麻豆传媒

麻豆传媒 of New Jersey is spotlighting the journeys and accomplishments of graduating Roadrunners like Emily Morra 鈥�26. Transferring to Ramapo led Morra to find the community, opportunities and academic programs she needed to pursue her passion for sports analytics.

May 4, 2026

by Lauren Ferguson

For her entire life, Emily Morra 鈥�26 has lived in Mahwah, NJ 鈥� five minutes from 麻豆传媒 of New Jersey鈥檚 picturesque campus.

鈥淚鈥檝e driven past this school countless times, and I never would have thought I鈥檇 end up here,鈥� said Morra.

Now she is thankful she did.

During her time as a Roadrunner, Morra has racked up experiences and knowledge that allowed her to make a real difference in her community and propelled her toward a promising future in data science.

Morra鈥檚 path to Ramapo was not straight forward. Morra spent her first semester of her freshman year majoring in cybersecurity at another college 鈥� one she said 鈥渏ust wasn鈥檛 for me.鈥� She returned home, and started taking classes as a visiting student at nearby Ramapo. Everything changed for her when she discovered a community and a second home, so close to her own. With a faculty student ratio of 1:17 and an average class size of 22, the personal connections made all the difference for her.

鈥淭he personal relationships that you develop with your classmates and your professors were a lot more close knit, and I ended up really liking it. I applied, I transferred here and I officially started in the Fall of 2023,鈥� Morra explained.

Emily Morra ’26, who transfered to Ramapo, feels at home on the College’s welcoming Mahwah campus.

Morra is one of a rising number of students who have transferred to the College in the last four years. Between 2021 and 2025, the number of students transferring to Ramapo each year has grown from 356 to 405.

She met many other transfer students and commuters, and felt welcomed right away. 鈥淗onestly, I felt like I fit right in,鈥� she said.

Building a Sports Career

At Ramapo, the former high school softball player and track athlete and self-proclaimed 鈥渉uge baseball fan鈥� focused on coursework and experiences that would prepare her for her dream career: doing analytics for a professional baseball team.

She took up a data science major and a sports management minor. She enrolled in a 4+1 program through the College鈥檚 Center for Data, Mathematical and Computational Sciences (DMC), began taking graduate courses as an undergraduate, and is on track to earn her Bachelor of Science in Data Science this May and her Master of Science in Data Science by Spring 2027.

She also secured a summer internship with the New Jersey Jackals, a professional Frontier League baseball team. She spent the summer of 2025 as an analytics intern for the Jackals, manning the TrackMan Baseball system 鈥� a tool used by many Major League Baseball teams. The system uses AI cameras around the stadium to track real-time data on pitches 鈥� such as spin rate, exit velocity and launch angle 鈥� to generate information on useful statistics.

鈥淲hen you hear a baseball game and you’re listening to the commentators and they’re saying, 鈥榯hat pitch was 95.7 miles an hour,鈥� that’s something that the Trackman system senses through cameras,鈥� Morra explained. With a team of two other interns, Morra was responsible for聽 鈥渋nputting the data for pitches and plays that were happening, that way, coaches and players would be able to use the data for their own uses and in-game insights,鈥� she said.

Emily Morra 鈥�26, a sports management minor, spoke with Don La Greca 鈥�92 while the broadcast legend was on campus.

At Ramapo, she also had the opportunity to meet with sports broadcast legend Don La Greca 鈥�92 when he returned to campus to share his advice with students. La Greca has spent nearly 25 years with ESPN Radio, including more than two decades as the co-host of the 鈥淢ichael Kay Show鈥� with New York Yankees announcer Michael Kay.

鈥淭here are so many opportunities here at Ramapo,鈥� Morra said after meeting La Greca. 鈥淚t is always cool to see an alumni come back, especially someone as influential as him.鈥�

Making an Impact

Morra also took on an internship that allowed her to use the skills and knowledge she learned at Ramapo to make a difference in her own hometown, and surrounding areas of Bergen and Passaic Counties.

Growing up, she participated in fundraising and donation efforts for the Center for Food Action鈥檚 (CFA) Mahwah food pantry. So when the opportunity arose to use the data skills she gained at Ramapo to help the CFA combat hunger across Northern New Jersey, she seized the chance to work on a cause so close to her heart.

As an intern through the DMC鈥檚 Community Impact program, Morra and four other Ramapo interns were deployed to CFA to undertake a project to improve the way the organization collects, tracks, and forecasts data.

鈥淚t was an amazing experience 鈥� to take on a project where you actually see the impact in a real-world scenario,鈥� said Morra.

The interns first analyzed CFA鈥檚 inventory records 鈥� delving into data on topics such as how much food is collected, how much food is given out, who donates it, who receives it, and how it gets distributed through CFA鈥檚 six food pantries across Bergen and Passaic counties 鈥� in Englewood, Hackensack, Mahwah, Ringwood, Saddle Brook, and at Bergen Community College in Paramus.

Then, students built a data platform and web application for CFA employees to view charts, reports and dashboards on subjects such as how inventory moves, who visits each location, how far clients drive, and how many people are in their families. They also built a barcode scanner application to help employees efficiently track incoming donations 鈥� and ensure the accuracy of the data entered into the platform.

Emily Morra ’26, Prashant Shah ’26, Tina Nosrati 鈥�26, and DMC Director Dr. Scott Frees visit the Center for Food Action’s warehouse in Mahwah.

DMC Director Dr. Scott Frees, a professor of computer science at Ramapo, who oversees the DMC internships, praised Morra. 鈥淓mily has been great on the DMC’s Community Impact Project serving the Center for Food Action,鈥� Frees said. 鈥淪he brings both the technical depth and the instinct to read a room and to thrive wherever the work is most meaningful and the stakes are highest.鈥�

Growing through Experiences

Morra is a member of multiple honor societies at Ramapo.

She is in the Pi Mu Epsilon Mathematics Honor Society, as well as Tau Sigma, which has a mission to 鈥渞ecognize and promote the academic excellence and involvement of transfer students.鈥� She is also a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars and the National Society of Leadership and Success.

Morra said all the experiences that she is gaining at Ramapo can only help her achieve her dreams.

鈥淚 think any experience, especially real-world experience, is valuable in itself,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o being able to get a feel for what that is like, I think is going to help me take those steps to get to where I want to be.鈥�