From City to the World

Modernizing urban infrastructure and bringing high-quality career training and jobs to underserved communities are shared goals of the new Charles B. Rangel Infrastructure Workforce Initiative (RIWI) at The City College of New York. The brainchild of former U.S. Rep. Charles B. Rangel, who served Harlem and surrounding areas for 46 years in Congress, RIWI and new economic opportunities are now a reality for these communities, thanks to Federal support secured by Rangel’s successor, U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat. In this episode, CCNY President Vincent Boudreau invites listeners inside the Great Hall of City College to experience the April 2022 launch of RIWI at a celebration of former Congressman Rangel, the guest of honor and statesman-in-residence at CCNY. Hear leaders from the local to national level pay tribute to Rangel, his career and the promise of the RIWI project.

Host: CCNY President Vincent Boudreau
Guests: Speakers include U.S. Rep Adriano Espaillat; former U.S. Rep. Charles B. Rangel; President and CEO of the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce Lloyd A. Williams; President of the NAACP New York State Conference and Member of the National Board of Directors Dr. Hazel N. Dukes.

Recorded: April 14, 2022

Related: "Lion of Lenox Avenue" at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgjRGQZvvLA

In 2020, a long friendship was formalized between The City College of New York and Harlem's New Heritage Theatre Group (NHTG), making NHTG CCNY's theater company in residence. It is the oldest Black nonprofit theater company in New York City. In conversation with CCNY President Vincent Boudreau, NHTG executive producer Voza Rivers recounts the history of theater in Harlem since the days of the Harlem Renaissance and the work of his organization, founded in 1964. From his unique experience over the decades, Rivers also explains why it has been important—as well as successful both artistically and for Harlem theater audiences—for him to partner with "downtown" theater producers. And now, how—amidst the adversity of the COVID pandemic—NHTG expanded its audience internationally with virtual programming and returns, rejuvenated, to live theater. Hear about the comprehensive, hands-on Theatre program at CCNY from Associate Professor of Theatre and Speech Jennifer Tuttle, as well as the platform it provides for student voices and social justice protest in original works students create, perform and produce. Learn more about the collaboration between CCNY and NHTG and its synergies and benefits in the classroom, on the stage, and in the Harlem community.

Host: CCNY President Vincent Boudreau
Guests: Voza Rivers, Executive Producer and a founding member of New Heritage Theatre Group, Harlem; Jennifer Tuttle, Associate Professor and Chair of CCNY's Department of Theatre and Speech.

Recorded: March 15, 2022

Diverse by design, CCNY was founded in 1847 with a mission to educate the "children of the whole people" and introduce public education to New York City. Fast forward to 1969, when the disparity between the small numbers of Black and Puerto Rican students — compared with Harlem's population and the city as a whole — gave rise to historic campus protests, occupation and a two-week strike. Open admissions followed for the next six years. In this episode, President Vincent Boudreau recounts this formative period in CCNY's modern era and visits a 1970s chapter in Black history on campus with legendary rapper Kurtis Blow. Hear Blow, born a block away, tell his CCNY history, from finding the inspiration here for his hit "Basketball" to studying here for a time until making his groundbreaking record deal. For perspectives on educational attainment equity at City College today, Student Affairs and Enrollment Management leaders Celia Lloyd and Dr. Naomi Nwosu-Stewart join President Boudreau in a conversation about engaging and supporting current students, a majority of whom are people of color.

Host: CCNY President Vincent Boudreau
Guests: Celia Lloyd, CCNY Vice President of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management; Dr. Naomi Nwosu-Stewart, CCNY Assistant Vice President of Enrollment Management; Elder Kurtis Blow Walker, rapper, minister and President of the United Coalition for Humanity.

Recorded: February 14, 2022

The data are stark on health disparities in America's under-resourced communities, but the prognosis for a better, fairer healthcare future is strong at the CUNY School of Medicine at The City College of New York. Newly installed dean Dr. Carmen Renee' Green, a nationally known pain physician and expert on health policy and social determinants of health, is building on CCNY's nearly 50-year tradition of educating diverse doctors to serve communities like their own. In conversation with CCNY President Vincent Boudreau, Dean Green explains that 80% of health and well-being is dependent on social determinants—making diversity, disparities, empathy, narrative medicine, and a greater understanding of treating pain essential to training America's next-gen healers and leaders.

Host: CCNY President Vincent Boudreau

Guest: Carmen Renee' Green, MD, Dean and Anna and Irving Brodsky Medical Professor, CUNY School of Medicine at CCNY; Professor, CCNY Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership.

Recorded: November 11, 2021

A giant on the world stage, Gen. Colin L. Powell found his calling in the ROTC program as an undergraduate at The City College of New York. Powell led the Cadet Corps on the Harlem campus, and upon graduating with a Geology degree in 1958, received his commission as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. The first Black American appointed to a series of U.S. government leadership roles culminating in Secretary of State, Powell also spent the last several decades of his life deeply involved with the school he called the center of his life.

As news of Powell’s passing circles the world, this episode captures the tributes of his closest colleagues at CCNY: President Vincent Boudreau, Vice President Dee Dee Mozeleski, and Dean Andrew Rich of the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership. Joining them is Trevor Houser, a 2006 graduate and an alumnus of the inaugural cohort of Colin Powell Fellows, a program exemplifying the visionary pathways that Powell initiated and that today inspire a legacy of student success across CCNY.

Host: CCNY President Vincent Boudreau

Guests: Andrew Rich, Richard J. Henley and Susan L. Davis Dean of CCNY’s Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership; Trevor Houser, Partner, Rhodium Group, CCNY Class of 2006, graduate of CCNY’s inaugural cohort of Colin Powell Fellows; Dee Dee Mozeleski, Vice President of CCNY’s Office of Institutional Advancement and Communications, Executive Director of the Foundation for City College, Senior Adviser to the President of City College.

Recorded: October 19, 2021