Santa Clara University

A journalism student's newsworthy future

Jeremy Herb '08

Graduate journalism student at Columbia University

Jeremy Herb wasn’t sure what field he wanted to pursue when he started as a freshman at Santa Clara. But working for the weekly student paper, The Santa Clara—where  he served as editor for two terms—gave him his focus.

“I always liked writing; I had an interest in journalism. But it was only when I joined the paper that I knew, that’s what I want to do,” he says.

As a sophomore, Jeremy experienced first-hand the impact of news reporting. He and several other student reporters were sent to cover the story of a Santa Clara student who collapsed and died suddenly (apparently of heart failure) after playing recreational soccer.

The campus community was shocked and grieving; the newspaper’s weekly deadline was in a few hours. “It was immensely sad, and really intense. We were rushing to get the story. It showed me how important it was, to tell the story for the people who were the student’s friends, and to people who didn’t know him. That hooked me on journalism.”

After graduating in 2008 as a communication major, Jeremy interned for the summer on the metro desk at the daily paper the Indianapolis Star. After that, he started graduate journalism studies at Columbia University, with a plan to pursue political reporting.

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