By Vince Kiernan
Bill de Blasio, the recently elected mayor of New York City and a member of NYU’s class of 1983, stopped by Skirball yesterday as the 17th guest speaker in the Alumni Association’s “Speakers on the Square” series. The mayor, who graduated with a degree in Metropolitan Studies, chatted with Fox’s Maria Bartiromo (also an alumna) about politics, leadership, and his time at NYU.
President Sexton introduced the pair and hailed them both as “stars in the pantheon of NYU.” Bartiromo went on to ask de Blasio about his experience as an NYU student in the 80’s. To say that the mayor was involved would be an understatement: a recipient of the Presidential Scholarship, de Blasio served as Weinstein’s hall president, co-founded the Coalition for Student Rights, and led protests against the administration before graduating on to an extensive career in public service.
De Blasio only just passed 100 days of mayorship. His list of achievements doesn’t come close to that of, say, Michael Bloomberg, but Baritromo was nonetheless eager to hear about the new mayor’s visions for the future of our city.
As the first Democrat to hold this office since 1993, de Blasio has voiced ideals of equal opportunity for all of New York’s 8.4 million residents. Education reform sits at the top of his to-do list, and he made a strong point to mention early successes in his establishment of new pre-k and afterschool programs.
The Mayor hopes that NYU will take on a role of leadership in this mission of combating inequality. As one of the most influential “pace-setters for New York City,” he encourages our university to become more involved the city’s public schools in order to connect New Yorkers to “companies and sectors that could be employment engines.”
But like any good member of the Fox News team, Bartiromo challenged the mayor’s liberal ideologies and questioned his ability to maintain the power of New York’s economy. “The private sector,” he claims, “depends on the public sector.” He discussed the symbiosis between businesses and local activism, giving that classic spiel about how education leads to jobs, jobs lead to economic growth, etc. De Blasio is optimistic about New York’s job market and told students to “stay here and stick it out, because the future looks bright.”
After Bartiromo’s interview, six students from the NYU Leadership Council posed their own questions to the mayor. Corey Blay (Stern/Wagner ’14), Anna Le (CAS ’14), Julia McCarthy (Law ’15), Stephanie Serrano (Engineering ’15), Morgan Schusterman (CAS ’14) and Mike Zhu (CAS ’15) asked insightful questions about topics such as food supply, racial equality, and job opportunities in the outer boroughs.
Throughout the conversation, de Blasio reiterated his love for NYU and the university’s great impact on his career. His concluding remark sounded like something you’d hear in one of those promotional videos shown before an admissions tour. “If you work hard enough, if you believe in something, and if you have an excellent degree from New York University, you can go far.”
