CUNY Board of Trustees OKs CCNY School Named for General Colin L. Powell

NEW YORK, April 29, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The City College of New York will rename its Division of Social Sciences The Colin L. Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership.  The City University of New York Board of Trustees approved the name change at its April 29 meeting after hearing testimony from General Powell and students from the Colin Powell Center for Leadership and Service, the leadership and public policy center at CCNY established in 1997.

The School's formal inauguration will take place during a ceremony in the Great Hall of Shepard Hall 10 am Thursday, May 2, at which General Powell will speak and receive the CUNY Chancellor's Medal from Chancellor Matthew Goldstein. A capital campaign for the School has raised more than $30 million.

The Chancellor's Medal, the University's highest executive honor, recognizes extraordinary contributions to CUNY, commitment to education and outstanding public service. Past recipients include Jonas Salk, Coretta Scott King, John Cardinal O'Connor, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Other speakers will include actress Linda Powell, advertising executive Linda Kaplan Thaler, journalist and author Tom Brokaw and CCNY President Lisa S. Coico, all of whom serve on the Powell Center Advisory Committee. Ms. Powell is General Powell's daughter. 

"I am humbled and honored that the governing bodies of City College and, now, the City University have viewed this change as a major step in enhancing all academic programs under the banner of this school," stated General Powell (USA) ret.  "I look forward to continuing my involvement with the activities and the faculty involved with the school."

"The naming of the illustrious City College Division of Social Sciences as the Colin L. Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership highlights the interdisciplinary nature of these programs and the extensive benefits of this curriculum throughout the campus," Benno C. Schmidt, Jr., chairman of the CUNY Board of Trustees said. 

"General Powell epitomizes the CUNY success story," Chancellor Goldstein said. "Since he left the military and his role as Secretary of State, he has given unstintingly to City College students through his public policy center. With this new recognition, we hope that the same principles that inspired General Powell – the principles that he has personally sought to instill in the students he has worked with at the center – will inspire generations of students to come."

"City College is one of the great success stories of our democracy, educating generations of local, national and international leaders," said President Coico. "The Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership – named for a CCNY alumnus of extraordinary national and international accomplishment – expands this legacy in a transformative way.  Integrating our social sciences, I have no doubt that the Colin Powell School will become known as one of the best places in the world to study issues of equity, democracy, citizenship and service." 

General Powell, a member of The City College of New York Class of 1958, is the first African American to serve as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and U.S. Secretary of State.

The Colin Powell School will join the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education, the Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture and the Grove School of Engineering as CCNY's named schools.  It will contain the five departments of Anthropology, Economics, Political Science, Psychology and Sociology – and house programs in Black Studies, International Studies, International Relations, Latin American & Latino Studies, Pre-Law, Public Service Management and Women's Studies.

SOURCE City College of New York