Colleges Set Out Welcome Mats For First “CUNY Week” Outreach

CUNY TV Hosts Zyphus Lebrun and Valerie Vazquez

Feast on a gourmet meal, meet U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins, attend a celebration of Afro-Puerto Rican culture, watch cutting-edge films, and learn more about opportunities in higher education.

This is but a sampling from a smorgasbord of events displaying the rich educational resources of the City University during CUNY Week. The first such festival of outreach activities and free cultural events, CUNY Week begins on Sunday, October 6 and runs through October 12.

Each CUNY campus, including the Graduate Center, and the CUNY Law School is holding an open house, laying out a feast of academic riches for anyone curious, but especially New Yorkers mulling the thought of pursuing a college degree or returning for advanced academic work. “When you visit the ‘open houses,’ you will meet financial aid experts and counselors, as well as faculty and students eager to help you think about the best college program for you,” promised Chancellor Matthew Goldstein. (For the complete schedule of events, please visit www.cuny.edu/cunyweek or call 1-800-CUNY-YES.)

A 15-hour CUNY-TV marathon on Sunday Oct. 6 from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Channel 75 kicks off the week. The programming will feature highlights from last year’s premiere season of “Study With the Best,” a lively TV magazine highlighting the work of notable CUNY students and faculty and hundreds of degree programs. The premiere of the second “Study With the Best” season will also air on Oct. 6.

York College Professor of English Linda M. Grasso, author of the new and critically acclaimed book, The Artistry of Anger: Black and White Women’s Literature in America 1820-1860, will also be interviewed on the season-opener. Among the newest segments is one called “Never Too Early, Never Too Late,” featuring a doctoral student at the Graduate Center and her young son, who is getting his own education at the Early Childhood Center there; also featured is an 83-year-old who graduated in June from Kingsborough Community College.

Distinguished alumni appear during the day-long marathon, which is also to be carried on Channel 25. They will include: stage, film and television actor Jimmy Smits (Brooklyn College) and CCNY graduate Robert Catell, Chairman and CEO of Keyspan and President of the New York City Partnership and Chamber of Commerce. Other distinguished alumni speaking about how a CUNY education affected their lives will be Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, and Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion.

In the Marathon’s thirteenth hour, rising stars may be discovered when CUNY- TV’s City Cinematheque features screenings of four films produced and directed by City College students. “On My Own,” directed by Sean Keaton, tells the story of an 11-year- old whose father has died of AIDS and whose mother is infected and in the hospital, while an uncaring aunt leaves him to his own devices. “And Thereafter,” directed by Hosup Lee, is the story of the afterlife of a Korean war bride who came to the U.S. full of hope for a peaceful future.

Concerts and lectures by faculty, art exhibits, sports events, workshops, information sessions, campus tours, and many other CUNY Week events are planned. Prospective students will also find information about financial aid, the new Honors College, careers, English as a Second Language, weekend college, affordable tuition, and more than 1,200 programs leading to associate’s, bachelor’s, and graduate degrees.

Showcasing popular academic areas at the College of Staten Island will be two presentations for high school students “Biotechnology and DNA Cloning,” presented by Professor Leonard Ciaccio on Oct. 8, and “Science at the End of the World: Mathematical Ecology in Antarctica,” given by CSI scientists Bala Sundaram and Richard Veit

Among free special events are the staged reading of a new musical play, Einstein’s Dreams, at the Graduate Center on Oct. 7, at 7 p.m.; a gourmet cooking demonstration and dinner presented by the New York City College of Technology’s Hospitality Program at 5:45 p.m. on Oct. 7; the Billy Collins reading at 4 p.m. on Oct. 8 at Lehman College; and two Queens College art exhibits: “Highlights of the Godwin-Ternbach Museum from the Renaissance to Modern Times” and “19th and 20th-Century Art of Spain and Latin America” in Rosenthal Library.

Hunter College’s dance event, the “Sharing the Legacy” series, offers a panel discussion on choreographer Erick Hawkins on Oct 11. at 5 p.m., with a performance following at 8:30. A piano recital by professor of music Gary Hammond will be presented in the Hunter North Building at 7 p.m. on Oct. 7. Lehman College will exhibit “Missing,” an installation by Barbara Siegel in the Lehman Art Gallery all week, and will offer health tests during Health Awareness Week. Hostos Community College’s “Bomplenazo 2002: A Celebration of Afro-Puerto Rican Culture” is scheduled for 7 p.m. Oct. 9 through Oct. 15.