Naiya Rookwood is the co-president for Fordham Experimental Theater (FET). They balance a busy academic and extracurricular life, thriving in performance, leadership and community-building roles across multiple clubs on campus.
Tucked on the backside of Collins Hall is the one-and-only Blackbox, a small, simple performance space and the home of FET. This week, I sat down with FET’s co-president Naiya Rookwood, FCRH ’26, from White Plains who wears many hats. Literally, you might find them in a crown, wig or top hat as they grace the stage. Rookwood also wears many hats as they juggle a busy class schedule and impressive involvement in many Fordham clubs.
Rookwood is majoring in English while double minoring in philosophy and French.
“Ambition” might just be Rookwood’s middle name. Outside of the classroom, they are an active member of the Fordham community. Impressively, they juggle their responsibilities as co-president of FET and a member of one of Fordham’s a cappella groups, Hot Notes. They also share their passion for helping others as a Humanities Student Ambassador.
Across the many extracurriculars they engage in, they are fully present and enthusiastic about everything they do. But how did they get to this point of so much involvement in the Fordham community?
During their freshman year, Rookwood was pursuing a philosophy major on the pre-health track. On top of the already overwhelming transition to college, Rookwood’s workload was almost unbearable. That’s when they found FET’s Black Sheep Poetry group. Rookwood had always loved writing poetry; now, they had found an outlet for it.
“Especially when it’s first-semester fall, I know for a lot of people, I was someone who was really stressed out and anxious about finding community at Fordham, and I found my way to the Black Sheep poetry team, and that, like, saved me my freshman year,” Rookwood said. “It made me feel really normal, and I’m really grateful for the people in that club and the people who we will continue to accept and make that for other people. That’s so joyous to me.”
Black Sheep Poetry is just one of the groups under the FET umbrella. The other three performance groups are Street Legal Stand Up, Stranded in Pittsburgh Improv and Free Pizza Sketch Comedy.
After joining Black Sheep Poetry during their first semester at Fordham, Rookwood was elected to the FET e-board. They started out as the tech representative, handling the lights, sound effects and any other tech that performance groups needed during their shows. Although they held the title of tech representative, Rookwood did not have much opportunity to learn on the job as friends of the performers more often took on the role instead. They were active in e-board meetings, brainstorming and pitching ideas for the club, but they felt they weren’t tapping into their full potential.
With a semester of e-board under their belt, Rookwood was elected as vice president her sophomore year. Their fellow club members saw great leadership qualities in them, and they proved them right, becoming an impressive communicator and email-writing force.
Since then, they have taken on more responsibilities with the club since being elected as one of the co-presidents, alongside Reese Dains, FCRH ’26.
Their leadership doesn’t stop there. Rookwood is also the co-captain of Black Sheep Poetry, hosting weekly meetings and organizing tech rehearsals for their shows. They are likewise a member of the Free Pizza sketch comedy group. Rookwood is involved in nearly everything that FET does, showing their commitment and passion for performance, theater and community.
“I am bound to FET by my heart and body and soul,” said Rookwood.
FET is not the only theater group on Fordham’s campus. Mimes and Mummers, and the Theatrical Outreach Program (TOP) are the other two. Rookwood has also been involved in multiple shows for each group. However, FET has taken up much of Rookwood’s time this semester. Besides performing for both Black Sheep and Free Pizza, Rookwood is also directing FET’s slot three show, “Murdertown,” written by Naomi Markus. The show is in the Blackbox this Thursday, Feb. 27 through Sunday, March 2.
They write, they perform, they direct, they take on key leadership roles. You couldn’t possibly think Rookwood has time to do even more, right? Well, they can. Rookwood balances their commitment to FET with their involvement in Fordham’s Hot Notes, one of the a cappella groups on campus.
“The Wednesday rehearsals for a cappella conflict with the Wednesday rehearsals for Sketch,” said Rookwood. “They share custody of me, and I go back and forth almost every week to learn music and then to learn lines. Maybe I do too much, but it’s hard because they’re all things that I really love. It’s only natural that that give and take means that putting yourself into something so passionately, means that you’re gonna get everything back just as passionately.”
The interconnectedness of everything they are involved in shows that they really lean into the humanities, especially as a Humanities Students Ambassador (HSA). The HSA works with the career center and Fordham students studying humanities to increase career literacy and readiness. They help students with resumes, cover letters, networking and bring in alumni speakers. You can read more about HSA here.
If you weren’t already impressed by Rookwood’s involvement and talent, how hard they work to put their best foot forward on and off stage is even more impressive.
“Before going on [stage], without fail, I am so stressed out, even for poetry shows,” said Rookwood. “I have really bad stage fright. People genuinely don’t believe me, but before opening nights, I get really, really scared, and I get worried that I am not going to be able to put my best foot out there because I am so nervous. I know I can do it; I trust the people that cast me that trust that I can do it, but I just get worried.”
Performing is a practice in vulnerability. It takes a lot of courage to be unapologetically yourself on stage.
“Frankly, it’s quite embarrassing to be vulnerable, whether it’s a character or a poem, which oftentimes has to include very personal things about yourself that you’re able to discuss in public,” Rookwood added. “It’s really scary to not know how it will be received because you can’t really control that.”
For Rookwood, their passion for performance and for putting their best self forward is something they do not take lightly. Overall, their pre-show nervousness shows how much they care.
“Being fully yourself, being fully confident, being fully present – letting yourself be whole and not limiting yourself to parts that you think people will like,” said Rookwood. “I think sketch taught me how to perform for other people, and poetry taught me how to perform for myself.”
Free Pizza Sketch Comedy co-captain Sophia Eid, FCRH ‘27, shares that Rookwood is a grounding force in maintaining the FET community.
“Naiya is truly a blessing,” Eid said. “They are the most composed person I know. They are so busy and so active in the Fordham community, yet they show up every day at Sketch with a smile on their face and a good attitude and just ready to make people laugh. If they weren’t here to keep us on track, I don’t know what we would do.”
Rookwood’s passions include performance and community building. They hope both continue to be present in FET and their own personal future beyond Fordham.
“I feel like FET is kind of like a physical embodiment of how I’m feeling about approaching my career, where it’s like there’s so much happening at once, and you’re passionate about all of the things that you’re doing, but to the point where it’s hard to pick one,” said Rookwood. “I can’t necessarily see myself going into writing and comedy, but I can see myself going into community.”
After Fordham, Rookwood can see themselves pursuing a career in education administration, stage design or theater management, among other things. There is no rush for Rookwood to know their next steps, but understanding the importance of community and the fulfillment they find in engaging with it helps Rookwood picture their future.
“If there’s one thing FET has taught me, it’s how to be part of a community, how to lead one, how to mediate one in case anything happens, which is very rarely, and it taught me how to take charge of myself and my art and the and the people around me,” said Rookwood.
Rookwoods future is bright. Remaining grounded in the Fordham community and finding camaraderie in all they are involved in has allowed them to find a home on campus.
“I am really happy about all the things that I do,” said Rookwood. “They bring me so much joy, and I am so lucky to be able to call myself part of something.”
