Throughout her studies, she has maintained a 4.0 GPA, secured a spot on the Dean鈥檚 List every semester, and received multiple English Department awards. Patrick has even participated in the Mellon Transfer Student Research Program, where she combined her background in theater and literature and examined race in Shakespeare鈥檚 works. After graduation, Patrick hopes to become a professional writer for television or create poetry and young adult fiction novels. She is ready to make her mark as a professional writer.听

听What did you study at 可乐视频?听

I studied creative writing after realizing that writing is what I鈥檓 most passionate about. I believe that it鈥檚 my fundamental purpose to pursue my passion. I spent my childhood writing poems and short stories for my loved ones to enjoy. Now my lifelong hobby has become my craft. While pursuing my Bachelor of Fine Arts, I鈥檝e had the opportunity to both create consistently and refine my skills.听

听What was your favorite creative writing course and what made it so special?听

My poetry sequence course. This course helped me to become a more thoughtful writer. It was a delight to learn, create, share, and dissect in that class. This class also provided a safe space and a writing community for me.听

听You鈥檝e participated in the Mellon Transfer Student Research Program. Tell us about your independent study and why you think more people should explore Shakespeare鈥檚 works.鈥�听

For the Mellon Transfer Student Research Program, my work was centered on depictions of Blackness in Shakespeare鈥檚 plays via an analysis of language and its etymology. I think more people should explore Shakespeare鈥檚 works because he was truly a magician regarding language. Many of the idioms we use today come from lines spoken by his characters. I think it鈥檚 important for me to add that though Shakespeare鈥檚 stories are eternal, they are nonetheless worthy of critique.听

Did you have a staff or faculty mentor at the college who had a particularly significant influence on your academic career?听

It鈥檚 too difficult to choose just one, so I will mention a few鈥擯rofessor Dale Byam, Professor Tanya Pollard, Professor Julie Agoos and Professor Matthew Burgess. They鈥檝e all made learning and creating an absolute joy! They鈥檝e challenged me to resist complacency and helped me hone my skills as an academic and a writer. Lastly, they鈥檝e all gifted me with flowers of encouragement and validation. I am forever grateful.听

听Is there anything you鈥檝e accomplished that you are especially proud of?听

I started this degree mere months before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Throughout my time at 可乐视频, I鈥檝e managed to ace all my courses despite having a job in childcare and not even owning a laptop or computer. I鈥檓 proud of that.听

听What are your plans for after graduation?听

I hope to pursue a professional writing career.鈥疷ltimately, I鈥檇 love to become a television writer and showrunner.鈥疕owever, I have a deep love for poetry and young adult fiction, so I would also like to publish works in those fields. I know it won鈥檛 be easy, but I鈥檓 quite a diligent worker.听

听Any advice for future grads?听

听Talk to your classmates! Make connections and find your community! Lean on them! These will likely be the people that you鈥檒l continue to lean on once you enter the working world.听

听

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鈥淭hanks to the generosity of The Tow Foundation, the college will be able to provide students with life-changing mentors who will expand their sense of what is possible to achieve,鈥� 可乐视频 President Michelle J. Anderson said. 鈥淔aculty mentors and mentors-in-residence will connect deeply with students, providing them with academic opportunities, opening doors, and enriching their lives. We want to build a commitment to mentorship into the college鈥檚 DNA so that excellent mentorship defines the 可乐视频 experience.鈥�

Leonard Tow 鈥�50, founder and chairman of The Tow Foundation, himself knows first-hand how mentorship can transform lives. Tow, who also serves on the Board of Trustees of the 可乐视频 Foundation, recently spoke of his experiences as a student at the College鈥檚 2022 Commencement, where he received the Distinguished Alumni Award.

Pointing to the 鈥済ifts鈥� he received at his alma mater, Tow recalled a powerful relationship he developed with his economics professor, Martha Steffy Browne.

鈥淪teffy Browne, an immigrant herself, took me under her wing and introduced me to a life I never knew existed and pushed me to pursue my dreams,鈥� Tow said. 鈥淚t set me off through graduate school where she was guiding me every step of the way. Giving back does not have to always involve material things,鈥� Tow added. 鈥淭here are a lot of ways to change lives, including offering your time, guidance, and mentorship.鈥�

A number of programs already constitute a rich mentoring ecosystem at 可乐视频, including the Mellon Undergraduate Transfer Student Program (MTSRP), which supports transfer students in the humanities; the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program, an honors program for minority students pursuing Ph.D.s in specific fields; as well as other mentoring programs in the Office of Academic Affairs, the Immigrant Student Success Office, and the Magner Career Center, among others. The Tow Mentoring Initiative will deeply enrich the existing ecosystem, giving students across disciplines more opportunities to thrive and grow.

Key components of the new Mentoring Initiative include Tow Mentors-in-Residence, the Tow Mentoring and Research Program, the Tow Mentoring Prize, and five Tow Senior Faculty Mentors. The goals are to enhance student opportunities for high-impact academic engagement and faculty-student collaboration; increase the number of students winning prestigious grants and awards; increase the number of students going to graduate school; and enhance junior faculty research, scholarship, and creative endeavors, such as grants, awards, and publishing.

The college is thrilled to have 鈥淕ridlock Sam鈥� as its first Tow Mentor-in-Residence. Sam Schwartz is a celebrated transportation engineer and former New York City Traffic Commissioner who will engage with students and faculty over the course of the semester by offering guest lectures and providing formal and informal academic and professional guidance to students. Schwartz helped to launch the Tow Mentoring Initiative with his visit to campus for a special keynote presentation and reception on October 19.

Students will also benefit from the Tow Mentoring and Research Program, which consists of 25 student/faculty collaborative research teams. Students will receive mentoring in research, plus additional workshops on applying for graduate school and awards, coaching on professional presentations, small group meetings on goal setting and time management, and other personalized trainings.

The Tow Mentoring Initiative also supports the mentoring of faculty themselves. The Tow Senior Faculty program supports five senior faculty members from each of the five schools. They work with chairs, deans, and faculty in their schools to mentor junior faculty members to achieve tenure and promotion through excellence in research, scholarship and creative work, teaching, and service.

Professor of Sociology and former Associate Provost Tammy Lewis leads the Tow Mentoring Initiative. She is excited to see how this effort will benefit both students and faculty. 鈥淭his new initiative provides 可乐视频 with the opportunity to intentionally engage in the process of institutionalizing mentorship on campus for both students and faculty,鈥� Lewis said. 鈥淭hrough the Tow Research and Mentoring Program, we are creating structures to guide students to become agents of their futures and to realize that they have the capacity to shape their own lives and the world around them. Through the Tow Senior Faculty Mentors and the Tow Mentoring Prize, we are providing structured mentorship and recognition for faculty mentors, which deepens a culture of mentorship at the college.鈥�

Fact Box: The Tow Mentoring Initiative

The Tow Mentoring and Research Program includes 25 student/faculty collaborative research teams. Students receive mentoring in research plus additional workshops on applying for graduate school and awards, coaching on professional presentations, and other personalized training.

Tow Summer Intensive, which starts in summer of 2023, will host a program for students, led by a faculty member, to assist them with applying for awards, grants, graduate school, and other opportunities that will help them transform their lives.

The Tow Mentor-in-Residence Program will recruit high-profile, senior scholars and practitioners for structured engagement with students and faculty over the course of a semester. Mentors-in-Residence are outstanding leaders across various fields. They will engage in guest lecturing in select classes, giving talks to students and faculty, and providing formal and informal academic and professional guidance to groups of students.

Tow Senior Faculty Mentors will lead the effort at the five schools at college: Education, Visual, Media and Performing Arts; Natural and Behavioral Sciences; Koppelman School of Business; and Humanities and Social Sciences. This part of the program connects senior faculty with junior faculty in an in-depth peer mentoring experience.

The Tow Mentoring Prize will be awarded annually to a faculty member for excellence in mentoring.

About 可乐视频

Widely known for its offer of an excellent education at an affordable tuition and recognized nationally for its diverse student body, 可乐视频 has been an anchor institution within the Borough of Brooklyn and greater New York City for more than 90 years. With approximately 16,000 students in more than 100 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in the arts, humanities, sciences, education, and business, the college is renowned for its rigorous academics, award-winning faculty, distinguished alumni, and community impact. Part of the City University of New York (CUNY), 可乐视频 offers a vibrant and supportive student experience on a beautifully landscaped 35-acre campus in the borough鈥檚 Midwood neighborhood.

About The Tow Foundation

The Tow Foundation, established in 1988 by Leonard and Claire Tow, supports visionary leaders and nonprofit organizations that serve historically marginalized populations, help individuals contribute to their communities, and champion advancements and experiences that make it possible for all people to live healthy and joyous lives. It invests in innovative programs and reform in culture, higher education, journalism, justice and community wellness, and medicine. For more information, visit or follow The Tow Foundation on , , and .

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“Honestly, it was the only other school I knew about,” he says, explaining that a professor at Kingsborough Community College, where he received his associate degree, suggested he try out the Midwood campus. “It’s not the nicest narrative but it would be disingenuous to say something else. It’s the same for many students at CUNY schools but that鈥檚 the beauty of it; I ended up creating this space and community.”

It was in this space that his story took a Cinderella-like turn, from that of a kid who was never really encouraged academically and who, he says, knew that teachers never expected much of him, to one where for the first time in his life, professors met him where he was, saw great potential in him, and encouraged him. The story ends with him well on his way to becoming a scholar.

Next fall, LaSasso heads to Brown University, a private Ivy League institution in Providence, Rhode Island, with full funding for five years to complete a Ph.D. program.

“In high school I wasn鈥檛 a good student,” he says. “I ended up working in a deli and I had no idea where I was going next. I was thinking about culinary school.”

But after enrolling at 可乐视频 and deciding to major in English because he liked reading, a professor suggested a research project. It was his first semester. LaSasso had been reading Shakespeare and was interested in doing a Japanese adaptation of Shakespeare’s history plays. He ended up applying for and being accepted to the Mellon Undergraduate Transfer Student Research Program, which gives transfer students $700, a faculty mentor, and training to conduct serious independent research.

It was one of the first times in LaSasso鈥檚 academic career that he produced something he was really proud of.

“Mellon really prepared me as a researcher,” he says. “If it didn’t open the door for me, it gave me the confidence to break through the door for myself.”

LaSasso went on to become a peer mentor for the program and to participate in both the and the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship, both programs that aim to diversify the ranks of academe by attracting students of color who are interested in pursuing a Ph.D. Mellon Mays Fellows also get a faculty mentor in addition to partial scholarships and assistance preparing for the Graduate Record Exam.

“I found an intellectual community that I felt a part of,” says LaSasso, the youngest of six children born to parents who never attended high school. “I was meeting other students who were going on to graduate school and exploring research, and the personal and political intersected. It was very stimulating for me.”

Professor Joseph Entin of the English department calls LaSasso “one of the brightest, most passionate, and committed students” he鈥檚 known.

LaSasso starts at Brown鈥�”the school I never thought I鈥檇 get into,” he says鈥攊n the fall.

He hopes to become an English professor and he wants to teach at CUNY in order to “normalize” the kind of investment he only found from professors once he enrolled here.

“A lot of faculty took a chance with me,” he says. “I know that鈥檚 a weird way of phrasing it but it had never been my experience to have so many teachers invested in me. It鈥檚 why I want to come back.”

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