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May 14, 2004

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President Horowitz to Step Down as GC President

James Trimarco

In a memorandum to the GC Community dated April 21, President Horowitz announced that she plans to step down as President of the CUNY Graduate Center at the end of the 2004-2005 academic year. She will have served for a total of fourteen years at the time of her retirement, and will stay on at the GC as President Emeritus.
In the letter, Horowitz stressed the importance of continuing the fundraising activities she has been involved with during the search for her successor and the subsequent transfer of office. As she said in her memo, “We will lose no momentum in our continuing efforts to maintain and enhance the quality of our doctoral programs, to increase the level of support for doctoral students, and to raise needed funds for the extra margins of excellence to supplement our tax-levy resources in support of students, faculty, and the Graduate Center.”

After her retirement, Horowitz plans to dedicate her time to fundraising for the GC, contributing to a book on “the gifted” and a number of other personal writing projects. She says that she will remain committed to students here and that she “won’t be going anywhere.”

The retirement of such an important figure at the Graduate Center—a person who is involved in constant discussions and negotiations on behalf of student and institutional finances—is an important event for students and particularly for the Doctoral Students Council. In particular, students will want to be included in the selection process in order to make sure that Horowitz’s successor will bring energy and a passion for student interests to the task of dealing with the CUNY Board of Trustees. Anything less would endanger even the scarce resources that currently exist within this institution.

Memorandum from President Horowitz

I write to inform you that I am today giving to Chancellor Matthew Goldstein a letter indicating that I am making plans to step down from the position of President of the Graduate Center at the end of the coming academic year, 2004-05.

In summing up the accomplishments we have achieved together during my tenure as President of The Graduate Center, I realize the enormity of our collective efforts even as there is still so much more to do.

I have assured the Chancellor that in the coming year, as he moves to initiate the search to select my successor, we will lose no momentum in our continuing efforts to maintain and enhance the quality of our doctoral programs, to increase the level of support for doctoral students, and to raise needed funds for the extra margins of excellence to supplement our tax-levy resources in support of students, faculty, and The Graduate Center.

At the end of 2004-05 I will have served in the position of President for fourteen years. While there is never a “perfect” time for one to step down from a satisfying position nor for the community to deal with the leadership change that will ensue, the academic renewal that has occurred and is in progress, the commitment to increasing support for doctoral students, and the solidity and momentum of our enterprise will serve as steadying and reassuring influences for going forward.