Special Initiatives

Bedford Hills College Program Endowment

Support of the Bedford Hills College Program helps us educate incarcerated women at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, New York State’s only maximum-security prison for women. BHCP offers non-credit college-prep courses in writing and math, as well as credit-bearing courses leading to an Associate of Arts degree in Social Science or a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology.

As part of a consortium of local colleges, MMC has served as the program’s degree-granting institution since 1997, serving over 800 women in that time and conferring more than 110 degrees. In recent years, over 160 women have enrolled in courses each semester.

BCHP is an important program, and we want to ensure its continued success. With that in mind, in 2010, the College established an endowment fund that would provide the majority of the program’s annual operating expenses in perpetuity.

 

The Bordeau Box Theatre

In 1968, Professor J. William Bordeau arrived at Marymount Manhattan College to teach courses in acting, directing, and communication arts. He was instrumental in establishing our BFA programs in Acting and Dance, a move that would strengthen our Theatre Arts department for years to come. In the early 70s, he served as a design consultant for the Theresa Lang Theatre and oversaw the creation of our Black Box Theatre. Upon his retirement, the Board of Trustees named Bill Professor Emeritus of Theatre Arts.

When he passed away in July 2009, alumni and friends came together to discuss how best to honor Bill’s legacy. A small group of alumni approached then-President Judson R. Shaver with a proposal to make personal gift commitments and organize a fundraising initiative. The initiative would allow fellow alumni to improve educational opportunities at Marymount Manhattan in Bill’s honor.

On October 4, 2009, at a memorial celebration for Professor Bordeau, President Shaver announced that, in light of the funds contributed by alumni, the College would rechristen the Black Box in Bill’s honor. Since then, the alumni group has proposed to extend and expand the initiative to fund a much-needed renovation of the J. William Bordeau Box Theatre.

Together, Theatre Arts faculty and College leadership has conceived a renovation plan that will make the Box a state-of-the-art facility, competitive with those recently created at peer institutions. To learn more about the Bordeau Box Theatre Renovation project, please call (212) 517-0460.

 

The Peter H. Baker Scholarship Fund

The Peter H. Baker Scholarship Fund was established in 2014 by the Division of the Sciences to honor a beloved teacher, humanitarian, and leader, whose service at Marymount Manhattan College spanned 50 years. Contributions to the Peter H. Baker Scholarship Fund will provide need-based financial aid to students so they may have the opportunity to pursue careers in science and become members of the next generation of scientists.

Among Dean Baker’s many leadership roles was Chair of the Division of the Sciences, and from 1983 to 1998 he directed a state-funded program for high school students of color, the Science and Technology Entry Program, in partnership with the Settlement College Readiness Program in East Harlem. In 2008, Queen Elizabeth II approved his appointment as a Serving Brother in the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, a chivalric order led by the Queen, which supports the St. John’s Ambulance world-wide and the Jerusalem Eye Hospital.

The Division of the Sciences offers strong major courses of study in behavioral neuroscience, biology, biomedical sciences, environmental studies, psychology, public health, and speech-language pathology and audiology. This fund directly supports students who are majoring in those fields. Students in the sciences have won Watson Fellowships, earned competitive undergraduate awards based on their research activities, published in peer-reviewed journals, and have been inducted into the prestigious Chi Omega Lambda and Psi Chi Honor Societies.