BMCC Hosts 54th Commencement May 31

April 1, 2019

Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC/CUNY) will confer Associate degrees to more than 4,600 graduates and hold morning and afternoon Commencement ceremonies at The HULU Theater at Madison Square Garden, 4 Pennsylvania Plaza in Manhattan, on Friday, May 31.

In addition to other majors, this commencement will include first-time graduates for new associate degree programs at BMCC in Music Education, Gender and Women’s Studies, Financial Management, Digital Marketing and Economics.

The Commencement Ceremony will include graduates from Summer 2018, Fall 2018, Winter 2019 and Spring 2019 graduates.

The Presidential Honorees are Margaret Chin, Council member, 1st District of the NYC Council (D) and Bill Fisse, Managing Director, Institutional Clients Group, Citi.

The morning ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. and the afternoon ceremony at 3:30 p.m. Each ceremony will feature remarks by members of BMCC’s administration.

Morning and afternoon ceremonies for different majors

BMCC offers Associate degree programs in more than 50 disciplines, ranging from engineering to art history to computer science.

The morning ceremony will accommodate graduates in Accounting, Animation and Motion Graphics, Art Foundations: Art History, Art Foundations: Studio Art, Forensic Accounting, Bilingual Childhood Education, Biotechnology, Business Administration, Business Management: Finance and Banking, Business Management: General Management, Business Management: Marketing, Business Management: Travel and Tourism, Childhood Education, Communication Studies, Community Health Education, Computer Network Technology, Computer Information Systems, Computer Science, Early Childhood Education: Infant/Toddler, Early Childhood Education: Preschool, Engineering Science, Geographic Information Science, Mathematics, Modern Language: French, Modern Language: Italian, Modern Language: Spanish, Multimedia Programming Design: Computer Arts and Design, Multimedia Programming Design: Programming, Office Operations, School Health Education majors specializing in Science, Science for Forensics, Science for Health Professionals, Secondary Education, Small Business Entrepreneurship, Theatre, Video Arts and Technology and Writing and Literature.

The afternoon ceremony will accommodate graduates in Criminal Justice, Sociology, Economics, Gerontology, Health Information Technology, History, Human Services, Liberal Arts, Nursing, Paramedic, Psychology, Respiratory Therapy and Sociology.

2019 Presidential Medalists

The 53rd Commencement Presidential Medalists are Margaret Chin, Council member for the 1st District of the New York City Council (D) and Bill Fisse, Managing Director, Institutional Clients Group, Citi.

Margaret Chin took office in the New York City Council in 2010, as the representative for District 1, Lower Manhattan. She is Chair of the Council’s Committee on Aging, and a member of the Committees on Consumer Affairs and Business Licensing; Housing and Buildings; Rules, Privileges and Elections; Standards and Ethics, and Youth Services. She proudly co-chairs the Women’s Caucus, and is a founding member of the Progressive Caucus and a member of the Black, Latino, and Asian Caucus.

After immigrating to the U.S. with her family from Hong Kong when she was nine years old, Chin grew up in NYC Chinatown and attended P.S. 130 and JHS 65. She graduated from the Bronx High School of Science and The City College of New York, CUNY with a degree in education.

For over a decade, Chin worked at Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE), an organization that she helped to form when she was in college. At AAFE, she fought for affordable housing, as well equal opportunities for immigrant families. Before taking office, Margaret successfully fought to get bilingual ballots for the Asian community.

Bill Fisse, Citi HR Executive, is a Managing Director in Citi’s Institutional Clients Group (ICG), leading the Global Campus Recruiting and Program Management Strategy initiative. Fisse joined Citi Institutional Clients Group in July 2009 as the Senior Human Resources Officer for Citi’s Transaction Services (CTS) Businesses, the leading provider of Cash Management, Treasury and Trade Services and Securities Fund Services in over 100 countries around the world. Prior to his role with CTS, Fisse spent nine years as the Senior HR Officer for Citi’s Credit Card division – Citi Cards, followed by an assignment in Citi Holdings Consumer.

Before joining Citi Cards, Fisse spent two years in London, England as Division HR Director for Citi’s Consumer Businesses in Central/Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa. Prior to his assignment in London, he managed HR for a number of Citi’s North America Consumer Businesses.

Bill Fisse’s passion is implementing Human Capital strategies that are aligned to the Business to help build a high performing organization, where high performance is defined as sustained business growth.

He holds a BBA in Business Management and an MBA in Finance from the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, and serves on the Foundation Board of Borough of Manhattan Community College, The City University of New York, and the Alumni Board at the University of Miami.

More information

For information on caps and gowns, tickets, commencement procedures, graduates and guests with disabilities, diplomas, children as guests, the 2019 Yearbook and other areas, visit the 54th Commencement Ceremony page on the BMCC website.