‘This is an extraordinary moment.’ Northeastern NYC staff, faculty welcome inaugural class at first full Convocation
On tap in New York was a robust lineup of musical performances, student speakers, alumni reflections and a torch-lighting ceremony.
Northeastern University – New York City’s inaugural class is officially on its way.
Newly enrolled Northeastern NYC students, along with an array of faculty and administrative personnel, filed into the 1,500-seat auditorium in the historic Town Hall to kick off the semester in the Big Apple.
Located between Broadway and Sixth Avenue in the city’s famed Theater District, the Town Hall served as the venue for the university’s first Northeastern NYC Convocation ceremony. New and returning students lined the sidewalk beginning at roughly 1 p.m. on Tuesday. On tap was a robust lineup of musical performances, student speakers, alumni reflections and a torch-lighting ceremony that has become a mainstay to close out the high-energy event.
“Starting today, this is your campus,” Peter Naccarato, dean of Northeastern NYC, exhorted in the dimly lit theater. “College is about going deeper into what you already love, and about discovering what you don’t yet know that you love — and this city gives you nowhere to hide from it.”
As has become a mantra across the global campus network, Naccarato urged the incoming class to “jump in with both feet” and take advantage of everything the university has to offer, noting that the Class of 2030 will “build friendships, find mentors, run into ideas that challenge, succeed at things you never thought you could — and fail at a few things too.”
“All of it counts,” he said. “None of you are doing this alone. You’ve got a community of faculty and staff who believe in you, and are here to help you get to where you’re going.”
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Kenneth Henderson, chancellor and senior vice president for learning, told the students to take advantage of the many opportunities awaiting them across the global campus network. He noted that roughly 7,200 new students are beginning their academic journeys at convocations taking place across Northeastern’s global university system — in Boston, Oakland, London and New York City, as well as N.U.in sites that host students at partner institutions around the world.
“This is an extraordinary moment, one that brings together a university that spans the globe, a city that never sleeps and a class that is ready to leave its mark on the world,” Henderson told the incoming class.
Tuesday’s lineup featured a number of recent Northeastern graduates, alum and current students on co-op, the experiential learning program that is Northeastern’s main attraction. Amelia Brooks, who graduated from the D’Amore-McKim School of Business this year, was among the speakers.
During her time at Northeastern, Brooks, who served as a lead peer mentor in the Summer Bridge program and a social media manager, exemplified the engaged, community-minded Husky.
“Really it’s about what happens to you when you are given an opportunity to try something new,” Brooks said. “When you find out what you love, what you’re bad at, when you realize you have no idea what you’re doing … but that’s the whole idea of experiential learning: to learn by doing.”
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What is the incoming class looking forward to this year?
Cydney Andrews, a Hamilton-obsessed first-year majoring in musical theater, said Northeastern was her top pick between the 16 schools to which she applied.
The city itself, its proximity to world-class musical theater, as well as the “random” events are just some of the reasons Northeastern NYC was a no-brainer for Andrews. But the 18-year-old is most proud of the fact that she obtained a financial aid award to attend.
“Northeastern checked all my boxes,” Andrews said. “The only thing that was left was the scholarship and then I got it and I was like, this is perfect. I’ve got to go.”
First-year Chaim Deorajh already has much of his academic career already mapped out. The 18-year-old plans to study accounting and is eyeing a co-op with PricewaterhouseCoopers, or PwC, a multinational professional services firm that partners with Northeastern on an accounting program.
That program, or the so-called While You Work program, allows employees to earn a master’s degree while working at the firm. PwC’s New York City footprint is significant, with the New York metro region serving as the firm’s largest U.S. market.
Having secured his spot in the inaugural Northeastern NYC class, the Virginia native has only to put his plans in motion.
“I’ve always wanted to move here and now I live just a block down the street,” Deorajh said.
