Message From the President
Dr. Joanne Passaro, President
Welcome to Metropolitan College of New York!
I am honored to be part of the vibrant and dedicated MCNY community. All of us work together towards one goal—assuring the success of our inspiring and multitalented students.
MCNY was founded by Audrey Cohen and a group of social activists in the 1960s to open new career pathways to adults though a powerful model of integrated, applied and workplace-embedded education. Our focus today remains the same: the college ranks in the top ten in the nation of colleges with the highest percentage of adult students, according to US News.
MCNY is unique in its explicit commitment to social justice. Purpose-Centered Education empowers graduates to achieve their goals and strengthen our communities. Through “Constructive Action” field projects each semester, our students learn to integrate and apply knowledge to drive positive change in their workplaces and internship sites.
Our mission of social justice means that our goals extend beyond our students’ graduation. We also measure our success by the ongoing work of our alumni to expand economic, racial, gender and social equity across our communities. Our graduates have changed laws, founded schools and non-profit agencies, and created new pathways for strengthening access and opportunity in their neighborhoods, corporate offices, small businesses and government organizations. They make a difference every day.
Our theory of social change can be visualized like this:
MCNY’s mission is more important today than ever. We hope you will join our exciting community of students, staff and faculty as we work together to realize students’ goals and our collective dreams of a more just and equitable society.
Joanne Passaro
President, Metropolitan College of New York