NYIT’s Network Lands Student in The New York Times

As the saying goes—it’s good to have friends in high places. And that’s exactly how Nicole Pereira, a communication arts student entering her senior year and co-editor of the Manhattan Globe, found her way to a byline in The New York Times.

The connection came about through John Hanc, associate professor at NYIT College of Arts and Sciences and an author and journalist who writes for the Times. When his editor reached out to him about an idea she had for a feature where first-generation students would interview other first-generation students about the challenges they face attending college, he immediately thought of NYIT’s student reporters.

“I told [my editor] that I believed one or both of the editors of our new Manhattan campus paper fit the bill,” said Hanc. She was interested and asked him to make the connection. Hanc reached out to Larry Jaffee, adjunct assistant professor at the College of Arts and Sciences and faculty advisor to the Manhattan Globe, who recommended Pereira.

But the budding journalist wasn’t given the assignment outright. After an interview with the editor, Pereira received the offer to take on the project. When it came time to choose who she would interview, Pereira turned to Agnes Gyimah, an NYIT nursing student from Ghana, and Vasiliki Sgourdou, a recent communication arts graduate from Greece and the Manhattan Globe’s former news editor. The students talked about their journeys as the first in their families to continue their education, as well as the challenges they faced as international students.

Pereira’s story appeared in the Times’ Higher Education Special Section in print and online. Read her piece in The New York Times.