From the Desk of Executive Director Dolores Swirin-Yao
April 2025
The Westchester Community College Foundation held its Second Annual Transforming Futures Together Gala at Tappan Hill Mansion in Tarrytown, emceed by actor and comedian Chris Williams. Honorees were Elinor Urstadt with the Philanthropy & Leadership Award, Turner Construction Company with the Corporate Citizenship Award, and the Westchester County Federation of Women’s Clubs with the Community Leadership Award. The event raised $540,000 and counting, as contributions continue to come in from our friends in the community—all in support of our students.
2025 Honorees
Left: Westchester County Federation of Women’s Clubs Members. Center: Urstadt Scholar Petr Klaus, Elinor Urstadt, Dr. Belinda Miles, Chris Williams. Right: Dr. Belinda Miles, Janice Haughton & Sam Battaglia of Turner Construction, Chris Williams.
Left: Sue Gerry, Dr. Belinda Miles, Debbie Raizes, Right: Charlie Urstadt, Elinor Urstadt, Petr Klaus, Cathy & Wing Biddle
Left: WCCF President Susan Elion Wollin, Chris Williams, sporting a SUNY WCC cap, WCCF Chair, Cornelia Spring. Right: Susan Elion Wollin, Chris Williams, Cornelia Spring, Dr. Belinda Miles.
Left: Turner Construction’s Kristian & Janice Haughton, Sam Battaglia, Severio Battaglia. Right: Toby Crystal, David Stern and Betsy Stern.
SUNY WCC President Dr. Belinda Miles
Joyce Seligman and Susan Elion Wollin
Rob & Linda Moser, Rachel & Kenneth Rader
SUNY WCC Board of Trustees Chair Dr. LeRoy Mitchell & Dr. Janice Francis, Marie & John DeCicco
Karen & Peter Herrero
Ruth & Andrew Suzman
Josephine Moffett and Kathy Halas
Michael Benenson, Susan Yubas, Debbie Raizes
Stewart & Robin Cooke, Joanne & George Rosamond, Marcia Klein
Left: Elyse and Barry Klayman. Center: Dr. Thomas Lee and Alyssa Lee. Right: Dr. Elisa Burns & Meryl Alison.
Left: Chris Williams, Joyce Hirsch, Phil McGrath. Center: Allison Chen, Joanne Landau, Geoff Thompson, Elizabeth Bracken-Thompson. Right: Beth Zadek and Liz Gruber.
Bryant Urstadt, Elinor Urstadt, Urstadt Family Scholars Petr Klaus and Annie Pingry, Cathy Biddle
Top: Dr. Erik Fortune, Chris Williams performing a magic trick. Right: Dr. Belinda Miles, Westchester County Federation of Women’s Clubs Scholar Abigail Guzman, Joanne Rosamond, Marcia Klein and Robin Cooke of the Federation, Chris Williams.
To view the full gallery, please follow this link.
The 13th Annual WCC Film Festival was held on campus to showcase the work of our very talented film students, sponsored by the Digital Film Club and the Film Department. The program included a select group of twenty short films by students and recent graduates. A panel of film industry and film education professionals selected winners in ten categories. Two of this year’s judges were Digital Filmmaking Program alumni–Todd Gordon, a successful independent filmmaker who has been a steadfast donor to the Film Department through the WCC Foundation, and Eric Jimenez, a 2023 graduate who works in film and television after being chosen for the prestigious Directors’ Guild of America Assistant Director Training Program. Awards were also presented to the winners of the 3rd Annual Film Essay Contest, recognizing excellence in cinema studies courses. The short films were fascinating and inventive. Some were thought-provoking, some funny, and some genuinely scary. It is amazing how a story can be told in just a few minutes.
Wiener Cyber Scholar students from SUNY WCC”s Robert R. Wiener Center of Excellence in Cybersecurity visit with Robert Wiener (center). Each year twenty top cybersecurity students are selected for this award.
The Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, or PTK, is the honor society for two-year colleges. WCC’s PTK chapter held its spring induction ceremony. Alumnus Steven Hyland, who went on to study mechanical engineering at Columbia University, was the keynote speaker. WCC is a family affair for the Hylands—Steven’s parents met at WCC, his father is a professor here, his younger brother, David Hyland, is the current president of PTK, and their younger sister planning to attend! We learned about PTK service projects such as sharing the stories of women with autism. The SUNY WCC chapter was named New York State’s Most Distinguished Chapter in 2025. As the current sophomore students prepare to graduate, PTK inducted its new officers for next year.
The SUNY WCC English Department celebrated National Poetry Month with a faculty poetry reading featuring Professors Christine Timm, Nick Haines and Shinelle Espaillat and a discussion led by Professor Heather Ostman.
The SUNY WCC English Language Institute, for English language learners, held its end of year ceremony celebrating students at all levels of their studies. The students did a terrific job with their speeches, a testament to their hard work and wonderful faculty in the program.
Students celebrated Earth Day with a fun rock painting project open to all on campus.
The Student Involvement Award Dinner recognizes students who have been active with clubs and other campus activities. The WCC Foundation provided graduating scholarships to students who received awards. In all, the Foundation provided over $100,000 in graduating scholarships this year, which is a portion of the more than $3.5 million in scholarships that will be distributed in the 2024-2025 academic year.
200 area high school students attended the Spring 2025 STEM Fest on SUNY WCC’s Valhalla campus, a program sponsored by the WCC Foundation. The keynote speaker was alumnus and CUNY Graduate Center PhD student Daniel Weiner, whose presentation was entitled “From Community College to Cutting-Edge Robotics: My Journey in STEM.” High school students got to meet and hear presentations by SUNY WCC students and professors on a range of subjects including 3D printing, the internet of things, AI and robotics. They also learned about the STEM-related clubs at SUNY WCC such as the STEM Research Club, the WCC Engineering Club, Women in STEAM, the WCC Math Club and the Omega Computer Club.
Members of the WCC Foundation Board of Directors enjoyed a wonderful luncheon prepared and served by students at our Culinary Café, giving board members a chance to get to know their board colleagues better in these days of hybrid meetings.
The Educational Opportunity Program, or EOP, provides support for first-generation students to complete their degrees at SUNY WCC. At the EOP recognition ceremony for students about to graduate, student Amy Fanini summed up the impact of the program on student success: “Here, you are safe to ask for help.”
The WCC Foundation recognized the outstanding contributions of the Foundation’s Founding Executive Director, Shirley Contino-Phillips, with a dedication in her honor in the Gateway Building. Board Members Anne Janiak and Barbara Abeles shared their memories of Shirley, and Emeritus Board Member Betsy Stern unveiled the plaque.
At the Volunteer New York Volunteer Spirit Awards Breakfast, SUNY WCC President Belinda Miles and Foundation Board President Susan Elion Wollin, Past Board Chair Joanne Landau and her husband Fred Schwalb, and Alumni Council President Amy Kelley joined volunteers Neil Erickson, Joe Rodriguez and Matthew Wank and Volunteer Coordinator Parica Mason (and me behind the camera) in VNY’s impressive 75th anniversary celebration.
A little drizzle was not enough to deter volunteers and supporters from the annual Native Plant Sale, which drew about 600 customers to purchase a total of nearly 13,000 plants, helping to make Westchester more sustainable and beautifying gardens in the area.
Our theater students put on a fun production of the musical Avenue Q.
SUNY WCC hosted the Sixth Annual Regional Workforce Development Summit with the Westchester County Association. The keynote speaker was Kellianne Murphy of Northeastern University, which is well known for its innovative co-op educational model.