Promising CCNY Student Gives Back to His Community

Mykel Barrett is a current senior student at The City College of New York, where he serves on the Division of Science Student Council as a Biology Department Leader.

Mr. Barrett’s goal is to funnel high-achieving students from his predominately Black and Latinx former high school, the Collegiate Institute for Math in Science (CIMS), into STEM programs at City College. Mr. Barrett would like to give credit to some influential people in his career:

"Dr. Emerson (Dr. Mark Emerson, his research mentor since freshman year) for, what the Council of Undergraduate Research calls, “equipping his students with mentoring skills and extending the mentorship model to future undergraduates.”

'Dr. Whitney (Dr. Osceola Whitney, faculty advisor for CCNY's Black in Neuro) for teaching me that CCNY has pre-existing infrastructure for science outreach. What do I mean? I was in his office saying something like, “Dr. Whitney, I would like to do outreach like I did through Dr. Emerson’s NSF program my sophomore year, but Dr. Emerson’s 5-year grant has ended… I can attempt to solicit money from corporations and start a GoFundMe, but I’m not sure how to make professors willing to host high schoolers / give them access to labs in a legal way, train them, etc. etc. He said, “Well you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. The structures already exist…” and recommended contacting Kendra Kreuger from the ASRC. That got the ball rolling.' 

"Lastly, Ms. Melanie Rivera, my fourtht and fiftth grade teacher, who went above and beyond as a teachere and she taught me the rudiments of science, and writing."

The Vice President & Executive Director of The Foundation for City College & The Office of Institutional Advancement and Communications at The City College of New York, Dee Dee Mozeleski, has agreed to match $2 for every $1 Mykel Barret raises. 

If you wish to support Mykel's campaign, please visit our donation form where your gift will have a larger impact by unlocking our match! Please add "Mykel Barrett Initiative" in the comments under our general support designation.

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