Bernice Aquino, vice president of SGA, moderated the discussion Trevor Noah had with students. // Photo courtesy of University Relations.
The Hofstra University Student Government Association (SGA) hosted a moderated discussion with Trevor Noah on Wednesday, April 6, in the John Cranford Adams Playhouse, where he shared his life experiences and career advice with students.
To kick off the evening, Bernice Aquino, SGA vice president and moderator of the event, asked Noah about his #1 New York Times bestselling book, “Born A Crime” – specifically how it came to fruition and how his experiences growing up before and after apartheid in South Africa influenced him.
“I’ve met so many people where we relate because of that story,” Noah said. “Very few people actually lived in a time when they go, ‘Oh, I was there when the law changed.’”
This sentiment hit home with the student body present at the event, and Amudalat Ajasa, a senior journalism major, spoke to how much she appreciated hearing about Noah’s life experiences.
“My favorite part probably was when he talked about racism being the root of the problems in America, and he talked about class as well,” Ajasa said. “It’s also interesting to hear Trevor’s perspective as someone who’s South African coming into America. He experienced his own form of oppression with apartheid and seeing those systems change.”
Aside from Noah’s experience as a biracial man born into apartheid, he is also known as a comedian and the host of “The Daily Show.”
Sarah Gascho, a sophomore television production and studies major, was one of the students selected to ask Noah a question after Aquino finished her line of questions.
“It was really exciting [to ask him a question]. I asked what advice he had for students that wanted to go into the field of entertainment and comedy and do what he does,” Gascho said. “I really do look up to Trevor Noah as someone I want to emulate career-wise [and] comedy-wise. I think, in the entertainment industry, there could be people like him that are spreading the news but making it funny and keeping things lighthearted.”
Ian Behnke, a sophomore journalism major, appreciated and learned additional kindness and empathy from Noah’s talk.
“I don’t agree with him on everything, but you don’t have to agree with someone [on] everything,” Behnke said. “You can still have that understanding and that shared experience if you agree with them on something, even if it’s as little as being a human being.”
Thomas Doherty, the communications chair of SGA, explained how this event came to be.
“We were hoping to gain new perspectives on – not only society as a whole – but the unique experiences that college students have gone through in the scope of the ever-changing world around us,” Doherty said on behalf of SGA. “We feel that Noah left us all feeling a bit better than we were when we arrived and gave us advice that we can apply to our everyday lives, both as students and empathetic human beings.”
SGA also commented on the hopes of future events for further student development and engagement.
“We hope to host more events like this on campus and work with other campus departments and student organizations to host similar collaborative events in the future,” Doherty said.
