Student Stories

May 16, 2025 In life and work, you never know when you’ll need a good lawyer. So you may want to remember the name Kaarthika Thakker. Kaarthika is receiving her master’s degree in labor studies from SLU this spring and will soon be heading west to UC Berkeley Law School.Based on how quickly and thoroughly […]

May 15, 2025 Labor Studies B.A. student Joseph Newswander is this year’s Valedictorian and will speak at Commencement on May 28. Joseph has not only excelled academically, but also served on the Student Union steering committee and as vice chair for senior college affairs in the University Student Senate — SLU’s first participant in the […]

Apr. 10, 2025 When Elee Ballinger decided to leave her small town amid the redwood forests of northern California for college, she opted for a true urban experience: attending Hunter College, living in Brooklyn, and working for the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG). Being a part of SLU’s Community Semester program this spring, […]

Feb. 13, 2025 Every weekday at 7 a.m., Joana Oliveras punches in for her shift at Baruch College. Over the next seven hours, she will clean all the bathrooms on two floors, empty the trash, and more. Joana, a Bronx native, works at the college as a custodial assistant. No one would have predicted it, […]

Feb. 13, 2025 . Union Semester participant Adin Feder, right, with fellow SLU student Gabriel Slidders, left, and LiUNA Local 79 Director of Organizing Oona Adams, at a rally on Feb. 5 demanding that Empire State Realty Trust use union labor. Adin Feder lives in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. After getting a bachelor’s degree in English, […]

Dec. 19, 2024 Sonia Rodriguez has held one job for 26 years, and she loves it. She’s a senior registration clerk in the Bureau of Disease Control of the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. She’s a member of the clinic team that provides people with free testing for sexually transmitted diseases and infections […]

Nov. 15, 2024 Below are reflections from students who worked on this fall’s political campaigns, and who responded to outreach from SLU staff. We welcome additional input, especially from those who worked for other political parties and campaigns not represented here. Together, the SLU community is making meaning of election outcomes. An open discussion was […]

Nov. 1, 2024 Natasha Bartley is near the home stretch of obtaining her master’s degree in Urban Studies at SLU. An employee of the city Department of Transportation for a decade, Bartley enrolled to boost her climb up the job ladder. She’s focused on getting that diploma in hand and seeing it enhance her career. […]

Steamfitting – and union membership – are in Brian Hunt’s blood. Raised in a union family, his father was a steamfitter. After an early career stint working in finance, Brian was considering going back to school when he got the call to start the Local 638 Steamfitters five-year Apprenticeship program. He started on August 1, 2007 – and that was it. “I love it,” says Brian.