College Honors African-American History Month with Panel of SUNY Scholars Addressing Civil Rights

February 1, 2017

Four State University of New York scholars address the topic "Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?" during an event commemorating African-American History Month and the legacies of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King on Thursday, Feb. 9 at Hudson Valley Community College. The event, open free to the public, runs from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Maureen Stapleton Theatre, located in the Siek Campus Center on the Troy campus.

The SUNY scholar presentations focus mainly on minority progress, according to Tamu Chambers, event producer/director, who is a professor in the college's History, Philosophy and Social Sciences Department and an educator input liaison to Governor Cuomo's Amistad Commission.

• Dr. Seth N. Asumah, a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor, Political Science professor and chair of the Africana Studies Department at SUNY Cortland, shares Dr. King's vision of America and revisits King's legendary "I Have A Dream" speech and book, "Why We Can't Wait."
• Dr. Carlos Medina, vice chancellor and chief diversity officer in SUNY's Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ODEI), presents The Power of SUNY's Strategic Plan of Inclusion, including policies and practices to assist students and remedies for greater inclusion.
• Dr. Ann Geisendorfer, chair of the Criminal Justice, Forensic Science and Public Administration Department at Hudson Valley Community College, and Dr. Mecke Nagel, a philosophy professor who directs the Center for Gender and Intercultural Studies at SUNY Cortland, discuss recent police and criminal justice system reforms.

Dr. Andrew J. Matonak, Hudson Valley's president, delivers welcome remarks. This African American History and Culture Edu-Drama is sponsored by Sisters In Synch, a student club advised by Chambers that offers projects and programs that embrace diversity and inclusion, and the Student Senate at Hudson Valley Community College. A brief reception featuring African American and Latino cuisine will follow the program. Please call (518) 629-7431 for more information.

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Founded in 1953, Hudson Valley Community College offers more than 85 degree and certificate programs in four schools: Business; Engineering and Industrial Technologies; Health Science; and Liberal Arts and Sciences; and an Educational Opportunity Center for academic and career training. One of 30 community colleges in the State University of New York system, it has an enrollment of nearly 11,500 students, and is known as a leader in distance learning initiatives and workforce training. Hudson Valley has more than 75,000 alumni.