United States Congressman Charles Rangel Gives Keynote Address at Hunter College's 190th Commencement

Several graduates honored for their extraordinary achievements

Date: January 21, 2005
Contact: Meredith Halpern (meredith.halpern@hunter.cuny.edu)
Phone: (212) 772-4068

NEW YORK, NY -- January 19, 2005 -- Charles Rangel, United States Representative (D-NY), today addressed more than 1,600 graduates and their guests at Hunter College's 190th Commencement and received a President's Medal from Hunter President Jennifer J. Raab for his "commitment to public service."

In his remarks, Rangel (D-NY), spoke about the war in Iraq. "We're in a country with a government that has shown a complete disregard for human life as we have placed our young people in harm's way ...It's not members of the Congress' children, not members of the Pentagon, not members of the White House [going to war]. They will never have to worry about attending a funeral because their child was in Iraq."

During the commencement, President Raab also conferred an honorary degree on Robert Moses, a civil rights activist and mathematics educator. Moses is the founder of the Algebra Project, a national mathematics literacy effort aimed at helping low income students of color successfully achieve mathematical skills.   Moses told the graduates that he believes in a constitutional amendment so that "every child in this country has a federal, enforceable and legal right at the level of the President, the Congress, and the Supreme Court, to a quality public school education."

Included among the 1,668 graduates were Jaime Windrow, a Radio City Rockette, who turned down the chance to perform at the Presidential Inauguration in order to attend the graduation ceremony and Barbara Amaro, named Miss Ecuador by El Diario newspaper. Another student, Malka Schwartz, was recognized during the graduation ceremony for her inspirational achievements and compelling story. Schwartz came to Hunter after leaving the ultra orthodox Lubavitch community in which she was raised. A magna cum laude graduate, Schwartz has founded Footsteps, a not-for-profit that helps individuals like her who leave their ultra religious homes.

Class valedictorian Anna Dymarskaya, an accounting major, graduated with a 3.99 GPA. The five salutatorians were Antonia Moehr, a fine arts major with a 3.972 GPA; Szilvia Erdelyi-Botor, a special honors and anthropology major with a 3.946 GPA; Papa Alioune Seck, an economics BA/MA with a 3.924 GPA; Nayia Kamenou, a political science and special honors major with a 3.909 and Nikola Kapovic, a history major with a 3.909 GPA. Hunter awarded degrees to 1,076 undergraduates and 592 graduate students.

About Hunter
With a highly diverse student population of more than 20,000, Hunter is the largest college in the City University of New York (CUNY) system and the first choice among all CUNY applicants. Founded in 1870, the College offers more than 170 undergraduate and graduate programs. Hunter is noted for its professional schools in education, health sciences, nursing and social work, as well as its excellence in the liberal arts. Heralded as the "Crown Jewel of CUNY" by The Princeton Review, Hunter College has a distinguished reputation for nurturing talented minority scientists and meeting the challenge of providing high-quality science education in the 21st century. The College also oversees the Hunter College Campus Schools serving gifted and talented students, preschool through grade 12. For more information about Hunter College, please visit our Web site at http://www.hunter.cuny.edu.

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