“Business can be a noble endeavor,” Mangiero says. “You can be and should be a sort of intellectual business leader. The way to do that is to continue doing what you basically have done the whole time you were at Holy Cross: You constantly have to be reading, and you have to be a student of the world.” The New York Semester Program, founded in 2016, drew inspiration from its counterpart in Washington, D.C., which has been offered by the College since 1971. As with Washington, accepted students receive housing — in Arlington for those in the capital, Brooklyn for the New Yorkers — guidance finding and selecting internships, and ongoing mentorship from Mangiero and her colleague, Washington Semester Program Director Gary DeAngelis. Students take weekly academic seminars to supplement the internships
they attend four days a week. They receive lectures from notable alumni, such as political commentator Chris Matthews ’67 and Save the Children President Mark Shriver ’86. At the end of the semester, students submit capstone projects. In New York, they present on a topic related to their internships to Mangiero and to a board of alumni who work in a related industry; in Washington, they write, finalize and defend theses on public policy as it relates to what they learned that semester. “This is very much at the level of a master’s thesis. It’s 45 to 50 pages from each student,” DeAngelis says. “It gives students the opportunity to spend a whole semester really diving into some pretty serious research.” This year in New York, students who study English, finance and political
(clockwise from top left) New York Semester students tour NBC studios. English major Audrey Holmes ’19, a digital intern for NBC Nightly News, poses with anchor Lester Holt. Brenna Kent ’18 (third from left), a political science major, interns at the U.S. Senate in Washington, D.C. with Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). Economics major Cheng-En Wu ’19 at his desk in New York.
science have internships with organizations such as Blackrock, NBC and Cambridge Insurance Advisors. Kara Cuzzone ’19, an anthropology major, was drawn to a semester away for the opportunities New York offers. “I was interested in publishing,” she says, and landed an internship at Cosmopolitan and Seventeen magazines. “I assist all of the different editors — transcribing interviews, doing research.” And, of course, students respond to the allure of New York City, which was on full display that Tuesday evening as Datlen concluded her talk with a tour of Fox Networks. The group explored the space that, in addition to showcasing film and television memorabilia, boasted a coffee shop and a bird’s-eye view as the sky turned pink on an unseasonably warm afternoon. Datlen thanked the group for coming, and the students, in turn, thanked her for her time and advice as they called the elevator to catch the subway. They had work in the morning. ■ — Christopher Amenta ’06
WASHINGTON, D.C. AND NEW YORK / ANY MAJOR TO ANY CAREER / 35