ORCA Fellows with George Lois at CCNY. From left: Carmen Kuang, Stephana Eghan, Anna Pinger, Lois, Maria Tsampas and Catherine Okoye.
For the five City College of New York undergraduates, summer doesn’t get better than this: 10 weeks spent archiving the George Lois collection gifted to City College by the legendary art director, designer and ad man, while receiving a $3,000 stipend each.
Ad/PR majors Stephana Eghan, Carmen Kuang and Catherine Okoye; and their electronic design and multimedia peers Anna Pinger and Maria Tsampas, are doing this as the first cohort of ORCA Fellows at CCNY.
ORCA (Opportunities in Research and Creative Arts) is a new CCNY program funded by a grant from CUNY. Initiated by Professors Christine Li, David Jeruzalmi and Renata Miller, it seeks to increase the retention and success of first-year freshman and transfer students by involving them in cutting-edge work at the college.
“The program exposes students to issues relating to creativity and what generates creativity,” said Edward Keller, associate professor in the media and communication arts department. “So when you work on the The George Lois Big Idea Archive," that’s real exciting. This is the man known to be the spark behind the creative revolution in advertising that began in the 1960s.”
The five fellows, selected after a rigorous process, concurred.
“I’ve studied George Lois and his work and want to follow in his footsteps as an art director,” said Pinger. “It’s exciting to archive his work and to meet him.”
Pinger and her colleagues got to meet the advertising legend on the first day of their project at CCNY.
“They’re passionate about working on this and that’s exciting,” smiled Lois.
About The City College of New York
Since 1847 The City College of New York has provided low-cost, high-quality education for New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. More than 15,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in: the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; the Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture; the School of Education; the Grove School of Engineering; the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education, and the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership. U.S. News, Princeton Review and Forbes all rank City College among the best colleges and universities in the United States.