NEW YORK, March 24, 2009 – Quest, a non-profit senior educational program that is now part of The City College of New York’s (CCNY) Division of Worker Education (DWE), will host a luncheon to celebrate its official union with the College. The event runs from 12 noon to 2 p.m. Tuesday, March 31, at CCNY’s Center for Worker Education (CWE) located at 25 Broadway in Lower Manhattan.
The organization which is based at CWE, adopted the name Quest: The CCNY-CWE Community for Lifelong Learning Inc., when the union became official January 26.
“Quest is a lifelong learning institution that is important to the life of this city,” said CCNY President Dr. Gregory H. Williams, who is expected to be among the 150 guests at the luncheon. “We are thrilled to include this wonderful senior program into the City College family.”
“Quest is one of the best lifelong learning programs in New York City, with the highest degree of member participation and curriculum,” said DWE Dean Juan Carlos Mercado. “The upcoming luncheon is a great way to celebrate our longstanding relationship.”
The organization has 135 members and conducts 30 non-credit classes for retirees at CWE. “At Quest, every individual is part of the learning process,” said 101-year-old Ruth Proskauer Smith, who teaches a course on the Supreme Court. “We all feel that when we do that we learn more than we ever thought we could about a subject. There is a give and take among all of us after the presentation and all our lives and experience come into the discussions.”
“Most of us retired or semi-retired professionals have had interesting avocations during our years of earning a living,” said Charles Carter, who teaches Conversational French, Writing and Opera Appreciation. “I, in particular, find it very rewarding to not only share my love of Opera, French and writing with my fellow Questers, but also to attend lectures on so many interesting topics given by so many erudite people and to participate in class interaction.”
Quest is an offshoot of the Institute for Retired Professionals (IRP), which was established in 1962 at the New School. Quest was founded in 1995 when a group of retirees secured the daytime facilities of the Center for Worker Education (CWE) in order to initiate a platform for further learning, exchanging ideas and developing new interests.
About the Division of Worker Education
The Division of Worker Education, headquartered at the Center for Worker Education (CWE) in Lower Manhattan, is a division of The City College of New York’s (CCNY) College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. It offers an excellent interdisciplinary B.A. degree in Liberal Arts with a number of special concentrations. The Center for Worker Education also hosts the CCNY School of Education’s B.S. in Early Childhood Education. Founded in 1981, the Division has become one of the leading educational institutions for working adults in New York City. It attracts over 750 working professionals per semester and reflects the multi-ethnic composition of New York City. For addition information, visit /prospective/cwe.
About The City College of New York
For more than 160 years, The City College of New York has provided low-cost, high-quality education for New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. Over 15,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; The School of Architecture, Urban Design and Landscape Architecture (SAUDLA); The School of Education; The Grove School of Engineering, and The Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education. For additional information, visit www.ccny.cuny.edu
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