Hunter College

Infobox University
name = Hunter College of The City University of New York


image_size = 120px
motto = "Mihi cura futuri"
mottoeng = Mine is the care of the future
established = 1870
type = Public
calendar = semester
president = Jennifer Raab
city = New York
state = New York
country = United States
undergrad = 15,718
postgrad = 5,126
faculty = 673
campus = Urban
mascot = Hawk
affiliations = UArctic
website = [http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/ hunter.cuny.edu]

Hunter College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY), located on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Originally known as the Normal College, Hunter was founded in 1870 by Irish immigrant and social reformer Thomas Hunter as a teacher-training school for young women. [Hunter College 2007-2010 Undergraduate Catalog, p.3] Today, Hunter is a coeducational liberal arts and sciences college that offers undergraduate and graduate programs in more than 100 fields. [http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/academics/index.shtml, "Academics at Hunter", 1/4/08] The college is organized into four schools: The School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Education, the School of the Health Professions, and the School of Social Work. [Hunter College 2007-2010 Undergraduate Catalog, p.3 ]

The 2008 edition of "America's Best Colleges", published by U.S. News & World Report, places the college 12th among public universities in the north in the "Best Universities-Master's" category, and among the 574 public and private institutions in this category, Hunter is in the first tier with a rank of 51. [http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/college/directory/brief/drglance_2689_brief.php, "America's Best Colleges 2008", 1/4/08]

History

Founding

still exist at a different location, and are now called the Hunter College Campus Schools.)

During Thomas Hunter's tenure as president of the school, Hunter became known for its impartiality regarding race, religion, ethnicity, financial or political favoritism; its pursuit of higher education for women; its high entry requirements; and its rigorous academics. The college's student population quickly expanded, and the college subsequently moved uptown, into a new Gothic structure, now known as Thomas Hunter Hall, on Lexington Avenue between 68th and 69th Streets.

In 1888 the school was incorporated as a college under the statutes of New York State, with the power to confer the degree of A.B. This led to the separation of the school into two "camps": the "Normals", who pursued a four-year course of study to become licensed teachers, and the "Academics", who sought non-teaching professions and the Bachelor of Arts degree. After 1902 when the "Normal" course of study was abolished, the "Academic" course became standard across the student body.

Expansion

In 1914 the Normal College became Hunter College in honor of its first president. At the same time, the college was experiencing a period of great expansion as increasing student enrollments necessitated more space. The college reacted by establishing branches in the boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. By 1920, Hunter College had the largest enrollment of women of any municipally financed college in the United States. In 1930, Hunter's Brooklyn campus merged with City College's Brooklyn campus, and the two were spun off to form Brooklyn College.

The late 1930s saw the construction of Hunter College in the Bronx (later known as the Bronx Campus). During the Second World War, Hunter leased the Bronx Campus buildings to the United States Navy who used the facilities to train 95,000 women volunteers for military service as WAVES and SPARS. [ [http://www.nps.gov/archive/wapa/indepth/extContent/usmc/pcn-190-003129-00/sec4.htm Free A Marine to Fight: Women Marines in World War II (Early Training: Holyoke and Hunter) ] ] When the Navy vacated the campus, the site was briefly occupied by the nascent United Nations, which held its first Security Council sessions at the Bronx Campus in 1946, giving the school an international profile. [ [http://www.lehman.edu/lehman/programs/grad/187.htm History of Lehman College] ]

In 1943, Eleanor Roosevelt dedicated a town house at 47-49 East 65th Street in Manhattan to the college. The house had been a home for the future President and First Lady. Today it is known as Roosevelt House and is undergoing renovation to become an academic center.

The CUNY Era

Hunter became the women's college of the municipal system, and in the 1950s, when City College became coeducational, Hunter started admitting men to its Bronx campus. In 1964, the Manhattan campus began admitting men also. The Bronx campus subsequently became Lehman College in 1968.

In 1968-1969, Black and Puerto Rican students struggled to get a department that would teach about their history and experience. These and supportive students and faculty expressed this demand through building take-overs, rallies, etc. In Spring 1969, Hunter College established Black and Puerto Rican Studies (now called Africana/Puerto Rican and Latino Studies). An "open admissions" policy initiated in 1970 by the City University of New York opened the school's doors to historically underrepresented groups by guaranteeing a college education to any and all who graduated from NYC high schools. Many African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos, Puerto Ricans, and students from the developing world made their presence felt at Hunter, and even after the end of "open admissions" still comprise a large part of the school's student body. As a result of the this increase in enrollment, Hunter opened new buildings on Lexington Avenue during the early 1980s. In further advancing Puerto Rican studies, Hunter became home to the Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños ("Center for Puerto Rican Studies" or simply "Centro") in 1982.

Today, Hunter College is a comprehensive teaching and research institution. Of the more than 20,000 students enrolled at Hunter, nearly 5,000 are enrolled in a graduate program, the most popular of which are education and social work. Although less than 28% of students are the first in their families to attend college, the college maintains its tradition of concern for women's education, with nearly three out of four students being female. In 2006, Hunter became home to the Bella Abzug Leadership Institute, which will run training programs for young women to build their leadership, public speaking, business and advocacy skills. Princeton Review named the college as [http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/news/#bestvalue one of America's "Best Value" Colleges] in its 2007 guide.

In recent years, the college has integrated its undergraduate and graduate programs to successfully make advanced programs in fields such as (Psychology and Biology) - "Ph.D Program", (Education) - "Master's Program", (Mathematics) - "Master's Program", -"Ph.D Program"(Biology & Chemistry) - "Biochemistry", (Accounting) - "Master's Program" along with the highly competitive (Economics) - "Master's Program" to which only a select few students may enter based on excellent scholarship and performance, and less than half will earn a Master's Degree by maintaining a nearly perfect academic record and performing thesis research.

Although far from the polar regions, Hunter is a member institution of the University of the Arctic, a network of schools providing education accessible to northern students. [ [http://www.uarctic.org/orgs2full.aspx?group=GOvCouncil&title=Council&m=79 University of the Arctic - MEMBERS - LIST OF MEMBERS] ]

Campus

Main Campus

, Mar. 21, 2007] It claims a Park Avenue address by virtue of the North Building, which stretches from 68th to 69th Streets along Park Avenue.

The main campus is situated within walking distance of Central Park, as well as many of New York's most prestigious cultural institutions, including the [http://www.metmuseum.org/ Metropolitan Museum of Art,] the [http://www.asiasociety.org/ Asia Society Museum] , and the [http://www.frick.org/ Frick Collection.] Additionally, it has its own No. 6 subway line stop at 68th Street and Lexington Avenue. Adjacent to the main subway exit, in front of the West Building, sits an iconic Hunter sculpture: “Tao” created by late Hunter professor and respected artist Tony Smith.

The main campus is home to the [http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/arts_sci/ School of Arts and Sciences] and the [http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/education/ School of Education,] as well as [http://www.gc.cuny.edu/ CUNY doctoral studies] . It features numerous facilities that serve not only Hunter, but the surrounding community, and is particularly well-known as a center for the arts. The Assembly Hall, which seats more than 2,000, is a major performance site; the Sylvia and Danny Kaye Playhouse, a 675-seat proscenium theatre, has over 100,000 visitors annually and hosts over 200 performances each season; the Ida K. Lang Recital Hall is a fully equipped concert space with 148 seats; the Frederick Loewe Theatre, a 50 x 54-foot black box performance space is the site of most department performances; and the Bertha and Karl Leubsdorf Art Gallery hosts professionally organized art exhibits. [http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/abouthunter/thearts.shtml, "The Arts at Hunter", 1/4/08]

Students have access to specialized learning facilities at the main campus, including the Dolciani Mathematics Learning Center, the Leona and Marcy Chanin Language Center, and the Physical Sciences Learning Center. A respected research institution, Hunter has numerous research laboratories in the natural and biomedical sciences. These labs accommodate post-docs, PhD students from the CUNY Graduate School, and undergraduate researchers. [http://score.hunter.cuny.edu/, "Hunter College Score Program", 12/1/07]

College sports and recreational programs are served by the Hunter Sportsplex, located below the West Building. [http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/news/inbrief.shtml, "About Hunter: In Brief", 12/1/07] The Sportsplex, a major athletics center in the metropolitan area, is built entirely underground and is the deepest building in New York City. It features numerous competition and practice facilities, including multiple gymnasiums, racquetball courts, a weight room, locker areas, a training room, Hall of Fame, showcases, classrooms, and offices. [http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/athletics/join/index.shtml, “All About Athletics,” 12/1/07]

atellite Campuses

Hunter has two satellite campuses: [http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/socwork/ The School of Social Work] , located on East 79th street, which is dedicated to studies leading to the master of social work degree; and the [http://www1.cuny.edu/about/cunylocationshoots/view-by-college/hunter-college-brookdale.html Brookdale Campus] , located on East 25th Street and 1st Avenue, which houses the Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing, School of Health Sciences, the Brookdale Center on Aging, the Health Professions Library and several research centers and computer labs. [http://studentservices.hunter.cuny.edu/reslife/reslife_brookdale.htm, "Brookdale Campus", 12/2/07] Additionally, it is the site of the Hunter dormitory, which is home to over 600 undergraduate and graduate students, as well as a limited number of nurses employed at Bellevue Hospital. Prior to the opening of City College's new "Towers", the Brookdale complex was the City University's only dormitory facility.

Other Facilities

Hunter College owns and operates property outside of its main campuses, including the MFA Building, Roosevelt House, and the Hunter College Campus Schools. The MFA Building, located on West 41st Street between 9th and 10th Avenues, is a 12,000 square-foot space that is the site of most BFA and MFA exhibitions. [http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/news/inbrief.shtml, "About Hunter: In Brief", 12/1/07] Roosevelt House, currently under renovation, is the Roosevelt's historic family home on East 65th Street, which Hunter aims to establish as the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute. The institute will be an internationally prominent establishment honoring the public policy commitments of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, and is scheduled to open in early 2008. [http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/news/newsreleases/2007/EllenCheslerNamedDirectorofWomenandPublicPolicyInitiativeatHunterCollege.shtml, "Ellen Chesler Named Director of Women and Public Policy Initiative at Hunter College", 12/1/07] The Hunter Campus Schools—Hunter College High School and Hunter College Elementary School—are publicly funded schools for the intellectually gifted. Located at East 94th Street, the Campus Schools are among the nation's oldest and largest elementary and secondary schools of their kind. [http://www1.cuny.edu/portal_ur/content/capital_budget/pdfs/2007-08Request/hunter_campus_schools_07_08.pdf, "Hunter Campus Schools", 12/1/07]

Libraries

Hunter library collections are housed in the Jacqueline Grennan Wexler Library (the main library) and the Art Slide Library at East 68th Street, the Health Professions Library at the Brookdale Campus, and the Social Work Library at East 79th Street. Together, these libraries hold over 760,000 volumes, more than 2,100 current print periodical subscriptions and approximately 10,000 in electronic format, 1,168,000 microforms, 13,000 videos and music CDs, 250,000 art slides, and 40,000+ digital images. The CUNY+ online catalog of university-wide holdings and remote online databases are accessible at all Hunter libraries. [http://library.hunter.cuny.edu/libcollection.htm, "Library Information: Library Collection", 12/1/07]

Under the guidance of the Presidential Task Force on the Library, created in the fall of 2006, the Wexler Library has undergone several improvements in the areas of facilities, holdings, and services. The library now features wireless capability, a redesigned student lounge and circulation desk, improved lighting, and expanded electronic resources. Additionally, the college has extended library hours, hired more library staff, and instituted a laptop loan program for students. More improvements are planned for the future, as part of an initiative to fully modernize the library. [Summary Report of the Presidential Task Force on the Library]

Academics

Profile

Hunter, a fully accredited college, is organized into four schools: [http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/arts_sci/ The School of Arts and Sciences] , the [http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/education/index.shtml School of Education] , the [http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/shp/ School of the Health Professions] and the [http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/socwork/index.htm School of Social Work] . Hunter students have their choice of 70 programs leading to a BA or BS degree; 10 BA-MA joint degree programs; and 75 graduate programs. They may study within the fields of fine arts, the humanities, the language arts, the sciences, the social sciences, and the applied arts and sciences, as well as in professional areas in accounting, education, health sciences, and nursing. Regardless of area of concentration, all Hunter students are encouraged to have broad exposure to the liberal arts; Hunter was one of the first colleges in the nation to pass a 12-credit curriculum requirement for pluralism and diversity courses. [http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/news/inbrief.shtml, "About Hunter: In Brief", 12/1/07]

Hunter has 673 full-time [http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/ir/factbook2007/table41.htm, "Race/Ethnicity/Gender for Full Time Faculty", 12/01/07 ] and 886 part-time faculty members, [http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/ir/factbook2007/table42.htm, "Race/Ethnicity/Gender for Part Time Faculty ", 12/01/07] and 20,844 students—15,718 undergraduates and 5,126 graduates. [http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/ir/factbook2007/table1.htm, "Total Enrollment--Full-time and Part-time Status", 12/01/07] Over 50% of Hunter's students belong to ethnic minority groups. [http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/ir/factbook2007/table18.htm, "Race/Ethnicity for Total Enrollment", 12/01/07] The class of 2011 represents 60 countries and speaks 59 different languages. Seventy-one percent of these students were born outside the United States or have at least one foreign-born parent. SAT scores for the class of 2011 are in the 25th-75th percentile range of 990 to 1180, meaning that 75% of students scored higher than 990 on the SAT and 25% received a score higher than 1180. [Hunter College Open Line Fall 2007]

Hunter is also known as one of the more affordable schools in the Manhattan area providing low-cost, yet high quality education. In 2006, Hunter was listed in Barron's "Best Buys in College Education"—the only CUNY school to receive such recognition—as a "dynamic college, with an energy that makes the campus sizzle." Hunter students graduate from the college with one of the lowest debt-loads in the country, and are frequent recipients of prestigious prizes and awards, including Fulbright and Mellon Fellowships. Additionally, they are regularly accepted into graduate programs at the nation's most prestigious universities.

Honors

Hunter offers several honors programs, including the [http://portal.cuny.edu/portal/site/cuny/?epi_menuItemID=f73d8619fd17dd75df390784d81010a0&epi_menuID=a00e05b73704d3407d840d5541a08a0c&epi_baseMenuID=a00e05b73704d3407d840d5541a08a0c Macaulay Honors College] and the [http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/honors/ Thomas Hunter Honors Program] . The Honors College, a CUNY-wide honors program, supports the undergraduate education of academically gifted students. University Scholars benefit from personalized advising, access to internships, and study abroad opportunities. All scholars at Hunter are given the choice of either a free dormitory room at the Brookdale Campus or a yearly stipend. [http://macaulay.cuny.edu/campuses/hunter.php, "Macaulay Honors College at CUNY-Hunter College", 12/1/07] This year, over 1,000 applicants with an average SAT score of 1,354 applied to the program at Hunter. [Hunter College Open Line Fall 2007]

The Thomas Hunter Honors Program offers topical interdisciplinary seminars and academic concentrations designed to meet students’ individual interests. The program is open to outstanding students pursuing a BA and is orchestrated under the supervision of an Honors Council. It can be combined with, or replace, a formal departmental major/minor. [http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/honors/, "Thomas Hunter Honors Program", 12/1/07]

In addition to these honors programs, several honors societies are based at Hunter, including Phi Beta Kappa (PBK). A small percentage of Hunter students are invited to join Hunter's Nu chapter of PBK, which has existed at the college since 1920. Less than 10% of the nation's liberal arts colleges qualify academically for a PBK chapter. [http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/news/inbrief.shtml, "About Hunter: In Brief", 12/1/07]

tudent life

tudent Governance

The Hunter College student body is governed by the [http://www.hunterusg.org/ Undergraduate Student Government] (USG) and the Graduate Student Association (GSA), both of which offer a wide range of activities and services.

Clubs

Hunter offers approximately 150 clubs that reflect the diverse interests of its student body. These organizations range from the academic to the athletic, and from the religious/spiritual to the visual and performing arts. There are even clubs based around specific interests, such as "Russian Club", which offers a look at German life and culture.

Greek Life

Due to a mostly commuter student body and a lack of a sense of community, common in the public and private colleges in New York City, Greek life at Hunter has recently been on the rise. There is a chapter of Alpha Phi Omega - the nation's largest service fraternity, a few African-American fraternities, a local service sorority by the name of Zeta Phi Alpha, a multicultural sorority, Mu Sigma Upsilon, several small sororities including Alpha Sigma, and Delta Pi Sigma, and there are even a few students working on establishing a chapter of Kappa Sigma [http://www.kappasigma.org/] , the nation's largest social fraternity.

Student media

Hunter College had a campus radio station, WHCS, which broadcasted at 590AM. [ [http://studentweb.hunter.cuny.edu/~whcs/ WHCS radio] ] It is currently in the process of becoming an online radio station. The Envoy is the main campus newspaper, published bi-weekly during the academic year. Other publications include The Olivetree Review (literature and art), the WORD [ [http://theword.hunter.cuny.edu/ The WORD] ] (news), Hunter Anonymous [http://www.hunteranonymous.org/ Hunter Anonymous] ] the Wistarion (yearbook), SABOR (Spanish language), Revista De La Academia (Spanish language), The Islamic Times, The Shield (African-American interest), Political Paradigm (political science), Psych News (psychology), Hakol (Jewish interest), and Spoof (humor). [ [http://studentservices.hunter.cuny.edu/sa/sa_clubs_media.htm Student Activities: Media] ]

Athletics

At Hunter, athletics are considered complementary to a student's education. Hunter is a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and competes at the Division III level. The Athletic Program offers 20 sports for men and women, from basketball to fencing, with the majority competing in the City University of New York Athletic Conference Hunter is also a member of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC), the largest athletic conference in the country. [http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/athletics/athlinfo/index.shtml#2, "All About Athletics", 12/1/07]

According to the CUNY website, “Hunter offers what is widely considered the premier athletic program in the City University of New York.” [http://www1.cuny.edu/about/colleges/hunter.html, "Hunter College", 12/1/07] The Hunter College's intercollegiate athletic teams have had a legacy of success in recent decades at the conference, regional, and national levels of competition. Hunter has been the dominant institution in the City University of New York Athletic Conference since 1990 (CUNYAC). [http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/athletics/athlinfo/index.shtml#2, "All About Athletics", 12/1/07]

Current issues

Academic freedom

In recent years, but particularly after the September 11, 2001 attacks, conservative students and faculty nationwide have rallied around David Horowitz and his arguments that colleges by and large impose a liberal agenda. As a result, colleges have come under pressure to adopt codes of academic freedom to ensure that professors do not impose their own beliefs on to students who may disagree with them politically. Conversely, many professors have expressed concern that college administrators are retaliating against faculty members who dissent either on administrative or political issues. Nonetheless, the College Republicans are a small and rarely visible aspect of the college campus. Liberal or left-wing clubs are far older and well-organized.

At Hunter, the College Senate (consisting of student government, faculty, and administrators) established a committee in 2004 to investigate issues of academic freedom. [Office of the Hunter College Senate, [http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/senate/assets/Documents/CAF%20Final%20Report%20to%20senate%202.1.06.pdf "Report of the Senate Select Committee on Academic Freedom"] , February 1, 2006.] The committee found that no faculty member was "pressured to make changes in the content or form of their classroom teaching." However, the committee did report allegations that departmental administrators imposed certain policies without a basis in student need and without consultation with faculty. The committee further reported on allegations that administrators unduly influenced faculty hiring and tenure decisions, bypassing formal governance procedures. Finally, the committee found that a "perception of a climate of fear" has dissuaded some faculty from engaging in discussions about college policy.

Additionally, PSC-CUNY, the faculty labor union, was charged by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) in 2005 to conduct a survey of academic freedom among faculty in furtherance of the findings of the College Senate committee. [PSC-CUNY, [http://www.psc-cuny.org/HunterAFsurvey.htm "HUNTER COLLEGE ACADEMIC FREEDOM SURVEY"] ] The survey was conducted in 2006 and found that "only 22 percent of the respondents were satisfied in the faculty's role in shared governance", and only "44 percent ... agreed that the campus climate supports their personal freedom of expression." The survey also found that "23 percent of the respondents, and 30 percent of the full-time tenured faculty, said they had been subject to reprisals from the president or senior administrators." Finally, the survey found that "the faculty and staff have not had influence on major institutional issues in recent years", due to the failure of administrators to properly integrate faculty input. Some professors have expressed concerns as to the accuracy of the PSC/AAUP survey, claiming that its questions were biased and it was developed without a transparent process. [ [http://theword.hunter.cuny.edu/archive/vol55/h_list/hunterl.html A Scam in the Works?"] , The Word, April 2, 2006.]

Manhattan/Hunter College Science High School

As a partnership with the New York City Department of Education, the Manhattan/Hunter College Science High School was opened in 2003 on the campus of the former Martin Luther King, Jr. High School on the Upper West Side. Unlike Hunter's campus schools, Hunter Science does not require an entrance exam for admission. [ [http://www.insideschools.org/fs/school_profile.php?id=1257 Manhattan/Hunter College High School for Science] at InsideSchools.org.]

Curriculum

The Economics Department has been successful in promoting a highly rigorous curriculum with high academic standards, all without any noteworthy negative feedback from students. The Accounting & Economics undergraduate degree programs have actively hired a collection of highly-talented faculty members to go along with the two demanding programs. Both faculty members and students note that a perfect (4.0) academic record with either an Accounting or Economics major might not be realistic due to the difficulty and demanding standards of the department, but the payoff is well-noted when graduates enter the workforce or move on to graduate schools. Although the Accounting degree does not allow for a second major or minors, students of both majors commonly minor in Mathematics & Statistics for a successful transition into Business School or a Graduate Finance program, while those interested in Law School or Public Policy commonly select to minor in Philosophy and/or Political Science.

Julia Richman Education Complex

The college is currently raising funds to purchase the Julia Richman Education Complex (JREC), a public high school building, with plans to raze it and build a science building on the site. JREC's location at East 67th Street at Second Avenue, near Hunter's main 68th Street campus, makes the site attractive for the college's expansion. College president Jennifer Raab and opponents of the expansion have traded opinion articles in local newspapers throughout 2006. [See the [http://www.jrec.org/savejrec.html "Save JREC"] website and Hunter-L (college listserv) postings by [http://hunter.listserv.cuny.edu/scriptshc/wa-hc.exe?A2=ind0610A&L=HUNTER-L&P=R731&I=-3 Prof. Claus Mueller] and [http://hunter.listserv.cuny.edu/scriptshc/wa-hc.exe?A2=ind0610A&L=HUNTER-L&P=R1012&I=-3 Prof. Roger Persell] for more information.] In 2007, the college launched a [http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/sciencebuilding/ website] promoting the new science building. [ [http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/sciencebuilding/ Science & Health Professions Building] ] According to the site, Hunter's science departments at the Brookdale campus will essentially trade locations with the schools of the Julia Richman complex. [ [http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/sciencebuilding/FAQ.html Frequently Asked Questions] ] It is a controversial plan which the educators of the Julia Richman Complex have denounced. Community members and local elected officials, including city councilmember Jessica Lappin and State Senator Liz Krueger, have formally voiced their opposition to the plan, [ [http://www.jrec.org/savejrec.html Save JREC website] ] saying that "a "preference" by one CUNY school for expansion convenient to its existing campus is simply not a sufficient rationale" to "uproot six outstanding public schools." [See Sen. Krueger and Assemblyman Kellner's letter to Chancellor Klein and Chancellor Goldstein at the [http://www.jrec.org/JREC_Kreuger.pdf Save JREC website] ] .

Notable alumni

Art

* Jules de Balincourt - artist (painter)
* Ryan Humphrey - competitor on Bravo's first season of Top Design. Eliminated in episode 5. Received an MFA in 1999. [http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/news/#topdesign]
* Nick Valensi - musician and guitarist for The Strokes
* Terrance Lindall - artist (surrealist)
* Nikolai Fraiture - musician and bassist for The Strokes
* Robert Morris - artist (sculptor)
* Enoc Perez - artist (painter)
* Hugo Bastidas - artist (painter)
* Sylvie G. Covey - artist (printmaking, lithography)
* Michael Pellettieri - artist (printmaking)
* William Crow - artist (painter)
* Kathleen Kucka - artist (painter)
* Fanny Kaufman Casher - artist and founder of the Bronx Museum of the Arts

Entertainment and sports

* Martina Arroyo - opera singer
* Ellen Barkin - actress
* James Bethea - producer/television executive
* Inna Brayer - ballroom dance champion
* Edward Burns - actor
* Julia Chernetsky - television host, model
* Bobby Darin - musician
* Ruby Dee - actress
* Vin Diesel - actor
* Hugh Downs - television host
* Nikolai Fraiture - musician and bassist for The Strokes
* Wilson Jermaine Heredia - Tony Award-winning actor
* Chad Hunt - gay porn star
* Richard Jeni - comedian
* Natasha Leggero - actress/comedian
* Leigh Lezark - member of DJ trio the Misshapes
* Jill Matthews - boxer and musician [http://www.wban.org/biog/jmatthews.htm]
* Julianne Nicholson - actor on , did not graduate
* Antonia Pantoja - Puerto Rican community leader, founder of Boricua College
* Rhea Perlman - actress
* Judy Reyes - actress
* Esther Rolle - actress
* Ron Rothstein - basketball coach
* Mirko Savone - actor and voice-over
* Robert Smigel - comedic writer/actor
* Jean Stapleton - actress
* Trevor "Troi" Torain - radio personality (Star of Star & Buc Wild), did not graduate
* Nick Valensi - musician and guitarist for The Strokes
*J. Buzz Von Ornsteiner - Forensic Psychologist/Television Personality

Government, politics, and social issues

* Bella Abzug - Congresswoman and women's rights advocate
* Charles Barron - New York City Council member
* Keiko Bonk - activist, artist, politician, and highest-ranking elected Green Party member in the United States
* Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick - New York State Court of Appeals Judge
* Roger Manno - Maryland politician
* Soia Mentschikoff - attorney and law professor who worked on the Uniform Commercial Code
* Larry Seidlin - Broward County, Florida Judge, presided over Anna Nicole Smith's estate
* Donna Shalala - United States Secretary of Health and Human Services under Bill Clinton, 10th President of Hunter College (1980-1988)
* John Timoney - Chief of Police of Miami, Florida
* Glen T. Martin - Radford University philosophy professor, Counterpunch contributor, and President of International Philosophers for Peace
* Virginia Martinez - Louisiana politician

Literature

* Maurice Berger - cultural critic
* Colin Channer - writer, musician, co-founder of Calabash International Literary Festival Trust
* Martin Greif - writer, publisher, former Managing Editor of Time-Life Books
* Ada Louise Huxtable - writer, Pulitzer Prize-winning architectural critic
* Audre Lorde - poet
* Sylvia Field Porter - economist/journalist, former Financial Editor of the New York Post
* Sonia Sanchez - poet
* Ned Vizzini - writer
* Peter Carey - writer
* Augusta Huiell Seaman - writer

cience and technology

* Susan Bershad - Well-known dermatologist [http://www.skinhealer.com/pages/831374/index.htm]
* Gertrude Elion - Nobel Laureate in medicine
* Erich Jarvis - neurobiologist, Duke University Medical Center researcher [http://www.jarvislab.net/GenInfo/Jarvis%20regular%20CV%202006.pdf]
* Rosalyn Yalow - Nobel Laureate in medicine
* Mildred Dresselhaus - National Medal of Science recipient, Institute Professor at MIT
* Arlie Petters - astrophysicist

Notable faculty

* Leonard Peikoff, Ayn Rand's intellectual heir and founder of the Ayn Rand Institute, taught philosophy at Hunter College for approximately ten years.
* Blake Schwarzenbach, singer/guitarist of Jawbreaker and Jets to Brazil, currently teaches creative writing classes at Hunter.
* Tony Smith (sculptor)
* Stuart Meltzer, 40-year professor of English and French at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.
* Roy DeCarava, photographer, cofounder in 1963, of the Kamoinge Workshop in New York City. Distinguished Professor of Arts at Hunter.
* John Kennedy Toole, late professor and author of the posthumously published Pulitzer Prize winning novel "A Confederacy of Dunces".

In fiction

* In the movie "The Fisher King" the character portrayed by Robin Williams was a History professor at Hunter prior to the tragic event he experienced
* A scene for the 2004 film "The Interpreter" was filmed at the Brookdale Campus. [ [http://www1.cuny.edu/portal_ur/news/cuny_matters/summer_06/15.html Campuses Open Their Doors for Film Shoots, Gaining Revenue for Programs and Exposure] , "CUNY Matters", Summer 2006.]
* The comic A Couple of Guys features a character, Hector Velázquez, who is a fictional student of Hunter College.
* The Hunter College Book Store is mentioned in Woody Allen's short story, "The Whore of Mensa", published in "Without Feathers".
* The fictional novel "Bodega Dreams" by Ernesto Quinonez (who studied writing at City College) features two characters, a young married couple, who are both fictional students of Hunter College. This book is used in High School and College curriculum as required reading. [ [http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/personal/reading/quinonez-dreams.html] Bob Corbett's Home Page.]
* The CW show Gossip Girl featured the main characters taking the SAT test at Hunter.

References

External links

* [http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/ Hunter College]
*" [http://books.google.com/books?id=mzMqUAoAvhYC From the Free Academy to Cuny: Illustrating Public Higher Education in New York City, 1847-1997] ", by Sandra S. Roff, et al.