The City University of New York celebrated and expressed deep appreciation to MacKenzie Scott after the author and philanthropist announced on Tuesday that two CUNY colleges were among recipients of financial gifts to organizations and institutions supporting those that have been hardest hit by the pandemic. Both Borough of Manhattan Community College and Lehman College received $30 million, each gift among the largest in the University’s history.
“On behalf of the CUNY community, I thank MacKenzie Scott for recognizing the role we play in providing an accessible onramp to the middle class for all New Yorkers,” said Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez. “This groundbreaking gift will allow the nation’s largest urban public university to continue to fulfill its mission as an unparalleled engine for upward social mobility at a time when people are turning to CUNY to get back on their feet. A gift of this size as we turn the page on such a challenging year brings us renewed hope for the opportunities it will create in the months and years ahead.”
In the essay that announced her generous gifts totaling more than $4.1 billion in recent months, Scott outlined the process by which her team of advisers selected the recipients, noting that they were chosen in part because of their strong governance and history of working on the frontlines to provide resources to vulnerable populations from underserved communities, work that has become even more vital this year.
The CUNY colleges were among 384 recipients selected from a total field of 6,490 organizations, wrote Scott, who relied on hundreds of field experts, funders and nonprofit leaders to pare down her list, measuring program outcomes and assessing the organizations’ ability to make effective use of the funding. The gifts were on top of $1.7 billion that Scott gave to 111 nonprofits and institutions earlier in the year.
“These incredible gifts are a clear signal that the message about CUNY’s value-proposition – academic excellence, affordability, social mobility, and commitment to social justice – is resonating in the philanthropic community nationally and outside our traditional circle of supporters,” added Chancellor Matos Rodríguez. “I invite other philanthropists committed to these values dear to CUNY and myself, to take a look at the transformational nature of the work going on across our 25 colleges.”
The gifts build on the recent successes at both institutions, who together serve 40,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Lehman College,CUNY’s only majority-Hispanic senior college, has been ranked by the American Council on Education as first in the nation among designated Hispanic Serving Institutions for helping students improve their academic standing through education. Borough of Manhattan Community College, the largest of CUNY’s colleges, was named this year one of 10 national finalists for the 2021 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, the nation’s signature recognition of high achievement and performance among community colleges.
“On behalf of the entire Lehman College community, we are deeply grateful to Ms. MacKenzie Scott for this extremely generous gift that will enable the college to further its mission as a catalytic anchor institution in the Bronx,” said Lehman College President Daniel Lemons. “The gift is transformative and comes to the college because of Lehman’s track record of outstanding advancement of social mobility for our students, a record that exists through the long-standing efforts on our students’ behalf by every part of the college.”
“Our institution prides itself on altering the lives of our students in ways that will help them obtain career training, obtain their dream of earning a degree and moving up the socioeconomic ladder,” said Borough of Manhattan Community College President Anthony E. Munroe. “Our students have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. This gift will have generational and exponential impact on our students and BMCC institution’s ability to create new models and innovative ways to address our students’ needs in and outside of the classroom.”
The gifts capped an extraordinary year in philanthropy for CUNY and Chancellor Matos Rodríguez. In August, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation awarded $10 million to CUNY to drive change across 25 campuses, the largest gift the Mellon Foundation has made to CUNY in its 45-year history of supporting the university. The gift included $2.5 million for the Chancellor’s Emergency Relief Fund, established swiftly in April to help students weather the economic impact of the pandemic. It started with initial gifts of $1 million each from the Carroll and Milton Petrie Foundation and the James and Judith K. Dimon Foundation and later $1 million from Robin Hood. By the fall, the fund had grown to more than $8 million. Separately, CUNY’s 25 campuses raised $8.6 million for a total of nearly $17 million in emergency relief funds. Earlier this month, CUNY Tuesday, the one-day of giving on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, raised a record of nearly $2.4 million from over 6,000 donors for the University. And in November, BNY Mellon awarded $10 million to CUNY to support innovative educational programs and workplace initiatives that target underserved New Yorkers.
Bonus: The Comics (Click on Other Stories to See More Comics)
“Bound & Gagged” by Dana Summers. In agreement with TCA. Click to Expand.
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