Bobst Boy is the nickname of Steven Stanzak (born January 25, 1984), a
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
student who spent eight months living in the basement of one of the school's libraries,
Bobst Library
The Elmer Holmes Bobst Library ( ), often referred to simply as Bobst Library or just Bobst, is the main library at New York University (NYU) in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The library is located at 70 Washington Square South between LaGuar ...
from September 2003 to April 2004.
Before living in the Bobst library, Stanzak was an ordinary student living on loans and part-time jobs, without financial assistance from his parents. In September 2003, he found that his NYU
scholarship
A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...
, four jobs, and private loans would cover his
tuition
Tuition may refer to:
*Formal education, education within a structured institutional framework
*Tutoring, private academic help
*Tuition payments
Tuition payments, usually known as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in Commonwealth ...
costs, but he could not get enough loans to cover housing. He refused to drop out or transfer to a cheaper university, choosing instead to live in the library.
Stanzak quickly grew tired of answering peoples' questions about life in the library, and posted a Q&A online, which eventually grew into the
blog
A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...
and web site, and Stanzak developed an underground fan following on NYU's campus.
The ''
Washington Square News
''Washington Square News (WSN)'' is the weekly student newspaper of New York University (NYU). It has a circulation of 10,000 and an estimated 55,000 online readers. It is published in print on Monday, in addition to online publication Tuesday th ...
'', one of NYU's student papers, was told of Stanzak's situation and asked to do a profile on him. At first Stanzak refused, fearing how NYU would react to the situation. However, once Stanzak was told that the article would only be printed with his consent, he agreed to an interview. In April 2004, just before the release of the news article, an NYU dean was told of Stanzak's situation, and requested a meeting.
At the meeting, the dean told Stanzak that his initiative was remarkable, but that he could no longer live in the library, and Stanzak was provided free NYU housing for the last few weeks of classes.
The day the profile was published, reporters started calling Stanzak, and he became an overnight celebrity.
Stanzak received widespread media attention, appearing on ''
Good Morning America
''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...
'' on April 29.
Stanzak continued to receive financial assistance from NYU until graduation, and no longer updates his blog or web site. After his time in Bobst library, he became a
Resident Assistant
A resident assistant (RA), also known by a variety of other names, is a trained peer leader who coordinates activities in residence halls in colleges and universities, mental health and substance abuse residential facilities, or similar establish ...
at NYU's
Lafayette Street Residence, in
Chinatown
Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...
.
After graduation from NYU, Stanzak later attended
Indiana University Bloomington
Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...
, where he received an M.A. (2009) and Ph.D. (2014), both in folklore. He subsequently became a software engineer; among other projects he developed a web application for New Yorkers to apply for rental assistance.
References
External links
Interviewat ''
NYU Local
''NYU Local'' is an independent news blog run by New York University (NYU) students. It is the companion publication for NYU along with the '' Washington Square News'', and the undergraduate equivalent of ''Washington Square Review''.
Founded in ...
''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bobst Boy
1984 births
Living people
New York University alumni
Indiana University Bloomington alumni