On January 25 and 31, the Claire Tow Theater at ������Ƶ’s Leonard & Claire Tow Center for the Performing Arts will transform into a Lower East Side tenement apartment, where generations of immigrant families once lived, dreamed, and persevered. Through stunning puppetry and deeply human narratives, “Layer the Walls” reveals the true stories embedded within these walls.

Having already captivated more than 50,000 young people and families nationwide, this powerful series underscores ������Ƶ’s role as a vibrant anchor for the arts in Brooklyn and beyond.

“Layer the Walls exemplifies the kind of daring, imaginative work we are proud to present at the Leonard and Claire Tow Center for the Performing Arts,” said the Tow Center’s new Director Eveline Chang. “By blending visual storytelling, movement, and unexpected perspectives, this series invites ������Ƶ audiences to experience puppetry as a powerful contemporary art form, one that breaks boundaries, sparks curiosity, and brings people together across disciplines.”

About the shows:

Set in a Lower East Side tenement apartment, “Layer the Walls” explores the true stories of immigrant families who once lived within its walls. Part I and Part II are stand-alone performances and may be enjoyed in any order, allowing audiences to choose the stories that resonate most with them.

All performances are 60 minutes and include a free post-show workshop. Tickets are $10.

Performance details:

“Layer the Walls Part” I (Ideal for ages 8 and up)
Turn of the Century (1870–1909)
Sunday, January 25 at 2 p.m.

• An Irish father finds work building the Brooklyn Bridge.
• Italian brothers survive the Great Blizzard of 1888.
• Russian Jewish girls join the 1909 Garment Workers’ Strike.

Tickets:

(For ������Ƶ community, please, include discount code LAYER5 for discounted $5 tickets.

Watch trailer (Part I)

“Layer the Walls” Part II (Ideal for ages 9 and up)
Midcentury (1930–1970)
Saturday, January 31 at 2 p.m.

• A Chinese father swims the Hudson River to save his family.
• A teen Holocaust survivor finds refuge in New York City.
• Puerto Rican cousins join the Young Lords’ fight for healthcare justice.

Watch trailer (Part II)

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Under the Radar includes the performances of the play Reconstructing, which opened that evening at the Don Buchwald Theater at the Leonard & Claire Tow Center for the Performing Arts. The event helped highlight efforts to make the arts more accessible and affordable to all New Yorkers.

Reconstructing will offer one of New York’s most diverse student bodies, as well as the surrounding community, access to high-quality theater they rarely have the opportunity to experience.

Co-written by 21 Black-, POC-, and White-identifying artists ranging in age from 29 to 99, Reconstructing is a bold theatrical work from the internationally acclaimed theater collective The TEAM. The piece examines how, in the long aftermath of slavery, we might navigate American history together and how we move toward a more equitable future.

The production is directed by two of contemporary theater’s most visionary talents: Rachel Chavkin (founding artistic director of The TEAM and Tony Award winner for Hadestown) and Zhailon Levingston (Obie Award winner for the Broadway-bound Cats: The Jellicle Ball at the Perelman Performing Arts Center).

Performance dates: January 9 at 7:30 p.m.; January 10 at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m.; and January 11 at noon and 5 p.m. Tickets may be purchased .

Read more about this exciting event in .

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Co-written by 21 Black-, POC-, and white-identifying artists ranging in age from 29 to 99, Reconstructing is a bold theatrical work from the internationally acclaimed theater collective The TEAM. The piece examines how, in the long aftermath of slavery, we might navigate American history together and how we move toward a more equitable future.

The production is directed by two of contemporary theater’s most visionary talents: Rachel Chavkin (founding artistic director of The TEAM and Tony Award winner for Hadestown) and Zhailon Levingston (Obie Award winner for the Broadway-bound Cats: The Jellicle Ball at the Perelman Performing Arts Center).

��Performance dates:

January 9 at 7:30 p.m.

January 10 at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

January 11 at 12 p.m. and 5 p.m.

Following its recent run at BAM’s Next Wave Festival, the engagement at ������Ƶ will launch Reconstructing’s national tour to major university presenters. Onstage, the two-story house at the center of the piece is simultaneously a post-flood ruin, a new development wrapped in Tyvek, and a historic Southern mansion—echoing Gone With the Wind’s Tara—being transformed into an Airbnb rental.

This engagement at the Don Buchwald Theater also marks an important new chapter for the Leonard & Claire Tow Center for the Performing Arts. Since opening in 2018, the Tow Center has become a cultural anchor for both campus and community, reshaping what it means to make art in Brooklyn. The Don Buchwald Theater offers a more intimate experience. With just over 200 seats and a flexible black box design, it’s a playground for imagination. One night it’s a Harlem jazz club, the next a dystopian courtroom. Its acoustics and versatility have made it a favorite among emerging artists and seasoned performers alike.

At the heart of the Tow Center is a powerful ethos: art as a catalyst. Its programming amplifies underrepresented voices and tackles urgent social issues, drawing audiences from across New York City and beyond. The center’s inclusive vision has made it a beacon for connection, creativity, and change.

These performances will highlight the growing movement to bring professional-grade theater to students and the surrounding community members who might never otherwise have access—even in the theater capital of the world.��They also serve as a blueprint for other public universities seeking to expand cultural opportunity for their students.

About the Leonard & Claire Tow Center for the Performing Arts

The Leonard & Claire Tow Center for the Performing Arts at ������Ƶ is a world-class facility dedicated to fostering creativity, innovation, and excellence. Serving as a hub for performance, education, and collaboration, the Tow Center supports a wide range of artistic endeavors with state-of-the-art spaces for theater, dance, music, and multidisciplinary work. Its commitment to artistic diversity, creativity, and access continues to shape the future of the performing arts landscape.

About Under the Radar Festival

Under the Radar Festival showcases bold, boundary-pushing theater that immerses audiences in daring new works. Held annually, the festival features groundbreaking artists whose work challenges traditional notions of performance and engages with urgent contemporary issues, bringing together some of the most exciting voices in global theater.

About The TEAM

Founded in 2004, The TEAM is a Brooklyn-based experimental theater collective described by The Guardian as “theatrical excavators of American culture, American dreams, and the American psyche.” The group collaboratively creates new works that examine life in the United States to spark dialogue about the nation’s past, present, and future. The TEAM’s 12 productions—including Mission Drift, RoosevElvis, and Primer for a Failed Superpower—have been presented at major venues nationally and internationally, including the Public Theater, PS122, Roulette, The Bushwick Starr, A.R.T., Walker Art Center, London’s National Theatre and Almeida Theatre, Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre, the Salzburg Festival, the Perth International Arts Festival, and the Hong Kong Arts Festival.

Credits

Created by: The TEAM

Directed by: Rachel Chavkin & Zhailon Levingston

Resident Director: Josiah Davis

Written by: Brenda Abbandandolo, Denée Benton, Eric Berryman, Vinie Burrows, Rachel Chavkin, nicHi douglas, Eisa Davis, Josiah Davis, André De Shields, JJJJJerome Ellis, Katherine Freer, Jill Frutkin, Amber Gray, Jeremy O. Harris, Modesto Flako Jimenez, Libby King, Ian Lassiter, Zhailon Levingston, Jake Margolin, James Harrison Monaco, Nick Vaughan, and Jillian Walker

Developed with: Marika Kent and Matt Hubbs

Composed by: James Harrison Monaco, Maya Sharpe, and Jillian Walker with Eric Berryman

Choreographed by: nicHi douglas

Featuring: Eric Berryman*, Ato Blankson-Wood*, Rachel Chavkin, Modesto Flako Jimenez, James Harrison Monaco, Maya Sharpe*, Jillian Walker*

Scenic Design by: Lawrence E. Moten III

Adapted from Original Scenic Design by: Nick Vaughan

Costume & Quilt Design by: Marla (Brenda Abbandandolo, Marika Kent, and Kristen Sieh)

Lighting Design by: Alan C. Edwards

Sound Design by: Mikhail Fiksel

Video & Projection Design by: Katherine Freer

Associate Choreography by: Nile Harris

Props Design by: Patricia Marjorie

*Appearing courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association

Special Thanks to the Staff from the Leonard & Claire Tow Center for the Performing Arts

Executive Director: Marcus Richardson

Director: Eveline Chang

Crew Chief, Scenic Supervisor: Lucanus Hotaling

Lighting Supervisor: Andrew Kerr-Thompson

Sound Supervisor: Thomas Selsey

Production Crew: Annabelle Adelaide, Stephanie Beckman, Lem Goldstein, Matthew Hairston, Cody Hom, Ren Hughes, Oziel Jimenez Santos, Grace Loeb, Manuel Martinez, Kat Morrill, Danelle Morrow, Javier Puga, Brian Quinones, Erica Reichler, Maddy Uecker, Michael Welles, Hayley Chisholm, Lucian Loyve

Box Office Staff: John Vetter, Olivia Thomas, Steven Wizior, Florence Rossiello, Natalie Aidinov

Associate Director of House & Patron Services: Gerard M. Vaccarello

Assistant House Manager: Allan Randall

Tow Center Performance Managers: Richard Harris, Alexandria Timoll, Cassandra Morris-Marcus

Head Ushers: Serafima Zaytsev, Christopher Lutsker, Krystal Walker

Ushers: Danielle Russo, Jeremy Adom, Wali Mohammad, Finn Oliensis, Jacob Guinada, Oscar Docavo, Duke Nagrampa, Isabela Vargas, Joseph Pelan, Jenna Mineo, Duly Rosenberg, Renee Scorcia, Marlon Maynard

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Born in Berdyansk, Ukraine, Voskresensky emigrated to the United States in 2022 in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and is currently an artist-in-residence at the Juilliard School in New York. Since his arrival in the United States, he has seen overwhelming support and interest from the media and the music community.

Watch Voskresensky discuss leaving Russia after invasion of Ukraine .

Voskresensky won first prizes at the Van Cliburn and Schumann international competitions, among others, and has appeared as a soloist with some of the world’s finest orchestras. The longtime head of the piano faculty at the prestigious Moscow Conservatory, his alma mater, his students have won 120 top prizes at the world’s major international competitions.

Voskresensky’s recent and future engagements include concerts and master classes at the Aspen, PianoTexas, and Northern Lights festivals, Eastman School of Music, Oberlin Conservatory, University of Georgia, University of Washington, and abroad at the Royal College of Music in London, Barcelona Conservatory, Amsterdam Conservatory, and Hamburg Hochschule of Music.

��You can read more about his illustrious career .

Master class with Mikhail Voskresensky
When: Dec. 6, 6–8 p.m.
Where: Leonard & Claire Tow Center for the Performing Arts, Don Buchwald Theater
This event is free and open to the public.

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Few figures shine as brightly as Don Buchwald ’59.

A beloved talent agent known for his trademark fedora and wide smile, Don had a unique morning ritual: Each day, he would settle down with his distinctive, blue-lined yellow pad and consider how he could enrich the lives of others. Whether it was a high-profile client or a promising ������Ƶ student, Buchwald’s heart always leaned toward helping those around him, as he was a staunch believer in enriching lives through philanthropy.

Buchwald speaking at the Don Buchwald Theater opening.

Born in Brooklyn in 1936, Donald Henry Buchwald was the youngest of five. His father owned a textile business, while his mother taught high school history. Buchwald often claimed that, unlike his academically motivated siblings, he was a “street kid” who enjoyed hanging out with friends. Nonetheless, he graduated from Lafayette High School and, at just 16, enrolled at ������Ƶ.

Uncertain at first about what major to pursue, he took a break from college to enlist in the Army, serving in Korea and Japan. He returned home with what he called “a thin veneer of sophistication,” shedding a thick Brooklyn accent that one teacher had described as the worst (or best) he’d ever heard.

After restarting college, he was encouraged by the head of the Theater Department to become a theater major and performed in the Gershwin Theater. This venue’s successor became the Don Buchwald Theater, named in his honor. Since its opening, the Don Buchwald Theater has welcomed more than 15,000 visitors, hosting nearly 50 events every year, ranging from theatrical productions to conservatory concerts, and is a vital space for creativity and collaboration on campus.

Don Buchwald

After earning his degree at ������Ƶ, Buchwald explored various roles in the industry, including acting and theater management. He even worked as a travel agent, honing valuable sales skills, which came in handy when, in 1964, he co-founded a talent agency with fellow alum Monty Silver ’57. Soon after, he married his wife of 59 years, Maggie, with whom he raised two daughters, Julia and Laura.

As a talent agent, Buchwald discovered his true calling. Quickly making a name for himself, he began representing a roster of voice-over artists and actors. In 1977, he opened Don Buchwald & Associates (now Buchwald), representing iconic stars like Kathleen Turner, Djimon Hounsou, and Howard Stern. His record-breaking $500 million deal for Stern with Sirius/XM radio earned him the nickname “superagent.” Buchwald’s approach to negotiation was guided by a desire to leave the table “better friends” than when he arrived.

In tandem with guiding his clients’ careers, Buchwald became one of ������Ƶ’s most generous supporters. As a member of the ������Ƶ Foundation Board of Trustees, he created internships for theater students and undergraduates studying television and radio.

Notably, his contributions to the Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema provided third-year graduate students with $10,000 grants for their thesis films. The money went to a team of students—writers, directors, cinematographers, composers, and editors—to complete their films. His gifts also funded Feirstein’s most recent student film festival, held at the Metrograph Theater in Brooklyn.

Buchwald’s philanthropic efforts were celebrated in 2016 at the Best of Brooklyn gala in the Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center. This annual event, sponsored by the ������Ƶ Foundation, highlights the accomplishments of alumni, students, and faculty while raising essential funds for students’ more urgent needs.

During the gala, award-winning avant-garde director Sarah Benson ’04 M.F.A. shared how a Buchwald-funded fellowship allowed her to intern at her dream theater, Soho Repertory, where she later became artistic director. Several other recipients of his support followed suit, sharing stories of career transformations, all thanks to Buchwald’s generosity. As he received a crystal statuette etched with Coney Island’s famed Parachute Jump, Buchwald addressed an overflowing crowd, emphasizing the collective responsibility of those who have achieved success.

“It’s our job, those of us who have been lucky enough to have succeeded, to pass the torch along to the younger generation—to do what we can to help them succeed,” he said.

But his lifetime achievements didn’t stop there. The super alum later established two scholarships for graduate majors in cinema arts, a student film fund, and a theater maintenance fund. Additionally, with his friend, fellow board member, and philanthropist Murray Koppelman ’57, Buchwald funded the business plan competition at the Koppelman School of Business, which engages students in all facets of entrepreneurship. As one of his final contributions to the college and his legacy, Buchwald created a fellowship for poets in the Creative Writing, M.F.A. program in the name of his sister Greta Buchwald Hogan ’51, who passed away in November of 2023.

Don Buchwald passed away on July 22, 2024, surrounded by family. His incredible journey reflects a life filled with generosity and a commitment to uplifting others, not the least of whom are the many future generations of ������Ƶ students.

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There was an installation by the pioneering artist Nam June Paik, who is widely credited with founding video art.

“It philosophically changed the way I saw the world,” she says.

She tried the practical path her schoolteacher parents steered her down, getting a bachelor’s degree in critical theory with the intent of becoming a professor. But the tug of art never went away.

“When I finally discovered what curating allows you to do—to implement the philosophy and the theory behind the presentation of art as well as working with artists and trying to directly improve their living conditions—I found that to be much more important,” she says.

After earning a master’s degree in art history, theory, and criticism at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, she had turns as a curator at the University of California, Berkeley Art Museum for nine years and then as director of The Lab, an experimental performance art space in San Francisco, which she saved from closing.

She came to ������Ƶ in February 2023 as the first director of the Leonard & Claire Tow Center for the Performing Arts.

We talked to her about her reasons for taking the position and her goals for the Tow Center’s future, including creating a sustainable and inclusive cultural space for the community.

What attracted you to ������Ƶ?

This job was really intriguing. I knew, or knew of through friends, artists like Jennifer McCoy, Derrick Adams, Marina Rosenfeld, David Grubbs—Grubbs had performed at The Lab—and a few other incredible people, and I couldn’t believe they were all here.

And for a while, I had been concerned that art schools were reserved for the privileged, since they’re very, very, very expensive to attend. I’ve always felt like this was untenable and unethical. I wanted to work for a pedagogical space that provided those services free or at a very low cost and allowed students to really experiment.

������Ƶ is special in that regard. You would be hard-pressed to find another school offering this caliber of faculty talent, incredible facilities, resources, as well as the time and space for students to challenge and renegotiate how we perceive the world.

How are you settling into the position, and what’s a typical day like?

We hold almost 400 events a year at the Tow Center, most of which are for the Conservatory of Music, the Department of Theater, and other academic departments on campus.

And we only have a six-person staff!

We’re also trying to host about 30 to 50 graduations for Brooklyn public schools every June, which is intense. Still, it’s a great recruitment tool. On top of that, we produce 30 to 50 rentals. We get over 1,000 requests annually to rent the Tow Center. So, I can pick and choose people who will bring something to the campus and who treat the staff and community with respect. We can also offer something to our neighbors in Flatbush – that reciprocity is important.

A typical day involves a few meetings: with directors of other spaces around New York City, sometimes with artists, sometimes with staff and other ������Ƶ folks, and then mainly writing a lot of people back. I send about 150 e-mails a day.

Who are some of the artists you’ve been particularly proud to work with here?

We’re working with a few great artists on reviving our legacy Schooltime program for Brooklyn children. We’ve had a long-standing relationship with the Ukrainian National Ballet. They’re homeless and have been wandering the country. We just keep offering them our space whenever they’re back in town. These are the kinds of things that fit our mission and our priorities.

In September 2023, Wadada Leo Smith, a stunning jazz musician, created a 14-hour composition just for us that was performed over the course of four days in the Buchwald Theater. It was an extraordinary opportunity. Students and faculty performed with the professional musicians on stage. It was a very cool thing.

Poet Tongo Eisen-Martin performed with Jive Poetic last October. Jive is a Flatbush native, and both he and Tongo got their start at the legendary Nuyorican Poets Café. That was a phenomenal experience.

Brooklyn has a rich arts landscape, and we sit in the shadow of other bigger, more well-known performance spaces. We’ve got the recently refurbished Kings Theater right up the road. How do you see the Tow Center fitting in with the broader arts scene?

Kings Theater is competition in the sense that Bob Dylan’s manager came to us and said, “Hey, we’re looking for a space.” We offered our theater, but Kings has better facilities and a marketing machine behind them, so they snatch up a lot of the big-name talent.

������Ƶ’s theater complex has been in the community since 1951, and our relevance is all about maintaining our link to Flatbush and wider New York. That’s very different than having Ticketmaster’s marketing machine behind you. We’re just six people plus a bunch of students trying to make everyone feel welcome when they come in, to make sure people feel like this is their art center. We’re a small but crazy chorus of voices who are trying to maintain this exciting resource, and to do that, we have to really show what culture can look like: at ������Ƶ, but also how small but imaginative collaborations can transform the city itself.

A big part of the difference between the Tow Center and more commercial theaters is that we put a lot of love into our projects. As a result, we attract artists who want to be a part of something more tangibly human than a corporation.

That’s where our strength is.

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The award, in its 19th edition, recognizes León’s contribution to the enrichment of the musical heritage of the Ibero-American peoples through their creative work. It is considered the highest public recognition for a living composer from the Ibero-American community.

León taught at ������Ƶ for 35 years until her retirement in 2019. She was the director of music composition in the school’s Conservatory of Music and was the first faculty member in any of the City University of New York (CUNY) colleges to receive the prestigious Kennedy Center award (2022). She was also awarded the in Music for her work “Stride” in 2021, a piece commissioned by the New York Philharmonic to commemorate the centennial of women’s voting rights. In 2018 she was named a USA Fellow and inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

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During this season, they will be ensemble-in-residence at the conservatory, where they will perform on November 28 in the Don Buchwald Theater in the Leonard & Claire Tow Center for the Performing Arts, as well as record new original works of conservatory composers and give a masterclass. In addition to ������Ƶ, they will be visiting Rice University, the University of Michigan, Temple University, East Carolina University, and Longy School of Music.

Individually, Mills recently received the Achievement Award from the Chamber Music Center of New York, presented by Fred Sherry (cellist/former Artistic director of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center) on April 23, 2023. During the 2022-23 season, he was invited to judge the concerto competitions at the New England Conservatory and the Mannes School of Music.

For Aizawa, during the 2022-23 season, she was invited to judge at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and the University of Michigan. She will also give a masterclass lecture with chamber music coaching at the Colburn School in Los Angeles in November 2023.

Some other Horszowski Trio notable news:��

• In the 2022-23 season, the trio gave the world premiere of works composed for the Horszowski Trio written by Derek Bermel, Paul Chihara, David Fulmer, and Kenji Bunch;
• The trio will give the world premiere of Stewart Goodyear’s work commissioned by the Gardner Museum in Boston on February 4, 2024;
• In the 2022-23 season, they performed and gave a class at many schools including Yale School of Music (CT), Northwestern University (IL), Eastman School of Music (NY), Princeton University (NJ), Bard College (NY), University of Buffalo (NY), and Boise State University (ID);
• In 2023, the “Horszowski Trio Prize” was created by the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition to award piano trio winners.

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Today, ������Ƶ celebrated the achievement of more than 4,000 students at its 2022 Commencement at Barclays Center in downtown Brooklyn. The ceremony, which was full of energy, marked the first in-person commencement in two years.

College President Michelle J. Anderson, Provost, and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Anne Lopes, and Vice President for Student Affairs Ron Jackson helped lead the conferring of degrees from the college’s School of Natural and Behavioral Sciences, School of Visual, Media, and Performing Arts, Murray Koppelman School of Business, School of Education, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, as well as the .

Anderson lauded the determination of the Class of 2022, saying that despite everything they faced throughout the difficult times of the pandemic, they stayed the course.

“The graduates sitting here in Barclays today needed an extraordinary kind of commitment to get to these seats,” Anderson said. “They had to tackle rigorous academic work. In so doing, they have been transformed by the power of critical thinking, the scientific method, creativity, and advanced analysis that are the foundations of higher education. They explored new ideas that have shaped their values and beliefs for the future. They have studied with classmates who will become lifelong friends—and they have learned from outstanding faculty members who became their cherished mentors.”

The college also welcomed several distinguished guests, including Mayor Eric Adams; U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer; New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams; Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso; and the president of New York State Higher Education Services Corporation Dr. Guillermo Linares.

Mayor Adams emphasized the importance of the moment and the impact the Class of 2022 will have on society. “This is your moment to make this country what you want it to be.”

CUNY was also well-represented, as CUNY Chancellor Félix Matos Rodríguez; Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Denise Maybank; and CUNY Board of Trustee members Una S. T. Clarke and Brian D. Obergfell, also attended.

Chancellor Rodríguez called the day “a pure celebration” that validated the graduates’ brilliance, grit, and tenacity and congratulated them for overcoming such an extraordinary set of obstacles to ultimately succeed.

Specifically, ������Ƶ conferred 3,195 baccalaureate and 966 master’s degrees, along with 96 advanced certificates. Included in the Class of 2022 were 10 veterans and service members. In all, 4,257 graduates joined the prestigious ������Ƶ family of more than 160,000 proud alums worldwide.

The valedictorian of the Class of 2022 was Carina D’Urso. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in the . D’Urso earned a perfect 4.00 grade point average and graduated summa cum laude. Following commencement, she will pursue graduate studies in human development and education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she plans to concentrate in the arts and learning. The salutatorian was Hafsa Fatima, a Macaulay Honors College graduate and chemistry minor who will receive a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology and a B.A. in art. She will be attending The University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine.

D’Urso thanked her advisors, peers, and professors for their support and guidance. She also pointed to the influence her grandparents had in her continuing her education. Born and raised in Molise, the smallest region in Italy, neither attended school past the fifth grade. For this reason, D’Urso’s mother always instilled the importance of education in her and her brother.

“As a teenager inspired by the values my mother instilled in me, I became galvanized by the idea of becoming an educator,” D’Urso said. “When it was time to apply for colleges, I knew I wanted to be a commuter student so that I could attend school in the heart of New York City, with countless opportunities at my fingertips. Little did I know how this dream would come true. As a member of the Macaulay Honors College and the CUNY Baccalaureate Program for Unique Interdisciplinary Studies, I built my own major, marrying my passions for the arts, education, and social change.”

Special honorees included Leymah Roberta Gbowee, who served as the honorary degree recipient and keynote speaker. Gbowee is a 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and renowned human rights leader who led the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace that worked to end the 14-year civil war in Liberia. She is also the founding head of the Liberian Reconciliation Initiative, a forum for the victims and perpetrators of human rights violations to bring about healing and produce a more accurate accounting of the country’s devastating civil war.

Gbowee, who today is the executive director of Women Peace and Security Network Africa, congratulated the graduates and their families. She told the story about when she learned she had won the Nobel Prize and had her first meeting with fellow Nobel Prize winner Desmond Mpilo Tutu. Relaying the advice Tutu gave her, she told the graduates the three most important things to remember when they win: cultivate and hold the values that brought them to the win; always hold onto their integrity and their voice; and when they succeed, also do good by humanity.

“Class of 2022, you will win,” Gbowee said. “In the midst of your winning, you can’t give up on your higher power, whatever that is.”

Other awardees included Leonard Tow ’50, who earned the Distinguished Alumnus Award. Tow is a philanthropist and ������Ƶ Foundation Board of Trustees member. Leonard and his wife, the late Claire Tow ’52, established The Tow Foundation in 1988. Through more than 700 fellowships, scholarships, internships, professorships, and teaching awards, they have enriched the quality of intellectual life for ������Ƶ’s entire campus by providing the means to allow its students and faculty to become exceptional in their fields.

The couple also donated $10 million for the Leonard & Claire Tow Center for the Performing Arts at ������Ƶ, which opened in 2018. The state-of-the-art center has transformed the campus footprint and is home to the Conservatory of Music and the Department of Theater.

“To the ������Ƶ family, Len, as he is known to us, needs no introduction. It is safe to say that his positive impact on the ������Ƶ community is unparalleled,” Anderson said. In a particularly touching moment, Anderson helped recognize Tow’s 94th birthday, which was May 30, and the college community sang happy birthday, presenting him with a cake.

The recipient of the Presidential Medal of Honor was Jules Coleman ’68. Coleman is one of the world’s most renowned scholars of law and jurisprudence. Widely acknowledged to have created the field of the philosophy of tort law, as well as inclusive legal positivism, Coleman was the first and remains the most influential advocate of a corrective justice approach to tort law. A first-generation college student, Coleman received his Bachelor of Arts in philosophy, magna cum laude, from ������Ƶ in 1968; his Ph.D. in philosophy from Rockefeller University in 1972; and his master of studies in law from Yale Law School in 1976.

About ������Ƶ

Widely known for its offer of an excellent education at an affordable tuition and recognized nationally for its diverse student body, ������Ƶ 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), ������Ƶ offers a vibrant and supportive student experience on a beautifully landscaped 35-acre campus in the borough’s Midwood neighborhood.

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The college will recognize the conferral of 3,195 baccalaureate and 966 master’s degrees, along with 96 students receiving advanced certificates. Included in the Class of 2022 are 10 veterans and service members. In all, 4,257 graduates will join the prestigious ������Ƶ family of more than 160,000 proud alums worldwide.

“Being able to return to an in-person celebration of our students’ remarkable accomplishments is truly something special,” said President Michelle J. Anderson. “How they have endured and persevered is remarkable, and the Class of 2022 represents the best and the brightest ������Ƶ has to offer. I am confident the graduates will make a tremendous impact on the world, just as they did on our campus community.”

The valedictorian is Carina D’Urso, who will receive a Bachelor of Arts degree in the . D’Urso earned a perfect 4.00 grade point average and graduates summa cum laude. Following commencement, she will pursue graduate studies in human development and education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she plans to concentrate in the arts and learning. The salutatorian is Hafsa Fatima, a Macaulay Honors College graduate and chemistry minor, who will receive a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology and a B.A. in art. She will be attending The University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine.

������Ƶ is pleased to announce that, pending CUNY Board of Trustees approval at its May 16 meeting, Leymah Roberta Gbowee will serve as the honorary degree recipient and keynote speaker. Gbowee is a 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and renowned human rights leader who led the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace that worked to end the 14-year civil war in Liberia. She is also the founding head of the Liberian Reconciliation Initiative, a forum for the victims and perpetrators of human rights violations to bring about healing and produce a more accurate accounting of the country’s devastating civil war. Today, she is the executive director of Women Peace and Security Network Africa, established in Ghana in 2006 as a nongovernmental organization to advance women’s leadership in the governance of the continent’s peace and security.

������Ƶ will bestow its Distinguished Alumnus Award to philanthropist and ������Ƶ Foundation Board of Trustees member Leonard Tow ’50. Leonard and his wife, the late Claire Tow ’52, established The Tow Foundation in 1988. Through more than 700 fellowships, scholarships, internships, professorships, and teaching awards, they have enriched the quality of intellectual life for ������Ƶ’s entire campus by providing the means to allow its students and faculty to become exceptional in their fields. The couple also donated $10 million in seed money for the Leonard & Claire Tow Center for the Performing Arts at ������Ƶ, which opened in 2018. The state-of-the-art center has transformed the campus footprint and is home to the Conservatory of Music and the Department of Theater.

The recipient of the Presidential Medal of Honor will be Jules Coleman ’68. Coleman is one of the world’s most renowned scholars of law and jurisprudence. Widely acknowledged to have created the field of the philosophy of tort law, as well as inclusive legal positivism, Coleman was the first and remains the most influential advocate of a corrective justice approach to tort law. A first-generation college student, Coleman received his Bachelor of Arts in philosophy, magna cum laude, from ������Ƶ in 1968; his Ph.D. in philosophy from Rockefeller University in 1972; and his master of studies in law from Yale Law School in 1976.

About ������Ƶ

Widely known for its offer of an excellent education at an affordable tuition and recognized nationally for its diverse student body, ������Ƶ 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), ������Ƶ offers a vibrant and supportive student experience on a beautifully landscaped 35-acre campus in the borough’s Midwood neighborhood.

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