Award-Winning Advice: Alumna Carol Silva at Commencement

On May 22, 2018, NYIT President Hank Foley, Ph.D., presented alumna and morning and midday anchor at News 12 Long Island Carol Silva, B.F.A., with an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters at the university’s 57th Commencement Ceremony. The Emmy Award-winning journalist delivered the keynote address before an audience of more than 8,000 students, faculty, staff, family, and friends.

Silva spoke about her journey and how a professor and mentor at NYIT, helped her jumpstart her career. One of the final projects he assigned to his students was to create a 15-minute radio show including a five-minute newscast that the students were required to write and produce. Her professor, who was a part-time disc jockey at local radio station WBAB, took her project to his bosses and said, “I found our part-timer.”

“My junior year in college, because of NYIT, I was already in the business,” she said.

Silva encouraged the graduates to create and live their own stories, despite the challenges, rejection, and roadblocks they will likely face. She reminded them they have choices and to be the kindest version of themselves possible: “Look for the good in yourself, say the good out loud, and say the good out loud to the people around you.”

Watch Silva’s full speech: