Please join us for our penultimate Friday Forum Session this spring, at which Dr. Vanessa Valdés, Dean of Macaulay Honors College, will be presenting her research and meeting with Lehman students and faculty. Dean Valdés is a New Yorker originally from the Bronx & a first-generation college student. She will be sharing the research experiences that led her to become Director of Black Studies at City College and Dean of Macaulay Honors College.

Dr. Valdés is the author of a major critical biography of Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, the legendary collector, writer, and activist. He is one of the most influential figures in the history of book collecting and a seminal figure in the curation of Afro-Latinx history and identity through archives. Learn more about the NYPL & Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture here.

As mentioned, all LSP-MHC juniors and seniors working on their capstones should definitely join this session — and freshmen and sophomores should come to meet an inspiring scholar and leader!

We’re thrilled to announce the reopening of the college library’s upper floors and to welcome you back to your Honors Space on the Third Floor of Leonard Lief Library! Starting Monday 3/14, you will have access to both the Seminar Room (Library 315) and the computer area during all hours that the library is open:

LIBRARY HOURS:
Monday to Thursdays: 9:00 am – 8:00 pm
  Fridays: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm

Please be mindful of social distancing and respect room capacity limits. There should be fewer than 20 students at all times in the Honors Suite:

  Seminar Room: maximum of 15 students in that area
Computer Area: maximum of 4 students

Access: In order to enter the library, security and staff will ask that you make a booking — either in advance, or right upon entering the library using your smartphone or laptop. The booking system is linked here at LibCal.  Your access will be treated as a day pass and students can make appointments at any time, even upon arrival. 

Code of conduct: Although the university has loosened masking restrictions, we at Honors are opting to continue wearing masks at all times, fully covering the mouth and nose. Wearing a mask is an act of solidarity and community-building so that those with personal health conditions are not singled out. There is no eating, or drinking, or snacking in the Honors spaces. We will use a policy of mutual monitoring to ensure that everyone is following these guidelines. Keep in mind that most, but not all, Honors students and staff are vaccinated.

Please enjoy the Honors Suite and use it as a place for convening, relaxing, and holding study groups. (It won’t be quiet enough for you to take online classes there, though!)

We can’t wait to see you!

Professor Duran Fiack and Mr. Michael Sutherland (MHC ’20) will present their recently published research concerning the integration of social equity into local-level climate adaptation planning, as well as the process and benefits of participating in student-faculty research collaborations.

Fiack, D., Cumberbatch, J., Sutherland, M., & Zerphey, N. (2021). Sustainable adaptation: Social equity and local climate adaptation planning in U.S. cities. Cities, 115.

Michael Sutherland is an MPA student at the Marxe School of Public and International Affairs at Baruch College concentrated in urban development and sustainability, and a Lehman Macaulay alum (’20). His research is focused in urban policy, with an emphasis on housing and housing affordability. He currently works as a Graduate Research Assistant under Dr. Hilary Botein at Baruch investigating mid-century Black homeownership. 

Dr. Fiack is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Lehman College. His research focuses on U.S. environmental, climate change, and energy policy at the state and local levels. Dr. Fiack has a Ph.D. in Environmental Studies (University of California, Santa Cruz), an M.S. in Agricultural and Resource Economics (University of California, Davis), and a B.A. in Environmental Studies (California State University, Sacramento). 

Summary: Our overreliance on policing and incarceration as formal controls hinders the ability of some Black and Brown communities to foster other forms of control. The overreliance on policing and incarceration weakens family and community structures, allowing informal organizations to control some Black and Brown communities. 

Dr. Maurice Vann is an  Assistant Professor at Lehman College. He teaches courses on  social welfare systems, policy, and research. He is a researcher, lecturer, and writer whose primary focus is developing, implementing, and evaluating programs designed to assist returning citizens with successfully reintegrating back into communities. He has worked in corrections facilities and jails in the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. In addition, he has worked in all of the District and Circuit Courts in Baltimore City. He is also  a juvenile/youth justice policy expert who trained at the former Center for the Children of Incarcerated Parents, once located in Eagle Rock, CA. 

In Fall 2021, Dr. Vann taught the honors seminar, LSP 353: Seminar in the Social Sciences: A Multidisciplinary Approach to U.S. Criminal Justice Reform Efforts.

This week for our Honors Friday Forums, we welcome Whitney Diaz Gochez, a Lehman Honors alumna (MHC ’16) and current PHD Candidate at Cornell Weill Medical Research Hospital. Whitney will speak candidly about her experiences applying to medical school, navigating the graduate experience, and dealing with questions of student debt and the astronomical costs of med school tuition.  

Since attending Cornell Weill, Diaz Gochez has spearheaded new efforts towards increasing equity and diversity in the medical professions, providing opportunities such as paid internships and lab research positions to undergrads at CUNY campuses, including Lehman MHC and LSP students.  

Please extend this invitation to any classmates you may have interested in entering the health professions who might need a space to ask honest questions, talk about the culture of graduate school, medical school, and the health professions, or convene with other students of color and faculty supporting their efforts!