Dear MCNY Students and Alumni,

As you have seen in the preceding post from board chair Charles Armstrong, I plan to retire from MCNY in May 2018, after one more year of service. It has been and is a profound honor to serve, preserve and build this singular institution for, what will be, a decade with the College.

We have made a lot of progress. Over the last nine years we reestablished our presence in the Bronx and created five new degree programs. We also achieved specialized accreditation in the Business and Education programs, successfully reaffirmed our primary accreditation with the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, and made the Learning Enhancement Center a permanent part of the College. Just last week the New York State Regents granted us full Branch Campus status for the Bronx, so we can now offer complete degree programs at both campuses.

In 2013-2016 we carried out the largest projects in the 53-year history of the College, building, equipping and occupying new facilities in Manhattan and the Bronx. And, for the first time in history, we own our own campus homes. We have used these new facilities to achieve higher levels of service, focused on student and community needs. In 2016 we had our most successful fundraising year ever, bringing in a total of $3.2 million in grants and gifts, which have supported the outfitting of the new campuses and the provision of direct services to students.

It has been a pleasure to serve a wonderful student body and thousands of alumni. You personify the commitment of the College to social justice and community betterment. We’ve worked together to make MCNY a place we can all be proud of and I know you will continue that work.

I am not leaving you altogether. My wife and I plan to stay in New York, where I will have some time to pursue the study of my favorite insects, working through the American Museum of Natural History on Central Park West. Also, we have one grandchild on the ground and another due in July, both a long way away in California. My new schedule will permit us to spend more time with them in their wonderful but fleeting early years.

I look forward to working with you during the year ahead as we continue to build the College. In the end, you are the College and always will be. My work here has been and will continue to be for you.

Sincerely,

Vinton Thompson, Ph.D.
President, Metropolitan College of new York