Lehman College is a public college in New York City. Founded in 1931 as the Bronx campus of Hunter College, it became an independent college within CUNY in September 1967. The college is named after Herbert H. Lehman, a former New York governor, United States senator, philanthropist, and the son of Lehman Brothers co-founder Mayer Lehman. It is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY) and offers more than 90 undergraduate and graduate degree programs and specializations.
History
The Bronx Branch of Hunter College was first established in 1931.
First flag raising, commissioning ceremonies for the U.S. Naval Training Center, Women's Reserve, Bronx, on February 8th, 1943
The campus was the main national training ground for women in the military during World War II. For a decade before the entry of the United States in World War II, only women students attended, taking their first two years of study at the Bronx campus and then transferring to Hunter’s Manhattan campus to complete their undergraduate work. During the war, Hunter leased the Bronx Campus buildings to the United States Navy who used the facilities to train 95,000 women volunteers for military service as WAVES and SPARS.[3]
When the Navy vacated the campus, the site was briefly occupied by the nascent United Nations, which held its first Security Council sessions at the Bronx campus for six months in 1946.[1] From March to August 1946, the first American meetings of the Security Council were held in the Gymnasium Building where intercollegiate basketball, archery, swimming, and other sports have been played. During festivities marking the 40th anniversary of the United Nations in 1986, the Southern New York State Division of the United Nations Association presented the College with a commemorative plaque, now displayed outside the Gymnasium Building. The College participated in the United Nations’ 50th anniversary activities in 1995–96.
The process of separating Lehman College from its Hunter College-affiliated predecessor began in 1967, culminating in the establishment of an independent unit of the City University of New York on July 1, 1968. This new college, known as Herbert H. Lehman College or Lehman College, was established as a senior undergraduate college. The newly-established school was named after Herbert H. Lehman, the former, four-term governor of New York. Lehman College's founding president was Leonard Lief.[4]
President Lief was succeeded by Ricardo R. Fernández in 1991. In 2016, José Luis Cruz, a former Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at California State University, Fullerton, was appointed as the third president of the College. On July 1, 2019, Jose Luis Cruz was appointed as the CUNY Executive Vice Chancellor and stepped down from the Lehman presidency.[5] On February 21, 2021, the CUNY Board of trustees appointed Dr. Fernando Delgado to succeed interim president Daniel Lemons as the fourth president of the college.[6]
The college closed like other CUNY campuses on March 11, 2020, in response to the coronavirus outbreak. Later, in April, the university released a study that concluded that the virus could be spread through a building's ventilation system.[7] On October 5, 2020, 98% of classes were fully online due to the coronavirus pandemic.[8] On May 26, 2022, after two years of conducting commencement ceremonies online due to the COVID-19 restrictions regarding mass gathering in NYC, Lehman held its first commencement ceremony post COVID-19 lockdowns.[9]
Lehman College houses a multimedia center in Carman Hall, comprising an acoustically designed recording studio, audio and video production control rooms, editing suites, student newsroom, media conversion room, graphics room, and "technology-enhanced" classrooms. BronxNet public access channel is also headquartered in Carman Hall, where many programs are produced including Bronx Talk and Open.[11]
In 2012, Lehman dedicated its new $70 million Science Hall, a four-story building equipped with high-tech classrooms and laboratories, as well as a rooftop teaching and research greenhouse. In 2013, Science Hall was awarded a LEED platinum rating from the U.S. Green Building Council, the first CUNY building to earn the top green building rating.[12] The structural engineers for this project was Leslie E. Robertson Associates (LERA).
Old Gymnasium
The Lehman College Center for the Performing Arts is a professional theater which seats 2,310. The campus is also home to the Lehman College Art Gallery.[13]
The Apex, Lehman College's post-modern style athletic and fitness facility, opened in 1994. Designed by architect Rafael Viñoly, the Apex stands in contrast to the original Gothic revival buildings that define the campus.
Lehman is located between Bedford Park Blvd and West 195th Streets in the Bronx, along Goulden Avenue and Paul Avenue as well as parts of Jerome Avenue The campus is served by the following methods of public transportation:
Students at Lehman College are from multiple ethnic and racial identities, multiple language backgrounds, various social classes, and diverse sexual orientations with many international students.
Lehman College offers undergraduate and graduate programs in its Schools of Arts & Humanities, School of Education, School of Natural and Social Sciences, School of Business, School of Health Sciences, Human Services, and Nursing, and School of Continuing Education.
Macaulay Honors College at Lehman
The highly selective Macaulay Honors College at Lehman provides a full tuition scholarship, Apple laptop computer, and opportunities fund of $7,500 that can be used for various activities such as study abroad, reimbursements for internships or research, and service learning. Students in the honors college are required to take 4 seminars relating to New York City, maintain a 3.5 grade point average, and graduate within four years. They also must take four Lehman Scholars Program Seminars, or "LSP"s.[17][18]
Lehman Scholars Program
The Lehman Scholars Program (L.S.P.) is designed for capable and highly motivated students who have the desire and ability to pursue a somewhat more independent liberal arts course of study. The program offers the advantages of a small, intimate college, including special courses, seminars, and individual counseling.
The Lehman Scholars Program offers several special features, first being that students are exempt from all Degree Requirements. They must, however, pass the CUNY Skills Assessment Tests to be admitted to the program and meet all course prerequisites and requirements for their major field.
The Lehman Scholars Program has its own requirements, which students must fulfill: a one-semester honors course in English composition and stylistics; two years of a foreign language at the college level or its equivalent; four honors seminars from any of four different academic areas: Fine and Performing Arts, Humanities, Natural Science, and Social Science; and a senior honors essay.
Students who enter the program with more than 30 credits may be considered for exemption from one seminar after consultation with the Program Director, Professor Gary Schwartz.
Mentors: Each student entering the program will be assigned to a faculty mentor in his or her field of interest. The mentor will advise the student in the areas of program planning and academic and career goals.
Application Procedure: Students who have earned 60 or fewer college credits may apply for either September, June, or January admission. They will be notified about their acceptance in time for the following semester's registration.[19]
College Now
The College Now program allows selected high school students to take college courses. The program is offered during the spring, summer and fall semesters and the courses are taught at the main Lehman campus.[20]
Freshman Year Initiative
The Freshman Year Initiative is a program involving "blocks" of classes, similar to many high schools, which allows for new and first year students to get to know each other and become familiar with the college environment.
All first-year students participate in the program, which promotes an interdisciplinary curriculum, faculty collaboration, and peer support. All students take mathematics and writing courses as well as a Freshman Seminar when they arrive to prepare them for the rest of their college courses.
Athletics
Lehman College teams participate as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division III. The Lightning Bugs are a member of the City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC). Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, soccer, swimming & diving, track & field, tennis and volleyball; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field, volleyball, and cheerleading.
In 2012–13, the Lightning Bugs won CUNYAC Championships in men's swimming and diving and women's outdoor track and field. The school produced two All-Americans in women's outdoor track: Tobi Alli (100 m) and Jasmine Springer (Triple Jump).[21]
Ruth Westheimer (born Karola Siegel, 1928; known as "Dr. Ruth"), German-American sex therapist, talk show host, author, professor, Holocaust survivor, and former Haganah sniper.
Eric Wolf, former Distinguished Professor of Anthropology
Gary Axelbank, journalist, disk jockey and TV personality based in The Bronx
Michael Bacon, Emmy Award winning composer and songwriter, and Associate Professor of Music at Lehman College; performs in the band the Bacon Brothers with his brother Kevin Bacon
Lewis Gordon, philosopher, works in Africana philosophy, philosophy of human and life sciences, and phenomenology
Micki Grant, singer (soprano), actress, writer, and composer
Ramona Hernández, community leader, sociologist and historian, Professor of Sociology at the City College of New York, and director of the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute
David L. Spector, cell and molecular biologist and professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) and head of the Gene Regulation and Cell Proliferation program of the CSHL Cancer Center
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