Berkeley Brooklyn Campus Grand Opening Unveiling of Berkeley College Heritage Time line

Photo by Kathryn Kirk

Friday, April 15, 2011 marked a milestone in the history of Berkeley College as we celebrated the grand opening of our Brooklyn campus and the unveiling of the 80th Anniversary Berkeley College Heritage Timeline.

Our distinguished guests at the event included Kevin L. Luing, Chairman of the Berkeley College Board of Trustees; Board of Trustees Timothy D. Luing, Warren J. Martin Jr. Esq., José A. Tavares, and Kenneth L. Weinstein; Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, area legislators, and members of the Brooklyn business community, who joined Berkeley faculty, associates and students in marking this historic occasion.

As the Berkeley College Heritage Timeline so effectively illustrates, the establishment of our Brooklyn campus is only the latest achievement in the proud history of an institution that has been changing lives for 80 years.

Developed as a class project by the Leadership Berkeley Class of 2010, the timeline traces Berkeley’s growth from its origin as a secretarial school established at the height of the Great Depression in 1931 to its present status as a four-year college providing academic opportunities to 9,000 students at eight locations in New Jersey, New York and Online.

The establishment of the Brooklyn campus is particularly meaningful to me because it was in Brooklyn that I began my own academic journey as a community college student, commuting each night from my home in Bayside, Queens. I later transferred to Queens College, where I earned my bachelor’s degree.

Our efforts to establish a campus in Brooklyn began more than five years ago with the idea that Brooklyn was a place we wanted to be. Over the next few years, we made many visits to this borough in search of an appropriate location.

With the invaluable assistance of area legislators, borough officials, members of the academic and business communities and the guidance and leadership of Tom Alessandrello, Berkeley College Vice President of Operations and Conrad Walker, Campus Operating Officer - we were able to find, renovate and open our new facility at 255 Duffield Street (the corner of Duffield and Fulton).

Our new location is easily accessible via public transportation from all five boroughs. The new facility has 10 classrooms, a student support center, a student lounge, bookstore, library, office space and an art gallery that will engage Berkeley students, faculty and associates in the intellectual life of this diverse community.

The largest borough in New York City, Brooklyn hosts people from 150 countries that speak 136 languages. As Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz puts it, Brooklyn is “home to everyone from everywhere.” In short, it is a Berkeley College kind of place.

Today, more than 500 students are receiving the student-centered Berkeley education of which we are so proud right here in Brooklyn. We look forward to changing the lives of students at our Brooklyn campus for many decades to come.

Berkeley College Embraces the iPad

How are you using your iPad?

It has been less than a year since Apple launched its iPad, which literally put the world at our fingertips in a whole new way.

Released in April of 2010, more than three million copies of the little pc sold in the first three months after its release, and by the end of September 2010, the iPad held a 95 percent share of the tablet pc market worldwide. In November, Time Magazine named it among the top 50 best inventions of the year.

Just what is it that makes the iPad such a game-changer? Aside from providing virtually all the advantages of a laptop computer without the necessity of lugging around a screen and a modem, there are more than 350,000 apps now available for the iPad, with more being released every day. The Academy Awards just had a special app for Apple’s iPad that allowed you to access behind the scenes interviews with Hollywood stars.

Berkeley College utilizes the iPad in our Honors Program. As one example, students in the program, with the help of their iPads, will keep a journal that documents the path of their intellectual journey and charts the impact that it has on their own life.

I invite you to share your own experiences with your iPad or tablet pc by writing your comments below.

Cordially,

Dario A. Cortes, PhD
President

Sustainability

As we enter the second decade of the 21st century, we are facing a critical challenge. Scientists warn that the speed of climate change due to ‘greenhouse’ gas emissions is accelerating rapidly; that the natural resources that sustain us are threatened by manmade pollution.

The problem appears overwhelming. What can we possibly do? Talk alone is not enough. Action is the only answer, and I am proud to say that Berkeley College is already acting to reduce our carbon footprint and heighten awareness about the importance of protecting our environment.

In 2008, Berkeley College became a proud partner in the Mayor’s 2030 Challenge, joining over a dozen universities in the greater New York City area that have accepted Mayor Michael E. Bloomberg’s challenge to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent in one decade.

And in July of 2009, we joined other college presidents across the nation who are participating in the American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment. Together, we pledge that our institutions of higher learning will take a leadership role in facilitating a sustainable future for our planet.

At Berkeley, we are actively engaged in reducing our carbon footprint through the introduction of energy conserving lighting and appliances for our campus facilities, motion sensing devices, “power down” protocols for computers, low flow faucets and flushers, and campus wide recycling and/or conservation of paper, plastic, glass, aluminum, toner and ink cartridges and cell phones.

Through Berkeley’s environmental awareness program, Project GreenPath, we are heightening awareness that the ‘Earth is Our Business.’

In addition to all of the recycling activities already in place, beginning the first week of February, Berkeley College will participate in “Recyclemania,” a nationwide university challenge to reduce waste on campus. Please visit the Berkeley College website for details about our activities as well as Recyclemania.org for events around the nation.

I invite you to share what you are doing to save our planet for future generations by adding your comments below. I look forward to hearing from you.

Cordially,
Dario A. Cortes, PhD
President