Winter Commencement, January 26, 2000
Religious/Human Rights Leader and Highest-Ranking CUNY Grad in U.S. Executive Branch
Receive Honorary Degrees

WHAT:
Hunter College's 180th Commencement

WHEN:
Wednesday, January 26, 2000, at 3 p.m.

WHERE:
Hunter College Assembly Hall, North Building, Ground Floor
69th Street between Lexington and Park Avenues

WHO:
Approximately 778 students will receive undergraduate degrees and 406 will receive graduate degrees from President David A. Caputo.

HONORARY DEGREE RECIPIENTS
Rabbi Arthur Schneier, President of Appeal of Conscience Foundation.  Internationally known  for his leadership on behalf of religious freedom and human rights, Rabbi Schneier founded the Appeal of Conscience Foundation in 1965 and has since met with many national and religious leaders including Mikhail Gorbachev and Pope John Paul II.  Rabbi Schneier has been recognized by several U.S. presidents and was one of three religious leaders appointed by President Clinton in 1997 to examine religious communities in China and Tibet.  A Holocaust survivor, Rabbi Schneier was ordained and received a doctor of divinity degree from Yeshiva University and has been the spiritual leader of Park East Synagogue in Manhattan since 1962.

John U. Sepulveda, Deputy Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.  Nominated by President Clinton, the Hunter alumnus was sworn into office in December 1998, becoming the highest-ranking CUNY graduate in the executive branch of the federal government.  A New York native of Puerto Rican descent, Sepulveda entered Hunter through the SEEK program for educationally disadvantaged students.  After graduating from Hunter, he earned two master's degrees in political science at Yale and taught at both Yale and Hunter.  He has served as director of the Federal Housing Administration's Office of Insured Health Care Facilities of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, among other positions in Washington.

COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER
David A. Caputo, president of Hunter College.  Dr. Caputo, who became the twelfth president of Hunter in 1995, states that the college's goal is to provide "the best possible urban education of any public institution of higher learning."  To meet this objective, he has established an Office of Urban Outreach, made significant investment in instructional technology, and founded the Millennium Forums to examine critical problems confronting the city, state and nation.  A leader in the dialog on teacher education, Dr. Caputo is co-chair of the State Professional Standards and Practices Board for Teaching.  He also chairs an urban teacher evaluation subcommittee of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.  Dr. Caputo is the recipient of two master's degrees and a Ph.D. in political science from Yale University.

OUTSTANDING HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELOR AWARD
Bernard Cohen, Benjamin N. Cardozo High School (Queens).  At Cardozo in Queens since 1968, Cohen has been an educator for 44 years—first as a social studies teacher at Eastern District High School in Brooklyn and, since 1983, as a full-time guidance counselor.  A Brooklyn resident, he earned bachelor's and master's degrees at Brooklyn College and a master's in  guidance and counseling at C.W. Post College.

VALEDICTORIANS
Madalena Barretta, recipient of a bachelor of arts degree in sociology and elementary education, earned a perfect 4.0 grade point average.  The first in her family to go to college, the 22-year-old worked with children at a preschool in Middle Village, Queens—where she also lives—while attending Hunter.  She plans a career in teaching after earning a master's in early childhood education.

Benjamin  Maisani, recipient of a bachelor of arts degree in art history with honors, earned a perfect 4.0 grade point average.  A native of Paris, the 27-year-old resident of Manhattan's West Village came to New York five years ago intending to study film for a year. But he "fell in love with the city and decided to stay."  Accepted to the Thomas Hunter Honors Program, Maisani also received a Presidential Scholarship.  He plans to attend graduate school.

Agorasty Sourelos, recipient of a bachelor of arts degree in English and secondary education, earned a perfect 4.0 grade point average.   Born in America, Sourelos and her family lived for nine years in Greece, where she attended high school.  Returning to New York, she enrolled at Hunter and worked part time while attending school.  The 23-year-old resident of Manhattan's East Village plans a career in teaching.

BACKGROUND
Hunter College, founded in 1870, has long enjoyed a national reputation for excellence in liberal arts and sciences and professional education.  Hunter's main campus, located on 68th Street on Manhattan's Upper East Side, consists of the School of Arts and Sciences and School of  Education.  The college also includes a school of Social Work on East 79th Street as well as the Schools of the Health Professions located at the Brookdale Health Science Center on East 25th Street; an MFA building and art gallery on the West Side; and the Hunter College Campus Schools serving gifted and talented students, preschool through grade 12.

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