PURCHASE, N.Y. - "Where are they now?" is a monthly feature story that highlights student-athletes from the past, as they recount their adventures at Purchase College and what they have been up to since graduating.
Our next alum to be featured is
Zoe Hines '18, who was a star women's lacrosse player for the Panthers from 2015-18.
Additionally, later this month, she will become the newest member of the Purchase College Athletics Hall of Fame, as we are thrilled to induct her into the hall as our sole entry in 2025.
Hines (Maplewood, NJ) will return to campus on April 30th, as the department celebrates its annual athletics awards dinner that evening.
As for her career, there is so much to say - the question is where to begin.
During her four years, Hines helped lead Purchase to the most single-season wins in program history (11 in 2015), the Skyline Conference playoffs for the first time ever in 2015 and three births in the playoffs (15-17).
Individually, she was a walking record book and in fact, she still is. Here is a list of just a few of her accomplishments:
- Career Numbers - 49 Starts, 253 Points, 182 Goals, 71 Assists, 115 Draw Controls, 96 Ground Balls and 57 Caused Turnovers
- 2018 SUNY Chancellor's Scholar-Athlete for Women's Lacrosse
- 2018 All-Skyline Conference First Team
- 2017-18 Purchase College Female Athlete of the Year
- 2017 All-Skyline Conference First Team
- 2016 All-Skyline Conference First Team
- 2015 All-Skyline Conference First Team
- 2015 Skyline Conference Rookie of the Year
- 2014-15 Purchase College Female Rookie of the Year
- Only Athlete in Purchase History to be Named to All-Skyline Conference First Team Each Season
- Holds Record for Most Goals (10) and Points (12) in a Game
- All-Time Program Leader in Goals, Second in Points
Scroll below to read Zoe's own words about what she's been up to over the last half decade since graduating.
Graduation year: 2018
Major: Arts Management
Favorite place to eat on campus: Terra Ve (The Eggplant Rollatini was such a banger)
Favorite activity/event at PC: Culture Shock, hands down.
What clubs/jobs did you have at PC: For $$$, I worked for the Athletic Department and helped with the setup/breakdown of games for sports during the Fall and Winter. During my junior and senior year, I was music writer for The Purchase Beat.
What have you done/been up to since you left PC? (traveling, etc): Too much to explain via email :)
Anything you're proud of since graduation: Surviving capitalism but still trying to figure out how to dismantle it.
Tell me about your current job: Right now, I work in Music PR and have been since 2019.
What's the title: My main job is being a Music Publicist. I DJ on the side and also make music (working on a debut album right now).
What's the day to day look like? As a music publicist, I'm usually brainstorming / pitching artists for national or regional press in digital or print. When it comes to DJing, it's compiling and curating sets for gigs when I'm booked. For my album, I'm doing 1-2 studio sessions a week where I'm co-producing with a producer and songwriting for each track made.
What enticed you to accept/take on your job: Each one of these jobs go hand in hand and challenge me to push myself creatively. The day doesn't end at 5pm like it does for most. I'm constantly being stimulated by music, whether that's from my own sound, working with other artists to promote theirs and curating experiences at events or parties with my selection of songs in DJ sets. I have a genuine curiosity and love of learning every aspect of the music industry.
Anything you learned at purchase that is helping you in your new role: I took The Beat of Music Journalism with Andrew Salomon in either my junior or senior year and it was my favorite class (I really hope this class still exists). It was a 4 hour class once a week on Wednesdays and I always looked forward to going. I learned how to write profile / trend stories and album reviews in that class which was such a treat. That class helped me understand the identity of artists and story telling in ways in which people who were reading a piece could see themselves in the artist's process. That's a big part of my job as a music publicist – relaying an artist's story to the world. When you're able to connect with an artist's narrative, it better informs your connection to the music that you enjoy from them.
There was always a portion of that class dedicated to reading a section of your drafts and receiving critiques on what other students liked or thought should be improved. Being in that position was always uncomfortable but rewarding when you knew that the opinions of others improved your style of writing. And when it comes to my own music, I welcome outside thoughts because someone else is hearing or noticing something that your ear might not have picked up. I also learned how honest I needed to be with the music I've been making so it comes off as authentic as possible and for the listener to have a relatable experience.
The Beat of Music Journalism was a masterclass on artistic identity to me and the curiosity of the "why" when it comes to music as an art form. Shout out to Andrew Salomon for taking a chance on me and allowing me to take that class. It gave me so much perspective!
Will you share your thoughts on your overall experience as a student athlete at PC: Being an athlete at Purchase was such a fever dream. You're on a campus where sports are not the central agenda of the institution whereas at other colleges or universities, it's incredibly popular. At Purchase, that ideology was the complete opposite and most likely will always be the case. If I'm being honest, that's what made being an athlete there so unique.
I didn't have to live in this identity of just being a lacrosse player every second of the day – it wasn't my life but it was a game that I loved and was dedicated to. I got to live two different lives and these separate lives didn't overpower the other. I made great friends with people on my team, within the athletic department as well as with people outside of that in different majors. It was the best of both worlds and I'm not sure I would have had that luxury at other schools.
Any other things you were involved with on campus you want me to talk about: I went to the cheese club a few times. Other than that I was probably sleeping or spiraling about my workload at Bar Taco or a random mexican restaurant in Port Chester.
