Although Nightline Peer Listeners remain anonymous throughout their time working on the phone lines, we have two to three directors who have given up their listening roles to serve two-semester terms as the leaders and public faces of our organization. The directors use their experience from working in the organization to coordinate Nightline’s recruitment of new listeners, publicize our services, and integrate our work into the Columbia community.

Current Directors

Our current Directors are Simon Ogundare (CC ’24), Jordan Shiff (BC ’25), and Diya-Sivan Reddy (BC ’25). If you have any questions, you can contact them at [email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you!

Past Directors

 

Cat Beckett (BC ’24)

Cat is from Austin, Texas, studying History with a minor in Urban Teaching. She joined Nightline her freshman year and is grateful for the unique opportunity to have connected with students across campus while taking calls. Outside of Nightline, Cat is in the process of obtaining a teaching certification to achieve her dream of being an elementary school teacher. In her free time, Cat likes to rock climb, crochet, and read fantasy novels.

 

Boyuan Chen (SEAS ’23) 

Boyuan Chen is a Chemical Engineering major from Guangzhou, China. He joined Nightline as a freshman and has been blessed by the amazing NL experience and its community. As a ~chemical engineer~, Boyuan is also involved in the Chandler Society for Undergraduate Chemistry and conducts research in complex fluids. In their free time, Boyuan enjoys cooking meals, playing chess, and watching horror movies.

 

Ketaki Krishnan (BC ’23)

Ketaki Krishnan is a Developmental Psychology major at Barnard from south India. They work at the Barnard College Toddler Center as an assistant teacher and researcher and are passionate about early childhood development. Ketaki joined Nightline their first semester at Barnard and it has been a core part of their college experience ever since. In their free time they draw, cook their favourite comfort foods, and are a stick and poke tattoo artist. They also like to explore the city and find peaceful spots in nature.

 

Helena Cirne (SEAS ’23)

Helena is from Palo Alto, California studying Biomedical Engineering. She has been fortunate enough to become director after being involved in Nightline since her first year at Columbia. She has been and continues to be so impressed with the care and devotion staff has to Nightline and is excited to take on this public role for the organization. Outside of Nightline, Helena is a research assistant at a laboratory, involved in the Latinx community on campus, and a novice crossword solver.

 

TJ Gill (CC ’22)

TJ is from Houston, Texas studying English and Psychology. He joined Nightline his freshman year and is now lucky enough to be a director after being a social as well as training coordinator in the organization. Other than Nightline, he has been involved in Spec, the school newspaper, and Quarto: a literary magazine on campus. In his free time, he likes to try new restaurants in NYC and sit on Low steps with his pals.

 

Yasemin Reis (SEAS ’22)

Yasemin is from Ankara, Turkey studying Computer Science with a minor in Psychology. She joined Nightline her sophomore year, and being a part of this organization has been a defining feature of her Columbia experience. She is grateful for the time she spent taking calls as a listener and is excited to contribute to Nightline in a public role. You can find her listening to musical cast albums on repeat while taking walks in Riverside Park regardless of the weather.

 

Cindy Chen (CC ’22)

Cindy is from Shenzhen, China, and studying Computer Science and Psychology. She joined Nightline in the first month of her time at Columbia and has only grown fonder of the Nightline community and the work Nightline does throughout her time on the lines. Now that she is taking on a more public-facing function of the organization, Cindy looks forward to promoting Nightline’s presence on campus especially during a time as this. In her free time, Cindy loves to cook, explore the arts and music in the city, and read travel books.

 

Joshua Kent (CC ‘22)

Joshua Kent goes by Josh and is from Jericho, New York studying Neuroscience and Behavior. He started with Nightline his freshman year, and is now a director. He is sad that he no longer has the opportunity to talk to you all as a Nightline listener, but would love to talk to you as a friend if you see him on campus. He enjoys pick-up basketball in Riverside Park, throwing frisbee on the lawns, playing fetch with his yellow lab, biking around the city and waiting in line at Milano’s.

 

Faith Ajayi (CC ’21)

Faith is from Stockton, California and studying Environmental Biology and Pre-Med. She joined Nightline during her sophomore year and although she greatly misses taking your calls, she still loves to help teach and train future Nightline listeners. On campus, you’ll often find her playing board games with friends or wandering around obliviously with her earbuds in.

 

Daniela Bernstein (GS/JTS ’21)

Daniela is from San Francisco and studying Human Rights and Bible. She joined Nightline her freshman year and is so appreciative she had the opportunity to take calls from students while on the lines. Daniela is so excited to be able to promote Nightline to the Columbia/Barnard community and give everyone the opportunity to be heard! She can always be found talking to strangers about Star Trek and/or criminal justice reform!

 

Jessica Hecht (CC ’21)

Jessica is from Westchester and studying Neuroscience and Computer Science. She joined Nightline her freshman year and thanks every caller she had the privilege of talking to during her time on the lines. Jessica is grateful for the community Nightline gives her and she is excited to for the opportunity to give back. In her free time, she enjoys spending time outdoors, exploring, and catching up with friends.

 

Michelle Tang (CC ’20)

Michelle is at Columbia from Palo Alto, California studying Computer Science and English. She joined Nightline her sophomore year and cherishes the two years she spent taking calls from students. Michelle finds it really meaningful to work for an organization united by the common value of empathy. In her free time, she enjoys literature, loves translating poems and spending time with friends.

 

Lauren Hagani (CC ’20)

Lauren is a junior at Columbia College from New Haven, CT studying Sociology. She joined Nightline her first semester freshman year and cherishes the time she spent taking calls from students. She is so excited to be serving as a co-director, and can’t wait to engage more with the community to publicize the service and spread Nightline listening skills. On campus, she is an RA and is working on a research project at the Center for Justice. She is always down to play squash and is a very competitive card game player!

 

Dylan Castagnette (CC ’20)

Dylan is at Columbia College studying Mathematics. He joined Nightline his freshman year and has spent two years taking calls. He is so excited to devote more time to an organization that he loves through the role of Co-Director. Outside of school, Dylan enjoys listening to Sufjan Stevens, playing the ukulele and quoting vines.

 

Emily Conlogue (BC ’19)

Emily is a senior at Barnard studying Archaeology, and is writing her thesis on Catholicism in northern New Mexico. She has been with Nightline since her sophomore year, and is excited to be helping the organization in a public role. When she’s not busy with class work or hanging out in the archaeology lab, she can be found drawing, embroidering, and spending time outside.

 

Lena Denbroeder (BC ’19)

Lena is at Barnard from San Francisco studying Economics and pre-health. She joined Nightline in her first year and spent two years taking calls from students. She feels so lucky to be serving as co-director and representing an important service that has been such a big part of her life here. On campus, she works at Barnard Library and is almost as passionate about library books as she is about mental health.

 

Albert Kohn (GS/JTS ’18)

Albert graduated from the School of General Studies and JTS studying Medieval Religious Literature & History with a concentration in Latin. Along with taking calls with Nightline for over two years, Albert was a classroom leader with Peace by Peace and worked in the Rare Book Room in Butler Library. He is unbelievably honored to have publicly represented the amazing Nightline volunteers as they provide empathetic and non-judgmental listening to our shared community.