CUNY SPS Students Lead Four-Day Social Justice Forum

The CUNY School of Professional Studies (CUNY SPS) Student Association, in collaboration with the Urban Male Scholars program, hosted the 2022 Student Leadership Conference from April 5 through April 8.

This year’s theme was Social Justice: What Does Social Justice Mean To You?, and the four-day online conference featured daily student-moderated panels exploring various social justice issues. Sessions included My Journey Into Social Justice, Blackness in Latin America and Beyond, What is the Goal of Social Justice for the Mentally Ill?, What are the Social Inequalities in the Latin Community?, Creating an Inclusive Space for Disabled Students, and Social Justice: Then and Now. The conference closed with a keynote address from Dr. Jonathan Quash of the CUNY Black Male Initiative.

Tiffany Mathias, a student in the CUNY SPS BA in Human Relations program, opened the conference with her session My Journey into Social Justice. During her talk, Mathias spoke of her experience as a first-generation student who balanced multiple responsibilities: family, school, and her work founding The Phoenix Center for Youth Development, a nonprofit that works with local community-based organizations to support underserved youth. In describing her efforts to launch the nonprofit, Mathias explained, “The movement doesn’t happen with one person.”

In another highlight, students from the Black Student Union moderated a talk with Dr. Vanessa K. Valdés, interim director of Macaulay Honors College and former director of City College’s Black studies program, at the Blackness in Latin America and Beyond session.

Dr. Valdés, whose research interests focus on the cultural production of Black peoples throughout the Americas, observed that the histories of people of African descent throughout this hemisphere is often erased and marginalized and that one of her purposes as an educator and as a scholar is to bring light to those histories while also empowering her students. “Educators change lives on a daily basis,” shared Dr. Valdés. “We can identify brilliance in our students who more often than not do not think of themselves as brilliant, who do not think of themselves as gifted or talented.”

The conference’s last day featured a keynote address by Dr. Jonathan Quash, interim university director for the CUNY Black Male Initiative, a university-wide student development initiative focused on increasing matriculation, retention, and graduation rates of underrepresented students, particularly men of color. 

Dr. Quash, who also teaches music, detailed hip hop culture’s role in advancing social justice in his address, noting that the music form “…takes the voice of the oppressed, and allows the world to hear what, in fact, is going on.”

After offering a brief history of the hip-hop movement and its cultural and political impact, Dr. Quash concluded, “There’s something that we ought to remember about what social justice is about, and that is to ultimately make a change…in our society, but also to change the minds of the next generation.…Those are the ones who are going to go out and do the things that we want to see happen. So I encourage all of you today to please go out and be those angels.”

Following the conference, CUNY SPS Scholarships Specialist Theresa Ortiz offered her impression of the sessions’ value for students. “The event helps students develop their public speaking skills and creates a platform where they can gain experience in operational planning, networking, marketing, and executing a successful event,” said Ortiz. “By participating in the CUNY SPS Student Leadership Conference, students are afforded the opportunity to further build their resume and advance their careers.”

In a sign of CUNY SPS’s expanding student life and engagement, this year’s Student Leadership Conference marks the fifth since the student-led event was first offered and the second year in a row that the conference was held in a multi-day format. Read more here for more information on prior conferences and student leadership opportunities at CUNY SPS. 

About the CUNY School of Professional Studies

As New York’s leader in online education since 2006, the CUNY School of Professional Studies (CUNY SPS) offers the most online bachelor’s and master’s degree options at the City University of New York, and serves as the University’s only undergraduate all-transfer college. With 24 degrees and numerous other non-degree and grant-funded workplace learning programs, CUNY SPS meets the needs of adults who wish to finish a bachelor’s degree, progress from an associate’s degree, earn a master’s degree or certificate in a specialized field, and advance in the workplace or change careers. Consistently ranked highly by U.S. News & World Report for its online offerings, and noted for its soaring growth and enrollment, CUNY SPS has emerged as a nationwide leader in online education. The School’s renowned and affordable online programs—which offer in-state tuition to all students regardless of where they live—ensure that busy working adults may fulfill their educational goals on their own time and schedule.

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