In the early morning hours on Christmas Eve, Nora Kate Onanian, 22, an Emerson journalism student who graduated weeks ago, passed away at her house surrounded by family.
Nora fought Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare form of cancer that forms in bone and soft tissue, from the age of nine. Last April, radiation induced osteosarcoma resulted in the loss of her left leg. She recently experienced a recurrence, which required surgery to remove multiple organs.
While battling cancer, Nora continued her journalism degree from hospitals and the ICU, Zooming into class whenever possible. This fall, she completed an entertainment and news media fellowship at Disability Belongs, a disability-led nonprofit organization.
On campus, Nora served as the web services coordinator at Emerson’s radio station, WERS, for three years. She was a managing editor for The Independent Film Magazine and an editor for WECB’s Milk Crate for three years.
Emerson’s Journalism Department honored Nora at its graduating seniors celebration on Dec. 16, where professor Doug Struck and Journalism Department Chair Lu Ann Reeb presented her with an award entitled “Courage, Grit, and Determination in Successful Journalism Degree Completion.” The award, Struck explained, highlighted Nora’s determination this fall while completing her degree sometimes remotely.
“I was immensely touched by Nora,” Struck said in an emailed statement to The Beacon. “She always had a smile, always reported with determined insistence that ‘I’m doing okay,’ never let what must have been crushing sadness show. She was a brave young woman, and an inspiration to us all.”
“Nora not only proved to become an impactful journalist, reporting on disability inequalities with an unmatched passion, she also showed us all incredible motivation and determination with unimaginable positivity,” Reeb said in an emailed statement to The Beacon. “Her lifelong goal was to complete her Journalism degree. She did that and much more. We are all lucky to have known Nora and her impact here at Emerson lives on.”
Nora’s battles with cancer did not discourage her, but rather fueled her journalism, Struck said. At Emerson, she consulted on student films, ensuring diversity was presented in an authentic and nuanced way. She took these skills to her internship with Disability Belongs, where she wrote criticism pieces covering diversity developments within the arts and film industries.
Outside of journalism, Nora competed in adaptive swim meets as a member of the Adaptive Sports New England group at Simmons University. Nora attended the Paralympics in France over the summer and was with her family in Colorado for Thanksgiving.
Nora is survived by her family: her parents, David and Christine Onanian; her older sister, Emma Onanian; her grandparents, Jane Onanian, and John and Barbara Pupek; her aunts and uncles, John and Laura Pupek, Sarah and Russ Keith, and Amy and Campbell Ilfrey; her cousins, Casey, Kayla, Sophia, Sam, and Ella, and endless friends, classmates, and professors.
In lieu of flowers, the family wishes any donations to be made in Nora’s name to the Jimmy Fund Clinic at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. There will be a celebration of life for Nora on her birthday in April.
