The first Catholic college for women in New York State, The College of New Rochelle was founded in 1904 by the Ursuline Order. Today, it comprises the all-women School of Arts & Sciences, and three schools which admit women and men: the School of New Resources (for adult learners), the School of Nursing and the Graduate School.  The main campus of the College is located in lower Westchester County, 16 miles north of New York City.  The College maintains five other campus locations in New York City. Visit the College’s website at www.cnr.edu .

NEW ROCHELLE, NY, October 6, 2009 – The College of New Rochelle (CNR) Graduate School will host an Information Session on Wednesday, October 14, 2009, at 6:00 p.m. in the Student Campus Center on the Main Campus in New Rochelle.

Attendees will have an opportunity to learn about the 31 degree and certificate programs offered in Art, Art Therapy/Counseling, Career Development, Communication Studies, Educational Leadership, Gerontology, Mental Health Counseling, School Counseling, School Psychology, and Teacher Education. Current students, members of the faculty, administrators, the Dean of the Graduate School and a financial aid representative will be on hand to answer questions.

A representative from the School of Nursing will also be available with information about Graduate Nursing programs.

For information, contact the Office of Admission at 914-654-5452 admission@cnr.edu.

NEW ROCHELLE, NY, October 5, 2009 – The College of New Rochelle School of Arts & Sciences (SAS) Art Department will present “Museum Education: Celebrating the Past & Building the Future,” a lecture by Dr. Kent Lydecker, on Wednesday, October 28, 2009, at 6:45 p.m., in Romita Auditorium on the Main Campus in New Rochelle.  Immediately following the lecture, a reception will be held in CNR’s Castle Gallery, where guests may tour the Gallery’s current exhibit three women.  The lecture and reception are free and open to the public.

            Lydecker guided the activities of the Metropolitan Museum of Art as an educational institution for nearly two decades. At the time of his retirement in 2008, he was serving as the Museum’s Frederick and Sandra Rose Associate Director for Education.  He has held senior posts at The National Gallery of Art as Curator in Charge of Public Programs and The Art Institute of Chicago as Executive Director of Museum Education.  His achievements touch on all areas of museum education and practice, art history, institutional management, governance and policy, and the use of new technologies in the service of institutional mission. Metropolitan Museum programs for public and specialized audiences exceeded 20,000 events annually during his tenure. He holds a master’s degree from Cornell University and a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University.

            For information on the event, contact SAS Art Department Chair Emily Stern at 914-654-5834 or estern@cnr.edu.

Author of Marathon Woman Recounts Victorious Fight

To Become First Woman Runner in Boston Marathon

New Rochelle, NY, August 21, 2009 – The College of New Rochelle (CNR) will present “Empowering Women Through Athletics,” a lecture by women's running pioneer and noted author Kathrine Switzer on Thursday, September 17, 2009, as part of its Second Annual Fitness for Life! Day. The lecture, which takes place at 7 p.m. in Romita Auditorium on the Main Campus, will open with an introduction by CNR Associate Professor of History and Honors Program Director Dr. Amy Bass (author of Not the Triumph but the Struggle: the 1968 Olympic Games and the Making of the Black Athlete) and will be followed by a question and answer session featuring a panel of CNR student athletes. The event will conclude with a reception and book signing by Kathrine Switzer. The event is free and open to the public. For further information, please call (914) 654-5380.

        Switzer gained world-wide notoriety as the woman who challenged the all-male tradition of the Boston Marathon by being the first woman to officially run the race in 1967. As recapped in her most recent book, Marathon Woman, her entry created an uproar when a race official tried to remove her forcibly from the competition. The "Boston Incident" only strengthened Switzer’s resolve to excel athletically. To date, she has run 35 marathons, won the 1974 New York City Marathon, and ran her personal best of 2:51.33 by finishing second in the 1975 Boston Marathon (at the time, the sixth best women's marathon time in the world and third in the United States). 

          A journalist and frequent speaker at major marathon events in the U.S. and abroad, Switzer has dedicated her multi-faceted career to creating opportunities and equal sport status for women. Her part in the development of programs in 27 countries for over one million women led to the inclusion of the women's marathon as an official event in the Olympic Games, changing forever the face of sports, health and opportunities for women around the world. Today, Switzer continues to champion women’s health and wellness initiatives by sharing her story and personal philosophies. Her lecture at The College of New Rochelle will be the culmination of the College’s Second Annual Fitness for Life! Day event, a day devoted to health education for all members of the CNR Community.

          The day’s events begin at 9 a.m. with a one-mile Fun Run and Walk around the Campus.  Activities also include fitness seminars, workshops, exhibits, and tours of the College’s state-of-the-art Wellness Center.

          The first Catholic college for women in New York State, The College of New Rochelle was founded in 1904 by the Ursuline Order. Today, it comprises the all-women School of Arts & Sciences, and three schools which admit women and men: the School of New Resources (for adult learners), the School of Nursing and the Graduate School.  The main campus of the College is located in lower Westchester County, 16 miles north of New York City.  The College maintains five other campus locations in New York City. Visit the College’s website at www.cnr.edu.

Multi-media Exhibit Features the
Works of Women Artists

NEW ROCHELLE, NY, August 18, 2009 -- The Castle Gallery, housed in historic Leland Castle on The College of New Rochelle’s Main Campus, will open its 2009-10 season with three women, a multi-media exhibit featuring the works of artists Joan Giroux, Whitney Huber, and Lisa Kaftori.  The exhibit opens to the public on Tuesday, September 8, 2009 and runs through Sunday, November 8, 2009. The Gallery will host an opening reception on Sunday, September 13, 2009, from 2 to 4 p.m.  The Gallery will also present an Artist Panel on Wednesday evening, November 4, 2009, from 6:45 to 8:30 p.m.  The exhibit, reception and artist panel are free and open to the public.
        three women, collaboratively curated by the three artists, features sculpture, video, installation and performance.  “The exhibit invites visitors to explore interconnections between the social, emotional, and material textures of women’s lives: paper, flowers, glass, silk, water, sugar, steel, thread, strawberries, buttons, ink, dresses, and neon,” says Dr. Jean Petrolle, author of Religion Without Belief: Contemporary Allegory and the Search for Postmodern Faith.“
        Joan Giroux is an interdisciplinary spatial artist, activist, and educator, whose work engages language, history, game theory and social conditioning. Giroux and Kaftori founded Compassionate Action Enterprises, a collective devoted to art strategies addressing issues of sustainability in our world. An Assistant Professor in Columbia College Chicago’s Art + Design Department, Giroux teaches studio art and art activism.
        Whitney Huber is a spatial and performance artist with a background in art history, film theory and criticism. Her artistic work addresses perception, iconography and performance of gender roles, and pleasure and struggle in personal history. She teaches studio art, art history and interdisciplinary creative practice at Columbia College Chicago.
        Lisa Kaftori is a social sculptor and ecological artist, interested in the ways aesthetic experience is created and framed. Her work explores history, memory and place, identity and contemporary culture. Kaftori creates artwork that emphasizes a sense of understanding and connectedness between human beings and a respectful, symbiotic relationship with the natural world.
        On Saturday, October 17, and Sunday, October 18, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Castle Gallery will participate in New Rochelle Arts Fest ’09, a collaborative event with art, music, performance, culinary and retail venues throughout the City of New Rochelle. Each venue will be a stop on the free trolley tours operating throughout the downtown New Rochelle area on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. 

          The Castle Gallery was established in 1980 as an art resource for the entire community. Dedicated to teaching and committed to providing a rich diversity of art experiences, the Gallery serves school groups and art lovers from throughout Westchester County with innovative exhibits, lectures, and programs.  The Gallery is located on the Main Campus of CNR, 29 Castle Place, New Rochelle, NY. Castle Gallery Hours: Tues. & Wed., 10 am to 8 pm, Thurs. & Fri., 10 am to 5 pm, Sat. and Sun., 12 to 4 pm. It is closed Mondays and major national holidays. For additional information, tours, and directions to CNR, please call (914) 654-5423 or go to www.cnr.edu/CNR/cnr-directions.html#NEWROCHELLE.

Pictured: “inclined to suppose,” mixed media, Joan Giroux, Whitney Huber and Lisa Kaftori

New Rochelle, NY, August 7, 2009 – The College of New Rochelle Mooney Center Exhibit Hall opens its fall season with American Kiss, a solo exhibition of new paintings and works on paper by Brooklyn-based artist Jen P. Harris. The exhibit opens on Thursday, August 27, and runs through Monday, September 21, 2009. A reception with the artist will be held on Wednesday, September 16, from 6 - to 8 p.m. in the Mooney Center Lounge. The exhibit and reception are free and open to the public
        Harris’ work explores dissonance in identity – disruptions of self, sexuality and purpose – and challenges expectations about culturally familiar imagery. The artist builds her pictures from a central vocabulary of images, which includes androgynous men and women, embracing couples, twins, dancing or diving bodies, mirrored figures, and figures in the landscape – motifs that have social and political dimensions. Her paintings and works on paper feature the interaction of naturalistic forms and flat graphic elements, big spatial shifts, and subtle perceptual paradox.
        Harris, who studied art at Yale University, Queens College and the Yale Norfolk Summer Program, has exhibited in New York, Los Angeles, and Italy. Her awards include the E.D. Foundation Grant, the Bates Traveling Fellowship, and the Ellen Battel Stoekel Fellowship. Learn more about the artist and her work at www.jenpharris.com.

           The Mooney Center Exhibit Hall is located at The College of New Rochelle, 29 Castle Place in New Rochelle, NY  10805.  Hours:  Monday-Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday, Saturday and Sundays from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  For directions or information, please call (914) 654-5423 or go to: http://www.cnr.edu/CNR/cnr-directions.html#NEWROCHELLE. Additional images available upon request. 

New Rochelle, NY, July 15, 2009 – Dr. Stephen J. Sweeny, President of The College of New Rochelle (CNR), has announced the appointment of Ana Fontoura as Dean of Mother Irene Gill Memorial Library.

Fontoura began her career at the College in 1987 as a periodicals assistant.  At the time of her appointment as Dean, she was serving as an Assistant Professor/Electronic Resources Librarian. Her professional background includes over 21 years of combined library experience in Technical Services, Periodicals, Reference, Teaching, Staff Training, and Electronic Resources in academic and school libraries.  Fontoura has also worked for the Yonkers School System and as a liaison to the Ursuline School in New Rochelle and Sacred Heart Grade School in Yonkers.  In all of her endeavors, she promotes information literacy at all levels not only in her library instruction sessions but also through collaborative efforts with other faculty and administration. An active member of the College Community chairing and serving on many committees, Fontoura’s interests include trends in library innovation, management of electronic resources and technology, children’s literature, and promoting lifelong learning.

“Dean Fontoura is a highly regarded member of the Library faculty who has made a significant contribution to the Library during her tenure,” said Dr. Sweeny. “She possesses impressive leadership skills which will serve the Library and College well into the future.”

Fontoura earned her B.S. in Psychology and M.S. in Gerontology from The College of New Rochelle and her M.L.S. in Library Science from Queens College of the City University of New York. She is currently pursuing a certificate in Leadership and Management from the New York Library Association.

NEW ROCHELLE, NY, July 22, 2009 – The College of New Rochelle’s (CNR) School of New Resources (SNR) will hold open houses on its six campuses, located in Westchester, the Bronx, Brooklyn and Manhattan, on Saturday, August 15, 2009, from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Attendees will have an opportunity to tour the campuses, meet faculty and students and talk to academic and financial advisors. If they wish, attendees may also complete required testing and apply for admission on that day.

SNR’s fully accredited Bachelor of Arts degree program offers:

•        A distinctive program for adult learners 21 years of age and older

•        Convenient admission and registration processes

•        One-on-one advisement on how to finance your education

•        One-on-one academic advisement

•        Many six-credit seminars

•        Classes that meet just one morning or evening each week

•        Independent study and streamed video telecourses

•        Course credit for learning from life and work experiences

Campuses locations are:

Main Campus in Westchester

29 Castle Place, New Rochelle (914) 654-5528 

Co-op City Campus in the Bronx

755 Co-op City Boulevard  (718) 320-0300

John Cardinal O’Connor Campus in the South Bronx

332 East 149th Street (718) 665-1310

Brooklyn Campus at Restoration Plaza

1368 Fulton Street  (718) 638-2500

Rosa Parks Campus (Studio Museum) in Manhattan

144 West 125th Street (212) 662-7500

DC 37 Headquarters in Manhattan

125 Barclay Street, Room 213 (212) 815-1710

Founded in 1972, The College of New Rochelle School of New Resources is recognized internationally as a model for adult education.  The School has graduated more than 17,000 adult learners with baccalaureate liberal arts degrees. More than 55 percent of SNR graduates have gone on to obtain advanced degrees at colleges and universities nationwide. Many hold senior management positions in the public and private sectors.