Zak Allen

Zak Allen

Zak Allen fished out a newspaper from his backpack. True, it was a test run and white space lingered where columns had yet to be laid out. The masthead – The Fulcrum, a name dating back to the college’s Broome Tech days – wasn’t yet in place.

But it was undeniably a student newspaper, the first such endeavor on campus in at least a decade – no small feat in these digital days. (While students are welcome to write for The Buzz, the college’s digital news site is ultimately run by the college’s Office of Marketing & Communications.)

A student in the SUNY Broome Honors program, Zak is also deeply involved in campus life. He became involved with the Student Assembly last year, serving as a senator, and briefly considered running for president. Instead, he chose a different path: helping found the Fulcrum.

“Right now, there’s nothing to hold the Student Assembly accountable,” he explained.

The brand-new Fulcrum News Club aims to “produce accurate, fair, and unbiased reporting of campus news, community news, and other news stories from around the world,” according to its mission statement, along with creating “a more interconnected campus.”

Click here to learn more about the Honors Program.

Click here to learn about our program in Business Administration.

‘A head start’

A second-year Business Administration major, Zak Allen is deeply interested in the law and politics. Once he graduates, he plans to transfer to either Binghamton University or the University at Albany for a dual major in business and political science. After that: law school.

His career plans haven’t yet taken shape, but he is exploring his options – while enjoying his time at SUNY Broome.

The Binghamton native opted for his local community college for several reasons. It’s close to home and has highly regarded academic programs. Plus, like many of his peers, he wasn’t entirely sure what he wanted to major in; SUNY Broome seemed an optimal place to figure out his trajectory.

“I wanted to get a head start and move on,” he said.

Entering the Honors Program simply made sense; after all, he took International Baccalaureate classes in high school, and was accustomed to challenge.

“All the Honors courses I’ve had, they’re elevated more than other classes in terms of coursework,” he said.

He has high praise for his Honors class professors, including Professor Giovanni Scaringi in microeconomics (“He’s phenomenal”) and Professor William Altman in psychology (He’s awesome! He’s also hilarious.”) Like all Honors students, he is looking forward to completing a capstone research project; while his ideas are still under development, he’s learning toward a project involving politics and government, under the guidance of Professor Scaringi.

In addition to the newspaper and his coursework, Zak also helped bring back Unity in Pride – which supports LGBTQ students and their allies –and now serves as the club’s president. He also landed a great assignment for a college reporter: interviewing SUNY Chancellor Kristina M. Johnson when she visits campus for the first time on Oct. 16.

If all goes as planned, you’ll be able to read all about it in the print edition.

“We plan to print copies and leave them in the Student Assembly offices and in other buildings,” he said. “We’re hoping to get something out on campus.”

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