From the Desk of Executive Director Dolores Swirin-Yao
March 2025
In advance of our Transforming Futures Together Gala, we had a gathering for our honorees, board members and other supporters in our Art Gallery on campus on March 19.
Appreciation to our Special Events Chair Susan Yubas; our amazing student speaker Annie Pingry; John DeCicco, Peter Herrero, and Wine Enthusiast for donating the appetizers and wine; and to our culinary students who volunteered to set up and serve (on spring break!) at the invitation of Phil McGrath. Please follow this link to listen to the program to hear Annie’s story! And please register for the April 30 Gala at Tappan Hill Mansion, emceed by Chris Williams and honoring Turner Construction Company, Elinor F. Urstadt, and the Westchester County Federation of Women’s Clubs, here.
A report was presented on our Viking ROADS program by MDRC, the research firm that has conducted the controlled studies of its effectiveness. The bottom-line findings were that participation in the Viking ROADS program resulted in a 12% increase in graduation rates for participants compared with the control group. This success was despite the fact that students were still grappling with the impact of Covid on their educational journeys.
The Joseph and Sophia Abeles Faculty Endowed Chair in Nutrition & Dietetics sponsored the Nourish to Flourish lecture by Mary Opter, MS, RD, CDN, CCMS, a registered dietitian, educator, chef and owner of Mary Opfer Nutrition.
110 attendees took part in the Native Plant Center Spring Conference. I had the chance to sample some of the talks and learned a lot of interesting things about the incredible past diversity of plant life on Manhattan Island, the positive impact that humans can have on plant life, and the interdependence of species such as hummingbirds and cardinal flowers, where the flower feeds the hummingbird and the cardinal flower pollen is spread by the bird which allows the plant to reproduce.
The Alumni Association and Money Smart Financial Literacy Program jointly presented a practical workshop with lively discussion entitled “Home Buying: Are You Ready to Buy?” by Jeffrey Bonville, Roberto Lupi and Karen Cammann of Tompkins Community Bank.
Julie Chang, CEO and Founder of JCA Strategic Solutions, made a presentation entitled “Sustainability: An Outlook on Jobs and Opportunities,” to a group of SUNY WCC engineering students and participants in the Con Edison Bright Futures Program.
WCC students who would be conducting service projects during Alternate Spring Break held a thrift sale to help fund travel to the services projects they would be supporting.
WCC Foundation President Susan Wollin and I presented the Foundation’s Staff Excellence Awards at the College’s Staff Development Day. This year’s recipients were Cynthia Pisani-Katz in the School of Mathematics, Science and Engineering and Parica Mason, Volunteer Coordinator.
One of the many interesting programs on campus in conjunction with Women’s History Month was “Social Media Influencing by Women,” presented by Professor Elizabeth Miller and Professor Heidi Baez. I learned something new—I had never heard the term “tradwife” before!
At the closing ceremony for Women’s History Month, awards were presented to Gelaine Williams, Career Services Coordinator and Professor Elizabeth Miller, who is also a past recipient of the WCC Foundation’s Faculty Excellence Award in Teaching.