 |  | In New York, public schools and colleges are prohibited from inquiring about and reporting the immigration status of their students. While enrolling in college is possible for non-citizens in the Empire State, paying for it is another matter, since these students, many of whom come from low-income households, cannot apply for federal financial aid. Some may be eligible for state financial aid by means of the NYS DREAM Act, but covering CUNY tuition and fees and having money for things like laptops, books, food, and transportation is a challenge for most of our non-citizen students. So, you can imagine our delight when friends of the college pledged $1.5 million to create a new fund to support LaGuardia students regardless of their citizenship status — The Friedman Fund for New New Yorkers, which we announced on October 16. An initiative managed by the college Foundation in collaboration with LaGuardia CARES, the Fund will provide scholarships, experiential learning stipends, and emergency aid to non-citizen students in need.
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LaGuardia Guest Speaker Wins Nobel Peace Prize | |
About a year ago we were honored to host a talk by Toshiyuki Mimaki, co-chair of Nihon Hidankyo, the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers’ Organizations. Invited to LaGuardia by Dr. Kyoko Toyama, professor of Japanese and College Discovery professor/counselor, Mr. Mimaki spoke about his experience as an atomic bomb survivor. (He was three when the US bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August of 1945.) How pleased we were when on October 11 Mr. Mimaki and his organization were awarded the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, "for their efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again". Reached for comment, Dr. Toyama said that the lessons from Mr. Mimaki ranged from bravery to the importance of grass roots efforts and never giving up, and that big impact can grow from small conversations. | |
Alum Advocates for Student Parents | |
Jesus A. Benitez (Class of '17) represented the CUNY Fatherhood Academy at ThinkXChange, a recent conference hosted by Ascend at the Aspen Institute. Jesus, outreach and recruitment coordinator for the LaGuardia Fatherhood Academy, was a panelist with fellow Parent Advisors, who shared insights on supporting student parents. Jesus gave a presentation on strategies to enhance the retention of student parents, emphasizing the importance of integrating family supports into college programs. In addition to his role as a Parent Advisor for Ascend at the Aspen Institute, Jesus serves as a Family Advisory Committee member for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and he’s on the advisory board for the Center for the Transition to Parenthood in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. | |
Childcare Council Hosts CUNY-wide Celebration at LaGuardia | |
Speaking of student parents, let’s pause to note that one of their greatest needs is, of course, childcare. Under the leadership of Sonya Evariste (Class of ’93) LaGuardia’s Early Childhood Learning Center (ECLC) provides daytime care for children aged six months to twelve years, right here on campus, enabling student parents to attend classes knowing their young ones are nearby, in the care of experienced early childhood educators. The ECLC has served LaGuardia student parents since 1978, so it was an easy lift for us to host the CUNY Childcare Council’s 2024 “Celebrating Student Parent Success” event back on October 8. We were pleased to welcome the leaders of the sixteen other CUNY childcare programs, along with student parents, including LaGuardia Nursing major Rebecca Ramos, 36, who was recognized at the event. Rebecca, mom to three-year-old Naomi (also in attendance), emigrated from Venezuela seven years ago. She first came to LaGuardia to learn English. Now she’s pursuing her degree in nursing, serving in the leadership of the Student Government Association, and is a Casa de las Américas ambassador. Ask Rebecca how she does it all and she directs a warm shout-out to Sonya and the team at the ECLC. “The ECLC directors, coordinators, and teachers are awesome. They take such good care of my daughter and all the children.” | |
LaGuardia Plugs into CHIPS Act | |
 | | Remember my August item about Kendall Claggett, the engineering major who did a summer internship at Global Foundries, the chip manufacturer in Malta, NY? Kendall was onto something – New York State’s emergence as a global leader in the semiconductor industry. I am convinced that LaGuardia students like Kendall – and not just engineering majors, but others as well – who are interested in advanced manufacturing should consider internships, jobs, and careers in the state’s growing semiconductor workforce. Fortunately, as we announced on October 3, we’ve been invited to participate in a new effort to prepare students to work in semiconductor manufacturing made possible by a recent $4.7 million grant to The New York Center for Research, Economic Advancement, Technology, Engineering, and Science (NY CREATES) from the National Science Foundation. The initiative seeks to address growing national demand for a skilled workforce in the semiconductor industry, a need highlighted by the U.S. CHIPS & Science Act and central to federal efforts to “re-shore” the production of those ubiquitous computer chips. Dr. Yves Ngabonziza, Professor and Director of the college’s Engineering Program, says this is the first time LaGuardia is participating in a semiconductor-related research grant. “Through this grant, the Engineering Program at LaGuardia will implement a fourfold approach to support semiconductor manufacturing, [including] curriculum development in our engineering labs, engineering faculty professional development with participation in a program at the Albany Nanotech Complex, student mentoring through research, and student experiential learning through bootcamps and summer research programs.”
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Professor Lisa DeSpain's Opera Premieres at Vanderbilt Opera Theatre | |
Before you conclude that we get misty-eyed over nanoelectronics let me remind you that our humanities programs are thriving. We continue to be the home, for example, of some of the best community college visual and performing arts programs in the region — Theater, Music Performance, Fine Arts, Photography, quickly come to mind. This unique feature of LaGuardia is thanks to our amazingly talented humanities faculty, members of which are often recognized in these pages. This month’s salute goes to Professor Lisa DeSpain, composer of opera, musical theatre, and concert works, and recipient of an OPERA America Discovery Award for Female Composers and an NEA-Challenge America Award, among others. Professor DeSpain has been down in Nashville lately, where the Vanderbilt Opera Theatre of The Vanderbilt University Blair School of Music presented her opera, Staggerwing, on October 3 and 4. Staggerwing tells the story of two female pilots, Louise Thaden and Blanche Noyes — contemporaries of Amelia Earhart — as they compete in (and win) the 1936 Bendix Trophy Air Race. Navigating physical risks, sabotage, personal tragedies, and a male-dominated field, the pilots persevere to shape the future of women in aviation. And all this set to music. Brava, Professor DeSpain! | |
Warm October Yields Bumper Crop at La Finca | |
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Last Wednesday we celebrated the grand opening of Finca La Florecita (Little Flower Farm), our new farm and research center behind the C-Building, on a vacant lot that was formerly a construction staging area. I emceed a ribbon-cutting ceremony that featured Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez, Miriam Ana Vilamil of the USDA, Qiana Mickie of the Mayor’s Office, and representatives of NYS Senator Kristen Gonzalez and NYC Council Member Julie Won. A Living Land Acknowledgement was offered by Sub-Chief Owl S. D. Smith, member of the Ramapough Lenape Nation of New York and New Jersey. The ribbon-cutting was followed by workshops led by LaGuardia faculty and community partners in flower pressing and dyeing, botanical illustration, soil building, indigenous agricultural wisdom, pollinator protection, and more.
Finca La Florecita is led by Dr. Preethi Radhakrishnan, professor and director of the college’s Environmental Science Program, with support from many others across the college. It serves as a research and learning lab for aspiring urban farmers and gardeners, offering get-your-hands-dirty experience in sustainable agriculture. Importantly, La Finca provides fresh produce to our LaGuardia CARES food pantry, which assists students and area residents suffering from food insecurity. “You couldn’t think of a better project in terms of hitting everything that’s important and beautiful about the work that we do in education and the work that we do at CUNY and LaGuardia,” said Chancellor Matos Rodríguez. For a short video that captures last week’s event click here.
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LaGuardia Donor Picks Up Tab for Student Shopping Spree at J. Crew | | |
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I make a deal with the members of the President’s Society: they agree to serve as college ambassadors, which includes meeting with donors to the Foundation and tolerating my harangues. In return, we (read Karen Dubinsky) provide them with bespoke career and personal development activities. The 2024-25 PS group includes twenty-eight student-ambassadors. Among their first events this fall was a visit to a J. Crew store in Manhattan, where they selected professional attire to wear to President’s Society cultural events, meetings with industry leaders, and job interviews. The afternoon shopping spree was generously underwritten by Melissa’s Career Closet. | |
KPMG Exes Share Career Histories with Students from Biz, Accounting | |
On October 16 KPMG Managing Director Vicki Anslyn and five of her colleagues spoke to LaGuardia students about careers in financial services. Anslyn’s expert panel included KPMG executives Louise Santacruz, Erik Lange, Leo Miranda, Joseph Gulino, and Ashley Broome, some of whom are CUNY alumni. They explained how their diverse education and career pathways got them to the jobs they have today at KPMG. The event was presented through the firm’s Reaching New Heights initiative, which, in addition to organizing career awareness panels, helps high school students prepare for college-level math, explore academic majors, and begin planning their careers. | |
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Surprise Halloween Visit to Childcare Center by College Admin | |
We’re not embarrassed to admit that around here we all love Halloween. Some of us even dress for the occasion. Last week we paid a visit to the Early Childhood Learning Center where we found the little ones (future LaGuardia students?) sitting quietly on the rug listening to VP of Student Affairs, Dr. Alexis McLean, read them a story. When she finished they showed off their Halloween attire, wondered who we were, and then wished us success in our campus trick-or-treating adventures. Boo! | | | | |
