NEW YORK, N.Y., May 27, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- New York State (NYS) Assembly Member and Chair of the NYS Assembly Higher Education Committee, Deborah J. Glick, will be the Special Honoree and recipient of the Presidential Award at the 2014 commencement of the Borough of Manhattan Community College of the City University of New York (BMCC/CUNY).
Assembly Member Glick will receive the Presidential Award before an audience of over 3,200 graduates on Friday, May 30 in The Theater at Madison Square Garden, 33rd Street at 7th Avenue in Manhattan. Doors will open at
9:30 a.m. for graduates, and
10:00 a.m. for guests.
Now serving her 11th term in the State Assembly of New York, Deborah Glick has focused on civil rights, reproductive freedom, health care, lesbian and gay rights, the environment, housing, higher education, social justice, and funding for the arts.
Her legislative victories include passage of the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act (SONDA), and the Hospital Visitation Bill, which provides domestic partners the same rights that spouses and next-of-kin have when caring for a loved one in a hospital or nursing facility. She also passed the Women's Health and Wellness Act, which promotes early detection of breast cancer and other medical conditions.
Joining Assembly Member Glick on stage will be the 2014 Commencement Valedictorian and Business Administration major Cindy Salazar, whose father and mother emigrated to the U.S. from Mexico and the Dominican Republic, respectively. Cindy and her sister Aimie—who is currently interning for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor—are the first in their family to earn college degrees.
The BMCC Class of 2014 is significant in that many of the graduates first enrolled in Fall 2012, just as Fiterman Hall—a campus building destroyed on 9/11 and eventually rebuilt—opened its doors.
"Fiterman Hall stands as a testament to the belief the graduates of BMCC are worthy of the best education possible—from the quality of the curricula, to the excellence of the faculty, to the integrity of the buildings themselves," says BMCC President Antonio Pérez.
Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) is part of the City University of New York (CUNY) and enrolls over 25,000 degree-seeking and 11,000 Continuing Education students a year, awarding Associate Degrees in 33 fields.
http://www.bmcc.cuny.edu
A photo accompanying this release is available at: http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=25580
