Spring 2011 Issue - Lehman College

The Courage to Step
Forward
An exhibit last fall in the Leonard Lief Library echoed a theme that runs through
Lehman College, past and present: The courage to step forward and take a
leadership role to help address pressing issues.
They Got on the Bus
The exhibit—on the civil rights protests known as the Freedom
Rides—looked back at six months in 1961 when more than 400
Americans risked their lives to challenge segregated facilities in
the South. Old and young, black and white, men and women, Northern
and Southern—they had a simple but daring plan: to board
buses in small interracial groups to test and challenge the use of
segregated public facilities. They endured beatings, humiliation,
and imprisonment, but ultimately their actions and commitment
to nonviolence laid the groundwork for historic change. Not only
students, including several from CUNY, joined
in this action but also ordinary working men and
women, from scientists to secretaries.
“The 1961 Freedom Rides are an inspiring
example of what ordinary individuals can
accomplish,” said Lehman President Ricardo R.
Fernández at the exhibit’s opening. “Their actions and bravery provide
invaluable lessons for our students, and for anyone who hopes
to make a difference in our community, country, or world.”
A notable number of Lehman alumni, faculty, and students have
learned those lessons and are teaching them to others. The stories
that follow represent just a handful of the many examples of their
service, leadership, and civic engagement—values that are intrinsic
to the College’s mission.
Coming Out of the Shadows
A young freshman at Lehman this year, a native
of Colombia, organized a group of both documented
and undocumented students to form a
DREAM Team. Its members are pushing for passage
of the legislative proposal known as the Development, Relief,
and Education for Alien Minors—or DREAM—Act, which would provide
permanent residency under certain conditions for those who
were brought illegally to the United States as children. This spring,
the team organized an event at which several students “came out
of the shadows” and, with media present, publicly declared their
status for the first time. (Page 12 and 13.)
Making a Difference
As a survivor of Auschwitz, Professor Emerita Livia Bitton-Jackson
—who taught in what was then the Department of Classical, Oriental,
German, and Slavic Languages—has written
a series of books about her experiences during
and after the Holocaust, which have been published
to wide acclaim. Today she is continuing
her mission, speaking in Germany to audiences
that include many students. “Tell my story to your
children, to your friends, to your colleagues—so
this will never happen again.”
Her story is linked with that of Hunter/Lehman alumna Barbara
Greenspan Shaiman (B.A., ‘68), the daughter of Holocaust survivors,
who was moved by her trip to Auschwitz, which her mother
survived, to found the non-profit Champions of Caring. “We all have
to try to make this world a better place. Those are the lessons my
parents taught me.” (Pages 14 and 15.)
Speaking for the Victims of Injustice
The Center for Human Rights and Peace Studies
was established at Lehman this year, with a goal
of advancing social justice and human dignity.
Directing the Center is Professor Victoria Sanford
(Anthropology), who has dedicated more than a
decade of work to uncovering and researching the mass slaughter
of indigenous people in Guatemala. (Pages 16–18.)
Stranded in Chile
This winter, a group of Lehman alumni found themselves in the
middle of a difficult situation with no authorities
around to lend assistance. They became stranded
in the town of Puerto Natales, Chile, along with
more than 1,500 tourists from around the globe,
when local protesters prevented people from
leaving. As bilingual Americans, they stepped
forward and volunteered to lead evacuation
efforts, coordinating by phone with the U.S. Embassy in Santiago.
(Page 19.)
Lehman Today/Spring 2011 11