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St. John's University - New York

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The St. John’s 150-year legacy is Catholic, Vincentian, metropolitan, and global.

St. John's students receive the preparation they need to be successful after graduation as well as the hope, compassion, awareness, and courage that can only come from knowing what it means to be a global citizen.

At St. John’s, students know that leadership is not just about a grade point average or a BIG EAST championship. A St. John’s-educated leader finds career inspiration from wanting to make the world a better place. This is proven over and over again by the 194,000 alumni who help create a network of opportunity that has helped current students land internships in places like The White House, MLB, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, and many others.

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• Biology 244 Graduates
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The Game Development and Emerging Media program prepares you to enter the video game development field—a billion-dollar industry rich with robust career opportunities in edutainment, simulation, and visualization.

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Glory days at St. John’s U.: My unforgettable experience learning — and teaching — there

• Updated: Apr. 28, 2024, 4:12 p.m. |
• Published: Apr. 28, 2024, 7:00 a.m.

From earning my undergraduate degree there in the 1990s to teaching there for 25 years, I'm going to miss the Staten Island campus of St. John's. Tracey Porpora

• Tracey Porpora | [email protected]

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- To get a parking spot you had to get to campus at least 45 minutes before your class started. And getting there to begin with was often an arduous task. In fact, it wasn’t uncommon to sit in traffic as you practically crawled up “the hill.”

Your drive would include hearing glam rock tunes, like Guns N’ Roses’ “Paradise City” blaring from one of the many “muscle cars” driven by students who were in a rush to snag a good spot for their IROC-Z.

When you finally got a parking spot, you often had to make your way through extremely crowded hallways, often consumed with the smell of smoke and hairspray.

It was the late 1980s – the decade of excess – and perhaps the heyday at the Staten Island campus of St. John’s University.

Having graduated from Tottenville High School among a class of about 800 students, St. John’s seemed small to me. Back then, the only classrooms were in Mahoney and Lavelle halls. But the school was teeming with students, mostly from Staten Island, and some from Brooklyn and nearby New Jersey.

It was a commuter school only back then, but there were plenty of fraternity and sorority parties that took place at bars and clubs, like Wave Street, which was located off the once vibrant bar strip on Bay Street in Stapleton.

MEETING MY MENTOR

While in college, all I wanted to do was graduate so I could pursue my long-held dream of becoming a journalist. My mentor, and later my boss and friend, the late Dr. Deborah Greh, the director of the communications department at the Staten Island campus, told me “not to be a stranger” when I graduated.

St. John's alumni at the Com Connection in March, 2019. From Left: Jessica Jones-Gorman, Advance/SILive.com reporter; Dr. Deborah Greh; Tracey Porpora, Advance/SILive.com news manager; and Christine Albano. After inspiring so many students over the years, Dr. Greh died in February 2020. (Courtesy of Tracey Porpora)

And I wasn’t. After a few years of working at the Advance as a reporter, she told me to “go get my master’s degree” so I could teach journalism at my alma mater. It was about six years later when I started a master’s program at Hunter College in Manhattan.

So in my late 20s, I added adjunct professor to my resume. And I will always be grateful to Debbie Greh for giving me this opportunity, and Dr. Nancy DiTunnariello, the current coordinator of the communication arts program, who allowed me to teach there until the very end.

Dr. Nancy DiTunnariello, awards Tracey Porpora the Outstanding Adjunct award in 2023 at the last Communications Connection event held at the Staten Island campus of St. John's University. (Courtesy of Tracey Porpora)

News writing, magazine journalism and mass communications classes in the late 1990s, to online news, crime reporting, the craft of interviewing and public relations in the 2020s, I taught on and off for 25 years at this satellite, bucolic campus of what is touted as the largest Catholic University in New York City.

And I never thought there would come a time when it wouldn’t be there.

Even during the pandemic, Advance/SILive.com employees, like Sport Writer Charles DeBiase Jr., took time out to come to St. John's journalism classes. (Courtesy of Tracey Porpora)

A DAY I’LL NEVER FORGET

I have a plethora of memories of the many students who took my classes. But there is one day I’ll never forget.

Living in Grasmere at the time, I needed to take Clove Road to get to St. John’s. I was late – as usual. It was the first day of class – Sept. 11, 2001.

I was stopped by the FDNY Rescue 5 truck that seemed to be in a hurry to exit the firehouse. I can still envision the firefighter’s face, as he told me to stop by putting his hand out at about 8:48 a.m. so the truck could pull out.

Breaking News Reporter Shaina McLawrence spoke to St. John's University students in a crime reporting class about the types of stories she writes for the Advance/SILive.com. (Courtesy of Tracey Porpora)

That truck never came back from the Trade Center that day.

But I didn’t know where those brave firefighters were going until I entered my classroom, a computer lab in Lavelle Hall. A student walked in and said, “I heard a plane hit the Trade Center.”

I said, “This is a journalism class, go online and find out what happened.”

Remember: cell phones were only phones at this time, and not all media was fully online yet. The first report we found was from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). They were speculating if it was an accident or an act of terrorism. A good portion of that semester was spent looking at the coverage of that tragic day.

The from the scene podcasters, Jason Paderon and Erik Bascome, let St. John's University journalism students sit in on a podcast about the fate of the Staten Island campus of their school. Jessica Jones-Gorman was the guest on the podcast. Pictured from left is Jason Paderon, Tracey Porpora, Jessica Jones-Gorman and Erik Bascome. (Courtesy of Tracey Porpora)

FROM STUDENTS TO COLLEAGUES

I have taught an army of students – many of whom have become colleagues, and friends, at the Advance/SILive.com (one, James Yates , is even my direct manager!) I’m proud to say I currently work with a student who was in my very first class I ever taught (and she’s never told me how bad that was). That’s Jessica Jones-Gorman , who is the Advance/SILive’com’s business and real estate reporter. And our most recent hire , Jillian Delaney, took two of my journalism classes in the last few years. (Now, she’s on the Pubic Interest & Advocacy Team, for which I’m a the news manager).

Breaking News Manager Eddie D'Anna addresses students in a crime reporting class at St. John's University while the students took a tour of the Advance/SILive.com. (Courtesy of Tracey Porpora)

REAL LIFE JOURNALISM

One of my favorite events has always been to bring “real life journalism into the classroom.” I called them “mock breaking news events.” Many of my fellow journalists would come in as “actors.” They would play the role of public officials, cops, firefighters, witnesses and parents, at fictitious breaking news events. Fellow journalists loved giving the students a hard time, like responding “no comment,” to the many questions the aspiring journalists asked.

One of my favorite events has always been to bring “real life journalism into the classroom.” I called them “mock breaking news events.” Many of my fellow journalists would come in as “actors.” They would play the role of public officials, cops, firefighters, witnesses and parents, at fictitious breaking news events. Fellow journalists loved giving the students a hard time, like responding “no comment,” to the many questions the aspiring journalists asked. Pictured from left is Tracey Porpora, Annalise Knudson, Erik Bascome and Mark Stein. (Courtesy of Tracey Porpora)

I also have brought in so many professional journalists and public relations professionals from variety of major New York media outlets and companies, who have inspired my classes, and taken some students on as interns and/or full-time employees. And I always took my classes for tours of the Advance/SILive.com. Some have even gotten to sit in on podcasts.

JUST SHARING WHAT I LOVE

But I never thought of myself as a “teacher.” I’m the kid who never raised her hand in class, and I also never dreamed of standing in front of one and lecturing for hours on end.

Shane DiMaio of the Advance/SILive.com talks about the world of social media, and how he conducts live social media posts of a variety of events. (Courtesy of Tracey Porpora)

I have always seen myself as a writer and journalist sharing the passion and love I have for what I do with those who might want to do it too.

I don’t think it really hit me until my last class on April 24 that this side gig I enjoyed so much (who wouldn’t appreciate getting paid to talk about something you love doing), would really come to an end.

Breaking News Reporter Luke Peteley talks to an online journalism class about weather reporting earlier this year. (Courtesy of Tracey Porpora)

I will always have a place in my heart for 300 Howard Avenue, and I hope to find a new home to continue to inspire young people about writing and the world of journalism.

St. John’s first announced it would close the Grymes Hill campus in 2022 , citing a 63% decline in enrollment, exacerbated by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The Staten Island school, which originally opened in 1934 as Notre Dame College, a Catholic undergraduate institution for women, is equipped with enough classroom space to accommodate thousands, but as of fall 2021, enrollment at the Staten Island campus had slipped to just 861.

A journalism class from 2018 visited the Advance/SILive.com. Pictured are sone students, including Advance/SILive.com Reporter Jillian Delaney (second from right). (Courtesy of Tracey Porpora)

Stories by Tracey Porpora

• Trump holds Mar-a-Lago fundraiser for Staten Island congresswoman amid his criminal trial
• Caribbean cruise line cancels trip to this island port due to surge in gang violence
• N.Y. Gov. Hochul signs law to allow for more paid time off for pregnant women
• Eligible New Yorkers under a new law will no longer have copays for insulin; here’s what to know
• “I was a Woodstock guy’; This Staten Island accountant is opening a legal weed shop on 4/20

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Ny state budget slashes aid to universities, colleges with $750m endowments — including columbia, nyu and cornell.

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A provision in the recently approved New York state budget will eliminate aid to private colleges and universities with endowments of at least $750 million — including Columbia University and NYU.

The $18 million cut in aid whacked 16 different schools throughout the Empire State, leaving some higher-education officials fuming.

Hochul initiated the cut in her executive budget and the Assembly and Senate caved after some initial resistance, sources said.

The budget reduced NYU’s funding by roughly $4.7 million and Columbia’s by $3.25 million, according to esitmates by the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities.

Both schools have been engulfed by anti-Israel demonstrations that have provoked tensions and hostilities on campus, triggered arrests and subjected Jewish students to rampant antisemitism, critics said.

Aid to New York’s upstate Ivy league school also grappling with protests — Cornell University — was trimmed by $1.8 million, according to CICU.

Universities such as Fordham in The Bronx and St. John’s in Queens whose endowments just cleared the $750 million endowment mark were upset with being singled out for cuts, sources said.

State aid to Fordham is reduced by $1.3 million and St. John’s by $1.2 million, CICU said.

“New York has long benefited from an outstanding network of colleges to attract students as part of a robust higher education sector, which is critical to our state and requires investment,” St. John’s spokesman Brian Browne said. “It seems counterintuitive that the executive budget would target a select group of schools for disinvestment as New York continues to see population decline.

“This budget decision will ultimately hurt the hardworking families that St. John’s University serves and provides a transformative education.”

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Others facing the scalpel include Hochul’s alma mater Syracuse University, whose funding was reduced by $1.6 million; the University of Rochester (-$1.135 million), the Rochester Institute of Technology (-$945,106), and Hofstra University (-$808,406), according to the CICU document.

Bundy Aid is performance based, linking funding to the number of degrees earned by students. The funding is invested back into programs that help more students graduate, said CICU president Lola Brabham.

Nearly half of endowment funds were used by colleges for student financial assistance in the 2021-22 academic year, CICU said.

 “This cut will increase costs for hardworking students and their families who rely on the financial support provided by Bundy Aid to help them achieve their dream of a college degree. New York should not be balancing its budget on the backs of these students,” CICU president Lola Brabham said in a statement.

The University of Rochester also slammed the cut based on the “arbitrary size of our endowment.”

“Sadly, after more than 50 years, our students will no longer be able to rely on this important financial aid program,” said Rochester spokeswoman Sara Miller.

Lawmakers said the aid to the “wealthy” private universities was hard to defend given competing priority to boost funding to the public colleges part of the SUNY and CUNY network.

“It was a tough-trade-off,” said Assembly Higher Education Committee Chairwoman Patricia  Fahy (D-Albany). But there are a lot of tough trade-offs in the budget. You win some, you lose some.”

Hochul’s office defended the cuts to well-endowed schools.

“Governor Hochul is committed to ensuring New York’s colleges and universities have the resources they need to help students succeed and the enacted budget targets financial resources to institutions in need of the most support,” a spokesperson for the governor said.

The budget provides $16.9 million in aid to about 100 colleges.

Hochul and lawmakers also relaxed the family income eligibility for the college state tuition assistance program from $80,000 to $120,000, which would aid students considering enrolling at private colleges.

Meanwhile, a few of New York’s public colleges also receive sizable donations. 

SUNY Stony Brook University last year received a record $500 million donation from the Simons Foundation, founded by billionaire hedge funder James Simons and his wife, Marilyn — both of whom have long ties to the school.

Mets owner Steve Cohen and his wife, Alexandra, recently donated $112 million to LaGuardia Community College to create a workforce training center.

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