Graduates of two different SLU programs have been recognized by CUNY’s second annual 50 Under 50 Alumni Awards. Joshua Goodman is Deputy Commissioner for Public Affairs and Customer Experience at the NYC Department of Sanitation, and earned an M.A. in Urban Studies in Fall 2023. Paige Oamek is a general assignment reporter at Gothamist/WNYC who earned a certificate in Labor Studies in 2019.
The Nov. 19 announcement says that 50 Under 50 celebrates “the University’s outstanding graduates and their social, cultural and economic contributions to New York and beyond. This year’s cohort highlights the depth of talent within the CUNY community, representing public servants, journalists, entrepreneurs, artists and more.”
A profile of Goodman says that as a deputy commissioner, he’s “reshaping the relationship between 8.5 million New Yorkers and the 44 million pounds of trash they throw out each day, utilizing urban theory best practices learned in part through study at the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies – from György Lukács to Oscar Newman to Henri Lefebvre and beyond.”
Oamek’s profile says she “recently reported on the 2025 mayoral race and deaths in custody at Rikers Island. She is also collaborating with New York Focus and Hell Gate on a long-form investigation into sexual abuse in New York state prisons.” She’s also continuing her studies at CUNY’s Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism.
SLU congratulates Oamek and Goodman for this distinction and commends our alumni and current students working in public service and social justice.