Welcome to the Fall 2021 Semester!
Dear Brooklyn College students, staff, and faculty,
Welcome to the fall 2021 semester!
I hope that each of you was able to enjoy some rest this summer. I want to welcome you to the new academic year, and share some helpful information and good news.
Campus Entry
There are four open entrances to the Brooklyn College campus: the Whitehead doors on Campus Rd., the East Gate on Bedford Ave., the Roosevelt door on Bedford Ave., and the West Gate at Avenue H (just off Ocean Ave.). Please make a note of it.
When you come to a campus entrance, you must show a valid College ID and an entry pass to be allowed inside––either a CUNY VaxPass or a CLEARED4 test pass. Once you are fully vaccinated, you should get a CUNY VaxPass that will permit campus entry all semester. (Neither an Excelsior Pass nor a vaccination card will replace the need for the CUNY VaxPass.) Until you are fully vaccinated, you must be tested for COVID-19 every week at a CUNY COVID-19 testing site and obtain a CLEARED4 test pass, which will permit campus entry for seven days.
Mandatory Masking
Once on campus, you must wear a mask indoors, regardless of vaccination status. You must also wear a mask outdoors, unless you are fully vaccinated and able to maintain physical distance from others. There are three exceptions: A fully vaccinated person alone in an enclosed space may unmask; a fully vaccinated professor in a classroom who can maintain physical distance from others may unmask to lecture; and a person, regardless of vaccination status, who can maintain physical distance from others, may unmask briefly to eat or drink. Thank you for honoring these important safety rules.
Study Spaces
Students have asked for on campus study spaces, and we have designated a number of them in the basements of SUBO and Boylan, as well as computer labs in the WEB and areas of the library. We have also developed a special campus map that indicates the location of the student study spaces on campus, as well as their hours of operation.
Good News
And now, some good news! A lot of amazing things happened over the summer. I will just mention a few highlights. We are so proud that our own Distinguished Professor Tania León won the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in Music for her rhythmic and brass orchestral work, “Stride.” The piece was commissioned as part of the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center’s Project 19, marking the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage.
Four Brooklyn College students earned Fulbright fellowships: Carina D'Urso, Hafsa Fatima, Marwa Islam, and Levi Satter. Their research projects include using ultraviolet LED disinfection to purify water and using transcranial direct-current stimulation to understand how people experience timing and rhythm and how that impacts cognition and behavior.
NY1 did a wonderful feature on the Barry R. Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema at Brooklyn College. Feirstein also earned coveted spots on two important lists: Moviemaker’s ranking of the Best Film Schools for outstanding production training and the Hollywood Reporter’s list of the 25 Best Film Schools in the country.
Our new Governor Kathy Hochul visited the campus to announce $9.3 million in funding for a new collaboration between Brooklyn College, Medgar Evers College, and Kingsborough Community College to launch a Healthcare Career Hub of Central and South Brooklyn.
Finally, the University announced the CUNY Comeback Program to relieve up to $125 million in student debt systemwide. Here at Brooklyn College, this program allowed us to erase thousands of our students’ outstanding balances incurred during the hardship of the COVID-19 pandemic.
I hope that this semester is an exciting and fruitful one for you. If you haven’t already, you should get vaccinated and get a CUNY VaxPass. I wish you all the best!
Yours truly,
Michelle J. Anderson
President, Brooklyn College
