Adam Playford, editor-in-chief for the Washington Square News

As a first-semester freshman at NYU’s student paper, the Washington Square News, he wrote touching features from inside a New York City sweatshop and about the sale of illegal turtles in Chinatown. By his second semester, he was features editor — a post he held for a year before becoming the paper’s editor-in-chief as a second-semester sophomore. As features editor, he created and coordinated substantial, hard-hitting series on fire safety at NYU and student drinking. That would be a defining accomplishment for some; for him, I nearly forgot about it. 

His tenure as editor was also marked by thorough reporting on difficult topics on the part of his staff. During his second semester, our paper reported on several student suicides with tact that drew praise from administrators and students. We reported on NYU’s College Republicans’ “Find the Illegal Immigrant” hunt, coverage that got more than 60,000 page views. He also serves as an associate editor at WSN, assisting and advising the current staff.

He also restarted his weekly column, Life of Alvin, which he began when he was features editor. His column is funny, touching and poignant; it has quickly become a favorite of readers and editors, bringing his unique perspective and skill as a reporter and writer to the varied topics that hold his interest. His columns are usually among the most-read articles on our website, and always for the right reasons. They remind us what it means to be human.

Keith Leighty, advisor of the Washington Square News

I first got to know Alvin last fall when a student at NYU killed himself. It was no small story at NYU because suicide at this inner-city campus has occurred with uncommon frequency and, as a result, has become a campus issue. Alvin, at that time the editor of the Washington Square News, the student newspaper at New York University, called me when the news staff learned of the event. News coverage was already under way. Alvin’s foremost concern at that time was not on a sensational headline. It was on how to cover the story without hurting anyone. I knew right away that he did not need my guidance. He needed only reassurance that he was doing the right thing. And he was. Alvin saw past the tabloid headline to the impact his coverage might have and covered the story with sensitivity that I think is rare among college journalists.

All of stories, features and accomplishments were made in the heart of what is arguably the toughest media market in the world: New York City.

Source | Washington Square News
Among the knockoff purses and cheap shiny watches all over Chinatown, there are tubs on the sidewalk, seemingly filled with a large mass of dark liquid. A closer look reveals that it isn't liquid but dozens of squirming silver-dollar-sized objects stacked on top of each other in plastic tubs filled with water.

Source | Washington Square News
It's an unremarkable building in the middle of Chinatown that thousands of people walk by every day. But on the fifth floor, behind steel doors, is a secret sweatshop that few would imagine exists in one of the most liberated cities in the world.

Source | Washington Square News
Public Safety officers are being required to guard the roofs of several NYU buildings to prevent copycat suicides after an NYU student jumped from a dorm roof last month. But several officers said the new measure is forcing them to work more than 16 hours straight, which violates the collective bargaining agreement between NYU and their union.

Source | Washington Square News
It was a secret meeting with a mastermind thief. He revealed little about himself, but I had to meet him. He had stolen something I wanted - and he had demands.

Source | Washington Square News
The closest thing to a legend at NYU is the story of Bobst Boy. Every freshman tour includes an obligatory mention of his eight-month stay in the basement of Bobst Library.