Influential 2009: Zachary Novetsky

Zachary Novetsky hates it when people ask him what he's going to do with a philosophy major.

"You can do anything with a philosophy major," the CAS senior said. And you can do anything, he added, "with the energy to make the most of good opportunities."

It is this energy that propelled Novetsky to create NYU's SHARP Lecture Series.

SHARP is an acronym for science, history, arts, religion and philosophy. Each month, Novetsky invites a distinguished author, ethicist, professor, engineer — you name it — to speak to a group of intellectually curious NYU students.

The idea for the SHARP Lecture Series was born one Friday night during Novetsky's junior year. He was hanging out with his friends over a couple of drinks, and they began talking about the many awesome lectures at NYU, many of which most students would never attend because of the disparate nature of the university.

"Gallatin would have these really great lectures, but only the Gallatin kids would know about them. Or CAS would have a speaker come in, but only the CAS kids would be invited," Novetsky said. "We wanted to centralize these lectures somehow so that everybody could be included."

It's usually not very hard for Novetsky to find his speakers. He's had practice. The self-proclaimed "bookie" said that for as long as he could remember, the most natural thing to do after he finished a good book was to immediately contact the author.

"You'd be surprised by how quickly they respond. They're always happy to share their views — but you have to take that opportunity to reach out to them first," Novetsky said.

Aside from the SHARP Lecture Series, Novetsky is also in charge of the Bridges Dialogue Group, which collaborates with Yeshiva and Columbia universities. The group comprises Muslim and Jewish students from the three different universities and meets twice a semester. The objective of the group is to promote acceptance and spread the message that Muslims and Jews are civilized people.

"It's about humanizing conflicts and humanizing people, even if they have different perspectives than you do," Novetsky said. "You can still sympathize with them as long you're not being impinged upon. That's such a simple message and no one in the world understands that."

Novetsky delved more into issues of intolerance and human rights during a spring 2009 trip to Geneva, Switzerland. He was chosen as one of three U.S. student representatives to attend "Durban II," the United Nations' 2009 World Conference on Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Other Intolerance.

Novetsky's ultimate goal is to help reform the U.N. from within. He is currently most interested in Middle Eastern conflict resolution, specifically in Israel.

"I read a lot about issues in Israel. It might sound depressing to read about war all day, but the more knowledge you have about a tragic issue, the more you think about how to deal with the problem and not just how terrible it is," Novetsky said.

According to his best friend, CAS senior Ari Grazi, Novetsky actively pursues what's right and true, not only for himself, but also for others.

"He sees himself as one component of a much larger picture. That's an important trait in a leader," Grazi said.

Given Novetsky's innate curiosity and active motivation, no one needs to be concerned about what he can do with a philosophy major. They should simply take a look at what he's done already.