— Donations Will Fund a Mobile Food Distribution Unit,
Equipment and Technology Needs, and Infrastructure —

Flushing, New York, November 19, 2021—Queens College is making its Knights Table Food Pantry the focus of its Giving Tuesday efforts. Giving Tuesday, celebrated annually as a day when people are encouraged to do good in ways that range from performing acts of kindness to making charitable contributions, will take place on Tuesday, November 30 this year. Contributions may be made directly via the college’s Giving Tuesday website, which is live and accessible here.

“At a time when about 15 percent of CUNY students report that they sometimes go hungry, the Knights Table Food Pantry plays a critical role in reducing their food insecurity,” says Queens College President Frank H. Wu. “The food pantry serves an average of 60 students per month; many of them come from households earning less than $30,000 a year. With support from Giving Tuesday, the Knights Table will be able to help more students and their families.” From October 1, 2020, through September 30, 2021, nearly 2,500 individuals/families have benefited from Knights Table services. Please click here for a video message from President Wu.

Queens College established the Knights Table Food Pantry in 2018 to address food insecurity—lack of consistent access to food for an active, healthy life—among the college’s matriculated students. Since the pandemic, the Knights Table extended services to matriculated students at any CUNY campus. In December 2020, the pantry launched a mobile food distribution program, Turning the Table on Hunger, that makes stops in different Queens neighborhoods, handing out packages to students who register in advance. Additional pantry initiatives have included placing “grab and go” bags and vacuum-packed containers of milk and juice on library shelves for students to take as needed and mailing supermarket gift cards and coupons directly to students who reported food insecurity on surveys.

Students who may be experiencing food insecurity can email KnightsTable@qc.cuny.edu or call 718-997-0393 for quick access to the pantry.

About Queens College
Queens College produces more education graduates who become principals, teachers, and counselors for the city’s public schools than any other college in the metropolitan area. The college contributes to the local talent pool as a powerful economic engine and a leader in tech education. Students from across the country and around the world are attracted to study at the Aaron Copland School of Music. Its renowned faculty and alumni include nationally recognized composers, conductors, and performers who have received over 100 Grammy Awards and nominations.

Queens College enjoys a national reputation for its liberal arts and sciences and pre-professional programs. With its graduate and undergraduate degrees, honors programs, and research and internship opportunities, the college helps its more than 18,000 students realize their potential in countless ways, assisted by an accessible, award-winning faculty. Located on a beautiful, 80-acre campus in Flushing, the college has been cited by Princeton Review as one of America’s Best Value Colleges for four consecutive years, as well as being ranked a U.S. News and World Report Best College and Forbes Magazine Best Value College thanks to its outstanding academics, generous financial aid packages, and relatively low costs. Visit our homepage to learn more.​

For more about Queens college, visit http://www.qc.cuny.edu/Pages/home.aspx

Contact:
Maria Matteo
Associate Director, Media and College Relations
718-997-5593
maria.matteo@qc.cuny.edu

 

 

Broadway is back and so too are live, in-person performances from the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC/CUNY) Theatre Arts program with the original premiere of “Project Sankofa,” now running daily in Theatre 1 at 199 Chambers Street.

Written and directed by BMCC Theatre Arts Deputy Chair Karl O’Brian Williams, the production has brought together more than 40 students working in various capacities of performance, design, tech, costumes, makeup and management. The show is the first fully live and in-person production staged by the Theatre program in more than 20 months.

The play focuses on a young man who reluctantly accepts a challenge from a class project that asks students to create a performance art piece about their family history and to answer the question, “Who are you?”

“The play’s initial inspiration came from wanting to track the family lineage of the main characters Ephraim and Rosa in the play ‘Moon on a Rainbow Shawl’ by the Trinidadian playwright and actor Errol John,” said Williams. “I thought, what would it be like to tell the story of the characters’ great grandchild, who is born in the United States with all this Caribbean heritage but somehow doesn’t feel a connection to it.”

Once Williams started the actual writing process though, he was led to the Adinkra symbol of Sankofa —  a word in the Akan Twi and Fante languages of Ghana that translates to “retrieve” — a term he realized he had been exploring in other areas of his own life.

“This idea of getting what you need from the past in order to propel you forward, and centering love and community speaks volumes to me,” said Williams.

Students get past the anxiety to return to campus for production of the new show

As soon as BMCC leadership gave the Theatre program a green light to do a live, in-person show, Williams knew it was time to physically return and begin a very thorough production planning process.

Rehearsals began in August with less than half the cast coming to campus. Williams says there was still a great deal of measurable anxiety about returning to live theatre after spending 18 months behind computer screens.

“For a live, in-person show, it’s absolutely crucial for everyone involved to be in the same space, at the same time,” said Williams. “We had Zoom production meetings initially, and those worked very well; however, everyone knew that we would need to organize our lives to be able to be back in the theatre together.”

Professor Williams said rehearsals were challenging at times. In fact, he was still making script edits up until mid-September. Just as the students were settling on a final production team, the pandemic reared its head, but by mid-October, the crew had found another gear and were moving forward to the production’s fruition.

Students working on “Project Sankofa” have been gaining real-time experience working closely with professional guests including movement director Will Brown, costume designer Cynthia Salandy and the actor Anthony Goss, known for his role in the Netflix film “Africa America” and the recent off-Broadway show “Jesus Hopped on a Train.”

Theatre faculty and staff cultivate a culture of care and opportunity

“I appreciate the culture of care we have cultivated within the Theatre program, and by extension the wider BMCC community,” said Williams. “Theatre faculty go to bat hard for their majors, we keep in touch with them after they graduate. We facilitate opportunities for them to not just acquire experience, but also, an income.”

Theatre faculty work with BMCC support offices like the Career Development Center, ASAP and other support services. Theatre faculty and BMCC staff work with the greater CUNY community to help the college’s theatre majors move on to the next step in their careers or academic journey.

Theatre major Sebastian Jean Louis, who is taking a practicum class in stage makeup, did sketches before creating the look for the actors playing the ancestors as well as warriors in the show.

“Makeup visually transforms the actors into the characters they are playing,” said Jean Louis. “This show gave me a lot of opportunities to try new things and learn. Here at BMCC you get to build a small theatre community. Alumni visit all the time and talk to new students about different opportunities they’ve found in theatre. We have a family here.”

Students benefit from networking and gain career insight

Jean Louis said if prospective students want to pursue careers in makeup, costuming, scene design or acting, BMCC is the perfect place to start. Long term, he sees himself pursuing a career in fashion or makeup in the theatre world.

Theatre major Bianca Vaval, an actress and singer who plays the character Ancestor Abebi in the show, is in her third semester at BMCC.

“Being a theatre major during the pandemic has been challenging, but, it’s been exciting as well,” said Vaval.  “Here we are back on stage doing what we love. The entire process was wonderful, Professor Williams took his time to work with us and help us bring to life the characters he wrote.”

Vaval said the cast and crew of the show bonded during the rehearsal process. Everyone contributed creative input into the production.

“The physical act of showing up for rehearsals was powerful in itself,” Vaval said. “Theatre’s back, it’s not gone, we’re here and it’s live again.”

The Theatre program, she says, “accepts you for who you are. They work with you. They don’t judge you. They accept your flaws, while helping you grow. We have amazing writers, and there is a lot of networking and connections to the theatre world outside BMCC.”

In 10 years, Bianca Vaval sees herself either on tour singing, doing a film or television show or perhaps on Broadway. “I am closer to those goals, with the experience I’ve had at BMCC,” she says.

Please Note-All patrons (except for BMCC students, faculty and staff who already have access to campus) must provide proof of vaccination to Cleared4. Please upload a CDC vaccination card or an Excelsior Pass Plus. The images must feature your Name, Date of Birth, Vaccine Type, Lot/Batch Number, and the Dates of Vaccination (both doses for Pfizer and Moderna vaccines). Images must be large and clear enough to be legible. Screenshots of Excelsior Pass or Excelsior Pass Plus QR codes alone are not sufficient proof. You can use: https://www.c4wrk.com/ofPfsdxD9SG3PVcG8.

This allows incumbent workers to participate in the program around their work schedule, and it enables both high school participants and current IT workers to avoid unnecessary COVID exposure.

In addition, participants will benefit from enrichment activities such as summer bridge courses, industry certification workshops and career panels with industry experts.

Five Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC/CUNY) faculty members in the Department of Social Sciences, Human Services and Criminal Justice have been awarded a $600,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Advancing Innovation and Impact in Undergraduate STEM Education at Two-year Institutions of Higher Education program.

The grant will support their project, “Creating a Path to STEM Careers in Psychology for Under-Represented Minorities.”

Senior Principal Investigators (PIs) for the project are Department Chair Sangeeta Bishop and Deputy Chair Janice Walters. Co-PIs are Professors Monica Foust, Kelly Rodgers and Masha Komolova.

The project seeks to serve 300 students during the grant period, December 2021 through November 24. Together, the Sr.- and Co-PIs will develop a STEM minor curriculum in Psychology that will articulate with the Bachelor of Science in Psychology academic program at City College of New York, CUNY.

Graduates of the program will earn an Associate of Arts in Psychology, with a STEM minor. The new academic minor will be informed by instructional pedagogy that promotes science-based education, cohort models and student support. The Sr.- and Co-PIs will investigate how this multifaceted approach impacts the retention, persistence to graduation, and successful transfer of Under-Represented Minority (URM) students to senior college neuroscience degree programs and careers.

“The team will assess how the seamless articulation and partnership between a community college STEM minor in psychology and a four-year college psychology program — in this case, the Bachelor’s of Science in Psychology program at CCNY — contributes to students’ preparation for STEM-based classes. We will also evaluate how it builds their confidence to persist in a four-year, neuroscience-focused degree, and supports a positive outlook for neuroscience-focused careers,” says Department Chair Bishop.

She explains that the study findings can be modeled by other community colleges in the STEM education community, “and have the potential to positively impact academic and professional trajectories of minoritized students.”

According to Deputy Chair Walters, “The project aims to serve the national interest by increasing the participation of Under-Represented Minority (URM) students in STEM-based neuroscience psychology programs and careers.”

Professor Rodgers shares insight into the historic relevance and timeliness of the project.

“The mistrust displayed by some communities of color of the medical establishment’s responses and innovations regarding COVID-19 treatment underscores the importance of increased representation in fields like neuroscience and medicine at large,” she says. “Frankly, when communities that have been mistreated by science are then included in the innovations and are given the opportunity to become the innovators as well, this helps to build the necessary trust.”

Liat Krawcyk ’09 (Hunter College) Has Been Selected by the Macaulay Alumni Community as the 2021 Pioneer Award Winner.

Macaulay Honors College is pleased to announce that Liat Krawcyk, from the Hunter College Class of 2009, has been awarded the Macaulay Pioneer Alumni Award winner for 2021. The award was created by the college to recognize a graduate who embodies Macaulay’s values by forging a unique path to success. Liat received her award at the 3rd Alumni Fall Fête celebration on November 9.

Liat has always taken a courageous, entrepreneurial approach to social challenges. As a student, she co-founded the not-for-profit Jeneba Project to address systemic barriers and support education for girls in Sierra Leone. To date, the organization has significantly contributed to quality of life in the area by providing over 170 scholarships and building two high schools and a library, and reaching over 6,000 students.

Most recently, in 2018, The Jeneba Project launched an all-girls excellence high school academy that couples quality education with civic leadership and female empowerment modules. “We put women’s education front and center in a country that until 2020 banned pregnant girls from school, has soaring female genital mutilation rates and the highest maternal mortality rate in the world”, says Liat.

Motivated by the belief that widening access to critical services and expanding economic opportunity can elevate communities, Liat spent the next decade growing startups, social-enterprises, and ecosystems centered on emerging technologies such as those focused on base-of-the-pyramid markets.

To make change in an interconnected world, Liat uses the power of storytelling. Her documentary films cover topics ranging from youth’s struggle with substance abuse in New York to the experience of atomic bomb survivors. Her latest film, Retracing Jeneba: The Story of a Witness, won multiple awards including “Best World Documentary” at the Harlem International Film Festival.

Today, Liat is a Vice President at the NYC Economic Development Corporation where she leads economic mobility initiatives. Her portfolio has included Cyber NYC, a $100M suite of public-private investments to grow NYC’s Cybersecurity ecosystem with a focus on catalyzing an inclusive talent pipeline. She is also the founder and head of the women.nyc Childcare Innovation Lab, which seeks to reframe childcare as an economic development issue and leads research and innovative interventions in this sector.

No matter what issue she chooses to tackle, Liat’s work reflects her time at Macaulay. “I carry the lesson imparted by Eleanor Roosevelt that I learned during my time as a human rights student at Hunter, that universal rights don’t have to begin with grand gestures. We can cure systemic inequalities, ‘in small places, close to home’, starting with one foot in front of the other.”

CONTACT: Brianne Donnelly, Macaulay Honors College Director of Alumni Relations brianne.donnelly@mhc.cuny.edu

‘Nurses For Our Future’ Scholarship Will Fund the Education Of 1,000 New Nurses to Take Care of New Yorkers

From the Office of Governor Hochul. Original announcement here.

Governor Kathy Hochul today, at a breakfast hosted by the Association for a Better New York, announced a State University of New York and City University of New York Scholarship Program called the Nurses For Our Future Scholarship that will cover tuition for 1,000 new healthcare workers to get RNs at SUNY and CUNY. The program comes in an effort to help address the shortage in healthcare and lack of workers in hospitals around the state.

“Just a year ago, we were celebrating our healthcare workers as the heroes they are, and the pandemic has shown us that we cannot afford a labor shortage in the healthcare industry,” Governor Hochul said. “I’m proud to announce our new Nurses For Our Future Scholarship as an important step to train more nurses and bring them into our healthcare system. SUNY and CUNY scholarships move us toward a more prosperous and equal New York, by working to make sure every New Yorker has access to training programs, one-, two-, and four-year degrees, community college; SUNY and CUNY should be the pathway to the middle class.”

Since the start of the COVID-19 Pandemic, hospitals have been facing a labor shortage and a massive influx of patients. This scholarship program is designed to recruit and retrain nursing and health care professionals to serve in NYSRNs which are most in need. There are currently more than 9,300 openings for Registered Nurses in New York State. The Nurses For Our Future Scholarship will mean 1,000 more students can enter a nursing program in either SUNY or CUNY. Students will be able to complete their programs with a flexible schedule, either part-time or full-time.

This effort will incentivize New York State residents active in the health care field to upskill their career path and advance their education through the SUNY or CUNY system.

In addition, the New York State Department of Labor will help market these new opportunities to existing and unemployed workers, including opportunities available through regional SUNY Educational Opportunity Centers for entry-level nurse certifications in high demand including Certified Nursing Assistant, Licensed Practical Nurse and Nursing Home Aide.

Job Search Assistance

The New York State Job Bank features nearly 220,000 jobs available today in New York State and users can search by keyword, zip code and browse by job title and company name. By using the JobZone job search and career development tool, individuals can plan their future, organize their job search, develop resumes and explore careers.

The Department of Labor also hosts daily live virtual workshops and webinars on relevant topics for job seekers in all industries, like resume writing, job search and interviewing techniques. The agency partners with hundreds of businesses to host Virtual Career Fairs where job seekers can engage with businesses in a job fair setting, browse their available jobs and connect directly with businesses hiring to ask questions, all without leaving home.

For those looking to work part-time, the state has a part-time hiring opportunities job bank listing nearly 30,000 part-time jobs available now in New York State sorted by location, job title and company that can also be searched by keyword.

Businesses can use the Department of Labor to access millions of potential job seekers through no-cost programs and services. They can post jobs on the NYS Job Bank through direct indexing from an existing website or post with staff assistance and can get direct access to the NYS Talent Bank with millions of qualified job seekers to meet their hiring needs. They can also sign up to take part in upcoming career fairs or learn about available tax credits and other hiring incentives.

SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras said, “With more than 70 nursing programs spanning every degree from LPN to BSN and that are found in every corner of New York State as well as online, SUNY stands ready to meet the growing demand for nurses who are the heartbeat of healthcare. We thank Governor Hochul for her leadership by offering this scholarship incentive to those aspiring to join this noble calling, and for including the option to attend college pabrt time or full time, giving our students the flexibility to manage their education and life responsibilities. SUNY, the largest comprehensive system of higher education, is ready to meet the challenge.”

CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez said, “The pandemic has put a sharp focus on the need to increase treatment capacity across our health care system, and expanding the pipeline of diverse, skilled registered nurses is a key component of that proposition. This timely scholarship program will allow more New Yorkers to enroll in CUNY’s quality nursing programs and build rewarding, well-paying careers in a field in which they are greatly needed. CUNY is committed to training the next generation of nursing professionals, and we thank Governor Hochul for her continued support.”

New York State Nurses Association Executive Director Pat Kane, RN, said, “Nobody has put more on the line than those of us on the front line during this pandemic, and Governor Hochul’s visionary investment in helping us rebuild our nursing ranks is exactly the kind of support we need to keep delivering the care New Yorkers rely on. Because the best care is also culturally responsive care, these 1,000 scholarships present an enormous opportunity for us to continue to recruit from all communities around the state, and by seeding them at SUNY and CUNY, they also strengthen our public higher education institutions, making it clear that Governor Hochul is prioritizing our healthcare workers and our young people – exactly the type of priorities we need to bring New York back.”

Assemblymember Richard Gottfried said, “Adequate staffing is critical to health care access and quality. The COVID pandemic shined a light on existing worker shortages, and demand will only increase as our population ages. I commend Governor Hochul for this important initiative and look forward to further programs to train the health care workers we need.”

Healthcare Association of New York State President Bea Grause, RN, JD said, “It is critically important that we bolster our healthcare workforce pipeline as quickly as possible. I thank Governor Hochul for taking this much needed action to remove financial barriers that could prevent potential nurses of the future from getting the education and training they desire. Today’s action is a step toward making sure we have the caregivers New York’s communities will greatly need in the years to come.”

Greater New York Hospital Association President Kenneth E. Raske said, “Governor Hochul is a staunch health care workforce advocate who understands that the hospital community’s staffing challenges require bold action. This much-needed scholarship program to cover tuition costs for 1,000 new registered nurses will help alleviate nurse staffing shortages and ensure a reliable pipeline of well trained nurses. We are grateful for Governor Hochul’s leadership and vision on this important issue.”

This announcement follows the recent opening of Binghamton University’s Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences, affirming Governor Hochul’s dedication to expanding healthcare education and New York State’s nursing workforce. SUNY colleges and universities across New York offer more than 70 fully accredited nursing degree undergraduate and graduate programs, offering 17 different credentials in nursing from home health aide to doctoral and advanced certificates. SUNY students graduate prepared to enter the healthcare field following rigorous course work online or in the classroom, combined with required hands-on real-world experience. CUNY graduates 1,800 students each year from over 50 nursing advanced credit-bearing certificate and degree programs, including LPN, Associate, Bachelor, Master and Doctoral programs (DNP and Ph.D.) at 14 CUNY institutions, including nursing programs at both senior and community colleges. CUNY’s nursing programs are united in their commitment to expanding opportunity and advancement in the health-care field, and to training the next generation of nursing professionals to provide high-quality and equitable health care, particularly for the most vulnerable and underserved populations

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2-Day Meeting Will Bring Together Leaders from 43 Universities Who Are Building a National PIT Movement 

CUNY Faculty Members Also Receive Grants for Public Interest Technology Projects, Part of $3.6 Million from Major Foundations to Fuel Inclusive Practices 

The City University of New York will host next year’s annual conference of the Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT-UN), a national coalition of 43 universities created in 2019 to promote a new generation of tech professionals and policy leaders committed to building bridges between technology and the public good.

The PIT-UN 2022 Convening will be held at two CUNY locations next Oct. 28 and 29 and draw educators, researchers and activists from across the country who are working to bring social and environmental justice, racial equity and community empowerment to the global tech world. The announcement was made by New America, a nonpartisan public policy think tank and action organization that formed PIT-UN in partnership with the Ford Foundation and the Hewlett Foundation. New America will provide CUNY with funding for the conference, which will include both in-person meetings and streaming events. 

CUNY was one of PIT-UN’s 20 founding members in March 2019, and its commitment to PIT as a University-wide initiative has grown significantly since then. More than 25 faculty members from both senior and community colleges have received funding for projects from the alliance’s annual Challenge Grant program, including two announced earlier this month. Led by Effie MacLachlan, director of grants and research programs in the CUNY Office of Research, CUNY’s PIT programming and events have drawn the participation of increasing numbers of faculty, while more than 500 students have enrolled in courses with PIT content since the spring of 2020. In September, the Office of Research launched the PIT@CUNY webpage. 

“As the country’s largest urban public university system, and the most racially and ethnically diverse, CUNY is well-positioned to be a leading voice in building a national PIT ecosystem centered on racial and social justice,” said Associate Vice Chancellor for Research Tamera Schneider. “We are thrilled to host the 2022 PIT-UN Convening, and the Challenge Grant funded projects are excellent examples of CUNY’s commitment to these principles and to the broader aims of the PIT University Network.”

Among the recipients of this year’s PIT-UN Challenge Grants is Kathleen Cumiskey, professor of psychology at the College of Staten Island and academic coordinator of CSI’s St. George branch. She will receive a third year of funding to support the PIT program at CSI, which recruits a diverse local high school students for a goal-oriented learning community centered on PIT at the St. George branch. Cumiskey has received more than $235,000 of Challenge Grant funding for the project. This year’s grant will help build a CUNY PIT lab and demonstration space that could serve as a model for other CUNY campuses and foster collaboration across the PIT ecosystem.

Also receiving a PIT-UN Challenge Grant is Annette Gray, executive director of CUNY’s Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC), who with her ASRC colleagues Shawn Rhea and Kendra Krueger has been awarded $180,000 to establish the ASRC IlluminationSpace as a hub for public interest technology, STEM pathways, and science communication and outreach at CUNY. Among the ASRC’s missions is to make science more accessible and responsive to local needs and provide underrepresented and under-served groups pathways to STEM education and careers. 

The projects at CSI St. George and the ASRC are part of the foundation of CUNY’s drive to center public interest technology on social justice, interdisciplinary collaboration and racial and economic equity and access. 

Next year’s PIT-UN Convening will reflect that mission.The first day of the event will be an academic conference. The second day will be a series of public events at the CSI’s St. George extension and the nearby Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden. The Staten Island events will highlight CUNY’s public interest technology activities and focus on tech’s role in environmental justice, food security and the sustainability of vulnerable communities. To mark that week’s 10th anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, the conference will also address tech’s role in disaster preparedness.

“CUNY’s diversity and mission represent the future of public interest technology that the PIT University Network is working to realize,” said Andreen Soley, director of PIT-UN. “As essential partners in realizing this vision, it is only natural to us that CUNY host the 2022 PIT-UN Convening. This intersectional, diverse and dynamic event will demonstrate PIT in action as we center our collective commitment to climate justice, racial equity, and social change.” 

The convening will be organized by MacLachlan, Cumiskey and another faculty member at CSI, Lara Saguisag, associate professor of English.

The PIT-UN Challenge Grants, which totaled $3.61 million to 31 recipients this year, are awarded exclusively to faculty at PIT-UN’s 43 member institutions. The universities are committed to bringing together educators and students from multiple disciplines to break down barriers between technology, policy and the social sciences and humanities in service of equity, justice and social good. Members of the network are seeding the burgeoning field of public interest technology and the Challenge Grants fund critical research and projects that build the field and develop an inclusive career pipeline for public interest technologists. 

The challenge grants are funded through the support of the Ford Foundation, Hewlett Foundation, Mastercard Impact Fund, The Raikes Foundation, Schmidt Futures and The Siegel Family Endowment. A full description of Challenge Grant projects funded is available here.

The City University of New York is the nation’s largest urban public university, a transformative engine of social mobility that is a critical component of the lifeblood of New York City. Founded in 1847 as the nation’s first free public institution of higher education, CUNY today has seven community colleges, 11 senior colleges and seven graduate or professional institutions spread across New York City’s five boroughs, serving over 260,000 undergraduate and graduate students and awarding 55,000 degrees each year. CUNY’s mix of quality and affordability propels almost six times as many low-income students into the middle class and beyond as all the Ivy League colleges combined. More than 80 percent of the University’s graduates stay in New York, contributing to all aspects of the city’s economic, civic and cultural life and diversifying the city’s workforce in every sector. The University’s historic mission continues to this day: provide a first-rate public education to all students, regardless of means or background.

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Flushing, New York, November 17, 2021—This month, the Hellenic American Project (HAP) at Queens College presents the latest in a year-long series of events commemorating the Greek War of Independence (1821 to 1829). The online exhibition, 1821-2021 Memories of Liberation Μνήμες Απελευθέρωσης: Artworks by Ioanna-Maria Giakoumaki and Foteini Panagiotopoulou, incorporates historical texts documenting the revolution, with a second component based on the memoirs of one of the revolution’s leaders. The exhibition, curated by HAP Director Nicholas Alexiou, a Sociology professor at Queens College, is accessible here.

Giakoumaki and Panagiotopoulou—co-founders of the Greek Myths Monemvasia group, which explores elements of Greek cultural inheritance—used objects, heirlooms, costumes, and passages from the Greek Declaration of Independence to create mixed-media works. The foundation of these works is pages from 70- to 80-year-old Greek municipal registers that were originally meant to be recycled. The artists turned the thin, fragile sheets into shapes with embossed or perforated designs, creating fixed forms. In some of the works, iron and canvas-gauze in combination with powders, and sheets of gold and silver, evoke the pieces’ invaluable essence.

Another component of the exhibition offers a new way to perceive and read the 200-year-old memoir, Visions and Miracles, by General Makriyannis, who was pivotal in helping to win the revolution. Using the blackout technique—in which a document is redacted, leaving artistically isolated words or phrases—writer Akrivi Griva created poetry from Makriyannis‘ prose.

The Greek Declaration of Independence was formally drafted in 1822 by Filiki Eteria, a secret society founded with the aim of liberating Greece. The exhibition seeks to symbolize the revolution as a complex international event and a multifaceted story of freedom—the freedom of enslaved people, territories, and symbolizing the freedom of spirit and thought.

About the Hellenic American Project
Based in the Queens College Department of Sociology, the Hellenic American Project (HAP) documents the Hellenic American presence in the United States from the first wave of mass immigration in 1900 to the present. It operates as a research facility, archive, Greek American library, museum, and event space. HAP seeks to create a seamless narrative that encompasses the Hellenic American experience through an innovative multifaceted approach, making combined primary and secondary sources available to the public for educational and research purposes. Among its initiatives are recording generational oral histories, analyzing population data, curating and digitizing digital cultural artifacts and publications, and organizing academic symposia and cultural events. Founded and directed by Queens College Sociology Professor Nicholas Alexiou, HAP is the only program of its kind in New York City.

About Queens College
Queens College produces more education graduates who become principals, teachers, and counselors for the city’s public schools than any other college in the metropolitan area. The college contributes to the local talent pool as a powerful economic engine and a leader in tech education. Students from across the country and around the world are attracted to study at the Aaron Copland School of Music. Its renowned faculty and alumni include nationally recognized composers, conductors, and performers who have received over 100 Grammy Awards and nominations.

Queens College enjoys a national reputation for its liberal arts and sciences and pre-professional programs. With its graduate and undergraduate degrees, honors programs, and research and internship opportunities, the college helps its more than 20,000 students realize their potential in countless ways, assisted by an accessible, award-winning faculty. Located on a beautiful, 80-acre campus in Flushing, the college has been cited by Princeton Review as one of America’s Best Value Colleges for four consecutive years, as well as being ranked a U.S. News and World Report Best College and Forbes Magazine Best Value College thanks to its outstanding academics, generous financial aid packages, and relatively low costs. Visit our homepage to learn more​.

For more about Queens college, visit http://www.qc.cuny.edu/Pages/home.aspx

Contact:
Maria Matteo
Associate Director, Media and College Relations
718-997-5593
maria.matteo@qc.cuny.edu

CCNY is teaming with Google and Cisco to offer professional IT and computer certification courses in its continuing education program.

The City College of New York is transforming its Continuing and Professional Studies Programs (CPS), expanding previously established programs and courses, as well as implementing new programs and partnerships. The move follows CCNY President Vincent Boudreau’s vision of creating an education model by which students can fully immerse themselves in high-demand careers, while also forging innovative solutions to achieve this goal.

CCNY has now established major partnerships with Google and Cisco, and will soon start offering courses for the Cisco Academy Certificate, including introduction to networking, switching, routing, wireless essentials, and cybersecurity. Partnering with Google, CUNY will offer an IT Support Professional Certificate.

“We decided to explore a different kind of partnership with CISCO and Google, one where we could work to transform our certificate programs with highly-regarded organizations,” said Dean Juan Carlos Mercado, who became involved in the program of July 2021. “We will help students find work in fields that will only grow.”

CCNY has already established a partnership with DC 37 Educational Fund to start offering computer classes to DC 37 members, and to non-members alike. Additionally, in association with Great Courses and QBS, CCNY has created a course in Big Data as a pilot, which will be launched in the next three months. These courses are both innovative for the CPS program, as well as a pragmatic solution to creating a pathway for students to immerse themselves in sought after careers.

“CCNY has always situated its educational programs in the mission to provision New York City, and our society more generally, with a workforce skilled to confront some of the most daunting challenges we face,” said Pres. Boudreau. “Expanding expertise in technology fields, particularly when these extend into areas of cybersecurity, is consistent with that tradition.  As we grow our continuing education programs, you’ll see a consistent connection between the courses we offer and the needs of our communities.”

In collaboration with the civil engineering department and the NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), CCNY is also working to create a number of environmental engineering courses that would support the needs of their engineers and those of the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation. These offerings would also be available to engineers in the private sector. Development of the courses will be funded from an existing contract with DEP, with the program launched in Spring 2022.

CCNY is also dedicated to work with a new grant Professor Angelo Lampousis, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Lecturer, received from the EPA, offering training related to the government agency.

Moreover, CCNY is planning to offer courses developed by the Charles Rangel Initiative in the near future. CCNY is also preparing to identify potential grants through the work force development programs, led by Dee Dee Mozeleski, vice president of the Office of Institutional Advancement and Communications, executive director of the Foundation for City College, and senior advisor to the President of City College. Additionally, CCNY is actively working to increase enrollment in regular non-degree programs.

These programs hold promise for the future of the CPS program, creating new avenues for students to learn valuable skills, and helping them launch new careers.

About the City College of New York
Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided a high-quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. CCNY embraces its position at the forefront of social change. It is ranked #1 by the Harvard-based Opportunity Insights out of 369 selective public colleges in the United States on the overall mobility index. This measure reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at CCNY can move up two or more income quintiles. In addition, the Center for World University Rankings places CCNY in the top 1.8% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. Labor analytics firm Emsi puts at $1.9 billion CCNY’s annual economic impact on the regional economy (5 boroughs and 5 adjacent counties) and quantifies the “for dollar” return on investment to students, taxpayers and society. At City College, more than 16,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity and scholarship. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit.

Chris Bobko joins CCNY’s Zahn Innovation Center as its director.

The Zahn Innovation Center at The City College of New York names Chris Bobko, former chief engineering officer of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, as its new director.

Bobko is a graduate of Princeton University and has a master’s degree and Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His background as chief engineering officer at HyperloopTT and associate professor in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at North Carolina State University brings his academic and startup experience together.

“I am incredibly excited to join the team at the Zahn Innovation Center and return to work with students,” said Bobko. “I look forward to providing opportunities for all CCNY students to develop great ideas, bring them into practice, and serve the local and global community.”

In his previous position, Bobko was responsible for developing technological plans, managing engineering projects, and leading collaborations and partnerships with other engineering companies. He also grew his engineering team from two contractors to twelve full-time employees and recruited more than 100 engineering contractors internationally.

As a professor, he established an externally-funded research program focused on implementing more sustainable civil engineering materials and believes in challenging students at all levels to help them grow into more talented and motivated leaders.

“We are thrilled to welcome Chris to CCNY and the Zahn Center. Chris has a found success in both academic and entrepreneurial fields. A tenured professor of engineering at North Carolina State University, he left that position to assume the role of senior engineering specialist & manager at the start-up company, HyperloopTT,” said Dee Dee Mozeleski, vice president of the Office of Institutional Advancement and Communications, executive director of the Foundation for City College and senior advisor to the president. “As such, Chris embodies both strands of the Zahn Center’s programmatic footprint, and we are thrilled to be able to anticipate his leadership at the center. “

At CCNY, the Zahn Innovation Center serves to teach students about entrepreneurship and expand their knowledge about business, technology, and engineering. The center supports students through funding, mentorships, legal services, and provides access to prototyping facilities, such as 3D printing and laser cutting.

Bringing his engineering, education and industry skills to the Zahn Center, Bobko will be responsible for developing and managing collaborative relationships between stakeholders, and creating programs to provide students with the best opportunities for launching innovative entrepreneurial activities and ventures.
About the City College of New York
Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided a high-quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. CCNY embraces its position at the forefront of social change. It is ranked #1 by the Harvard-based Opportunity Insights out of 369 selective public colleges in the United States on the overall mobility index. This measure reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at CCNY can move up two or more income quintiles. In addition, the Center for World University Rankings places CCNY in the top 1.8% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. Labor analytics firm Emsi puts at $1.9 billion CCNY’s annual economic impact on the regional economy (5 boroughs and 5 adjacent counties) and quantifies the “for dollar” return on investment to students, taxpayers and society. At City College, more than 16,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity and scholarship. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit.

59,295 Degrees Awarded in 2020-2021 Surpass Previous High, Set Before COVID-19, Affirming the University’s Vital Mission

Brings to More than Half a Million the Number of Degrees Conferred by CUNY Over the Past Decade

In the midst of a global pandemic and the extraordinary challenges it presented, the City University of New York achieved a new benchmark of academic success. CUNY conferred a record 59,295 degrees in the 2020-2021 academic year, the most in the University’s nearly 175-year history. For the students and instructors who conducted classes almost exclusively online in the solitude (or, for many, the hubbub) of kitchens, bedrooms and living rooms to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, the accomplishment affirms the vitality of CUNY’s mission as well as the perseverance of its students, faculty and staff.

“The members of CUNY’s Class of 2021 will forever be associated with the words ‘determined,’ and ‘resilient,’ and that is with good reason,” said Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez. “No matter the challenges or hardships, the Class of 2021 remained focused and kept their eyes on the prize. And make no mistake: This cohort of CUNY grads won’t stop with this historic achievement. They will bring that same commitment to excellence to help power New York’s economic recovery and drive the city’s workforce into a bright future.”

Over the past 10 years, CUNY has bestowed more than half a million degrees, 516,217, proving that New Yorkers are hungry for the University’s blend of quality and affordability and will stay the educational course in spite of obstacles.

The record-setting number marks an increase of 3.8% over the 2018-2019 academic year, when CUNY awarded a then-record 57,139 degrees. The number dipped only slightly to 56,527 degrees in 2019-2020, during the pandemic’s onset and severe initial surge, before this year’s increase of 5 percent.

Graduates this year were sustained by the range of support services offered by the University to help them maintain their academic momentum during the pandemic. During the transition to remote learning in Spring 2020, the University provided 30,000 laptop devices to students who needed them and expanded wifi access through the allocation of 4,000 hotspots, among a host of other efforts. More than 95 percent of the University’s 50,000 class sections were quickly adapted to digital platforms. This fall, after 17 months of mostly remote learning, CUNY opened its campuses to its students, faculty and staff.

Previous supportive actions have included the University’s timely distribution of $236 million in two rounds of federal emergency relief grants. CUNY distributed $118 million in CARES Act funds to nearly 161,000 students in the early months of the pandemic, with an average award last year of $736. Beginning this May, an additional $116.2 million was distributed to about 161,600 students, with grants averaging about $720 per student.

To further support students, CUNY established the Chancellor’s Emergency Relief Fund and has raised more than $10 million to date from philanthropic organizations and individual donors. The Fund helped more than 12,000 students weather the economic impact of the pandemic, including undocumented and international students who were initially excluded from receiving federal aid, and CUNY colleges raised more than $8.6 million to further aid their students.

CUNY also used a portion of the funds of the CARES Act to purchase laptops and mobile hotspots, and to bolster mental health services, reaching students with face-to-face online counseling and other remote wellness services.

The City University of New York is the nation’s largest urban public university, a transformative engine of social mobility that is a critical component of the lifeblood of New York City. Founded in 1847 as the nation’s first free public institution of higher education, CUNY today has seven community colleges, 11 senior colleges and seven graduate or professional institutions spread across New York City’s five boroughs, serving over 260,000 undergraduate and graduate students and awarding 55,000 degrees each year. CUNY’s mix of quality and affordability propels almost six times as many low-income students into the middle class and beyond as all the Ivy League colleges combined. More than 80 percent of the University’s graduates stay in New York, contributing to all aspects of the city’s economic, civic and cultural life and diversifying the city’s workforce in every sector. The University’s historic mission continues to this day: provide a first-rate public education to all students, regardless of means or background.

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CUNY Welcomes Congo’s Queen Diambi, Proud Member of the CSI Class of ’92, to a Royal Reception at Roosevelt House

Queen Diambi Kabatusuila Tshiyoyo Muata delivers passionate remarks.

Her Majesty Queen Diambi Kabatusuila Tshiyoyo Muata of the Bakwa Luntu People in the Democratic Republic of Congo visited New York City on November 11. Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez and the CUNY community welcomed her with a warm reception, followed by a spirited conversation with student leader Juvanie Piquant. Attendees left inspired by how Queen Diambi, who graduated from the College of Staten Island as valedictorian in 1992, used the knowledge she gained at CUNY to advocate for a more interconnected world.

College of Staten Island students and President William J. Fritz (second from r.) enjoy meeting Queen Diambi.

“I arrived in CUNY as a Congolese, I left as an African. Why? Because there I met a brilliant vibrant community of African American students, of Haitian students, Jamaican students, and students from all over the world for that matter. And we worked together, sitting around a table to try to figure out the world and what we wanted our world to be.” — Queen Diambi

Chancellor Matos Rodríguez presents Queen Diambi with an exclusive CUNY sweater and a bronze CUNY seal.

“Whether it’s addressing childhood mental health issues or helping people who struggle with addiction, or securing a brighter future for Africa through her foundation, Queen Diambi has committed her life to making the world a healthier and a better place to live for all people. The work you’re doing to elevate communities, to expand access to clean water, reliable healthcare and educational opportunities runs parallel to the work that CUNY is doing for the people of New York.” — Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez

Assemblymember Rebecca A. Seawright (r.) honors Queen Diambi with a New York State Assembly citation.

“When I came to the United States, when I came to CUNY, to CSI, I was placed in front of an amazing and abundant history. I was now recovering half of my story. Just as much as I had to give half of the story back to those who were descendants of African but left so long ago that they didn’t know how to reconnect back with themselves. So I realized the deficit I had. And guess who filled that deficit of knowledge? CUNY libraries. CUNY guest speakers. Those are the ones who opened up a new window in my brain to realize that there was, out there, an abundance of information that would help me restructure myself as an African woman.” — Queen Diambi

Queen Diambi and student leader Juvanie Piquant engage in conversation.

“We cannot be remiss to say that you are back home. You’re back home, where you first got your start. This is where everything began. This is where you were educated, you met your best friends that you’re still friends with today.” — Student Leader Juvanie Piquant

CUNY Trustee Wilkin (r.), Chancellor Matos Rodríguez and Student Trustee Cory Provost welcome Queen Diambi.

“By Her Majesty’s presence, we are realizing CUNY’s dream of having such a distinguished and inspirational alumna in the CUNY family. This shows how life is so unusual, and what happens is, a conversation … changes the world.” — Trustee Sandra Wilkin, who met Queen Diambi several years ago through an introduction by their mutual friend Sam Stathis.

Queen Diambi greets the CUNY Coalition for Students with Disabilities.

“This is what College of Staten Island did for me, to make sure that I felt I was part of a community. I was far, far away from home, far away from the language I knew, far away from my family, my parents, my friends, my culture, and yet again, the college provided me with a community, a new community. Just a few days ago, my son was getting married. And in that wedding were two other alumni of Staten Island that were my best friends then, and are still my best friends now. So that’s to tell you the kind of gifts I received beyond my degree.” — Queen Diambi

To see additional photos from the event, please visit our Flickr album here.

On Saturday, May 7, 2022, Bronx Community College will host the 44th Annual Roscoe C. Brown Jr. Hall of Fame 10K • 5K Runs and 2-Mile Walk, otherwise known as “Run the Bronx.”

And for the first time since the pandemic, the second oldest footrace in the city will be held live on the campus of BCC and the surrounding neighborhoods in the borough!

Co-founded in 1978 by BCC President and Tuskegee Airman Roscoe C. Brown Jr., Run the Bronx has regularly attracted over 2,000 participants from around the world, even as it celebrates fitness and wellness in the borough. In addition to the race, there will be free health screenings, refreshments, medals for all who complete the course and trophies for the outstanding athletes of the day.

Watch for further information.

An articulation agreement between Bronx Community College and the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in Manhattan will soon be sending BCC graduates to the one of the leading design schools in the country.

The success of earlier BCC students at FIT helped draw attention to the College as a source for new FIT students. FIT professors began visiting the BCC campus. Then, in the spring of 2019, BCC hosted a showcase of student work and invited four FIT faculty. “They were like ‘Wow — you guys are amazing! Let’s start working on an articulation agreement,’” recalls Professor Lisa Amowitz, Director of BCC’s Digital Design AAS degree program. “The FIT professors really believed in it and lobbied hard.” Their collaboration with BCC will bear fruit in the fall of 2022 when the first BCC graduates who meet FIT’s admission requirements take advantage of the articulation agreement and begin their education at FIT’s Graphic Design or Spatial Experience BFA programs. All of their BCC credits outlined in the agreement will be accepted for transfer and they will enter FIT as juniors.

“We are thrilled that the Fashion Institute of Technology, a world-class school of design, is looking to Bronx Community College for its future students,” observes BCC President Thomas A. Isekenegbe. “It says that the graduates of BCC’s Digital Design program are prepared to compete at the very highest level in a demanding field.”

FIT is already working with BCC students interested in transferring to the school that Professor Amowitz describes as “prestigious with a capital P.” Craig Berger, Associate Professor and Chair of the Communication Design Pathways Department at the Fashion Institute of Technology, spoke to BCC design students at an orientation session.

“Transferring to FIT is a great opportunity for BCC Digital Design students to apply their skills directly in a competitive environment,” says Prof. Berger. “BCC students have been successful in the past because of their strong foundation in technical and design skills so we are happy to sign this agreement.”

“They’re making a concerted effort to create this pipeline with us,” says Professor Amowitz. “They will reserve spots for qualified BCC students.”

Outreach to high school students considering a career in design is also underway. The ultimate goal is a seamless pipeline from high school to BCC to FIT to internships to jobs in the field.

As Prof. Amowitz puts it, “BCC is like a red carpet saying, ‘Hello, young artists of the Bronx. Come here. This is your door.”

NBCU Academy is a journalism training and development program that prepares college students for a career in the news and media technology industry.

Earlier this year, Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC/CUNY) joined 16 other colleges and universities to be part of the NBCU Academy initiative launched by NBCUniversal News Group. This fall, four students received $5,000 NBCU scholarships and had the chance to hone their skills and meet industry professionals in journalism and broadcast media.

The NBCU Academy is part of Comcast NBCU’s pledge to provide tools, resources, and platforms for young, underrepresented voices. The innovative journalism program provides on-campus training and online programming. The Academy also provides an onsite curriculum for hands-on learning with world-class NBCU News Group journalists, and funding for scholarships.

“At BMCC, we prioritize students’ career goals and support their efforts to move toward a profession that showcases their talent and speaks to their heart,” said BMCC President Anthony E. Munroe. “The NBCU Academy enables us to extend that focus to our future journalists and students who aspire to be media, broadcast and news professionals. We are grateful for the generous and validating scholarships our NBCU scholars receive, and the insight they gain by meeting with seasoned industry leaders.”

Building insider relationships gives students a career advantage

Four BMCC students were awarded $5,000 each to take part in BMCC/NBCU in Fall 2021: Writing and Literature major Christopher Edwards, Communication Studies major Romy Levy, and Liberal Arts majors Daniel Metter and Dennis Phillips.

“I was extremely excited to hear about the NBCU scholarship opportunity at BMCC because the main reason I went back to school was to pursue a career in journalism,” says Mr. Edwards. “The NBCU scholarship allowed me to connect with members of BMCC’s faculty who are accomplished journalists. These faculty served as mentors and motivators for me during the Spring 2021 semester.”

Receiving the NCBU scholarship motivated him to take his goals more seriously, he says. “I’m now a published freelance journalist. I really hope any student at BMCC who is interested in journalism joins the journalism club and pursues the NBCU scholarship because it will connect them with the right people and provide them great support to tools to begin their careers.”

Ms. Levy has found the program supportive of her media skills, among other benefits.

“The NBCU workshops are excellent. I attended a workshop on how to use Adobe Photoshop, and learned some interesting applications. I will definitely join more workshops in the future,” she says. “My goal is to become a journalist and I think being part of this experience really helps me to see the different aspects and ways to build a career in the field of journalism.”

BMCC professors and staff provide guidance for NBCU participants

A Lecturer and Writing and Literature Program Coordinator in the BMCC English Department, Syreeta McFadden is also an accomplished journalist who says the BMCC NBCU Academy is a tremendous opportunity for students.

“NBCU’s support for students at the two-year level is the type of investment and encouragement student journalists or aspiring journalism students need,” says Professor McFadden. “Now, more than ever, for students exploring possible careers with purpose, their exposure to working journalists may help them hone their voices, learn and grow in the craft of good reporting and storytelling to tell stories that reflect their communities and beyond.”

A contributor for The Atlantic as well as for NBC’s THINK, an opinion/news analysis vertical for NBC News, Professor McFadden has professional insight on the opportunity that the NBCU Academy provides.

“I think my hope for students and students of color, in particular, is that this kind of investment will motivate them to seek journalism careers and transform newsrooms nationwide to reflect the multitudes of experiences that BMCC students have,” she says.

Sharon D. D. Reid, Director of Internships and Experiential Learning at BMCC, has also worked closely with students in the NBCU Academy.

“Aside from the benefit and financial relief offered by the scholarship, our students are able to hone their skills and build their résumés through contributing to NBCU Academy’s professional newsletter,” she says.

Additionally, Ms. Reid explains, students who take part in the NBCU Academy may be afforded opportunities for job shadowing, priority consideration for internships, mentoring and other forms of experiential learning.

“These direct connections for building ‘insider’ relationships will undoubtedly allow them to be propelled into fast-track career growth,” she says. “Research consistently shows that 80% of jobs are filled by personal connections, such as those made through networking. Thanks to the NBCU Academy, BMCC students who are interested in journalism and journalism-adjacent careers are afforded a chance to develop access to a viable network they might not otherwise have accessed.”

CCNY atmospheric scientist Z. Johnny Luo is co-project leader of a $177 million NASA mission to study thunderstorms.

The City College of New York’s latest NASA collaboration is a $177 million earth science mission to study the behavior of tropical storms and thunderstorms, including their impact on weather and climate models. The mission will be a collection of three SmallSats flying in tight coordination, called Investigation of Convective Updrafts (INCUS), and scheduled for launching in 2027 as part of NASA’s Earth Venture Program. CCNY atmospheric scientist Z. Johnny Luo helped develop the concept.

“The novelty of the INCUS mission is that it will provide the first global observation and investigation of the vertical transport of water by convective storm systems, one of the most influential, yet unmeasured process of the Earth’s atmospheric system,” said Luo, professor of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. “This will be achieved through a unique measurement strategy using three identical cloud radars flying in close formation being separated by only a few minutes.”

Luo’s 2014 publication, “Convective vertical velocity and cloud internal vertical structure: An A-Train perspective,” among others, demonstrated the feasibility of this new measurement strategy.

Although the launch date is six years away, the project begins in March 2022 with the construction of the three miniature satellites. Between 2022 and 2027, Luo and his co-project leaders will use simulations to develop prototypical “products” or geophysical variables such as storm mass flux and storm intensity.

“As a co-leader, I will be in charge of developing satellite data products to measure convective mass flux and convective cloud life stage – two key products of the mission,” explained Luo. “Eventually, these novel measurements will help improve global climate modeling, which will lead to more accurate prediction of future climate change and extreme weather events such as Hurricane Sandy.”

Most of the Colorado State University-led project’s $177-million budget will go to developing the hardware, including the three satellites. But approximately, $1 million will come to CCNY for Luo and his team, comprising a post-doc and two graduate students that he will recruit, to develop the satellite data products.

Stony Brook University and Texas A&M are the other university partners involved in the project.

This is the latest CCNY-NASA partnership. In 2013, Luo served as one of 12 lead scientists on the NASA airborne mission SEAC4RS to study how convective clouds help process and transport air pollutants, including those from wildfires. In 2015, Luo and his peers received the NASA Group Achievement Award for their work. And in 2019 CCNY was the recipient of a $3 million NASA grant to develop advanced batteries for robotic spacecraft that will undertake deep space missions.

About the City College of New York
Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided a high-quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. CCNY embraces its position at the forefront of social change. It is ranked #1 by the Harvard-based Opportunity Insights out of 369 selective public colleges in the United States on the overall mobility index. This measure reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at CCNY can move up two or more income quintiles. In addition, the Center for World University Rankings places CCNY in the top 1.8% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. Labor analytics firm Emsi puts at $1.9 billion CCNY’s annual economic impact on the regional economy (5 boroughs and 5 adjacent counties) and quantifies the “for dollar” return on investment to students, taxpayers and society. At City College, more than 16,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity and scholarship. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit.

 

On Veterans Day, the CUNY School of Professional Studies (CUNY SPS) honors all of the members of our military who have served and sacrificed so much for the people of the United States.

As part of our longstanding and publicly recognized efforts to support our active military and veteran students at CUNY SPS, which include a range of services and financial assistance, we are especially pleased to salute the members of our community who have served our country in the armed forces.

This year, as part of this day of remembrance, we shine a spotlight on two CUNY SPS students from our military community: TJ Rose and Kaminie Persaud.

TJ Rose, SPC, army reserve, joined the military because, as he explains it, “I wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself and, coming from a military/law enforcement family background, it was almost required of me.” In the five years he spent in the army as a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear specialist (CBRN), he not only became part of something bigger, but also expanded his sense of connection and community. In the armed forces, he declared proudly, “We are family—no matter what!”

This strong sense of military family makes Veterans Day especially important to Rose, because it is a time for “paying tribute to my brothers and sisters who served, are currently serving, and who returned to us broken.” To him, Veterans Day means “hope, freedom, sacrifice, and honor,” even as it provides an opportunity to remind the nation that “we must never leave a soldier behind.”

As a CRBN, Rose was “assigned to a decon unit which deals with the response and decontamination process in case of a chemical attack.” Today, as a BA in communications and media major at CUNY SPS, he no longer needs to think about responding to and protecting our country from such attacks on a day-to-day basis, but still aspires to take “the lessons, skills, and discipline acquired while in the military to help me achieve a greater purpose in life and be able to help others, no matter what path I decide to walk.” He notes that CUNY SPS is enabling him to fulfill dreams by providing the “skills it takes to navigate in this fast-changing world.”

The advice Rose gives to those contemplating a career in the military is good advice for any student—indeed for any person with a dream. He reflects, “Do as many things as you possibly can and get qualified in as much as you can. Any opportunity that falls in your lap to get ahead —take it and don’t second guess it. Make smart choices, respect everyone alongside you, and never quit.”

Kaminie Persaud, former Petty Officer Second Class Operation Specialist and US Navy veteran, joined the military to help make college possible—without burdening her parents. She explains, “My senior year of high school I knew I wanted to go to college, but I knew my parents couldn’t really afford sending me to school… I’m first-generation born in the United States, and I watched my parents work and struggle to give me and my siblings whatever we needed to live. I’m also the oldest out of all my siblings, [and] I had to be a role model… so I decided to sign up for the US Navy in January 2014.”

While starting out, Persaud spent her time on the aircraft carrier USS John C Stennis (CVN-74) out of Bremerton, WA, where she served for two years as an undesignated seaman. As she describes, “I spent most of my time doing a lot of dirty labor, such as completing maintenance on the ship underway replenishment machinery, search and rescue boats, lifesaving equipment, and anchor systems.” This difficult work was critical to keeping the ship stocked and the crew safe in case of emergency.

In the following two years, Persaud moved onto becoming an operation specialist, where she “…worked on radar and missile systems and was in charge of securing secret information. I also conducted maintenance on the ship radar systems to ensure the safety of our ship.”

With these roles under her belt, Persaud is grateful that her time in the military enabled her to attend the BS in Information Systems program at CUNY SPS debt free—and that it helped her to understand Veterans Day in a more profound way.

“Active-duty personnel are protecting this country every day, but sometimes people tend to forget that [service men and women] have sacrificed time with their own families so everybody else can be with theirs,” Persaud observes. “One thing I wish everybody knew about the [active] military is we miss our families more than we miss our freedom… We give up everything for the country to be secure and safe, but not everybody really understands what that feels like. So please try to support your veterans, and active duty especially, in any way you can.”

Currently, Persaud continues to keep her connection to the military alive through her work as an intern in the CUNY SPS Office of Military and Veteran Student Services.

In that capacity, she suggests that vets and active military considering enrollment at the School “ask questions or get help from the Office of Military and Veteran Student Services.…We will do our best to find a solution to whatever issues you’re facing as a student.” This advice comes from personal experience for, as she shares, “I feel like the staff is always here to help me when I need it.”

In the future, Persaud hopes to continue a life of service, by joining “a cybersecurity department that is focused on helping humans,” and she is specifically attracted to organizations that help students or protect children. She comments, “My dream job is really to be a cybersecurity analyst fighting human trafficking, but it will take me some time to get there.” Still, Persaud understands that the CUNY SPS community always has her back. As she notes, “I know a lot of days might be stressful and exhausting, but you can definitely achieve your goals at CUNY SPS.”

About the CUNY School of Professional Studies

For over 15 years, the CUNY School of Professional Studies (CUNY SPS) has been leading online education in New York. Notable for offering the most online bachelor’s and master’s degree options at the City University of New York, and for serving transfer students as the University system’s only undergraduate all-transfer college, CUNY SPS meets the needs of adults who wish to finish a bachelor’s degree, progress from an associate’s degree, earn a master’s degree or certificate in a specialized field, and advance in the workplace or change careers.

The School’s growth has been remarkable, with twenty-four degrees launched since 2006. Enrollment has risen by more than 30% in the last four years to over 4,000 students in the credit-bearing programs. Thousands more are enrolled in non-degree and grant-funded workplace learning programs. In addition, the School has an active alumni network and has established the CUNY SPS Foundation, which offers multiple scholarship opportunities to current students.

CUNY SPS has consistently been named by U.S. News & World Report as one of the country’s top online institutions. This year, the School was ranked in the top 2% in the nation on the publisher’s list of the 2021 Best Online Bachelor’s Degree Programs.

Press Contact
Andrea Fagon
Director of Marketing and Communications
andrea.fagon@cuny.edu

Dr. Neal Phillip, Chairperson of the Bronx Community College Department of Chemistry, Earth Sciences and Environmental Sciences, has been awarded $35,000 by the Con Edison Social and Behavioral Research Award program for a collaborative proposal with Medgar Evers College, “Sensitizing New York City to Reporting Methane Gas Leaks Using Monitoring, Collective Social Learning and Thematic Communication Methods.” Dr Phillip is the lead investigator on the grant.

“This study is a follow-up to a deadly building explosion in Harlem in March 2014 that was caused by leaking natural gas” says Dr. Phillip. “I worked with NBC-TV on that story using our Picarro greenhouse gas instrument that can detect methane, the major component of natural gas, as well as carbon dioxide and water vapor. The Picarro instrument usually sits on the rooftop of Meister Hall, taking continuous measurements of these three greenhouse gases. We drove it through the five boroughs in a news van, collecting ambient methane readings.

“The goal of this proposal is to look for leaking natural gas by measuring methane and ethane gas from Con Edison’s pipe infrastructure in the Bronx and upper Manhattan neighborhood,” Dr. Phillip observes. From measurements in the study, it will be possible to extrapolate the scale of gas leaks throughout the entire Con Edison pipe system and make inferences about their impact on climate change.

“After the monitoring phase is over, we will run collective social learning workshops to make New Yorkers more aware of gas leaks. We’ll borrow the expertise of one of the top thematic communications experts in the world, Dr. Sam Ham, to increase the reporting of such leaks. It’s like the slogan you see around the city: ‘When you see something, say something!’”

Dr. Phillip notes another advantage of the grant: “BCC and CUNY students will be recruited and paid to assist in all aspects of this study.”

Polariton mediated funneling of excitation energies between molecular isomers in a microcavity. Image credit: Sitakanta Satapathy.

In chemistry, molecules are manipulated by changing the constituent atoms, or their arrangements. Now a group of physicists and chemists from The City College of New York and Spain can demonstrate how the use of an optical cavity (where light is trapped) is also able to change the molecular property of photo-isomerization – a light activated process that modifies the optical response.  Entitled “Selective isomer emission via funneling of exciton polaritons,” their study appears in Science Advances.

While the photophysical properties of isomers are of great significance in organic optoelectronics and many biochemical events, it is the correct choice and purity of the isomer luminescence that plays a decisive role in being favored or disfavored for a particular application. However, the inhomogeneous disorder in an organic molecular solid can almost completely suppress the photophysical properties of one isomer over the other, making it challenging to access in thin film state.

Enter The City College-Autonomous University of Madrid research group to address this problem. The CCNY researchers were led by physicist Vinod M. Menon and chemist George John, and the Spanish scientists by Francisco J. Garcia-Vidal and Johannes Feist.

Using the concept of strong light-matter coupling, the international team managed to create a funnel of hybrid light-matter states (polaritons) that can control the flow of excitation from a strongly emitting non-desirable planar isomer to a completely dark twisted isomer, which is of great potential significance in the field of organic optoelectronics.

The idea is put into practice an optical Fabry–Pérot cavity by strong coupling to derivatives of trans-stilbene, which present two isomers in different amounts. Thanks to the new relaxation pathway provided by the polaritons, the photoexcitation that is first shared by the common “polaritonic” mode is then selectively funneled to the excited states of one of the isomers, recognizing pure emission from the isomeric states that are otherwise dark under normal conditions.

“The strategy offers flexibility to significantly modify the emission wavelength of molecular isomers in thin films,” said Sitakanta Satapathy, a Post-Doctoral Fellow in Menon’s research group at CCNY and lead author of the study.

“Direct polariton energy harvesting offers promise to access desirable excited state confirmations of potential importance in the field of organic photovoltaics, optoelectronics and photobiological reactions. Furthermore, through judicious choice of molecules and smart cavity systems, this strategy can be translated to other excited state processes, such as Excited State Induced Proton Transfer (ESIPT), Electron Transfer and Photooxidation reactions without any light-induced damage,” added Satapathy.

The research was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy and the European Research Council.

About the City College of New York
Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided a high-quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. CCNY embraces its position at the forefront of social change. It is ranked #1 by the Harvard-based Opportunity Insights out of 369 selective public colleges in the United States on the overall mobility index. This measure reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at CCNY can move up two or more income quintiles. In addition, the Center for World University Rankings places CCNY in the top 1.8% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. Labor analytics firm Emsi puts at $1.9 billion CCNY’s annual economic impact on the regional economy (5 boroughs and 5 adjacent counties) and quantifies the “for dollar” return on investment to students, taxpayers and society. At City College, more than 16,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity and scholarship. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit.