02/17/2022
We're lucky to have you in the major, Corey!
“One of my biggest goals as far as being at NYU is being able to make sure that people that look like me that come after me can be as comfortable, if not more comfortable, than I was at this point in time,” says Corey Baron (Steinhardt ’24), a sophomore studying NYU Steinhardt Media, Culture, and Communication (MCC).
As part of his effort to get involved and help others find welcoming spaces, Corey became a student assistant last summer for NYU’s Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP), a pre-college enrichment program that assists students of color and economically disadvantaged students pursuing STEM fields.
He also joined the Steinhardt Black Society as the undergraduate chair in the Fall 2021 semester. In this role, Corey works to provide communal spaces and events for Black students to connect, enjoy recreational activities such as movie nights, and share their experiences.
Corey knows firsthand that choosing a path for college can take time. In high school, he first considered pursuing a sociology degree before stumbling across something on an NYU website that changed his mind.
“When I read the description for MCC, it included all of the elements of what I wanted in a major,” he says. “Media seemed to be a way for me to do anything that I really enjoy doing, because I enjoy writing, I enjoy music, I enjoy film, and I think that in media, I can navigate all those avenues while being in one place.”
As a first-year student with a desire to share his perspectives with a broad audience, Corey connected with a classmate who was starting up a pop culture magazine called Chronic! Since its establishment, Corey has written for the magazine about topics including Black fashion designers and the politics and racial dynamics of the Grammy Awards. Chronic! is just one of several creative outlets for Corey, who also writes poetry in his spare time and is currently taking a poetry seminar. He isn’t yet sure of what he wants to do after graduation in two years, but he knows that creating work that excites people will be part of it.
“Since I've been in MCC and Steinhardt and I've met the people, I know that it's the right place for me because Steinhardt really cares about human beings,” says Corey, reflecting on an academic home that has also provided him with a special sense of community. “I can say that about the staff, and I can say that about the faculty and the students. I think Steinhardt people really just care about people, and you can see that in the community and in the way that people treat each other.”
