I met Quincy Rasin ’18 last fall on the Wagner ferry shuttle. He was on his way to his internship at the New York City Housing Authority. Today, he is a research assistant for Neighborhood Fundamentals, in the Washington, D.C., area. This company provides research and technical assistance to municipalities, state agencies, developers, and others on issues related to housing affordability and community development.
Rasin calls himself a person of “eclectic taste,” which is what drew him to the Wagner Plan and to a major in the interdisciplinary field of public policy and administration.
A coastal North Carolina native, he was a track athlete at Wagner, setting Seahawk records for the 500-meter indoor run and as part of multiple relay teams. He also participated in Greek life, served as a resident assistant, and mentored teenage boys at a nearby school that specializes in college preparatory education in low-income neighborhoods.
Rasin says that interdisciplinary learning, the diversity of courses and students, and the strong community made the Wagner experience great. “It’s kind of like a fishbowl that’s overflowing at this point, and you can reach in a grab something, and you say, ‘Wow, I’m glad I learned this.’”
Eventually, he wants to be involved in policy work related to the issues of black men, and “be a professor with practical and theoretical experience,” like Professors Abe Unger and Cyril Ghosh, his mentors and role models.
At Wagner, Rasin served one year as the orientation coordinator, and the theme of his programming was “create your own story.” “Wagner helps you do that,” he says. “You have complete creative control over your college experience.”
