ahead, and identify opportunities for collaboration. Conversations ranged from new programming and shared initiatives to the future of the alliance itself, including a discussion led by Sam about developing a JECA logo.

It was a meaningful way to begin the conference, connecting with institutions that share Loyola's commitment to education, service, and community impact.

Game Day, Loyola Style

Thursday evening, we headed to Florida State's football stadium for the GCEC opening reception, complete with a performance from the FSU band and a view overlooking the field.

Naturally, the evening had a game-day theme. There was just one small problem: Loyola doesn't have a football team.

Never ones to let that stop us, Sam represented the Wolf Pack in a Loyola baseball jersey, while Farah opted for New Orleans Saints gear. Different teams, same New Orleans spirit!

Learning from Our Peers

Friday was a full day of conference programming, with opportunities to learn from fellow entrepreneurship educators and center leaders across the country.

A few standout sessions included:

• A Roadmap to Opportunity Recognition: Developing Your Unique Lens — Eva Fast of the University of Arkansas explored how we recognize opportunities, challenge assumptions, and develop new ways of thinking about innovation.

• Stop Listing Programs: Build the Student Journey Instead — Somiah Lattimore of Virginia Tech challenged entrepreneurship centers to think beyond individual program offerings and consider how students discover, navigate, and engage with opportunities across campus.

• The Discovery Ladder: Teaching Founder Judgment When AI Can Build Anything — Darren Yee of New York University explored why customer discovery and sound entrepreneurial judgment remain essential, even as emerging technologies make it easier than ever to build and test ideas.

These conversations offered fresh perspectives on how we design, communicate, and deliver entrepreneurship education—ideas that connected closely with the workshop we would lead later that afternoon.

Taking the Stage: Entrepreneurship in a Different Language

We closed out Friday by leading our own interactive workshop, Entrepreneurship in a Different Language: Translating Entrepreneurial Identity Across Campus.

Our session explored a question we've been thinking about at Loyola: What happens when students are already doing entrepreneurial things but don't identify as entrepreneurs?

From student musicians and artists to campus organizers and side hustlers, entrepreneurial activity takes many forms. Yet the language we use to promote programs or teach entrepreneurship concepts doesn't always connect with the people we're trying to reach.

During the workshop, attendees worked together to identify overlooked campus communities, rethink how they invite students into entrepreneurship programming, and explore ways to make entrepreneurship tools more relevant to different audiences.

Our central takeaway was simple: Making entrepreneurship accessible isn't just about changing the words we use. It's about helping people recognize the value of what we're offering and ensuring our programs deliver on that promise.

It was especially rewarding to exchange ideas with colleagues facing similar challenges at their own institutions.

One More Morning of Ideas

Saturday began with one of the conference's most unconventional keynotes: “We Bought a College.”

Kate Brodock and John Hill shared how they purchased Cazenovia College in Upstate New York and are working to transform the former campus into an economic hub focused on entrepreneurship, human development, and innovation.

Rather than simply presenting their plans, they invited attendees to help imagine what's possible when a college closes and its campus becomes an opportunity for something new. It was an interactive conversation that challenged us to think about entrepreneurship not just within higher education, but about the future of higher education itself.

After a few more conversations with colleagues and lunch, it was time to hit the road back to New Orleans, bringing plenty of new ideas and connections with us.

Bringing It Back to Loyola

One of the best parts of GCEC is the opportunity to step outside our day-to-day work and learn from people navigating many of the same questions at institutions across the country.

We returned to Loyola with new connections, fresh perspectives, and plenty of ideas to consider as we continue developing entrepreneurship programming for our campus and community.

And, of course, we're always happy for an excuse to represent the Wolf Pack on the road.

Thank you to Florida State University and the GCEC community for a memorable conference. Until next time!