Many students “have some sort of infrastructure to help them with internships and jobs,” Marge Magner told The New York Times. For the 13,000 full-time students at Brooklyn College (NY), however, 45% are first-generation and 75% depend on some sort of financial aid, making that kind of access scarce. “These kids can’t ask their parents to help them with job connections,” she said. “That’s not their world.” So, she funded and stays active with the Magner Career Center, encouraging fellow alumni to do the same. “We’re the aunts and uncles, the friends of the family that these kids don’t have,” Magner said.
This approach at Brooklyn College’s Magner Career Center has had an impact. Among recent graduates surveyed, the percentage with internships rose to over 40% in 2018, up from 23% in 2003, before the center opened.
Ms. Magner has encouraged fellow alumni to get involved, allowing the college to work with organizations like Ernst & Young, the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Estee Lauder, JP Morgan and more, providing student internships and job opportunities.
