Extending Honors Opportunities

Macaulay Honors College Receives a Grant to Support its Bridge Scholars Program

The program extends honors education to CUNY transfer students.

Macaulay Honors College has received a generous $200,000 grant from GS Humane Corp., a private charitable foundation, allowing the college to expand a program that creates a pathway to honors education for CUNY community college students.

“I’m very excited about this grant,” said Macaulay Dean Mary C. Pearl, “because it allows us to provide the Macaulay honors experience to students who would not otherwise have the opportunity.”

The transfer program targets students who have already demonstrated strong potential for success in their community college courses. They begin an intensive honors education while still completing their associate’s degree and then join their Macaulay cohort as sophomores to continue and complete an honors bachelor’s degree. All transfer students receive the same benefits as all Macaulay students: a tuition scholarship, a laptop computer, intensive mentoring and advisement, priority course registration, and access to an exclusive fund to pursue global learning, research, and field work. A pilot of the program, begun in 2017, clearly demonstrated that CUNY’s community colleges have outstanding students ready for the challengeof a Macaulay Honors education.

“CUNY loses bright and hardworking community college-educated students every year to other prestigious colleges because a rewarding path like Macaulay Bridge program was not offered to them,” explains Romario R. Ricketts, a Macaulay student who excelled in the pilot program at Lehman College. “I know this to be true because these students are my friends, were my study buddies, co-workers, and classmates!” Ricketts will graduate early, in December of 2020, with BA in Political Science.

With the support of GS Humane Corp., Macaulay can broaden its enrollment reach and maintain its expectations of excellence. Gene Shapiro was a proud graduate of the City College School of Business Administration, which is now CUNY’s Baruch College. The foundation is excited to further Gene’s passion for the City University system by supporting Macaulay’s efforts to reach deserving CUNY community college students.

The college will enroll a new cohort of 20 students, who will be based at the College of Staten Island. The grant will provide faculty and staffing, laptops and technology assistance, core seminar and student-focused enrichments, and recruitment preparations and programming.

“We are thrilled that Macaulay will be able to welcome these high-achieving community college students, through the Bridge Scholars Program, to our honors community” said Joseph Ugoretz, Macaulay’s Chief Academic Officer. “The Bridge Scholars deserve the chance to stretch and challenge themselves educationally, and they will enrich all our classrooms and their fellow Macaulay students with their diverse experiences and perspectives. I look forward to welcoming them to our community!”

GS HUMANE CORP is a private charitable foundation established by and to honor the legacy of the late Gene Shapiro. GS Humane believes that enabling organizations that educate communities on the humane treatment of all living beings and assist with the achievement of this outcome will produce a society that will be more tolerant of differences and lead to greater opportunity for all.