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BMCC kicked off CUNY Month Thursday by packing the main lobby with displays of award-winning projects by students and faculty in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics-based (STEM) programs, and setting up information tables for clubs, academic programs and scholarships.
“This is a great month … we get to learn a lot about CUNY, and we get to learn a lot about this school,” said Student Government Association President Curtis Browne, before telling the student-filled crowd to “make sure you take advantage of everything CUNY Month has to offer.”
Chess Grandmaster Takes on Twelve at Once
The biggest event draw of the afternoon came when International Grandmaster of Chess Maurice Ashley — who in 1999 became the only African-American to attain that coveted title – took on 12 chess players right outside the Terrace.
A tightly-knit crowd formed around a U-shape setup of tables as Ashley walked from chess board to chess board, making move after move against a group of players mostly made up of BMCC’s Chess Club.
Slowly, contestants folded. The crowd slowly squeezed in tighter as Ashley had fewer players to work against. Finally, he was down to the last contestant, Bankers’ Athletic League member Adia Onyango.
She contemplated each turn slowly, but Ashley caught her while she was concentrating on another move and toppled her queen. Ashley had his sweep. “He’s just so good,” she conceded.
Celebrating CUNY Month at BMCC
Deputy Borough President of Manhattan, Rose Pierre-Louis, opened the day’s events by presenting BMCC with a framed proclamation of CUNY Month in her borough.
The lobby happenings were designed to promote BMCC’s commitment to the STEM disciplines during CUNY Month. They were: The department of Science built a model comet core that was chemically and physically realistic; The Video-Arts Technology Program held an exhibit on student video and video graphics; The Multimedia Media Design Program displayed examples of digital graphics, website designs, and computer games; The Engineering Program showed off “Rosebud,” the BMCC engineering students’ human powered desalination machine that brought the team a championship; The Computer Information Systems Department exhibited a kind of robot, called “autonomous agents” that will be programmed to find an exit out of a maze; the department of Mathematics showed the scope of mathematics in modern society and recruited students to take Calculus; and BMCC’s Mathematics Team, which has competed and won several national competitions, challenged attendees to “Solve a Math Problem and Win a Prize.”
Other exhibits featured BMCC’s Health Information Technology Program (HIT), the C-STEP Program (Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program), which gave students the opportunity to research projects with faculty mentors, the Study Abroad Program, where students who qualify may receive a scholarship from the Student Government Association for summer study, BMCC’s Honor Society of Black Student Scholars, and a Student Services table, ready to respond to any question you have—whether about registration for Spring ’08 or what senior college is best for you, and even how to make the best career choice.
Thank you
The Office of Community and Government Relations thanks the sponsors of the CUNY Month Kickoff for their generous support: The Greenwich Street Food Emporium; Barnes and Nobles; and MBJ Food.
