From the Desk of Executive Director Dolores Swirin-Yao
I have to start with this picture because what can be more cheerful than pups? Our Student Services team arranged for a Stress Free Finals: Therapy Dogs program.
Our generous donors Drs. Sheshakumari and Sreenivasa Murthy paid a visit to campus to meet their scholarship students Julian Felipe Prado Quintero (enrolled in Health Studies and applying to Radiology program) and Adriana Gomes Ribeiro Da Silva (Nursing student graduating 2025)
The Strategic Planning Committee of SUNY Westchester Community College organized a productive strategic planning summit to gather input from faculty, staff and administrators on campus about the College’s priorities in a number of functional areas over the next five years.
The SUNY Westchester Athletics Hall of Fame celebrated its new inductees. 1974 student government president John Caruso received the Eugene “Buzz” Keefe Award. Former Men’s Basketball player Paul Ruddock, 1970-1971 Football Center Don Scarcella, and the 2014 Vikings Baseball Team were inducted.
Our Conversation Partners volunteers were invited to the English Language Institute’s end-of-year ceremony, where our English-language-learning students made presentations and their accomplishments were celebrated.
At the completion of his term, Dr. Thomas T. Lee was recognized at our November board meeting for his service as Chairman of the Westchester Community College Foundation Board. Joanne Landau, the past chair, presented the award with current board president, Cornelia Spring, looking on. The special cartoon created for Tom celebrated his superhero status as both a neurosurgeon and a dedicated nonprofit leader.
The New York Community Colleges Trustees Donald M. Mawhinney Jr. Trustee Leadership Award was presented to Deborah S. Raizes for her commitment and extraordinary service as Trustee of Westchester Community College. Here Dr. Miles congratulates her for the award at the November meeting of the SUNY WCC Board of Trustees.
Under the guidance of Prof. Faith Kostel-Hughes, Native Plant Center volunteers Bob DelTorto, Tom Winner, and Rich Califano built two air-pruning tree beds in the Community Garden. The beds will be used to grow trees from seeds that Faith’s students are collecting and are specially designed for transplanting the saplings. The raised beds prevent the roots from growing into the ground. The goal is for the trees to be planted on campus as part of a SUNY statewide initiative to assist in the governor’s aim to plant 25 million trees by 2033.
The Monday before Thanksgiving, 275 students in financial need received a turkey and all the fixings for a Thanksgiving Dinner. Special Thanks to WCCF Board Member John DeCicco for the generous donation of turkeys! Many thanks to our partner Shop-Rite for its donation of gift cards for students, to Feeding Westchester for grocery items, and to all members of the SUNY WCC community who participated in our Un-Hunger Games to donate non-perishable food for for the Thanksgiving meals and WCC’s food pantry.
The annual Hartford Hall Society Members’ Tea, chaired by Joanne Landau, was a lovely event on campus, featuring a college update by Dr. Belinda Miles and a moving talk by Honors College student Josiah Farrell. New members were inducted and welcomed with their Hartford Hall Society pins and membership certificates. The Hartford Hall Society recognizes those who have named the WCC Foundation in their estate plans to ensure that educational opportunities will be available to SUNY WCC students for generations to come.
Wartburg Senior Living Center in Mount Vernon recognized SUNY WCC with its Community Partnership Award for its “extraordinary commitment to advancing compassionate senior care while creating impactful connections between education and community service.” Three students (Sam Lima, Saheed Baize, and Kenneth Coba) were recognized for volunteering in a 100-hour internship program, and our faculty (Professors Glenetta Phillips, Helen O’Brien, Carolyn Spencer and Blakely Lowry) were thanked for their outstanding work with the students. Dr. Belinda Miles was recognized for her exceptional leadership. I enjoyed speaking with the students, who hope to launch careers in healthcare fields such as nursing and radiation technology. They spoke about how they loved working with the older residents and hearing their stories.
I was delighted to participate in the festive annual gala of OCA, an advocacy organization focusing on the civil rights of the Asian-American community. Bill Kaung, left, and Professor Rose Tan, right, are longtime generous supporters of scholarships for students at SUNY WCC, where Professor Tan is a retired faculty member. The OCA organization also supports scholarships at SUNY WCC.
WCC Foundation Board Member Shirley Acevedo Buentempo was recognized by Nonprofit Westchester with an Individual Changemaker award for her work with Latino U College Access.
We celebrated the new inductees to the Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) Honor Society, the international honor society students of associate degree-granting colleges. Through PTK, students build a network of contacts and receive leadership development opportunities.
The December Completion Ceremony was held for students who completed their degrees in August and December this year. Students are also invited to the full Commencement exercise in May, but not all can attend because of work and family commitments. This was a more intimate and very meaningful ceremony.
We were honored to host the State University of New York’s Board of Trustees on our campus for its December Board of Trustees. Chancellor John B. King Jr. spoke about the importance to the entire SUNY system of supporting community college access.
Happy Holidays to all, and I look forward to keeping in touch in 2025!