As an economics major at CUNY’s Macaulay Honors College in 2011, Lara Porter spent a semester in Prague studying Eastern Europe’s transition from communism to
As an economics major at CUNY’s Macaulay Honors College in 2011, Lara Porter spent a semester in Prague studying Eastern Europe’s transition from communism to capitalism.
Spending late nights with people who had lived through economic upheaval, she left with a deeper understanding of how markets shape ordinary lives.
“Macaulay teaches you to be someone who is not just focused on themselves, but on the broader community,” says Porter, who graduated in 2014, went on to earn a master’s in economics at Hunter College and now works as an executive director in the institutional equities division at Morgan Stanley. She was among a group of inspiring graduates who reflected on their Macaulay experiences during a panel discussion at the college’s recent 25th anniversary gala – part of a Her story captures Macaulay’s core aim.
In 2001, CUNY created the public honors college to give New York’s most promising students an education as rich, demanding and filled with opportunity as any in the country. What began with an inaugural class of only 189 students has become a thriving institution that now offers a transfer pathway from all seven CUNY community colleges and serves more than 2,200 students across a consortium of eight CUNY campuses.
Macaulay has produced more than 7,000 alumni whose work now reaches into every part of civic and professional life. Over the past two decades, honors colleges have provided high-achieving students at large universities a more personal and expansive academic experience. Macaulay stands among the strongest public examples in the country. It pairs rigor with support: full-tuition scholarships for eligible in-state students, dedicated advising and hands-on academic and professional experiences that push learning beyond the classroom and expand a student’s world.
, the college offers study away and abroad, internships, research and service opportunities, and the chance to work closely with CUNY faculty across a wide range of disciplines. Under Dean Dara Byrne, Macaulay is deepening its mission pursuing funding for new initiatives to prepare graduates for successful careers and lives of civic leadership and public purpose.
, philanthropist William E. Macaulay, a City College alumnus whose support helped give the college both its home and its identity – and continues today. Professor Gary Schwartz, who founded the Macaulay program at Lehman College and was the honors college’s longest-serving faculty member until his retirement in 2019, has just donated $250,000 to establish an endowed scholarship to support doctoral-bound students in the humanities.
His gift, which will provide funding for research, study abroad and professional development, reflects the commitment he shares with the college to prepare students to become thoughtful leaders and engaged citizens. Macaulay’s story is about excellence in public higher education, but it is also a New York story: of talent that is abundant in every borough, and the conviction that when exceptional students are challenged, supported and inspired, their achievements enlarge the life of the whole city.
That is what Macaulay has done for 25 years — and why its mission matters as much as ever. Matos Rodríguez is the chancellor of The City University of New York , the largest urban public university system in the United States. Tying art to peace: free Brooklyn workshop invites teens to reimagine the Knotted GunWith historic losing streak behind them, Mets try to start building in right directiongardens
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