Lehman College in the Bronx

I thought I was a loser.

I dropped out of high school in my senior year in 1982 and worked construction for years in Alphabet City renovating apartments for people who lived in a world I only dreamed about. 

In 1988 I moved back in with parents in the Bronx at the age of twenty five to try to make something of myself.  I made it through undergrad in about three years because of the support and help and excellence of the people who work at Lehman College.

The people in financial aid made sure I had the money to go.  They were patient and kind.

The admin assistants like Eileen in LSP and Stella Americo in Art made sure I knew what I was doing and even helped me figure out my schedule.

The professors at Lehman took the time to really see who I was and gave me guidance beyond what I expected.  For example, some took the time to read and comment thoughtfully on a series of short stories I wrote. 

Thank you for that!  

Gary Schwartz

Gary Schwartz and Charles Beye inspired me to study the classics.  I still have those textbooks twenty years later.  They took me out for lunch, sat with me on the quad and taught me things that I never knew existed, including a new way to frame what I knew.

Professor Herbert R. Broderick III

English faculty members recall old times: from left, Professors Billy Collins, Walter Dubler, Walter Blanco and Michael Paull.

Herbert Broderick inspired me to study Art History and challenged me to become a better scholar than I had thought possible.  He encouraged me to go to graduate school, wrote me letters of recommendation, talked with me while we rode the 4 Train together. 

  Professors Dubler and Virginia Scott taught me how to express my ideas in writing. 

Evelyn Ackerman

Professor Ackerman taught me how to write a research paper by allowing me to attend a graduate level seminar.

I am now a professor and I owe it all to Lehman.  I would not have gotten a better education at Harvard I would have been lost and you guys pulled me out of my cave.  You cared about me.  I’m trying to pass that on now.  I am a professor at a community college in California who everyday tries to give back what Lehman gave me. 

I never can but I will try.