Journalism Students Visit Columbia University

By Nick Byrne '11

As members of the Xavier community shuffled down 16th Street and flooded the 1L corridor on the morning of December 11, Headmaster Michael LiVigni wrangled 20 of his journalism students and steered them toward the northeast corner of 14th Street and 7th Avenue. 

The wayfarers descended into the subway station, boarded a Bronx-bound 1 train, and traveled 100 blocks north, from Chelsea to Morningside Heights.

When the group emerged from the depths, they found themselves standing on the campus of Columbia University. LiVigni and company continued their journey in search of Pulitzer Hall, home of the Graduate School of Journalism, where they were greeted by award-winning author and New York Times columnist Samuel Freedman.

A tenured professor at Columbia, Freedman was named the nation's outstanding journalism educator in 1997 by the Society of Professional Journalists. In 2012, he received Columbia University's coveted Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching.

The students had the opportunity to sit in on Freedman’s ethics class, participate in a Q&A session with award-winning author and Columbia alumna Andrea Elliott, and discuss the ins and outs of journalism school with current graduate students.

Student Leadership Council President Justin Westbrook-Lowery ’16 believes that the class trip to Columbia was a great experience.

“Not everyone has the opportunity to sit in on a class at an Ivy League school.” Westbrook-Lowery said. “I took six pages of notes because I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to have that experience again—at least for free.”