One of the things that has always made me proud of being part of CUNY is its extraordinary poetic legacy, which goes back decades and includes many poet laureates. And now, I am especially moved to see our latest poetry prodigy, Stephanie Pacheco, a young student whose work has already been recognized on a national level, put her CUNY experience into verse.
Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of joining Stephanie at an event where we marked National Poetry Month by unveiling her poem “Dear CUNY,” her lyrical and stirring ode to CUNY’s power to propel and elevate New Yorkers of every background and lift the entire city.
“I don’t know of any other school that runs its city like you / That paints its town with its face like you,” she read at the event at Queensborough Community College. “Everywhere I turn, every building is a student / Every train car is a classroom . . .”
Stephanie, who is studying writing and literature at Borough of Manhattan Community College, was named the eighth National Youth Poet Laureate last spring. It was her latest honor after being selected as the youth poet laureate of New York City and becoming the first to carry the title for New York State.
Her poem’s admiration for CUNY and public higher education, along with its transformative benefits, serves as a vital beacon, especially during these uncertain times when colleges and universities are facing intense scrutiny and some are questioning the value of a degree.
‘Poetry U’
Stephanie’s acclaim as an up-and-coming poet carries forward a rich CUNY tradition. We are the home of so many renowned and emerging poets that The New York Times once dubbed CUNY “Poetry U.” They include the great Audre Lorde, a Hunter College alumna who taught at three CUNY colleges and was New York State Poet Laureate, and former poet laureate of the United States Billy Collins, who taught at Lehman College. Current faculty members include Tyehimba Jess, Pulitzer winner and a distinguished professor at the College of Staten Island, and American Book Award winner Kimiko Hahn, a distinguished professor at Queens College. To name just a few.
All of them, and now Stephanie, are part of our longstanding commitment to the humanities as a foundational part of a CUNY education. Stephanie’s success is especially inspiring because she is continuing this proud tradition as a 21-year-old community college student. It’s a theme that drives her latest work. She says that when she sat down to write a poem about what it means to be a CUNY student, and what it takes, the words poured out and came from a deep place.
“It was like the pen was just moving on its own,” she told The New York Times. “I wanted it known that this young person was a public college student. I want it to be known that we CUNY students, that we public school students, that we too are excellent, that we are extraordinary.”
Matos Rodríguez is the chancellor of The City University of New York (CUNY), the largest urban public university system in the United States.
