CUNY’s New College on the
Upper West Side
At the dedication of the new Upper West Side building of the William E. Macaulay Honors College, Leah Golubchick was explaining her senior thesis on the significance of guardian lion statues in Hong Kong to the college’s benefactor, venture capitalist William E. Macaulay, and other guests. She had traveled to China earlier in her studies and returned to Hong Kong for three weeks of research for her thesis.
    Golubchick, who studies at the Macaulay Honors College at Brooklyn College, is just one of dozens of Macaulay Honors College students who made presentations at the festive April 17 dedication of the Honors College’s new campus, a 1904 Gothic revival building at 35 West 67 Street in Manhattan. Macaulay’s $30 million gift to the University in 2006 made possible the purchase of the building and its transformation into a state-of-the-art educational facility with high-tech classrooms, a theater, a lecture hall, performance space, a dining area, a reading room, seminar and meeting rooms, a screening and administrative offices.
     Built in 1904 in the Gothic revival style, the building is located in a neighborhood that includes some of the city’s most prominent arts and cultural institutions, such as Lincoln Center, the Museum of Natural History and the New-York Historical Society. There are large pin-up walls for student work, cool reading room lighting, and the latest wireless and multi-media access for students and faculty throughout the building and incorporated into all aspects of the curriculum. Participating Macaulay Honors College campuses include Baruch College,  Brooklyn College, City College, Hunter College, Lehman College, Queens College, and the College of Staten Island.
     Macaulay Honors College students are designated University Scholars and receive full financial support including free tuition and a $7,500 study grant to cover the cost of educationally enriching experiences as study abroad and unpaid internships. They also receive free laptops and a Cultural Passport that provides free or discounted access to the city’s cultural riches, including concerts, opera, dance, theater, museums and other cultural, historic and scientific institutions.
     Chancellor Matthew Goldstein, who launched the Honors College in 2001, and Macaulay Dean Ann Kirschner accompanied Macaulay as he walked from room to room. Said the Chancellor, “The Macaulay Honors College is a centerpiece of the University’s renaissance. Having its own home will strengthen and enhance its cross-campus collaborative and interdisciplinary activities, which are key elements of its program.”
     Macaulay, a 1966 Honors graduate of City College, where he majored in economics at what is now the School of Business at Baruch College, said, “This is a beacon for excellence in public higher education.”