Let me introduce you to Vaughn College (NY). It is a unique place to be a college athlete, because one of its main academic majors is aviation. And as you may know, the airlines have been deeply impacted by the current recession. 

My guest is Dr. Sharon DeVivo, the President of Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology, and their first female president. Vaughn is located in Flushing, NY, a stone’s throw from LaGuardia Airport. Our conversation covers a review of a very different pandemic landscape at a four year college that produces the human capital of the airline industry. Many students come from families living in one of the five Boroughs of New York City, and where one wage earner has lost their job.  When you look at the airline industry right now, 30,000 airline employees were laid off in October alone. We discuss the tension that creates on campus for faculty, staff and athletic coaches to keep students engaged, while maintaining some semblance of an athletic season and academic progress. 

Vaughn proudly states “We were ranked #1 in the nation in upward mobility in a study published in The New York Times and were the best at helping students move from the lower income brackets to the top.” And their athletic program is like an NCAA DIII program, except it's not. A deeper look at a most unusual college at a most unusual time. (and we do alot of laughing).