As 2022 comes to a close, I find myself looking back at all our diverse community has accomplished in the past year. Artists and filmmakers find their calling at BMCC, as do entrepreneurs, teachers, scientists, and nurses. Students as well as faculty and staff discover they have the courage to dream and the drive to aim high.
Our hard work has been validated by corporate partners who provide paid internships for our students and enable our faculty and staff to lead projects that open doors to STEM careers that raise graduation rates and strengthen pathways to higher degrees in information technology, health care, and other professions our students strive to join.
Led by volunteers from the BMCC Foundation and our honoree BNY Mellon’s Brian Ruane, we held our first in-person Gala in two years and raised almost $1 million in scholarships that will assist our students in attending and completing their college programs and achieve their dreams of a better career and quality of life.
We have also deepened our culture of care and our understanding of realities outside the classroom that profoundly impact student success. Funders, such as Trinity Church Wall Street Philanthropies, Carroll & Milton Petrie Foundation, Robin Hood Foundation, and others have stood by us, providing grants to address campus hunger and housing insecurity.
Our faculty members garnered countless honors in 2022, from lifetime achievement awards in their fields of study to awards for excellence in cellular research, emergency response, and more. Our professors have published books ranging from a memoir to an examination of community college student success. They have released jazz albums and authored scholarly articles on women, gender, and families of color.
Our students, meanwhile, have written novels, won high honors for their short films, lent their voice in civic engagement events, participated in prestigious panels, presented at international conferences, competed in high-stakes entrepreneur festivals and more.
As an institution we have formed partnerships with Morehouse College, Baruch College, Pace University, and other institutions here and around the world. We laid the groundwork to bridge BMCC with university systems in India, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica. We continue to develop workforce programs to create credentialed pathways to employment in well-paying jobs. Future BMCC health care-related degree and certificate programs will have access to state-of-the-art classrooms and labs at the planned SPARC Kips Bay hub for our health care majors. We also forged new associate degree programs in Urban Studies, Political Science and Critical Thinking & Justice and created a STEM concentration for our Psychology majors.
Our BMCC slogan, “Start Here. Go Anywhere” has never felt truer. Careers start here. Learning thrives here. Lives are changed here. With excitement for what we will accomplish in 2023 and the deepest appreciation for our students, alumni, faculty, and staff, as well as our many volunteers, donors, and our BMCC Foundation Board of Directors, I wish you all a healthy holiday season, and a Happy New Year.
Sincerely,
Anthony E. Munroe
President, Borough of Manhattan Community College
