Macaulay Connections

By James Airozo, Director of Student Academic Awards and Honors

The second annual CUNY-wide Honors Opportunities Conference was once again hosted by Macaulay Honors College.  This year's theme was "Fostering Collaborations, Forging Alliances" and drew more than 70 administrators, directors, students, faculty from both the senior and community colleges as well as foundation representatives to share ideas on how CUNY can better serve its most talented students.

The responses to the on-line survey of participants were overwhelmingly positive. Highlights included a session on Research and Internship Opportunities Beyond CUNY which featured C. Gita Bosch, Associate Dean of the Gertsner Sloan-Kettering Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Francoise Freyre and Assistant Dean of Student Affairs, Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences.   Both Deans oversee 10-week summer research programs and urged the Conference participants to encourage qualified students to apply to these exceptional programs.  They stressed that they are eager to have CUNY students participate in these enriched programs but that traditionally few CUNY students apply.  Participation in these intensive and competitive programs greatly enhance the chances of success for national scholarship candidates.

The panel also featured CUNY students who have participated in special research programs or internships,  They included Yelena Leitman, Hunter College, Goldwater Scholarship recipient who participated in the Marine Biological Laboratory Summer Fellowship Program, Casey Detrow, Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College who was an intern at the Economist, Lauren Nassimi, Queens College who interned at Time Warner STARS and Forest Ray, Hunter College, who was a participant in the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Summer Undergraduate Research Program.  All students reported that these special experiences empowered them, built their confidence as they competed successfully with students form elite private institutions and clarified their career and graduate school goals.

Nancy Sanchez of the Kaplan Educational Foundation leading a session, "Transfer Scholarships, Meeting Expectations."

Another session that received high praise was the one focusing on the Memorandum of Understanding between Kingsborough Community College and Hunter College to facilitate the transfer of Kingsborough Honors Students to Hunter. An important component of the agreement is that Honors students who meet certain criteria will have the benefit of also becoming part of the federally funded McNair Scholars Program.  The McNair Program prepares talented low income and minority students for doctoral studies through involvement in research and scholarly activity.   The MOU also provides for a wide range of support services including GRE preparation and students will receive a stipend. This agreement was an outgrowth of the first Honors Opportunities Conference in which representatives of these two institutions began preliminary discussions.

This collaborative trend is continuing with preliminary discussions being entered into between LaGuardia Community College and Hunter College for a program to facilitate the transfer of LaGuardia Community College Honors students to Hunter.  Both of these collaborations seek to provide an alternative for talented community colleges students who are routinely recruited successfully by area private colleges and universities.

The spring schedule of the Macaulay Perspectives series is shaping up nicely for the spring, beginning with Joseph Berger, New York Times reporter, columnist, and editor, giving a talk on February 11, 6 – 8pm, entitled “Immigrant Metropolis.” On March 10, we will host Whitney Tilson, vice chairman of KIPP Academy Charter Schools in New York City, and a director of Democrats for Education Reform, for a talk on social entrepreneurship entitled "Fixing Our Schools," also 6 – 8pm.

Berger will discuss the impact of immigration on New York, its neighborhoods, commerce, culture, and social life—and what have been the riches that have resulted and the tensions that we sometimes have to be alert to. Berger has written extensively about education, religion, and New York City, and has chronicled many of the events that have shaken Israel and the Middle East. He is author of three books; the latest, The World in a City: Traveling the Globe through the Neighborhoods of the New New York,” is an intimate insider’s tour of a New York transformed by immigration, gentrification, and other forces.

Tilson will present his hard-hitting analysis of where the problems lie in our system of K-12 education. We hope you will join us for an inside look at a dedicated reformer at work on a complex problem, and for an opportunity to discuss Tilson's proffered solutions and the mechanisms for enacting those solutions.

A third Macaulay Perspectives Event on April 8 will be a panel discussion, "Academic Publishing in a Digital Age," a follow-up to our fall "Reading in a Digital Age" event which drew a capacity crowd.

The Macaulay Perspectives series brings New York leaders into contact with Macaulay students, faculty, and the public to explore important, multifaceted, high-impact issues. Recent Perspective sessions have included Peter Sacks on “Summoning the Visual Imagination”; the panel discussion on “Reading in a Digital Age,” moderated by Bill Goldstein; and William Macaulay, delivering the inaugural lecture on “World Energy.” Podcasts of some of the sessions can be found on CUNY Radio.

Macaulay Perspectives events are held at the Macaulay Honors College center at 35 West 67^th Street. Reserve your place at these events by visiting our Events page.

Ryan Merola has continued his award-winning ways since graduating from the Macaulay Honors College at Brooklyn College in 2007.

The high-achieving and much-honored Merola, a third-generation Brooklyn College student who pursued a double major in political science and philosophy, was recently named one of nine scholars chosen for the 2011 class of Mitchell Scholars, named in honor of former U.S. Senator George J. Mitchell, who negotiated the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement between nationalists and unionists in Northern Ireland.

Mitchell Scholar Ryan Merola '07 (Brooklyn)

As a Mitchell Scholar, Merola will focus on the study of violence, terrorism and security at Queen’s University, Belfast, in Northern Ireland. He noted that he has a personal interest in Irish affairs because his maternal grandparents came to New York from Ireland in the 1950s, shortly before his mother was born.

"I still have not processed it yet," Merola says. "I’m overjoyed by the honor. I’ve never studied abroad before, and I’m awed by the opportunity to do so. But it really hasn’t sunk in."

Merola is an analyst with the New York City Police Department’s Counterterrorism Bureau, where he has served since he was awarded a New York City Urban Fellowship in 2007. The previous year he won a prestigious Truman Scholarship, worth $30,000 toward a graduate degree in public service. He also was selected to Phi Beta Kappa.

His ultimate goal is to attend law school with the aim of becoming a prosecutor.

Before joining the NYPD Merola was an aide in New York State’s 10th Congressional District office under Rep. Edolphus Towns, handling immigration and housing cases and serving as the congressman’s representative in several neighborhoods of the district.

During his time at Brooklyn College, Merola focused on New York City, with an emphasis on the operations of the city’s government and politics. He interned in various government offices, including the office of Senator Charles E. Schumer, and volunteered in several local political clubs while studying urban policy and New York City history, conducting independent studies on the political debate surrounding the public references to revise the city charter, and researching the changing nature of First Amendment rights in New York City in the wake of 9/11.

Happy New Year and welcome to the inaugural edition of Macaulay Connections, our online newsletter for Friends of Macaulay.

Our aim is to highlight our students, alumni, and faculty. I invite your comments and suggestions—and I hope that you are inspired to find new ways to get more involved.

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January 2010

Macaulay Honors College was initially funded by a small group of generous investors who endorsed Chancellor Matthew Goldstein’s vision for a center of excellence for undergraduate education within The City University.  Unlike many public colleges that rely on their past alumni classes for supporting gifts, Macaulay has only a few graduating classes and they have only recently embarked on professional careers.  Some exceptionally generous alumni leaders have supported us and we have been encouraged by a number of parents who see Macaulay as an ongoing partner in building the value of their childrens’ education.  Many people have been generous to the College and we are appreciative.

In the last year, we have made significant strides in professionalizing our fundraising and advancement efforts.  Some of our milestones include:

• Continuation of institutional grant getting and renewals, with $684,719 in cash and pledges secured last calendar year
• Installation of our first donor database for professional management of fundraising
• Significant upgrade of our annual giving program (tripling mailed pieces this December)
• Launch of a donor web page including on-line guidance to attract bequests, matching gifts, and other sophisticated giving interests
• Establishment of an e-giving function including credit card processing
• Restructuring of stewardship, recognition and naming for institutional gifts
• Plans for a committee structure to increase access points and activate volunteer leaders
• Launch of our signature donor club, Friends of Macaulay

This last achievement, our donor club, has become an organization quite unique in CUNY because of the range of participants. As we grow and seek different sources of philanthropic dollars, we find that many New York City leaders are responding see us as an important element of building the City’s competitive workforce. They are increasingly aware of the importance – and fragility – of public higher education. Through the concept of Friends of Macaualy we have found a way to invite non-alumni volunteers into our fold with our alumni and other insiders.

Friends of Macaulay is a donor recognition society that celebrates unrestricted gifts of $1,000 each year (with special recognition at the $10,000/year level). Friends of Macaulay isn’t just about thanking generous donors. Our alumni base includes many bright ambitious graduates who need networking opportunities to move ahead in their careers. Through Friends of Macaulay we are building a corps of enthusiastic donor club members who involve themselves in our growth and who advocate for us. We believe that our non-alumni members of Friends of Macaulay see their interest in the College validated through association with bright Macaulay alumni and students.

Please consider becoming more involved with the extraordinary experiment in urban public higher education at Macaulay Honors College. We have a wealth of opportunities to engage you.

“Macaulay prepares its students for leadership positions in the greatest city in the world by giving a strong institutional knowledge of New York—and makes them responsible for its future by giving them the tools to navigate the many different sectors of industry and culture.” That’s Dan Allen’s view of the value of the Macaulay Honors Education—and how it serves him today in his professional role.

Dan Allen '08, Hunter

Now the Community Engagement Coordinator for Friends of Thirteen, Inc.  at THIRTEEN, New York’s public television station, Dan connects community groups and institutions to opportunities for collaboration with public media. “While at Macaulay, I chose a more professionally oriented approach to my education, and now I have a network of contacts in the non-profit, arts and culture, and media world. Just knowing the resources available to me has made me a valuable team member—not to mention the in-depth analytical experience I had examining the people, places and institutions across all five boroughs.”

When WNET.ORG President Neal Shapiro asked Dan and Friends of Thirteen to help recruit college students to help produce a local program related to Ken Burns’s epic “The National Parks: Americas Best Idea,” the answer was a resounding "yes!" Dan first turned to Daniel Cowen, a Macaulay Honors Scholar and film student at Hunter College (also profiled in the January 2010 edition of Macaulay Perspectives). Daniel brought along Andres F. Otero from Hunter College, an accomplished documentarian who has freelanced for the NY Daily News and NY Post, and Davi Santos, another Macaulay Scholar who hosts a TV program at Lehman College in the Bronx. Together, they helped produce National Parks: New Yorkers’ Memories, filming many of the interviews in Macaulay 67’s black-box theatre. You can view the film at http://www.thirteen.org/localparks/. Dan’s blog on the project can be found here.

Dan began taking media production courses as early as high school, where he was active in drama and musical productions. He went to Somers High School in Westchester County. He notes, “Unlike many of my colleagues, my family has firmly planted roots in the United States over several generations.” But the interesting diversity in his family background mirrors that of his Macaulay classmates: “My grandmother was the child of Russian Jews and my grandfather was a Georgia native who grew up on a farm with 12 siblings: he met my grandmother during the war and was able to speak more Yiddish than most Jews by the end of his life!”

“Spending so much time around ridiculous overachievers forces you to stay on the top of your game,” he notes. And he certainly did so during is time at Macaulay. He used his Opportunities Fund for study abroad in Chengdu, China (he was a Mandarin minor), and did five different internships during his undergraduate career: at WNET, K-Rock Radio, the Asia Society, WNYC, and Parnassus Productions.

On a closing note, Dan reflected on how his Macaulay experience prepared him for today’s challenges: “Macaulay students were not born into a life of privilege. They’ve worked for everything they’ve got and that fire, that passion, permeates everything that they do. These students are the real McCoy, or the real Gupta, or the real Goldstein, or the real Yang. They have their fingers on the pulse of what’s affecting their communities right now. They speak every language on earth and, mark my words, they will be edging out Ivy League competition in tomorrow’s professional and academic worlds for many years to come."

Contact Dan at AllenD@thirteen.org.

New York City Board of Education Chancellor Joel Klein, Dean Ann Kirschner, and CUNY Chancellor Matthew Goldstein at "Stepping Up for New York's Brightest."

West 67^th Street was a hub of activity in the fall. In addition to four events in our popular Macaulay Perspectives series, our Executive in Residence sessions with Sy Sternberg, and our Dean's Brunch/Dinners, we hosted two other events that brought together students, faculty, civic leaders, and Macaulay friends.

On October 7^th, Macaulay hosted Joel Klein, Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education and Matthew Goldstein, Chancellor of the City University of New York, at a breakfast event entitled, “Stepping Up for New York’s Brightest: How Public Education Prepares Our City’s Best Students.” The chancellors spoke to guests about the importance of investing in programs like Macaulay in order for New York’s most talented young people to stay competitive in tomorrow’s marketplace. “We are now thinking forward about an economy that’s being transformed very quickly from a manufacturing economy to one that is going to be driven by highly skilled and knowledge-based decision making,” said Chancellor Goldstein. “The only way we’re going to compete is if we train our students at the highest levels that we are capable of training them.” Click here to hear a podcast of the event.

The Jewish Foundation for the Education of Women (JFEW) named 50 Macaulay Honors College sophomores and juniors as “JFEW Scholars.”

The students were honored at a dinner reception on Thursday, October 15, 2009 at the West 67th Street Macaulay Honors College building, with a keynote address by Dr. Sharon Weinberg, President of JFEW and professor at NYU’s Steinhardt School of Education. Click here for the complete list of honorees.

Stay tuned for news of our spring events, which include our Parents' Day for parents of Juniors and Seniors, the Senior Scholars Reception, and the Macaulay Women's Forum, featuring a keynote by Merryl Tisch, Chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents.

For a full listing of events and to RSVP, visit the Macaulay Events site.