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A teaching career came about somewhat by accident for English graduate Stephen Chiger ’01. After finishing his M.S. in journalism at Northwestern University, and then a couple of years of writing and reporting, he was considering the idea.
“I wanted to try teaching; my mom was a teacher, and it had always interested me,” he says. “But my certification didn’t arrive until the last week in August. Fortunately for me, my school was still looking and wanted someone to teach English and journalism – a perfect fit.”
Teaching at the University Academy Charter High School in Jersey City, N.J., Chiger quickly made his mark. He was named a distinguished teacher by the school, student government, and teachers union in 2004, 2005, and 2006. Last fall the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund named him a “special recognition award” adviser. And his students were ranked as gold medalists in the Columbia Scholastic Press Association’s Newspaper Critique.
“My students and I founded the journalism program,” he says. “When we started, all we had was my laptop and an empty room. Since then, we’ve been able to expand to a three-tiered course with a mini-computer lab, student lounge, and mail system. Some of these things we raised money for, some I hunted for. The Lafayette was particularly gracious and donated many of its old computers. Our newspaper has been able to garner some awards, and we have between 40 and 50 students working for it – more than 10 percent of the student body!”
Chiger is also the production director for the Hugh N. Boyd Minorities Journalism Workshop, an immersive two-week summer journalism program for minority high school students held at Monmouth University.
At both the school and in the immersion workshop Chiger is teaching journalism, but his goals reach higher than just teaching writing.
“I love the empowerment that journalism gives my students,” he explains. “I want to give them the same sense of social purpose that reporting at Lafayette (and beyond) gave me.”
Working in an area known for social and economic distress isn’t always easy for Chiger.
“There are some days it’s outright brutal – and not for all the Hollywood reasons people think of when they hear ‘inner city,’ he says. “Violence is one thing, but it’s swift. The worst pain I see is much more prolonged, much more systemic. When you see the system break down, as it were, it gives you ideas on how to make it better.”
For Chiger, that means giving his students a means – journalism – of bettering themselves and the world around them. He has high hopes for his students and his program.
“I want my students to go to college,” he says. “I want them to stop assuming that the world can’t be changed. And, above all, I want them to become compassionate, thoughtful, active citizens. Teaching journalism is really about teaching the value of an engaged citizenry. The phrase ‘passive democracy’ may seem like an ironic joke, but too many people settle for just that.
“I want to create a program that other schools can use as a model, and I want to promote programs that teach empowerment to traditionally disenfranchised kids. And, of course, I want to develop a journalism program that’s second-to-none. I want to hold it up to people who say it can’t be done, shouldn’t be done, or isn’t worth the effort.”
Small victories give Chiger the energy he needs for this work.
“When you teach, there are these inscrutable moments that keep you going. Maybe a student makes the decision to go to college. Or maybe they turn away from the streets to get involved in a club. Maybe they decide to research and report about a community problem rather than just complaining about it.”
Chiger patterns much of his teaching, leadership, and mentoring after what he experienced at Lafayette.
“I came to Lafayette because I wanted to have a connection with my professors, and I definitely found that. Those bonds influence the way I interact with my students now. Suzanne Westfall, my English Department adviser, and Ken Briggs, the newspaper adviser, were fantastic at helping me develop – as an academic, and as a journalist. I also owe a lot to Chun Wai Liew, of the computer science department. He was confident in my abilities even when I wasn’t.
“More than anything, I learned a lot about what leadership means at Lafayette. Some of this was by watching professors and administrators, though much of it took place in a small room in the Farinon College Center – the offices of The Lafayette. It was there I learned how to manage a staff, cultivate a vision, and try to inspire others.”
Chiger didn’t actually want to join the newspaper staff when he got to Lafayette. But he ran into a high school friend who had just been given the job of news editor at the paper and was convinced to go to a meeting.
“He swore up and down that I’d only have to come for 10 minutes, and I wouldn’t get a story,” says Chiger. “So I went. About an hour later, I left, story in hand. So began my career at The Lafayette.”
Chiger later became news editor, but doubted his ability to take over the entire paper in the future. He wound up not getting a choice in the matter when the editor in chief got sick and Chiger was in left in charge.