If you want to learn more about supporting programs you read about in this issue, contact Wendy Anderson, Development and External Relations, at wendy.anderson@mccombs.utexas.edu.
WHEN NYC IS THE CLASSROOM UTNY PROGRAM PREPARES McCOMBS STUDENTS TO COMPETE FOR JOBS IN THE BIG APPLE
U T N Y P H OTO : U T N Y
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EINNA LITTLE KNEW THAT AN INTERNSHIP
at The Fortune Society — a New York City nonprofit that helps formerly incarcerated people rebuild their lives — would give her valuable hands-on experience researching housing policy. But when her supervisor connected her with community activists organizing rallies at City Hall, she gained an even deeper understanding of the challenges facing economically disadvantaged people in the city. Little, a senior studying management at Texas McCombs, says she is now more committed than ever to pursuing a master’s degree in urban planning in New York City in the fall, and she plans to focus on affordable housing. “It’s definitely perception-changing,” she says of her time in New York. Little is one of 19 UT Austin students who participated in the school’s UTNY program during the fall semester, juggling a jam-packed schedule that included her internship, coursework, and visits to famous landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty. The experiential learning program, meant to help students launch their careers and discover New York through the lens of a local, began in the fall of 2019 but was interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. After restarting in 2021, it picked up momentum and has already enrolled 82 students for the upcoming summer semester. The main objective of the program is to help UT Austin students gain a foothold in the competitive New York job market, explains Michael Wilson, executive director of UTNY and UTLA — the university’s Los Angeles-based experiential learning program established in 2005. He helped design the program — along with former McCombs Dean and now UT President Jay Hartzell, Dean Jay Bernhardt of Moody College of Communication, and former College of Fine Arts Dean Doug Dempster, now a professor at
P H OTO G R A P H BY U T N Y
Students with UT alum and “Today” co-host Jenna Bush Hager (right), who recently served as a lecturer in a panel discussion, and Hilary Smith, SVP Corporate Communications (pictured next to Jenna) of NBC Universal.
the college. Through its internship program, UTNY — which receives financial support from McCombs, Moody, Fine Arts, the College of Liberal Arts, and philanthropic support from alumni, parents, and friends of UT—grooms students to compete for jobs with candidates who attended college in New York City. But it also helps them discover their strengths. “The students learn a lot about their own ability to live in a market like New York,” Wilson says. “It’s self-evaluation and assessment.” For Kaelan Replogle, a junior studying finance at McCombs, this meant working a 9-5 job as a forensics accounting intern at the firm Weaver, networking through the Texas Exes alumni group, and learning to navigate the city’s public transportation system — even if it meant getting lost sometimes. “It is kind of true — if you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere,” Replogle says, referencing the famous song lyric. Decorated in the familiar burnt-orangeand-white colors, the UTNY Center in Times
Square serves as a headquarters for students. It is a classroom, a study lounge, and sometimes, a remote office. Laura Brown, UTNY program director, says watching students conquer challenges, gain confidence, and build friendships is inspiring. Although the students in the fall cohort came from various schools across the UT Austin campus and did not know one another previously, they were practically family by semester’s end, Brown says. “Those will be friendships and professional networks they’ll have for decades to come,” Brown says. Planning ahead is key, whether it means preparing for the internship or finding a place to live, says Sophie Jacquet, a sophomore studying business administration at McCombs. Looking back on her experience last summer as a marketing strategy and sales intern at the real estate startup Rent Ready, Jacquet adds, “I grew a lot in terms of how I prioritize my goals.” —Alice Popovici
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