Spring 2011 (pdf) - The City College of New York - CUNY

Two Center Fellows Named National Truman ScholarsAyodele Oti and Gareth Rhodes selected from among the nation’s top students for the extraordinarily selective honor.Two fellows of the Colin Powell Leadership Program, Gareth Rhodesand Ayodele Oti, are recipients of the 2011 Harry S. Truman Scholarship.One of the nation’s most prestigious and competitive awards,the Truman Scholarship provides up to $30,000 to students pursuinggraduate degrees in public servicefields. The scholarship is awardedto 60 students annually from agroup of 600 nominated candidates,and selection is based oncareer and graduate study interests,community service and academicachievement. This is the first timetwo CCNY students have beenawarded the scholarship in thesame year—both Powell LeadershipFellows.Rhodes, a New York Life UndergraduateFellow at the Center, is apolitical economy and public policymajor and is enrolled in the SkaddenArps Honors Program in Legal Studies. Along with his Colin Powellfellowship, Rhodes is the recipient of the Gilman Scholarship, whichallowed him to study Chinese business and Mandarin at the Universityof Shanghai, and has participated in several internships, includinga summer internship in the White House Office of Scheduling andAdvance. He currently interns with the Manhattan office of GovernorAndrew Cuomo. Rhodes’s policy proposal for the Truman Scholarshipfocused on opportunities for responsible campaign finance reform.“I believe in strong disclosure measures and robust public financinglaws that allow candidates to spend time focusing on the issues ratherthan fundraising, while freeing candidates from relying on wealthydonors and interests to be competitive in campaigns,” Rhodes says.With regard to his ultimate campaign finance reform goal, Rhodes’sobjective is “a stronger democracy where electoral and political poweris dictated less by money and more by public support.”Oti, also a New York Life UndergraduateFellow at the Center, isan international environmentalpublic health and ecology majorand is also a Gilman Scholar. Sheis currently in Puntarenas, CostaRica, studying Spanish, marinebiology, and Latin American historyand culture. Along with her ColinPowell fellowship, Oti is a GoldsmithScholar, Lisa Goldberg/RevsonScholar, Starr Scholar, and a studentof the Macaulay Honors College. Inthe past, Oti has participated in theHarvard Kenney School of GovernmentPublic Policy and LeadershipConference and studied in anarchaeology field school in Iceland through a grant from the NationalScience Foundation. Oti drew from her extensive experience in communityorganizing and environmental policy in her policy proposalon clean water for the Truman Scholarship. She explains, “I proposedthat there be a participatory (sustainable) development approach toimplement wells or water catchment systems and separate latrines forboys and girls, in addition to providing funding for personal hygiene.”She further emphasizes that through this approach, the people livingin the communities where WASH programs are implemented would bedirectly involved with infrastructure planning, financing, installation,and management in all areas of the program.Center Fellow Awarded NSF Research FellowshipAnthony Pang to pursue doctoral research at MIT with a National Science Foundation Fellowship.This spring, Anthony Pang, a Colin Powell Leadership Fellow, received a National Science Foundation GraduateResearch Fellowship for 2011-2014. The fellowship, which grants $40,500 a year for graduate research, supportsvitality and diversity in science and engineering research. Pang, who has been accepted to the Massachusetts Instituteof Technology with a research assistantship, will collaborate with Professor Manuel Martinez-Sanchez forhis doctoral thesis. Pang’s research focuses on dynamic simulations of plasma thrusters, which are used in deepspace missions (and conceivably could be used one day to facilitate a safe and quick manned-mission to Mars).In addition to studies in aerospace engineering, Pang will enroll in MIT’s Technology and Public Policy graduateprogram, where he will further enhance policy skills developed at the Colin Powell Center. He plans to advocatefor America’s space program and for more extensive science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)education programs. The fellowship, Pang says, “ will help me realize my dreams of being an aerospace engineer,develop skills necessary to lead future missions, and further mature my knowledge of technology policy.”Anthony Pang, NSF Research FellowColin Powell Center Newsletter Issue Issue No. No. 7115 | | Spring Summer 2009 2011 2008 33 3

Four Faculty Awarded Public Scholarship GrantsAir quality, active learning, pathways to legalization, and the mental health of vets are the focus of public scholars’ work.From left: Powell Center 2010-2011 Public Scholars (from left) Beverly Falk, Tatyana Kleyn, Glen Milstein, and Beth Wittig.The Center has named four CCNY faculty members as therecipients of its Public Scholarship grants for 2010-2011. Thegrantees are Beverly Falk, professor and head of graduate programsin Early Childhood Education; Tatyana Kleyn, assistantprofessor of bilingual education and TESOL (Teaching Englishto Speakers of Other Languages); Glen Milstein, associateprofessor of psychology; and Beth Wittig, assistant professor ofcivil engineering. Grantees receive $2,000 and training focusedon exploring the policy implications of their research and on developingtheir work for public audiences, including policymakers.The grant is designed to encourage CCNY faculty to apply theirresearch more directly to public issues and to become moreprominent in public debates. “The Center is committed to helpingfaculty apply their teaching and research expertise in service tocommunities,” says Center Director Vince Boudreau.For Dr. Wittig, whose goal is to raise awareess about defi cienciesin measuring toxic and malodorous air pollutants, the grantsfi ll an important gap. “Often air pollution topics are narrowlyfocused and research results are disseminated only to otherresearchers in highly technical language,” she says. “There is agreat need for researchers who are able to communicate theirresults in a way that enables policy to be developed.”Learning through Action and EngagementThe focus of Beverly’s Falk’s public scholarship centers on theimportance of active learning for young children and the growingpressure they face from the press of high stakes standardizedtests to learn in structured, formal ways. “Young children arespending more and more time sitting and doing pencil and papertasks, even though everything we know from cognitive research,neurobiological research, and developmental research tells usthat children learn through action and engagement,” she says.Dr. Falk adds that she plans to share what she learns about publicscholarship with her graduate students, primarily teachers, aswell as all of those who care about young children’s education.“A large part of the practice of teaching involves articulating whatyou know to the public, to other educators, to families, to policymakers,and to communities, so it is critical to know how to dothis well,” says Dr. Falk, author of the forthcoming books InsideUrban Teaching (The New Press) and In Defense of Childhood(Teachers College Press).Colleague Tatyana Kleyn is focused on helping teachers understandmore clearly what illegal status means for young immigrantsand enabling educators to share this knowledge with theirimmigrant and nonimmigrant students. Her goals also includepublic scholarship around New York’s recently introduced DreamAct bill. The legislation provides benefi ts including access tofi nancial aid and work authorization for young people brought tothe U.S. illegally as children, who also meet certain criteria.Targeting “Invisbile Wounds”Glen Milstein’s public policy work centers on collaboration withthe Veterans Administration (VA) and the Department of Defenseto improve the continuity of mental health care for soldiersreturning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Estimates project that 30percent of these veterans suffer from depression, post-traumaticstress disorder (PTSD), or Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), whichput them at risk for suicide. Professor Milstein’s aim is to fostercollaboration between military and VA chaplains with communityclergy to build a powerful network of support. Clergy not onlycan help identify vets in need, he says, they also can educatetheir congregations to reduce the stigma toward mental illnessand seeking mental-health care, while building communitybasedsupport for recovery and healing.Dr. Milstein says his grant has trained him to apply his scholarshipto meet a profound public need. “One result of the PowellCenter’s emphasis on public scholarship,” Dr. Milstein says, “ismy research may now help in the effort to provide treatment tothousands of veterans returned from Iraq and Afghanistan whoare suffering with ‘invisible wounds.’”Colin Powell Center Newsletter Issue No. 75 11 | | Summer Spring 2009 2011 2008 77 7

Veteran Journalist Joins Center asNew York Life Leader in ResidenceFarai Chideya brings multimedia training and professionalstrategies to Center fellows.From her vantage point as a veteran journalist with major radioand TV broadcast outlets, national magazines, and leading Web2.0 sites, Farai Chideya speaks with authority when she says,“Today, everything is media.” Chideya, the founder and editorialdirector of the multimedia site Pop and Politics and a bestsellingauthor, is now bringing her unique point of view to the Center asone of this year’s two 2010-2011 New York Life Leaders in Residence.“People who are in the world of public policy or publicservice are judged by their media literacy and by their ability todo everything from host public events to speak in public to documenttheir own world,” says Chideya, who is serving in tandemwith Anasa Scott, founder of the nonprofi t Greenproofi ng, Inc.To help the Center’s fellows navigate this changing medialandscape, Chideya is providing them with media training andguidance on establishing a personal brand. “These are studentswho will have a tremendous impact on the world,” she says. “Mygoal is to prepare them to live in a media-saturated world andto get their message out in a way that refl ects well on them andtheir issues and organizations.”“My goal is to prepare the fellows to live ina media-saturated world, and to get theirmessage out in a way that reflects well onthem and their issues.” —Farai ChideyaAs a leader in residence, Chideya also facilitated the 2011 NewYork Life Symposium, “Civic Engagement in the Era of NewMedia.” The major student-produced event explored the extentto which individuals can infl uence policy and create meaningfulchange through social media. Case studies focused on theenvironment and community building.The theme grew out of a collaborative process among thefellows of the Colin Powell Program in Leadership and PublicService. “A symposium that examines how civic engagementand new media interact is incredibly relevant to our times, withrepercussions for how we engage in activism, how we supportone another, and how we communicate ideas,” says Brian Paragas,a Dobrich New Americans fellow at the Center, who alongwith New York Life Fellow Olivia Bailey proposed the theme. “Aswe live in a world that is increasingly interconnected and mediasaturated,it becomes ever more necessary to look critically atthe ties that bind and strengthen us.”Mulitmedia journalist Farai Chideya brought her expertise to the 2011 New York Life Symposium.The theme fi ts well with Chideya’s own career path combiningmedia, technology, and social justice. That path started when, asa junior at Harvard, Chideya took part in an internship at Newsweek’sBoston bureau. There she learned a fundamental lessonfrom the effort of her white bureau chief to improve diversity atthe magazine: Anyone can deal with any issue. That awarenesshas led Chideya, a Baltimore native whose father is from Zimbabwe,to tackle issues ranging from gay parental rights to voterdisenfranchisement. It’s also served her well in positions inNewsweek’s Washington bureau, as a news producer for MTV,an analyst on CNN, and a host of NPR’s News and Notes. Andit’s a lesson she imparts to younger colleagues and students:“You don’t have to be a woman to deal with women’s issues. Youdon’t have to be black to deal with African-American issues.”Creating Lasting ValueChideya also emphasizes the value of nailing down the detailsof any projects while keeping one’s eyes on a broader vision.She does this herself in the broadcast radio, web-video, andsocial media political specials she has developed in partnershipwith WNYC and American Public Media, and in her novel, Kissthe Sky, and in her nonfi ctionwork including Don’t Believe theHype: Fighting Cultural MisinformationAbout African-Americansand Trust: Reaching The 100Million Missing Voters.For the fellows in the coreconference-planning group, thisguidance in real-world effectivenesshas been especiallywelcome. As Paragas, a seniormajoring in political science,says, “Farai kept us focused,organized, and grounded in therealities of planning, but alsoaware of the potential to createsomething of real worth in ourcommunities and beyond.”Farai Chideya, Leader in ResidenceColin Powell Center Newsletter Issue No. 711 | Spring 2009 2011 88

Faculty and Community PartnersHonored for their Achievements2011 Service-Learning Recognition Ceremony honorsparticipants for their service-learning successes.On Thursday, April 14, faculty from across the campus gatheredat the Powell Center with their community partners andstudent leaders to acknowledge and celebrate this year’sachievements in service-learning. Service-learning is an innovativeteaching strategy that connects students to service inthe community through their coursework. The 2011 Service-Learning Recognition Ceremony honored participants for theirbroad and diverse approaches to service-learning. CCNYPresident Lisa Staiano-Coico and Acting Provost Juan CarlosMercado congratulated this year’s 34 honorees and praisedtheir commitment to civic action and collaborationThe two faculty members singled out for their leadership wereDr. Darwin Deen, professor of medicine in the Department ofCommunity Health and Social Medicine at the Sophie DavisSchool of Biomedical Education, and Elena Romero, adjunctlecturer in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies at theCenter for Worker Education. Dr. Deen partnered with communityhealth clinics to enable his students to teach low-incomepatients improved doctor-patient communication strategies. Hestressed the collaborative effort of his department to integrateand support service-learning. Romero's students developedoutreach campaigns for the microfi nance nonprofi t organizationGrameen America, and conducted needs assessments forBrooklyn's Community Board 14. Dr. Deen and Romero awardedrecognition certifi cates to their course assistants, Eleanor Fallonand Katharine Nieves. Community partners recognized includedHarvest Home Farmers Market, Harlem's Frederick DouglasAcademy, and the International Rescue Committee.Director Shares Vision for Powell HallPlanned building to provide a permanent home for the Center and a growing resource for engaged scholarship.Invited as the guest speaker for the CCNY Alumni Association’s Board ofDirectors meeting this spring, Center Director Vince Boudreau presentedthe Powell Center’s ongoing plans to work with college and universityofficials to construct Colin Powell Hall. The planned building wouldprovide permanent facilities for thePowell Center, Dr. Boudreau said, aswell as a state-of-the art conferencecenter and rooms designated foruse by faculty engaged in servicelearningactivity. “Colin Powell Hallis designed to occupy a physicallycentral position on campus becausethe Colin Powell Center aims towork with the full spectrum of CCNYdepartments and offices, to facilitateengaged scholarship across the campus,”Dr. Boudreau said. “We are anemphatically campus-wide resource,and the new building will serve asa place to focus the work of a greatvariety of CCNY programs.”Ennead Architects’ process sketch of one view of a proposed design for Colin Powell Hall.In 2002, the Center’s activities were entirely contained in a one-roomoffice on the first floor of Shepard Hall. In 2006, operations shifted tolarger facilities in Shepard 550. Almost immediately, however, Centerstaff began searching for supplementary space for training, for staff,and for interactions with communitypartners. The need forspace has paralleled the growthof the Center’s student leadershipprograms and its service-learningprogram. Both areas have achievedrapid quantitative expansion.Additionally, training and supportactivity have deepened and intensified.Dr. Boudreau emphasized tothe diverse group of CCNY alumnithe Center’s efforts to position itselfto serve the full range of academicdisciplines and departments, andto work towards its goal of connectingthe college’s historic missionmore directly to an ethic ofservice and public leadership.Colin Powell Center Newsletter Issue No. 11 75 | Summer Spring 2009 2011 2008 99 9

Colin Powell Center Mission StatementThe Colin Powell Center for Policy Studies at the City College of NewYork (CCNY) is a nonpartisan educational, training, and researchcenter named for one of CCNY’s most distinguished graduates.Established in 1997, the Center’s mission is to prepare new generationsof publicly engaged leaders from populations previously underrepresentedin public service and policy circles. The Center alsoseeks to build a strong culture of civic engagement at City Collegeand to mobilize campus resources to meet pressing communityneeds and serve the public good. To achieve this mission, theCenter provides leadership, service, and research opportunities forstudents; encourages faculty to apply their expertise to public problems;and fosters discussion of key challenges that affect communitiesin the United States and globally. The Center focuses its effortsin the areas of community and economic development, education,the environment, health care, international development, and globalsecurity issues.Advisory CouncilMadeleine K. AlbrightFormer Secretary of StateJames A. Baker, IIIFormer Secretary of StateTom BrokawSpecial Correspondent, NBCRobert CatellChairmanAERTC, Stony Brook UniversityFulvio DobrichPresident and CEOGalileo Asset Management, LLCHarold M. EvansFormer President and PublisherRandom HouseCarly FiorinaFormer Chairman and CEOHewllett-PackardVartan GregorianPresidentCarnegie Corporation of New YorkRichard N. HaassPresidentCouncil on Foreign RelationsVernon E. Jordan, Jr.Senior Managing DirectorLazard Freres and Co., LLCHenry A. KissingerFormer Secretary of StateLois PopeLIFE FoundationColin L. Powell (Chair)Former Secretary of StateLinda PowellActressLisa QuirozSenior Vice PresidentTime Warner, Inc.Jack RudinMay and Samuel RudinFamily FoundationStephen SchwarzmanChairman and CEOThe Blackstone GroupSy SternbergChairman and Former CEONew York Life Insurance CompanyLisa Staiano-CoicoPresidentThe City College of New YorkLinda Kaplan ThalerCEO and Chief Creative Offi cerThe Kaplan Thaler Group, Ltd.Barbara WaltersABC NewsElie WieselCharles B. WangFareed ZakariaEditor-at-Lart, Time, Inc.COLIN POWELL CENTER FOR POLICY STUDIESThe City College of New YorkShepard Hall—Suite 550160 Convent AvenueNew York, NY 10031T 212.650.8551F 212.650.8535www.ccny.cuny.edu/powellwww.facebook.com/ColinPowellCenterTwitter: @CPowellCtr