 |  | Before we turn to this month’s news, I’d like to take a moment to thank readers who made donations to LaGuardia during 2023. Your contributions enabled us to provide an unprecedented level of support to our students. From 2021-23 the LaGuardia Community College Foundation gave a record $11 million in scholarships, emergency funds for housing and food, stipends for internships, and wages for on-campus employment. Under the leadership of Charles Boyce, Board Chair, the Foundation spent the past year exploring new ways to meet the needs of our low-income students, and making data-informed decisions on how to most effectively distribute the assets for which it is responsible. Thanks to your generosity, LaGuardia stands out among community colleges for the breadth and depth of the student support we provide. We think our students – most of them from working-class, immigrant families in Queens – have great potential, and deserve our full support. We’re so pleased you agree. On their behalf, thank you. You can learn more about the Foundation and make a year-end contribution here. Happy Holidays!
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Bangladesh Student Association Hosts Annual Celebration
LaGuardia’s Bangladesh Student Association (BSA) hosted its annual event in The Little Theatre on December 1. The joyful celebration included musical performances, a fashion show, and remarks by BSA faculty mentor Professor Sada Hye Jaman, NYPD Lieutenant Commander Shamsul Haque (LaGuardia alum and former BSA President), and yours truly. Highlights included a dance performance by Suborna Singha and Shawon Malakar and the presentation of Special Recognition Honors to Muquith Abdul Choudhury, ASM Masud Bhuiyan, Azizul Islam Azim, Abul Masud Faruk, and Abdur Razzaque, all veterans of the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, through which the country (then East Pakistan) gained its independence from Pakistan. Readers of this newsletter interested in our college’s demographics will recall that we have students from at least 130 countries. I say “at least” because CUNY doesn’t require students to report country of origin on their applications; 30% of LaGuardia’s degree-seeking students hail from a land called Other. What these readers might not know is that after the US, the two countries from which come our greatest number of foreign-born students are Ecuador and The People’s Republic of Bangladesh. (They are virtually tied for that top spot.) All this is to say that we are very proud to be the college of choice for so many students and families from Bangladesh. And we are indebted to the Bangladesh Student Association for celebrations like the one on December 1 that remind us of the rich culture and history of this great South Asian nation.
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Prez Concludes Fall Term with Closing Sessions Address
The days are noticeably shorter. Cold wind from the north yanks the remaining leaves from the pin oaks in Court Square and nudges their acorns across the concrete. Dog-walkers from glistening high-rises urge their charges to make waste with haste so they can get back inside. Yes, it’s December in Long Island City. Time for the president of LaGuardia Community College to deliver his year-end stemwinder, “Closing Sessions”. He has promised that when he completes his remarks there will be a holiday party replete with triangular, tooth-picked sandwiches, artificially-sweetened non-alcoholic beverages, and industrial quantities of oatmeal raisin cookies. Free food being a reliable motivator, a small crowd gathers in the Little Theater, hopeful that this prandial distraction will be brief. The president, who has never met a microphone he could not befriend, rewards their attendance with a long talk about almost everything that happened at the college in 2023, plus some sobering news no one really wants to hear about CUNY budget challenges. If you’re interested you can read the text of his speech here. If not, he will totally understand -- but no cookies for you.
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Mayor Adams Announces Funding for Tech Training
A friend in City Hall reached out recently to ask if we would be willing to host a press conference at which Mayor Eric Adams would announce an initiative to boost education and training – particularly for careers in technology – for students in NYC public schools and CUNY. This was, of course, a rhetorical question. A CUNY college president does not tell City Hall, “Oh, I’m sorry – that’s the day we sort the recycling, no can do.” We were delighted that the presser took place as planned on Monday, December 11. (As you might guess, events shoe-horned into the mayor’s busy schedule are subject to last-minute cancellations – think fires, water-main breaks, building collapses.) There was a reason beyond our top-shelf hospitality for the mayor to choose LaGuardia as a site for his announcement: In addition to an infusion of $128 million in federal funding for the city’s Jobs Corps program and new opportunities for tech apprenticeships, Hizzoner announced $10 million in city funding to expand CUNY 2x Tech to five more CUNY campuses, including LaGuardia. The initiative partners with CUNY colleges to develop tech talent pipelines for local industry by supporting Computer Science and other STEM programs. Thanks, Mayor Adams, for your visit and support.
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Dukes Scorches Hardwood and Inspires Everyone
Arthur Dukes, a liberal arts math and science major, is having a season for the record books. The point guard from Harlem is the Division III Junior College top scorer in the country (29.4 ppg) and (no surprise) the top scorer in CUNY as well. Arthur scored a career-high 44 points on December 5 against Queensborough Community College. I saw him knock down 41 a week earlier against Hostos. Men’s Basketball Coach Jarret Lockhart says Arthur is driven to succeed against all odds. "Arthur has persevered through some personal hardships in his young life, which has kept him humble but shaped his journey here to LaGuardia,” Lockhart explains. “Everything he is accomplishing now he deserves because he's worked so hard for it. He is a true leader and a joy to coach." Arthur, team captain, is a full-time student with a solid GPA (both conference requirements) and a kind, thoughtful demeanor off the court. When he's not in class or at practice, he's working at Target. But there’s more: Arthur is homeless. He was living in a shelter until Rhonda Mouton of LaGuardia CARES got him into a long-term Airbnb rental thanks to a program we launched with Airbnb last year.
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LaGuardia Faculty and Students Design Civics Lessons for US Community Colleges
Don’t you think this country could use more Civics Education right about now? We do, too. So, we’re pleased to report that earlier this year two LaGuardia professors collaborated with a group of students to create lessons in civics for community colleges across the country. Guided by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and supported by the Annenberg Public Policy Center (University of Pennsylvania) Dr. Chelsea Del Rio, professor of History, and Dr. Anja Vojvodic, professor of Political Science, led a course whose goal was to develop high-quality instructional materials to teach foundational knowledge in topics such as: Three Branches of Government/Separation of Powers; Jury Service; The Bill of Rights; Media Literacy; The Rule of Law; Federalism; Voting; Civil Dialogue; and, the Role of the Military in a Constitutional Democracy. Their student partners enjoyed a field trip to the historic Gilder Lehrman Archives followed by a performance of “Hamilton”. Their work is featured on the Gilder Lehrman website and will serve as a model for expanding the program nationwide. “The idea behind the course was to teach LaGuardia students about civics and the responsibilities and privileges of citizenship,” Dr. Vojvodic said. “The point was to familiarize them with aspects of government and civics so they become more engaged in the political process and learn how to respect other viewpoints.”
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Students Learn about Nuclear War from Hiroshima Survivor
On November 29 LaGuardia students had an opportunity to meet a very special guest. Japanese language professor and College Discovery professor/counselor Dr. Kyoko Toyama introduced them to Toshiyuki Mimaki, a survivor of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima in August of 1945. Mr. Mimaki, who was three at the time, is co-chair of Nihon Hidankyo, the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers’ Organizations. Mr. Mimaki was in New York with other atomic bombing survivors, known in Japanese as Hibakusha, to attend a review of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons at the United Nations. LaGuardia students majoring in Japanese, History, Political Science, Human Services, and Psychology formed a standing-room only crowd and took part in the Q&A following Mr. Mimaki’s moving and memorable remarks.
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Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Hip Hop
Campus Life recently hosted a celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Hip Hop and the 40th Anniversary of Video Music Box, one of the longest running video shows and one of the first to feature Hip Hop videos. Ralph McDaniels, LaGuardia alum and Hip Hop trailblazer who co-founded and serves as co-host of Video Music Box, was our special guest. The event featured a screening of “You’re Watching Video Music Box” (directed by Nas), a Q&A about the film with McDaniels, a student cypher (rap battle), and a DJ showcase with LaGuardia Music Professor Will Fulton.
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Archives 2024 Calendar -- “Pleasure and Protest: Public Spaces in New York City”
The LaGuardia and Wagner Archives is pleased to announce the publication of its 2024 calendar, “Pleasure and Protest: Public Spaces in New York City.” The calendar showcases the myriad ways that New Yorkers convene, advocate, and celebrate in the city’s public spaces. A unique CUNY resource, the LaGuardia and Wagner Archives collects and preserves materials documenting the social and political history of New York City. Every year since 1979, the Archives has produced a calendar to bring assets from its vast collections to members of the public. According to Archives Deputy Director Soraya Ciego-Lemur, the 2024 calendar spotlights the sense of community New Yorkers create in shared spaces. It “brings the intricate social landscape of New York City to your wall,” she added. The new calendar may be viewed or downloaded at no cost, via the LaGuardia and Wagner Archives website here. Those of you who prefer paper can order a calendar you can actually pin to your wall (like Soraya) by calling the Archives at (718) 482-5065 or submitting a request online. Happy New Year!
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LAGUARDIA IN THE NEWS
HARLEM WORLD MAGAZINE: New York Community Trust awards $7.5M to address critical needs, including grants to support scholarships for workforce training and staff at LaGuardia.
HELL GATE NYC: On a classroom expedition with LaGuardia environmental science students, Dr. Sarah Durand discovered that Newtown Creek has all kinds of invertebrate life, a lot of mussels, living in there. It is not “dead water,” as previously thought.
AOL: LaGuardia recently hosted a Pet Pantry Drive to establish a new pet care section for the LaGuardia CARES pantry. The drive was led by the Vet Tech Club, whose members are primarily students of LaGuardia’s Veterinary Technology program, the only degree program of its kind in the New York City region.
LIC POST: LaGuardia Community College hosted a forum to help Queens residents access tech sector careers.
GOTHAMIST: Last month, LaGuardia hosted a graduation event at Rikers Island for a small group of detainees who completed a three-credit criminal justice course, offered in partnership with the nonprofit College Way. The program was led by Dr. Cory Rowe, associate professor of Criminal Justice at LaGuardia.
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