CUNY Baccalaureate Commencement Speech

June 3, 2009

Marlaina Powell

Greetings Class of 2009! And a special greetings to all of the distinguished faculty, Mr. Kim J. Hartswick, academic advisor, our guests, family and friends that are here today. I’d like to take a moment to thank the many benefactors that make this CUNY education possible. I would especially like to thank Mr. Thomas W. Smith for his continued support of our program, his generosity, and for making a way for me and many other fellows to complete our education.  I am grateful and honored to be representing you this year as CUNY BA’s student speaker. It has been a long, long road.  As I reflect on the past four years of registration deadlines, deciding on a major, finding a mentor, the e-permits, the over tallies, the near nervous breakdown I had at the beginning of the spring semester, and the shrewd negotiation tactics necessary when dealing with the registrars office, at the start of EVERY semester. We, the graduates of CUNY BA are a strong bunch. I am confident that each one of you is ready to face the challenges of a very difficult time in our country as well as the possibility of an uncertain future.

Some say that we the class of 2009 have a lot to fear.  We are in a financial crisis, the worst since the Great Depression of the 1930’s. Experts say that there are no jobs for us. Foreclosures are at an all time high and unemployment is skyrocketing. We are still fighting a war that many question and to date have lost over 4,000 American soldiers. Many people are afraid. If they have a job, they are afraid of loosing it, and if they don’t have one, they worry about when they’ll get one. People are loosing their retirements because greedy CEO’s and investors have misappropriated company funds and 401k investments. People are afraid of not being able to send their children to college. We are afraid of the uncertainty of it all. Well I suppose we do have a lot to be afraid of, and despite its validity this thought gives me great pause, for I am well aware of the fact that fear is the root of our individual and collective ills.

So I’d like to ask each one of you, what are you afraid of really? It took me a long time to come up with an answer myself

When I think about the real reasons I returned to school almost five years ago, I am forced to reflect upon who I was at the time.  I was working as an actor and singer on Broadway. I had close friends. I had a pretty decent social life, and I had traveled a little bit. I was single and relatively happy. I was not however, satisfied with the fact that I had not finished college and that controlled many of the decisions I made. Looking back, I can see how very insecure I was. I was insecure because I knew that I was missing some of the fundamentals. I was insecure because most of my close friends finished college and even went on to graduate school. I was insecure because I knew that attending, and finishing college sets you apart from the crowd, for it is a fact that in America, a degree matters. College, as my husband would say, is about networking. People who go to college have a wider network of social, professional and political connections than people who do not. And, while this is all true, I still couldn’t bring myself to go back. I wanted to but I was afraid.

I was afraid that if I did in fact try again, I would fail. I kept thinking that the last time I tried; I had no money, and no support system. I was embarrassed because I was the only person in my circle of friends who had not finished college because of money. I never talked about it, and did not offer up information about whether I ever went to school or not. In other words, I did not lie, but I did not exactly tell the truth. It became easier to make excuses for myself, than to risk leaving a lucrative job to finish my education. I remember the day I made the decision to return to school. I had read the now famous excerpt from Nelson Mandela’s 1994 inaugural speech. This passage, written by Marianne Williamson, was hanging on the dressing room mirror of a coworker, and although I had seen it many times, its content, on this day, struck a chord.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light

not our darkness

that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves

Who am I to be

Brilliant

Gorgeous

Talented

And fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking

So that other people won’t feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.

It is not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.

And when we let our own light shine,

We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear,

Our presence automatically liberates others.

The moment I read this, I realized that it was fear that was keeping me from what I really wanted. I realized that I feared change. I feared the possibility of being uncomfortable, and not knowing the answer. I feared the unknown and the possibility of who I might be if I actually stepped out on faith and did what my heart was telling me to do. I feared what people might think. Moreover, I feared finding out that I really wasn’t worthy or able to keep up. I feared being the oldest person in my class (many times I was). I feared the possibility that some of my relationships might change (some did).  I feared the power that I had inside of me to change the course of my life. I was playing small. Ultimately, I feared not being the example I wanted to be for the children I would someday have. As it turns out, half way through my matriculation, my husband and I were blessed with our daughter, Sinclair. Although she is only two years old, and will not remember this day, I hope that because of what I did for myself, for her and our family she will be better for it. I hope that she will have an easier time in life because BOTH of her parents have an education. She won’t have to be afraid.

Again, I ask you, Class of 2009, what is it that you fear? What thoughts or beliefs might hold you back from creating a better destiny for yourself and our world?

I think this is the most important question we should ask ourselves today, our graduation day.  As we graduate into a new and higher place in our personal and professional lives, we must deal with those things that seek to hold us back. Unhealthy fear that is based in irrational thoughts or that magnify the anticipation of danger beyond what it realistic will cause great distress.  Fear rarely gets us to the root of our problems and keeps us further away from the solutions.  It holds us back from great things we might otherwise accomplish and do. When fear wins, we always loose. You need not look far to see the irreversible damage that fears causes.  Many of the world’s biggest human atrocities have been born out of fear: the institution of slavery, the Holocaust, genocide in Dafur, and even 9/11. The sad truth is that humankind, despite all of our advances, continues to allow fear to win when we have all the power to destroy it.

On January 20, 2009, we witnessed the historical inauguration of our first African- American president: Barak Obama. This marked a deeply profound turning point in our nation’s history as we moved past some of our collective fears that are inexplicably tied to our shameful past. I am glad that I live in a country that tries to overcome its demons.  I am proud that the people of this country were brave enough to move forward, letting go of fear. I am proud because on November 4, 2008 we made a decision not to be afraid. And so today, June 3, 2009, we the class of 2009 must make a decision. We must decide as individuals, to go the roads not yet traveled. We must choose to create our own way, a better way. We must choose to make new doors to open, instead of trying to open those that remain closed. We must stand up to the powers that seek to destroy. We must stand up to inequality in our schools, race and gender bias on our jobs, and religious persecution of any kind. We must face our own fears and stare them down.  We must not be afraid. I believe that when we confront our own fears, be it our fears about our self worth, or race, or gender, or religion, our education or lack of, we can open the doors to eradicating those fears and begin to make way for true enlightenment and self-fulfillment.  In closing, I’d like to leave you with the words of our great President, and defining figure in American History Franklin Delano Roosevelt from his 1933 inaugural speech. He said,  This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself-nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. Thank you and God bless you.

Listen to the podcast of Marlaina’s speech here.

CUNY Baccalaureate Commencement Speech-June 3, 2009

Mohamad Bazzi

Thank you very much for that kind introduction President Kelly, and for having me here today. I’m honored to be speaking at my alma mater.

I’d like to share a story with you that took place in October 2003 when I was the Middle East bureau chief at Newsday. I was travelling from Amman, the Jordanian capital, to Baghdad.

Back then, the airport in Baghdad had not yet reopened to civilians. The best way to get to Baghdad was to drive for 12 hours from Amman. I had made this trip a half dozen times since the US invasion in April 2003, and I knew how essential it was to have a good driver. On this particular trip, I was quite happy with the driver I had hired.

About halfway through the drive, we were approaching Ramadi and then Fallujah. Both cities later became centers of the Iraqi insurgency. We were on a comfortable six-lane highway that was built by Saddam Hussein in the 1980s.

The biggest problem on this road was bandits. They figured out that many foreigners were coming in and out of Iraq after the invasion. Foreigners were carrying computers, cameras, satellite phones, and most important of all-a lot of cash. At this point, the banks in Iraq were not functioning. No travelers’ checks. No wire transfers.

Journalists and aid workers had to bring in thousands of dollars at a time. On this trip, I was carrying about $12,000 in cash. I was going to be in Iraq for two months and I had to keep the small Newsday bureau there running.

The bandits-the Iraqis called them Ali Babas-had lookouts on the highway overpasses and the rest stops. They would try to pinpoint cars that had foreigners in them and could be lucrative targets.

You would be in an old GMC Suburban that can do 90 or 100 miles an hour. But the bandits would be in BMWs that could do 120 miles an hour. They would chase you and cut you off with two or three cars.

My driver, Khalid, told me that a week earlier he was driving a group of German aid workers who were chased and robbed by bandits.

As we neared Ramadi-we both got tense-Khalid reached over, and opened the glove compartment. He took out a grenade. He put it next to him on the seat.

He saw that I looked concerned. So he said, “This is only in case the Ali Babas chase us.”

He thought that would make me feel better.

I asked, “What exactly are you planning to do with this?”

“Well,” he said, “if we see one of these cars creeping up behind us, I’m going to pull the window down, stick the grenade out and show them that I mean business.”

I didn’t think that was a good idea at all. I pointed out that the Ali Babas have AK-47s and there will be a lot more of them than the two of us.

“Once I show them the grenade, you’ll see they’ll leave us alone.”

“What if they don’t?” I asked.

“Well, then I’ll take the pin out of the grenade, stick it out of the window again, and that will show them that I really mean business.”

So we went back and forth for 10 or 15 minutes. For the most part, I kept calm trying to convince him that this was a really bad idea. At that point, the Ali Babas were not killing people, only robbing them. I tried to convince Khalid that the grenade was much more likely to instigate them than it was to scare them off.

Finally, when I pointed out that if he threw the grenade the wrong way, it could destroy his beloved car-with us inside it-he relented and put the grenade back in the glove compartment. Fortunately, we made it the rest of the way to Baghdad without incident.

I tell this story because-as cliche as it might sound-sometimes you have to be prepared for completely unexpected things. There I was, on the road to Baghdad having to talk a driver twice my age into putting away a live grenade. No one really teaches you these things.

I also share this story today because I believe that all of you CUNY Baccalaureate graduates have known-and will know-how to react when you encounter your own version of this story, whatever form it might take. You know how to think on your feet, to handle enormous pressure, and to deal with the unexpected.

I’m not going to present you with a cliche list that you should take with you as newly minted graduates, or to share pearls of wisdom about how you can survive in the “real world.” You’ve all been living in that real world.

CUNY as a whole-and the CUNY BA program in particular-is unique in the way that its graduates are often driven by their life experiences to pursue their education. All of you had a major share of the responsibility for the content of your CUNY Baccalaureate degree. It takes guts to design some of those areas of concentration, and to get them past the CUNY BA staff!

I also don’t want to present an entirely rosy picture of our world today. This is a difficult time. The US economy is in terrible shape: housing values have plummeted, foreclosures are rising, unemployment is nearing double digits.

But let me remind you that many of you have overcome incredible obstacles in order to graduate today. Keep in mind that your personal experience and struggles are a tremendous source of strength. They will make you more creative-and give you an edge over those who might not have had to struggle in the same way.

I graduated from the CUNY Baccalaureate program 12 years ago. When I entered the program, I was already working in journalism, freelancing for community papers in Queens and later for Newsday, but I decided that I wanted a different area of concentration: urban studies. I was a Thomas Smith Academic Fellow. I took courses at four different campuses, and at every one I found dedicated faculty members who were eager to work with me. I co-authored a study with one of my mentors, Professor Philip Kasinitz, which was later published in a national journal. Professor Kasinitz would tease me that I was the first undergraduate with whom he had ever agreed to share an author credit.

I had an undergraduate experience that was unique to CUNY-being able to tap into the resources of this great university, in this great city. I could not have done this anywhere else.

Attending CUNY instilled in me a sense of social responsibility-as I know it has for many of you here today.

How do I know that? You only need to leaf through today’s graduation program to see the range of CUNY Baccalaureate students who managed to fit some form of social justice or awareness into an area of concentration. Some of you are already working-or soon will be-in social service careers: as counselors, social workers, and teachers.

Whatever you do, you’ll need to have a keen sense of empathy and compassion for others, especially in these difficult times. During the six years I spent covering conflict in the Middle East, I always tried to portray in my articles what it was like to be a civilian trapped by war.

I was attuned to that because I had grown up during the Lebanese civil war, and I often felt trapped in Beirut. As a civilian, without a foreign passport, you’re stranded. This is the one feeling that’s the most difficult for foreign correspondents to understand. Your passport is your ticket out if things get very bad. But the civilians have to stay behind.

It’s always sobering to run into the limitations of your profession. Be prepared for that. And be ready to re-invent yourself over the course of your career.

I love journalism. I’ve been doing it since I was in middle school. But over the past few years, I’ve had to move away from newspaper reporting-people say it’s a dying industry. I’ve had to reinvent myself as a teacher of journalism, a political analyst, and a researcher. I miss the rush of daily newspaper reporting; sometimes I even miss talking a stranger into putting away his gun or a grenade.

Jimmy Breslin, my friend at Newsday and one of the greatest columnists in the history of American journalism, once explained the importance of doing what you love far better than I could. He wrote after finding his perfect job: “I busted out of the place in a hurry and went to a saloon and drank beer and said that for the rest of my life I’d never take a job in a place where you couldn’t throw cigarette butts on the floor. I was hooked on this writing for newspapers and magazines.”

That’s the message I’d like to leave you with today: there’s going to be setbacks and unexpected twists. You may never find a job where you can throw your cigarette butts on the floor like Jimmy Breslin. But try to have a high tolerance for the pain. Be willing to adapt, and use everything that you’ve learned at CUNY and from your rich life experience to do the things that you love.

Thank you again for having me. And congratulations to all of you in the class of 2009.

Listen to the podcast of Mohamad’s speech here

It was a joyous occasion in which each graduate was recognized by coming on stage to receive the degree. Several faculty mentors were on hand, as was the CUNY BA/BS staff and many campus coordinators.

Board of Trustees Member Wellington Z. Chen brought greetings on behalf CUNY; Vice Chancellor for Student Development, Garrie S. Moore, did the same.

Wellington Chen (Member, CUNY Board of Trustees)

Garrie W. Moore (Vice Chancellor for Student Development)

At the ceremony, the following students received awards and scholarships:

The Abby Stein Scholarship was awarded to B. Diane Gibson (Criminology). Diane started college in 1965 but only attended briefly. She returned to college – Baruch – in 1991, starting in remedial math. In 1993, she was accepted to CUNY Baccalaureate, and, taking one course every semester since (16 years!) she graduated this June. Her goal is to work as a case worker with young felons, ex-offenders in the mental health system or the developmentally disabled. Gibson will be the first college graduate in her family.

Diane Gibson (Criminology, June 2009 Graduate) receives the Abby Stein Award

The Dan Daley Journalism Award was presented to Azriel Relph (International Relations / Journalism). Four years ago, at the age of 25, Azriel decided to go to college and enrolled in Borough of Manhattan Community College, then CUNY Baccalaureate, where he discovered his passion for writing. He has been accepted to three Journalism graduate schools: Columbia, NYU, and CUNY. He chose the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism which he will attend as a Sulzberger Scholar, saying “it would have felt great to go to an Ivy League school but the cutting edge curriculum at CUNY Journalism, combined with my CUNY Baccalaureate degree, will take me much farther.” He is a Summa cum Laude graduate and the first CUNY BA/BS graduate accepted to CUNY’s new journalism school.

Azriel Relph (International Relations/Journalism, June 2009 Graduate) receives the Dan Daley Journalism Award

The Susan Palmer-Van Brackle Award was given to Rebecca Journey (International Affairs / Comparative Literature). Rebecca’s academic interests include human rights, oral history, trauma and memory, literary theory, linguistics, visual culture, modernist and postcolonial literature, and international law. She is an intern at UNICEF, where she recently had several articles on human rights published. Rebecca has been accepted to the Master’s program in Oral History at Columbia University, a highly competitive, selective program.

Rebeca Journey (International Affairs/Comparative Literature, June 2009 Graduate) receives the Susan Palmer-Van Brackle Award

The Nan Bauer-Maglin Prize in Literary Studies was awarded to Giuseppina Di Lena (Italian Language and Literature / 20th Century American Literature). Giuseppina, an immigrant from Italy, says her mother never learned to read and write, and her father never finished the fourth grade, yet on her own she became a voracious reader. After winning money on an Italian TV game show similar to Jeopardy, she moved to New York, and after her 40th birthday enrolled in college to study Italian and American Literature. She currently works for the NYC Department of Education. Her goal is to pursue a Master’s in Library Science and become a children’s librarian. She graduated Summa cum Laude.

Giuseppina Di Lena (Italian Language and Literature/20th Century American Literature, January 2009 Graduate) receives the Nan Bauer-Maglin Prize in Literary Studies

The Barbara Kneller Memorial Award was given to Katherine Daya Bill (Urban Sustainability).  Daya is interested in local policies that respond to the challenges of globalization and climate change to build healthier urban economies and environments. She has been accepted to Rutger University’s Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy.

Katherine Daya Bill (Urban Sustainability, January 2009) receives the Barbara Kneller Award, presented by Beth Kneller (Deputy Director)

The four recipients of the CUNY Baccalaureate Alumni Awards were:

Charles Greene (Human Services: Alcohol and Substance Abuse Counseling), formerly incarcerated for 15 years under New York’s Rockefeller laws, Charles now a Case Worker in the Young Fathers Program at Claremont Neighborhood Centers. Charles, a Summa cum Laude graduate, has been accepted to Hunter’s School of Social Work.

Charles Greene (Human Services: Alcohol and Substance Abuse Counseling, January 2009)

Frank Jefferson (Public Policy) spent the last 14 years raising money in support of public health programs and returned to college to prepare to be a public health leader instead. Saying he owes his success to CUNY Baccalaureate, Frank’s undergraduate study included in-depth research into the health challenges of sexual minority communities. He will be continuing his work at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.

Frank Jefferson (Public Policy, June 2009; Student Member, University Committee) receives an Alumni Award

Tyleen Kelly (Literature / Theatre) attributes her academic success to working closely with a faculty mentor, being able to take courses at both Hunter and City, and having access to graduate-level education. Her significant work in the studies of science and theatre in Victorian literature led to her acceptance to the Master’s program at Oxford University (where she has already presented one paper), and the University of California-Berkeley for her Ph.D. in English.

Tyleen Kelly (Literature/Theatre, June 2009 Graduate; Student Member, University Committee)

Rachel Klapper (Journalism and International Affairs / Holocaust Representation), a student in the CUNY Macaulay Honors College, is a published writer and activist who says she has been “deeply affected by CUNY BA/BS’s interdisciplinary academic mission.” She has been accepted to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem where she will pursue a Master’s in Society and Politics in Israel.

Rachel Klapper (Journalism and International Affairs/Holocaust Representation, June 2009 Graduate) receives and Alumni Award

The Keynote Commencement Speech was given by Journalist Mohamad Bazzi,  a 1997 graduate of CUNY Baccalaureate, is assistant professor of journalism at New York University.  He was the 2007-08 Edward R. Murrow Press Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations; from 2003 until 2007 he was the Middle East bureau chief at Newsday, based in Beirut and responsible for covering the Arab world.  He was the lead writer on the Iraq war and its aftermath, setting up Newsday bureaus in Baghdad and Beirut.

You can listen to Mohamad’s speech here

Mohamad Bazzi (Journalist, CUNY BA Alumnus)

The Commencement Speech on Behalf of the Faculty Mentors was given by Professor Pamela S. Falk, Distinguished Lecturer of Political Science and International Law at Hunter College, where she teaches international relations and American foreign policy courses and is the faculty advisor for Hunter College’s Model U.N. Team.

You can listen to Prof. Falk’s speech here

Prof. Pamela S. Falk (Political Science, Hunter College)

The Commencement Speech on Behalf of the Graduates was given by Marlaina Powell, a June 2009 graduate (Area of Concentration: Performing Arts), and Broadway actor who hopes to go on to graduate school in Performance Studies.

You can listen to Marlaina’s speech here

Marliana Powell (Performing Arts, June 2009 Graduate)

Speaking on behalf of the 400+ faculty who serve as mentors to CUNY BA/BS students will be Pamela S. Falk, Professor of Political Science, Hunter College.

On behalf of the graduating students, Marlaina Powell, a BA candidate for June 2009 who studied Performing Arts, will speak.

Other speakers will include CUNY Board of Trustees member Wellington Z. Chen, Vice Chancellor for Student Development Garrie Moore, and CUNY BA/BS Academic Director Kim J. Hartswick.

To sign up to attend Commencement, visit this link:

http://web.gc.cuny.edu/cunyba/commencement.html

The deadline is approaching!  And the $10 late fee is waived!

http://web.gc.cuny.edu/cunyba/commencement.html

The registration form for FACULTY who have students graduating and would like to attend the commencement can be found here:

faculty-staff-order-form-for-cuny-ba-commencement

117 graduating students attended the 36^th commencement exercises of the CUNY Baccalaureate for Unique and Interdisciplinary Studies on Monday, June 9, 2008 as did hundreds of their friends and families, not just from the metropolitan region, but from all over the U.S. (including the Virgin Islands), and from countries around the world: Antigua, Australia, Barbuda/Dominica, Belize, Ecuador, England, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Israel, Jamaica, and Trinidad.

It was a joyous occasion in which each graduate was recognized by coming on stage to receive the degree. Several faculty mentors were on hand, as was the CUNY BA staff and many campus coordinators. At the ceremony, the following students received awards and scholarships:

The Abby Stein Scholarship was awarded to Susan Ryan (English / Legal Studies)

The Dan Daley Journalism Award was presented to Susan Hill (Urban Community Planning / Literary Journalism)

The Nan Bauer-Maglin Prize in Literary Studies was awarded to Kelly Gola (Psychology and Literature)

The Barbara Kneller Memorial Award was given to Patricia D’Agosta (Art History)

Alumni Awards were given to Saundra Ayala (Ancient Mediterranean Art History), Sharif Corinaldi (Physics), and Sara Ingram (Disability Studies)

EXCERPT: KEYNOTE COMMENCEMENT SPEECH, JOURNALIST JOHN HOCKENBERRY

Listen to Hockenberry’s speech here:http://www1.cuny.edu/portal_ur/news/radio/podcast/lecture_133.mp3

Wow, you design your own curriculum and you have the highest grade point average?! Who would ever have thought?! Shhh don’t tell anyone. Let’s keep it a secret!

Surveying the 2008 graduating class of the CUNY Baccalaureate, four-time Emmy award-winning journalist John Hockenberry called the students a paparazzi of hope, a press corps of promises and urged them to think outside the box when choosing careers. Hockenberry said he had no idea what he wanted to be when he was in college but knew he hungered and thirsted for putting knowledge together in ways that maybe weren’t the preconceived categories at the University of Chicago; he wanted to study both advanced mathematics and music, which, despite raising eyebrows at the time, he came to learn was established as its own unified science in the 5^th Century BC by Pythagoras. He referred to interdisciplinary studies not as rebellion, but as a return to the way learning works. Rebel is not a rejection of what is but an affirmation of what might be. You created your own curricula and you are part of an extraordinary tradition at an extraordinary moment in history. Despite the students’ efforts at creating their own paths, he added, “Don’t for a moment think you know now where your impact will be; roll the dice.”

EXCERPT: COMMENCEMENT GREETINGS, PROF. JOHN KRINSKY, POLITICAL SCIENCE, CCNY

Graduates, if some significant percentage of you are anything like the couple of you I know well, you are a remarkable bunch. You have arrived through numerous paths, but all of you have decided, in one way or another, to stray from the prescribed paths that faculty committees, through the application of years of experience, wisdom, and scholarship, hours of hard work, bargaining, and occasional conflict, have designated as majors across the colleges of this university. You have decided not to follow these leads, and design your own majors. Now, that’s either very presumptuous or it suggests that you have your own intellectual projects: things that keep you up at night, talking to yourself on the sidewalk, or just eager to tackle in whatever class you may be in. If you’re anything like the few students here I’ve gotten to know well, this thing, this project, is something that will last well beyond your college career, and is, perhaps already your life’s work. If you’re anything like the few students here I’ve gotten to know well, this project has a lot to do with making the world a better place. With reducing or mediating conflict; making human relations less violent and less lethal. With promoting real understanding through listening to those to whom we’d often rather not listen. And with promoting justice, as well. Perhaps you’ve taken a different tack on a similar theme: for example, trying to find ways to reduce global poverty or disease, working toward environmentally and socially sustainable development.

These things should keep you up at night, and muttering to yourself on the street! They’re worth it, and it’s to your credit that you’ve recognized this, and recognized that understanding something more systematically about the way the world works takes pursuing these questions across a range of constituted academic disciplines and pursuing them as deeply as possible. But you also know that you can’t do everything on your own. That’s why the CUNY BA is so terrific. In many respects, I think I’ve gained as much or more from being a mentor as my mentees have gained from talking with me. I come out of meetings with my own batteries charged, a sense of possibility restored by the enthusiasm and seriousness of the students. I should emphasize, too, that in addition to being intellectually driven, you have had the help not only of your own mentors, but of the faculty of the CUNY colleges. And, as a mentor to several driven students, I’d like to thank the other mentors and the other faculty in the University full-time and adjunct, junior and senior, who have helped you, graduates, pursue your own projects with as much seriousness as you apply to them yourself.

EXCERPT: COMMENCEMENT GREETINGS, EASTER WOOD, JUNE 2008 GRADUATE

Alaafia! Buenos dias! Ekaro! Bonjour! Nmen zao! Boker tov! Salaam! Konnichi wa! Mudobo! Bom dia! Mema mo akye! good morning and blessed greetings to all the distinguished guests on and off the stage, friends, and family.

Our Director, Dr. Hartswick, mentioned some of the many locales that we hail from. I myself am a third generation native New Yorker. We could not have ended up in a better place than CUNY BA, sharing in a common destiny that includes a vast array of scholarship and a rich tapestry of life experience. I must say that I’m honored and delighted to have been chosen to speak on behalf of such a diverse and multi-talented group of individuals.

It is here that I pause to say adupe, obrigada – thank you – to the many wonderful people at CUNY BA who have helped us get to this day. Dr. Hartswick once joked that every CUNY BA graduate should get an honorary degree in public administration because, while creating an individualized degree seems like a neat little idea, there’s a sea of paperwork not to mention e-permits to navigate. We couldn’t have done it without the dedication of our directors, registrars, academic advisors and everyone at CUNY BA. I offer kudos to each and every graduate, as, although we had help, it was US who ultimately circumvented, surmounted and in some cases bulldozed any obstacles that stood in the way of us achieving our goals. I also offer special recognition to those who are graduating today after having been out of school for some time. The Yoruba people of Nigeria say that “The person who waits for a perfect opportunity will wait a life-time” while there might not have ever been a perfect time to return to school we were, in fact, fortunate that it didn’t take lifetime to find the perfect opportunity in CUNY BA.

A CUNY education was once free but alas that is no longer the case. Thankfully, we at CUNY BA are surrounded by a host of wonderful benefactors, and so I’d also like to take this opportunity to personally thank Thomas W. Smith and the many others who have so generously contributed to helping me and many of my fellow students to achieve our dreams. Next, I must offer a collective meda ase, shukran “thank you” the more than 400 faculty mentors who have worked tirelessly with us to make sure that there was always some method to our madness. Special thanks to my mentor, Dr. Jo-Ann Hamilton for the dedication and maternal understanding she has shown me over the past 2 years. We are also thankful to all of the professors who have not officially served as mentors, but who have imparted the knowledge and guidance we needed to arrive here. Last, but certainly not least I offer merci beaucoup, sas efharisto poli, many thanks – to my parents and to all the family members and friends present who have stood by our sides offering encouragement, shoulders to cry on and urging us on when it felt like we couldn’t read another line, write another paper or talk to another professor about overtallying us in since the class we needed was full by the time the e-permit went through.

As I’ve studied history, particularly that of the African Diaspora, I’m keenly aware of the ways in which ugly events of the past can reinvent themselves despite progress. For the first time in history, we have an African descended person who has won the nomination of a major party and who has real shot at becoming the president of the United States yet, in the midst of this monumental event, we see the continuation of a genocidal campaign in progress in the Darfur region of Sudan that has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of African people. For the first time in history, we had a woman candidate with the real potential to win the presidency yet, at the same time, in many places the world over  including right here in America many women continue to endure oppressions like sexual violence and lack of access to education. These are but two examples of the intense juxtapositions we face in the 21^st century. While, indeed, we recognize and celebrate the positive happenings in our world, we must also be aware of the negative, take an active stand, and not turn a blind eye when we are witness to so much needless suffering around us. As so eloquently put by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.

It is said that to whom much is given much is expected; we have been given a lot and have gained immeasurably from our experiences here at CUNY BA and now is the time to give back what is expected by being successful and productive members of society. May this be the beginning of many triumphs, successes and blissful moments to come! Ashe!

Journalist John Hockenberry to speak

Time and Place: Monday, June 9, 10:30 am, The Great Hall at The Cooper Union, 7 East 7th St. at Third Avenue (the Foundation Building), Manhattan

Graduates: 250

Speaker: John Hockenberry, three-time Peabody Award winner, four-time Emmy award winner and Dateline NBC correspondent; now co-host of an NPR morning news program, “The Takeaway”

Faculty speaker: Professor John Krinsky, Associate Professor of Political Science, City College

Student speaker: Easter Z. Wood (Area of Concentration: The African Diaspora in the Americas)

The CUNY Baccalaureate for Unique and Interdisciplinary Studies (CUNY BA), administered by the CUNY Graduate Center, is a university-wide individualized bachelor’s degree where students work one-on-one with faculty. This small program, with an annual enrollment of 600, is intended for self-directed, academically strong students who have well-formulated academic and career goals. Most are working adults, many of whom are raising families; 80% are over 25 years old (49% are over 35 years old); and a significant number are returning to school, often after a hiatus of anywhere from 5 to 30 years. Since its inception in 1971, over 6000 students have earned their degrees through this route; almost 50% have gone on to graduate school.

Four students have received major graduate school fellowships: Aaron Brower will attend Harvard Divinity School with a Presidential Scholarship – free tuition plus a $20,000 stipend; Sharif Corinaldi will attend the University of California/Berkeley for a Ph.D. in Physics/Quantum Information and Computation with the Chancellor’s Fellowship five years of free tuition plus a $25,000 stipend; Corey Lamont will attend Howard University for a Ph.D. in English with the Frederick Douglass Fellowship – five years of free tuition plus an $18,000 stipend; and Diana Kachan, a 2008 Jonas E. Salk Scholar, will attend the University of Miami School of Medicine for an M.D./Ph.D. with a Dean’s Fellowship, covering four years of the medical degree.

117 students will participate in the ceremony, during which several scholarships will be awarded. Guests are coming from all over the U.S. including the Virgin Islands, as well as Antigua, Australia, Barbuda, Belize, The Canary Islands, Dominica, Ecuador, England, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Israel, Jamaica, and Trinidad.

CAPS AND GOWNS MUST BE PICKED UP AS FOLLOWS:

Where: CUNY BA/BS office, 365 Fifth Avenue, Suite 6412 (between 34th and 35th Streets). Please bring your photo ID.

When: Wednesday, May 28, 9:00am – 7:00pm

Thursday, May 29, 9:00am – 4:45pm

BRING A BAG TO CARRY YOUR ATTIRE HOME.

CAPS AND GOWNS CANNOT BE PICKED UP ON THE DAY OF COMMENCEMENT – NO EXCEPTIONS!

You may have a friend or relative pick up the attire for you if necessary. That person should bring a letter signed by you giving permission to take your attire. They will need I.D. to enter the building.

For students who have their own attire: you must pick up your tassel and stole at the CUNY BA/BS office on the days noted above.

IF YOU FORGET TO BRING YOUR CAP AND GOWN TO COMMENCEMENT, YOU WILL NOT BE PERMITTED TO MARCH!

REHEARSAL: Prior to the ceremony, at 9:30am, there will be a required rehearsal for all graduates to be held at The Cooper Union in the Wollman Lounge, located on the ground floor of the Engineering Building, 51 Astor Place, between Third and Fourth Avenues. Please be on time. This location is across the street from where the ceremony will actually be held (The Great Hall). Your guests should go to 7 East 7th Street at Third Avenue (the Foundation Building); you should arrive at 51 Astor Place

Other Details

ALUMNI, HIDALGO, and other SCHOLARSHIPS: The deadline to apply is May 14. The information about the scholarships is under Commencement at www.cunyba.cuny.edu. NB: You can apply for the scholarship to CUNY BA by the May 14 deadline even if you have not yet heard from graduate schools with your acceptance, however, in order to receive the scholarship, you must submit proof of acceptance by May 26, when the scholarships recipients will be decided.

ATTIRE: Please wear only the black cap, black gown, red tassel, and red stole that are part of this ceremony. Refrain from wearing stoles, medals, tassels, pins, etc. from other institutions and other ceremonies (including honor societies), as well as flowers, corsages, or other decorations. Our goal is to have our graduates look the same; you are differentiated by the concentrations and awards we announce as you cross the stage.

BAG CHECK: We cannot provide bag check facilities. Please do not bring anything with you that you can’t carry in the procession.

BICYCLES: There are no provisions made at The Great Hall for bicycles.

BREAKFAST: Will not be provided. Please eat before you arrive.

CHILDREN: Do you want to hear babies crying during your commencement, or would you rather hear words of praise from CUNY faculty and others? Childcare arrangements are NOT available; children under 16 are welcome as long as they remain with a responsible adult (other than yourself) for the entire ceremony. Guests are asked to please take crying/agitated children out of the auditorium promptly. Do your best to arrange to leave toddlers and infants at home with a babysitter if at all possible.

CEREMONY/RECEPTION: The ceremony will begin at 10:30am sharp and last approximately 90 minutes. A light reception of fruit and cheese will follow at The Cooper Union.

CLASS RINGS: You may order a CUNY Baccalaureate ring through the Balfour company, 1-877-225-3687. Be sure to specify “CUNY Baccalaureate Program” when you call. Can only be purchased by phone.

CUNY BA MERCHANDISE FOR SALE: For the first time, we have made arrangements for students, alumni, faculty, etc. to purchase various items with our (new!) logo. Go to http://www.cafepress.com/cunyba where you can purchase t-shirts, sweatshirts, mouse pads, mugs, notepads, tote bags and baseball hats, all quality materials with the CUNY Baccalaureate for Unique and Interdisciplinary Studies logo! Not only is each item reasonably priced, but 10% of each sale directly benefits the CUNY BA Alumni Fund (which supports Alumni Scholarships and other alumni activities).

DIPLOMAS: Diplomas will NOT be distributed at the ceremony. June 2008 diplomas will be available by October; Sept. 2008 diplomas will be available by December. You will be contacted with instructions on how to receive your diploma when they arrive in the Program office.

DIRECTIONS TO THE GREAT HALL AT THE COOPER UNION, 7 East 7th Street at Third Avenue (in the Foundation Building):

By car:

From the West Side of upper Manhattan, Cooper Union is best reached by driving south on the West Side Highway to 56th Street and continuing south on 12th Avenue (which becomes West Street). At 12th Street, turn left and take 12th Street to Third Avenue. Turn right on Third and drive to Cooper Square, which begins at 7th Street.

From the East Side of Manhattan, Cooper Union is best reached by taking the East River Drive to Exit 6 (East 15th Street). Take 14th Street Westbound to Second Avenue. Turn left (south) on Second Avenue and drive to East 7th Street. Make a right on to East 7th Street and drive one block to Cooper Square.

There is limited street and garage parking in the area.

By bus: Take any of the following buses and ask the driver to let you off nearest Astor Place or Cooper Square: The M1 (5th and Madison Avenues), the M15 (First and Second Avenues), the M6 (7th Avenue/Broadway and Avenue of the Americas), the M101 or M102 (Third and Lexington Avenues).

By subway: Take the R or N (BMT Lines) subway to 8th Street, or take the No. 6 (IRT Lexington Avenue Local) to Astor Place.

FACULTY MENTORS: Faculty mentors have been invited, but please extend a personal invitation to your mentor(s). Mentors interested in participating in the ceremony should contact Lidija Markes, Commencement Assistant at 212-817-8223, lmarkes@gc.cuny.edu

GRADUATES/GUESTS WHO REQUIRE SPECIAL ASSISTANCE:  Contact Lidija Markes by May 26.

GREAT HALL HISTORY: The historic Great Hall has been an important gathering space since it was inaugurated by Mark Twain in 1859. It was the platform for some of the earliest workers’ rights campaigns and for the birth of the NAACP, the women’s suffrage movement, and the American Red Cross. Presidents Lincoln, Grant, Cleveland, Taft, Theodore Roosevelt, Wilson, and Clinton all delivered speeches there.

GUESTS: Ask your guests to arrive at The Great Hall, 7 East 7th Street at Third Avenue, by 10:15am sharp (the ceremony will begin at 10:30am sharp). Guests will be seated starting at 9:15am (no earlier). Seating is NOT assigned for guests; it is on a first-come, first-served basis. Picture-taking during the ceremony will be permitted, but guests will not be allowed to block any aisles while doing so. Please let your guests know this in advance.

HONORS AND AWARDS: If you have not already done so, or if you have more to add, please provide us with a detailed list of honors you have received (special awards, citations, scholarships and so forth). A selection of these will be read at Commencement. Email your information to Lmarkes@gc.cuny.edu or fax it to 212-817-1512.

INCOMPLETE COURSES: If you find that you must take an “Incomplete” in one or more of your final courses, you may still join us for the ceremony!

NAMES: Dr. Kim Hartswick will announce your name as you walk across the stage to receive your degree. If you believe your name may be difficult to pronounce, please mail us a phonetic spelling of it and give us a number were we can reach you at during the day. Please bring that phonetic spelling with you to rehearsal as well.

PARKING: Rates are listed for weekdays without tax (18.25%), evenings and weekends are slightly higher. Parking rates can change without notice, so be sure that you verify the rate before leaving your car.

AMAL CORP
14 East 1st Street (420-0753)
Up to 30 minutes – $3.81; 12 hours – $8.46

COOPER SQUARE PARKING GROUP
10-12 Cooper Square
Up to 1 hour – $5.07
12 hours – $9.30; 24 hours – $11.84

MINETTA GARAGE 122 West 3rd Street (777-3530)
Up to 1 hour – $11; 8 hours – $18; 12 hours – $24; 24 hours – $32 Early Bird rate – $13
(in before 10am, out before 5pm)

TRAVELERS GARAGE 160 W 10th Street (929-3041)
Up to 1 hour – $11; 8 hours – $18; 24 hours – $32; Early Bird rate – $13
(in before 10am, out before 5pm)

WASHINGTON SQUARE 2 Fifth Avenue (888-7400)
enter 8th Street between 5th Avenue and MacDougal Street
Up to 1 hour – $10; 2 hours – $15; 3 hours – $17; 10 hours – $18; 24 Hours – $30; Early Bird rate – $12 (in before 11am, out before 7pm)

PETS: With the exception of guide dogs, pets are not permitted.

PHOTOS: We have arranged for a professional photographer from Chappell Studio to take your photograph as you receive your diploma. There is no obligation to purchase. Chappell Studio (www.chappell.com) guarantees complete satisfaction with your photograph package or you’ll receive a full refund. Chappell will e-mail you a link to online photo storage where you can access your photos. You will have the option of ordering from a variety of enlargement packages at reasonable prices. Students registered for commencement can preregister their email, and friends’ and family’s email addresses (up to 6) and Chappell Graduation Images will contact them as soon as their photos are available for online viewing and ordering. To register for this service, go to http://www.gradimages.com/Register.cfm

Your cooperation will help the day run more smoothly.

IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS, please call or email Ms. Lidija Markes, Commencement Assistant, at (212) 817-8223 or lmarkes@gc.cuny.edu. She is generally available in the CUNY BA/BS office on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9am-5pm. If you get the automated recording on her phone, speak slowly and clearly and leave a detailed message, along with your full name, your phone number, and the best times to reach you.