When Kyley Tucker was little, she wrote that she wanted to win an Oscar, then she put the note into a time capsule.
Although her dream haven’t exactly come true, she got pretty close on Sunday. The Boston University alumna, who graduated from the College of Communication in 2007, was one of two BU Terriers who were recognized an Emmy for excellence in the television industry on Sunday.
Anthea Bhargava, a 1999 graduate, and Tucker received Emmy Awards for their contributions to The Voice on NBC.
Bhargava and Tucker serve as the supervising producer and senior producer of the show, respectively, which was the winner of Outstanding Reality-Competition Program.
“I never thought in a million years that I would actually make it here,” Tucker told The Daily Free Press.
Tucker said she enjoyed her time at BU, especially because the classes and opportunities that the university offered pushed her to do her best.
“I was actually part of BUTV10,” she said. “I also pitched my own talk show to them called ‘The B Spot.’ It was an entertainment-type show all about Boston. I don’t even think it aired, but having that opportunity pushed me to get to where I am now.”
When Bhargava tried to recall her time at BU, she said the friendship and sense of community she gained at the university carried her a long way.
“When I met Kyley [Tucker], we were both so excited to find out that we went to BU,” she said. “I’d advise students to work with each other and try to maintain the friendships you made after you leave classes – that helps you to develop a larger network.”
Bill Linsman, the director of BU’s Los Angeles Internship Program, said this accomplishment is not rare for BU graduates, specifically COM alumni.
“It’s in a long line of accomplishments,” Linsman said. “We’ve had a long line of Oscar winners, we’ve had a long line of Emmy winners, and COM has been active since 1947. There have been a lot of people that have gone to BU and have either moved to New York or Los Angeles and made a name for themselves. It’s part of a tradition.”
Alexa Lamanna, a senior in COM, said she is glad to hear the Emmy news because it makes her hopeful about job prospects once she graduates.
“BU definitely, especially in COM, has incredible alumni and you can see that when you walk up and down the hallways,” Lamanna said. “It definitely, as a senior, makes me more hopeful to graduate just because I think BU puts a really good name out there for COM students and gives us a lot of great opportunities.”
Hillary Auker, a first-year graduate student in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, said it’s always great to see how frequently BU alumni are mentioned in the news.
“BU gives such a variety of opportunities because they’re always prevalent,” Auker said. “It’s almost like, no matter what’s going on out there, there’s always someone from BU represented, which speaks to how we support all of the different interests really well [on campus]. “
BU Department of Film and Television Chair Paul Schneider said although the university does not specifically document its award-winning alumni, BU alumni have a successful track record of being producers and executives in the media industry because the university prepares them well.
“It’s something that our department has done very well over the years,” Schneider. “It’s no surprise that these two ladies have done so well. This is an area we do have a lot of pretty significant people in.”
COM is also especially good at producing strong women in the media industry, Schneider added.
Nick Thomas, a junior in the College of Engineering, said this kind of success makes him realize that students will be eventually rewarded for their hard work.
“I know that a lot of BU alumni, even College of Fine Arts actors, have been in the news quite a few times, and it’s just really interesting,” Thomas said. “It shows that even though school is hard sometimes, in the long run it does pay off for people.”
