Students, faculty and staff from Eagle Academy for Young Men of Harlem spent a day on the CCNY campus in the run-up to spring break, an initiative of the School of Education's Liberty Partnerships Program.
Eagles invaded The City College of New York just before spring break, when students, faculty and staff from nearby Eagle Academy for Young Men of Harlem held its CCNY Takeover Day on the campus for the first time.
More than 100 students from the public high school hiked up the hill from the school at 6 Edgecombe Ave. for a regular day of classes, interspersed with discussions and tours of the School of Education and various academic departments, including Black Studies, WHCR and the CUNY School of Medicine.
Hosted by the School of Education, the day was an initiative of CCNY’s Liberty Partnerships Program, which is housed in the School. The 51 New York state-funded LPPs, nine of which are within the CUNY system, work with local schools to prepare students for post-secondary education. Under Director Yussuf Khan, CCNY LPP aims to give local high schoolers “tangible college experiences,” which he called “invaluable for students.”
“For many of our high schoolers, CCNY could be their next step,” he said. “We’re just up the hill, yet some students don’t even know about the college. That’s one of the reasons why an event such as this is so critical.”
Khan and Charles Curtis, Eagle Academy Harlem’s post-secondary success manager, organized the CCNY Takeover. Curtis had done volunteer work preparing young men for college and careers before making such work his full-time vocation.
“It would be awesome if we plopped our students into the CCNY campus,” he recalled thinking.
Eagle Academy students had previously toured SUNY’s Canton, Broom, Binghamton, Oneonta and Potsdam campuses, and Drew University in Madison, N.J., a visit that junior Aneudy Tavarez found to be “liberating.”
Tavarez, who transferred to Eagle Academy after the eighth grade from Success Academy, had previously attended classes on the CCNY campus in the summer of 2023 as an Urban Scholar. That program, of which LPP is a part, is directed by Associate Professor of Educational Leadership Hazel M. Carter.
Tavares aspires to study forensic science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice or chemistry at CCNY.
Senior Modiu Thiabou, who is considering a career in nursing, liked the college atmosphere that CCNY provided. “There are no bells in the classroom,” said the recent transfer from James Monroe High School in the Bronx. “You’re your own person in college. I like that.”
Assistant Principal Carmel Macklin, MSEd ’10, said that the highlight of her job is “exposing young men to life.” She always wanted to work with young men, she said, fulfilling that desire as a CCNY teaching fellow before proceeding to earn her graduate degree.
“I love the vision [of] pouring into the young men, making them responsible leaders who go back and make their community better [by] developing the whole person,” she said. “Not just being well-educated, but young men of character who will make the world better.
About The City College of New York
Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided a high-quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. CCNY embraces its position at the forefront of social change. It is ranked #1 by the Harvard-based Opportunity Insights out of 369 selective public colleges in the United States on the overall mobility index. This measure reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at CCNY can move up two or more income quintiles. Education research organization Degree Choices ranks CCNY #1 nationally among universities for economic return on investment. In addition, the Center for World University Rankings places CCNY in the top 1.8% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. Labor analytics firm Lightcast puts at $3.2 billion CCNY’s annual economic impact on the regional economy (5 boroughs and 5 adjacent counties) and quantifies the “for dollar” return on investment to students, taxpayers, and society. At City College, more than 16,500 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity, and scholarship. In 2023, CCNY launched its most expansive fundraising campaign ever. The campaign, titled “Doing Remarkable Things Together,” seeks to bring the College’s Foundation to more than $1 billion in total assets in support of the College's mission. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic, and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit.
Syd Steinhardt
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