News & Events

For Immediate Release

May 2, 2024

NEW YORK, NY – The Moynihan Center at The City College of New York (CCNY) announced the distinguished second cohort of the Moynihan Public Scholars Fellowship today.

This year’s fellows include Emefa Addo Agawu, Michael Beckley, Stephen Eide, Nicolas Guilhot, Roya Hakakian, Clara Mattei, Angela Saini, Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins, and Mark Vandevelde. These nine fellows stood out among a pool of nearly 150 applicants for their innovative ideas and their commitment to public scholarship. Each fellow will receive an unrestricted award and will spend up to one year researching, writing, and contributing to the vibrant intellectual community at The City College of New York.

Participants in the inaugural class of 2023-24 Moynihan Public Scholars comment:

"This fellowship has transformed my career, and has given me the time, resources, and community to think and write about ideas that I've been trying for years to make space to explore” said Laurence Pevsner, inaugural Moynihan Public Scholars Fellow and former Director of Speech writing for US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield. "The Moynihan Center and its members have challenged and expanded my thinking, making me a better writer, scholar, and public servant."

Christina Greer, Associate Professor of Political Science at Fordham University and inaugural Moynihan Public Scholars Fellow, shared her experience, “The Moynihan Public Scholars Fellowship was an intellectually stimulating and rewarding experience. Interacting with the talented students, undergraduate fellows, faculty, and staff provided me with the perfect environment to advance my academic and intellectual pursuits.”

In commenting on the new cohort of Moynihan Public Scholars,

Andrew Rich, Dean of the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership, remarked, “The Moynihan Public Scholars are vital to the Colin Powell School’s mission of lifting leaders and transforming society. By creating an intellectual and pedagogical ecosystem in which leading critical thinkers and political practitioners interact with CCNY’s vibrant and diverse community of students, the Moynihan Center is helping to forge the intellectual and public service leaders of tomorrow.”

Carlo Invernizzi Accetti, Executive Director of the Moynihan Center, expressed his enthusiasm for the incoming cohort: “The intellectual diversity of this cohort is remarkable and reflects the Moynihan Center’s ambition to become a home for innovative ideas that will be sharpened through deep reflection and vigorous debate.”

Michael Miller, Managing Director of the Moynihan Center, said “We are thrilled to welcome these Public Scholars to our Harlem campus, where they will inspire—and be inspired by—City College students schooled in the values of critical thinking and impassioned debate at the level of ideas rather than ideologies.

Daniel Disalvo, Chair of the Moynihan Public Scholars Advisory Committee, said, “It is encouraging that Senator Moynihan's legacy of robust public debate still speaks to such a large outstanding pool of applicants as we had this year. The intellectual diversity and outstanding records of accomplishment of this year's crop of Public Scholars ensures that the Moynihan Center will be the place to be for thoughtful, civil, and frank discussion of topics of national importance.”

Rosemonde Pierre-Louis, Executive Director of the McSilver Institute at NYU and member of the Moynihan Public Scholars Advisory Committee, said "These scholars bring perspectives that promise to enrich both public discourse and academic inquiry, tackling some of the most urgent and significant issues of our times. I am eager to see the ways that their work will contribute to and shape conversations that are critical to our democracy."

Sheri Berman, Professor of Political Science at Barnard College and member of the Moynihan Public Scholars Advisory Committee, said, "I was deeply impressed by the caliber of applicants to the Moynihan Public Scholars Fellowship this year. The diversity of backgrounds, the depth of their accomplishments, and the breadth of their proposed projects were truly inspiring."

The Moynihan Public Scholars Fellowship is made possible with generous support from the Leon Levy Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and the Achelis & Bodman Foundation.

About the Moynihan Center

The Moynihan Center fosters innovative thinking, open dialogue, and robust debate, offering a forum for new voices and a crucible for novel approaches to the most pressing challenges of our day. Through two unique fellowships and a variety of public events, the Center connects today’s leading intellectuals to tomorrow’s civic leaders, ensuring that future leaders bridge the world of ideas and politics.

About the Colin Powell School

The Moynihan Center is based in the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership at The City College of New York (CCNY). With 4,000 students, the Colin Powell School is the largest student division of CCNY. It has a very special mission within the CUNY system and one that is distinctive nationally: a commitment to transforming one of the nation’s most diverse student populations into tomorrow’s global leaders. The Colin Powell School combines the social sciences with a commitment to leadership development and civic engagement, all in service to a student body that is 85 percent people of color, half immigrants, nearly two-thirds first in their families to go to college, and mostly from low-income neighborhoods. Read more about the Colin Powell School.

About The City College of New York

Founded in 1847, CCNY is the flagship of The City University of New York (CUNY) system. City College was created as a radical effort by the people of New York to make higher education available to all, regardless of income, religion, ethnicity or background. As the first free public institution in the United States, CCNY was a big idea and a dramatic achievement that contributed to the creation of “free academies” across the United States. From its earliest moments, CCNY has been a political project, one that places a commitment to equity and opportunity through affordable education at its core. View CCNY Media Kit.

Press Contact:
Michael Miller, Managing Director
The Moynihan Center
Email: moynihancenter@ccny.cuny.edu
Website: https://moynihancenter.ccny.cuny.edu/