William E. Macaulay Honors College

William E. Macaulay Honors College at CUNY
Established	2001, graduated first class in 2005
Type	Public
Dean	Dr. Ann Kirschner
Students	1,882
Undergraduates	1,882
Location	New York City, New York, United States
Campus	Urban
Colours	Red      White      Gray      Black
Nickname	Macaulay
Affiliations	City University of New York
Website	www.macaulay.cuny.edu

William E. Macaulay Honors College in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Macaulay Honors College, is a co-degree granting college for high achieving students at The City University of New York.^[1] Drawing upon the resources of CUNY and New York's cultural, scientific, political, and business communities, Macaulay Honors College aims to provide a broad-based and rigorous liberal arts education.^[2]

Founding and history

The brainchild of CUNY chancellor Matthew Goldstein, CUNY Honors College was first conceived as an independent institution within The City University of New York. The aim of its creation was to increase educational standards and foster university-wide collaboration and excellence. However, support for existing honors programs at CUNY colleges and institutional opposition resulted in its launch in 2001 as CUNY Honors College in collaboration with a number of CUNY's senior colleges. Initially, there were five college partners--Baruch, Brooklyn, City, Hunter, and Queens Colleges; Lehman College, College of Staten Island, and John Jay College were added later. Commonly known as the Macaulay Honors College University Scholars Program, its first class graduated in 2005. The program attracts students with a mean high school GPA of 93.5 and SAT Verbal and Math scores of 1402 for the Class of 2014.^[3]

In July 2006, Dr. Ann Kirschner, a graduate of SUNY Buffalo, UVA, and Princeton University, was appointed Dean of Macaulay Honors College after a nationwide search. Graduating high school students with Ivy League-caliber academic records have given Macaulay a closer look as a result. Rising standards have had a trickle-down effect on improving the image of CUNY as a whole, which, prior to the inception of Macaulay Honors College, had been criticized as "an institution adrift" by the Giuliani administration.

Later, in September 2006, The City University of New York received a $30,000,000 gift from philanthropist and City College alumnus, William E. Macaulay, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of First Reserve Corporation. It is the largest single donation in the history of CUNY and has been used to buy a landmark building on the Upper West Side of Manhattan that has become the permanent home of Macaulay Honors College, and will add support to its endowment.^[2][4][5] A new governance plan, approved by the CUNY Board of Trustees in late April 2010, provided Macaulay Honors College with degree-granting authority through CUNY's University Center. Beginning in Spring 2011, graduates became eligible to receive a dual degree from both their 'home college' and Macaulay Honors College.^[5]

Building

Macaulay Campus on the Upper West Side

After building completion in 1904, 35 West 67th Street subsequently housed the Swiss Benevolent Society for numerous years. In 1999, it became known as the Steinhardt Building after undergoing extensive restoration and renovation under the direction of philanthropist Michael Steinhardt. Following the completion of the Steinhardt Building's refurbishment, the 92nd Street Y received the building as a donation in 2001 from Steinhardt.

The Gothic revival building was purchased with the donation of the Macaulay family and underwent extensive renovations to prepare it for students and staff. Renovations are now complete and the building is in use by the students and staff of Macaulay Honors College.^[2][4]

Academics

Program

Each Macaulay student is designated a University Scholar and receives:

• A full-tuition scholarship (tuition-waiver)
• Eligible for $7,500 grant from Opportunities Fund to pursue global learning, internships, and other service and learning opportunities
• Apple MacBook Air laptop
• Cultural Passport providing free or reduced-price admission to arts, cultural and educational institutions throughout New York City
• Dedicated, specialized advisors through the Macaulay Advising Program (MAP)^[6]

Admissions

Macaulay Honors College accepts applications from high-achieving high school seniors applying for the first time to be freshman immediately following their senior year. Macaulay does not accept transfer students or applicants applying for mid-term entry. The college advises applicants to research the eight CUNY senior colleges which participate in Macaulay prior to submitting an application, which is available online. Applicants to Macaulay are then considered for acceptance to the undergraduate degree program at the CUNY campus designated on their applications. All applicants must apply by December 1.^[7]

Statistics

According to a recent release of facts and figures, applications to Macaulay Honors College have tripled since its founding in 2001. Between 2007 and 2008 alone applications increased a notable 20%. In fall 2013, Macaulay Honors College received 5,672 application, 39% ahead of the application volume in fall 2010 and a sizeable 130% above fall 2006. For the freshmen class of 2013, the average high school GPA and SAT were 93.6 and 1405, respectively. According to Macaulay's "quick facts," the calculated acceptance rate is approximately 9.2% for the graduating class of 2018.

Demographic statistics for 2008 showed applications coming from 477 high schools around the nation including 275 different New York City high schools. New York City's Stuyvesant High School had a 6% increase in applications to Macaulay over the previous year; Bronx Science applications increased by 4.6%.^[3]

Campus

Located at 35 West 67th Street, Macaulay Honors College is half a block from Central Park and three blocks from Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and considered a part of Manhattan's Upper West Side. The building is accessible by MTA bus or subway. The building's renovation was completed Spring 2008 and dedicated under the new name of William E. Macaulay Honors College on April 17, 2008.^[8] Inside, the ground floor houses a commons area replete with a stage for student concerts, readings, guest lectures, and other events. The main floor consists of a reading room, the Wall of Fame, and a large multi-purpose lecture hall. The reading room contains a small library of books donated to Macaulay by students, faculty, staff, NYC dignitaries, and friends of Macaulay, available for in-house reading. On the second and third floors are classrooms, meeting rooms, informal gathering spaces, visiting professor offices, the dean's office, and a fully equipped film screening room with traditional movie theater seats for seventy-two viewers. Also, the building centers on a three story open-roof, internal courtyard, painted bright red after the college's colors. The courtyard is open to all and serves as a multi-purpose space within the college; it has been the site for gatherings and events, student theatre performances, and a temporary visiting artist-student collaborative installation. The fourth floor houses the staff offices. The campus is equipped with Wifi throughout the building.^[9]

Students

Macaulay Honors College students have won numerous local and national awards, such as the Harry S. Truman Scholarship, the Rhodes Scholarship, the Intel Science Talent Search^[10] ($100,000 award), The Barry Goldwater, the Jeannette K. Watson Fellowship, Fulbright Fellowship, Bienecke Fellowship, Salk Fellowship, and the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship.^[8]

Macaulay graduates have also been admitted to top graduate programs. Law schools attended by Macaulay graduates include Yale, Harvard, NYU, Penn, Duke, Georgetown, Cornell, Fordham, Vanderbilt, and George Washington. Medical schools include Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Drexel School of Medicine, Jefferson Medical College, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, SUNY Upstate Medical Center, Temple University School of Medicine, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry and Weill Cornell Medical College.^[11]

Notable alumni

• Amanda Perez (2005) - Emmy Award winning reporter.
• Russel Neiss (2005) - Educator and co-founder of Media Midrash.
• Priya Surya (2005) - Fulbright Scholar and Graduate of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
• Steven Keslowitz (2006) - Lawyer and author. Graduate of Cardozo School of Law.
• Anthony Volodkin (2007) - Founder of The Hype Machine
• Robert Wargas (2007) - Writer and journalist. Graduate of Yale University.
• David Bauer (2009) - Intel Science Talent Search Winner, Goldwater Scholar, Rhodes Scholar, and Truman Scholar.
• Ayodele Oti (2012) - Truman Scholar, Rangel Scholar, Goldsmith Scholar, Lisa Goldberg/Revson Scholar and Starr Scholar.

Faculty

• Edwin G. Burrows - Research historian, Pulitzer Prize winning-author, Distinguished Professor at Brooklyn College (History Department).
• Charles Liu - Astrophysicist, Associate in Astrophysics with the Department of Astrophysics at the Hayden Planetarium of the American Museum of Natural History, Associate Professor of Astrophysics at College of Staten Island, winner of the 2001 American Institute of Physics Science Writing Award.
• Robin Rogers-Dillon - Sociologist, author, recipient of 2003 President's Award for Excellence in Teaching, Associate Professor of Sociology at Queens College, political science and religion researcher, Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Scholar at Yale University, Congressional Fellow on Women and Public Policy.
• Ned Regan - Distinguished Professor in the Political Science Department at Baruch College, Immigration researcher, President of Baruch College 2000–2004.
• Michael Lubell - Director of Public Affairs of the American Physical Society, science lobbying pioneer, highly published author in the fields of high-energy, nuclear, atomic, molecular, and optical physics, Professor of Physics at City College.
• Gary Schwartz - Director Of Herbert H. Lehman College Honors programs. A PhD in Classics, a poet and alumnus of Cambridge.

Former faculty

• Lee Quinby - Visiting Professor at Macaulay, distinguished interdisciplinary scholar, author, editor, and inaugural Zicklin Chair at Brooklyn College (2005–2007). She retired in 2013.^[12]

Advisory board

Macaulay's Advisory Board includes Anthony E. Meyer, co-founder of real estate divisions for Trammell Crow Company and Lazard Frères & Co..

References

External links

• Official website
• William E. Macaulay Honors College on Twitter
• "A Brownstone Becomes an Ivory Tower, and New York City Is the Campus"--New York Times Article

Coordinates: 40°46′26″N 73°58′49″W / 40.7738°N 73.9802°W / 40.7738; -73.9802