Driven by a lifelong love of sports, Shaan Gandhi ’27 has turned passion into purpose through hands-on learning at Elon. With support from the Queen City Internship Grant, he gained real-world experience with the ACC while growing his sports business, SAG Autographs, and learning from mentors who inspire him to lead with drive and adaptability.
As a kid reporter for Sports Illustrated, Shaan Gandhi ’27 learned to chase stories, ask sharp questions and keep pace with a fast-moving game. At Elon, that momentum carries into everything he does, from coursework in sport management to an internship with the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) during his Elon in Charlotte experience.
“The ACC gave me work that actually mattered; projects you could see reflected in real events,” he said.
Relationships are what drew Gandhi to Elon.
“I wanted a smaller school because building relationships with professors is the most important thing you can do,” he said.
Those connections, from weekly check-ins with Associate Professor of Journalism Alex Luchsinger to mentorship from Assistant Professor of Sport Management Khirey Walker, have shaped his path in and out of the classroom.
“If you make an effort at Elon, your professors make that effort back,” said Gandhi.
Support from philanthropy helped unlock the Charlotte opportunity. Through the Queen City Internship Grant, Gandhi could focus fully on learning, not logistics.
“The grant gave me peace of mind,” he said. “It meant I could focus on the experience, my internship, schoolwork and my business, instead of worrying about day-to-day expenses.”
In an earlier feature reflecting on the fall cohort, he added that the ACC helped him strengthen “time management,” learn new tools, adapt on the fly, and most of all, learn “how to be a professional (…) in emails, meetings, and as a teammate.”
The Elon in Charlotte program places students in the center of one of the country’s most active sports markets, and the Queen City Internship Grant removes barriers to participating, prioritizing unpaid roles and first credit-bearing internships, with typical awards ranging from $1,000–$5,000.
Entrepreneurship is the other half of Gandhi’s education. As owner of SAG Autographs, he’s built relationships with athletes and agents while managing high-value inventory and transactions. He’s learned to stay adaptable; if an injury, trade or headline changes the game overnight, he pivots. Balancing the business with classes and an internship has sharpened his scheduling and discipline, skills he knows will matter beyond campus. Faculty see the same drive.
“Shaan is a serious student who had the fire in his belly before he started at Elon,” said Luchsinger. “His prior business experience positioned him well to be a leader in the classroom. He’s a successful entrepreneur in the sports sector and has gotten plugged into complementary sectors within sports. I could see him doing just about anything he wants, from solo entrepreneur to an ‘intrapreneur’ innovating within a larger company.”
For Gandhi, that mentorship has been pivotal.
“There are different ways to be mentored,” he said. “Dr. Luchsinger and Dr. Walker have helped me think through decisions for my business and my internship. Elon’s professors really know their students. They care.”
He also carries one piece of advice forward from Luchsinger.
“Dr. Luchsinger told me you should never close any doors, even ones you didn’t expect to open,” Gandhi said. “I didn’t know I’d love what I was doing at the ACC but keeping that door open led to more opportunities.”
From Sports Illustrated interviews to game-day operations, Gandhi’s story is about turning access into impact and about the donors who make that access possible.
“Philanthropy let me say yes to an experience that changed how I work,” he said. “I’m grateful for that support, and I hope to pay it forward.”