Dean of Students David Leedy emailed all The King’s College on-campus residents that WNBC would be interviewing students the following evening and disclosed a statement the college would send out to reporters on March 3.

The students interviewed included Seojin Lee, a freshman in the House of C.S. Lewis, Rachel Guerra, a sophomore in the House of Corrie ten Boom, and Lily Dupree, a freshman in the House of Ten Boom.

NBC 4 New York reporter Checkey Beckford interviewed the students that evening in the third-floor lounge of the Albee building. The report aired at 11:14 p.m. on Friday night and was later posted to the NBC New York website.

The report primarily addressed the overdue rent notices King’s students have received over the past few weeks. The report also shared information on the college's overall financial crisis, highlighting the Empire State Tribune's previous article on the $2 million loan from Peter Chung released earlier that day.

Emma Rice, a freshman in the House of Ten Boom –whose aunt works for a PR firm with ties to NBC –had contacted her about being a part of the interview.

“She had asked for a freshman, an upperclassman, and an international student to be featured on the report,” said Dupree. “So after being asked to participate in the interview, I contacted Seojin and Rachel. It was mainly for the eviction notices we were receiving, not King’s as a whole.”

Multiple media outlets, such as Christianity Today and Insider Higher Ed, have all had their own take on King’s current financial crisis. Unsurprisingly, students have been receiving the type of coverage–quite literally–on their doorstep.

“I got a message asking to be part of an interview about King’s situation as an international student,” Lee said. “My goal was to share, specifically as an international student, how King’s students still have faith, and this school is great, and we would need much more help. I never aimed to criticize King’s since, as I said in the report, it’s more than a school. It is like family to me.”

“It was very informal,” Guerra said. “Lily texted me, and she said, ‘Hey, can I come to your apartment?’ I just assumed she wanted to hang out. And then she looked at me and said, ‘You want to be on T.V.?’ I was like, ‘Absolutely, of course.’ She then informed me how it's about the Albee rent.”

“I was told to meet downstairs,” Guerra continued. “I got a call from the lady with WNBC, and she said, ‘I'm going to ask you about the Albee rent notices.’ But we talked about the King’s community and how it has impacted us.”

Rachel Guerra, one of three students interviewed by WNBC | Photo by Angelina Ispir

A large part of the unaired interview consisted of the students talking about the community and how everyone has gotten together during these times of uncertainty, bringing up the TKC Letters Project to spread awareness of the college’s impact on current students, alumni, and faculty.

Seojin Lee, one of the three students interviewed by WNBC | Photos by Angelina Ispir

“I had promoted the TKC Letter Project,” continued Lee. “I wanted to make sure I had a moment to share how the project has impacted us and allowed us to share our stories. I also talked about how it’s been a great project for us to gather donors and how Matthew, Aidan and Eli have been doing such a good job.”

Aside from the community aspects at King’s, some students expressed their frustrations and questions that haven’t been answered.

“We can talk about how King’s has impacted us, but I feel like we’ve been put in a very tough mental situation,” said Dupree. “Having seen future students put their down payment for King’s, I wonder if they will ever give us a deadline. Even with the situation at Albee, I’m also asking myself if we’ll even have a place to live next semester.”

Lily Dupree, one of the three students interviewed by WNBC | Photos by Angelina Ispir

“Many students had to find out this information themselves,” Dupree continued. “So either [learning] what King’s hasn’t told us with a rumor, or clarified, and then they become transparent about it since we took the initiative to find out the news ourselves.”

The interviewees had mixed reactions to the final WNBC report.

“I just wish that we were shown in a better light because following the interviews,” said Guerra. “I got an email about how the students were being misleading.”

“I think Seojin summed it up perfectly with what he said about King’s being like a family,” said Dupree. “But I feel like what was cut had been because it wasn’t the interview's main focus. It technically wasn’t bad press, but it could have been for others. It’s a small college, so I think that talking about it on the news gave viewers two options. One, people can find out about us and want to go here, or two, it will help future students get more clarity about our financial situation.”

Angelina Ispir is a freshman at The King’s College studying Journalism, Culture and Society. She is enthusiastic about the arts and is an avid coffee drinker.

King’s Students Featured on WNBC Nightly News Broadcast