Message from Dr. Belinda S. Miles: Honors All Around – May 10, 2019
May 10, 2019
Colleagues,
Our march toward the culminating event of the academic year continued this week with a pre-graduation celebration for the first cohort of Honors College students. These 13 graduates in Liberal Arts Social Science and Liberal Arts Humanities have each earned a GPA of 3.5 or better with a full 40% of their course load at the Honors level. While students, they have presented at an Honors College Symposium, various campus lectures, and six students have presented at the Beacon Conference for Student Scholars or the SUNY Undergraduate Research Conference. Their next steps are varied, with acceptances already lined up at several SUNY institutions (Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo, Stony Brook, and Purchase), Baruch, and Boston University and additional possibilities at NYU, University of Pennsylvania, Vassar, Dartmouth, Colgate, and Columbia School of General Studies. Profs. Sakrajda, Keteku, and Martucci were beaming with pride yesterday celebrating this first cohort and their commitment to academic excellence. We thank Trustees Betsy Stern and Debbie Raizes, as well as Foundation Directors Joanne Landau and Susan Yubas, for celebrating with us yesterday. An anonymous donor made all of this possible, for which we are eternally grateful!
A recent article showcased how community colleges are taking center stage in American higher education. Our relevant, accessible, and affordable pathways to college degrees and jobs are more important than ever. Our Honors College is a distinctive addition to the myriad pathways that we provide—it is for the highest-achieving students who may not have had the opportunity to earn a college degree and transfer to such prestigious four-year universities without us. We have many other options—all of them important—from P-TECH to career-tech to articulation to Viking Roads and so much more. Thanks for everything you do to exalt student success. Our shared success is on display at commencement, at which time we celebrate another record class of Westchester Community College graduates. Our commencement speaker, Mr. Larry D. Woodard, was announced in Campus News. I look forward to seeing you at the County Center next Thursday!
Dr. Belinda S. Miles
President