John Jay Launches Ringel Humanities Scholars Program
John Jay College is proud to announce the Dean and Ronnie Ringel Humanities Scholars Program, a new initiative supported by a generous investment from Dean and Ronnie Ringel. We are deeply grateful for their vision and unwavering commitment to student success.
“Advancing social and economic mobility, fostering cohort experiences and driving high-impact practices are core priorities for the College. Expanding access to humanities and civic education is essential to achieving these goals, and I’m fully committed to ensuring this dynamic institution continues to innovate and transform the higher education journey—work that is only possible with the support of visionary partners like Dean and Ronnie,” said President Karol V. Mason.
The Ringel Humanities Scholars Program is designed to cement the visibility of the humanities and engage students through a shared intellectual experience by leveraging John Jay’s strength in the humanities—disciplines that cultivate vital, transferable skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving and communication.
Program Director David Munns believes that "to be a Ringel scholar is to forge a new community learning to civilly question and debate." Students will engage broad questions about human existence, methods of reading, analysis and communication specific to the humanities and cultural events on and off campus. Ringel Scholar Akaylah Rose credited the program for forming her “most unique and unusual thoughts” while fellow Ringel Scholar, Navindra Singh, further developed her skills to “defend my points [by] speaking in a respectful manner."
As a part of the program, Ringel Scholars like Akaylah and Navindra will access internships, fellowships study abroad opportunities and more and form strong social bonds with other students in the program through lunches and cultural experiences. Additionally, this initiative provides a $1,000 stipend at the conclusion of the second semester of participation for their involvement in the program.
Dean and Ronnie Ringel are champions of John Jay College and fierce advocates who power generations of student scholars, fuel justice education and advance social mobility through strong foundations in the humanities and civics. They endeavor to make a lasting impact through humanities study and create a permanent legacy of humanities advocates who will be models of humanities scholars, capable of active listening and reading, civil discussion of contentious issues, critical thinking, social perceptiveness, complex problem-solving and clear communication.
Dean and Ronnie said that they “hope to encourage students to share the joy of exploring together big questions about who they are, who they want to be, what role they want to play in society and what that society should look like. In all this, students are guided by readings from great thinkers, past and present and by a few distinguished John Jay professors committed to student learning and development. The very process of thinking about those big questions, discussing, perhaps debating them, within a group of students who will stay together and get to know one another well, will shape critical thinking, civil discussion and effective communication. And most of all it should be a lot of fun.”
Their meaningful gift also establishes the Ringel Humanities Endowed Scholarship, which will provide $4,000 annually to a rising junior majoring in a humanities discipline who completed the Ringel Scholars Program. For more information on how to apply or support the program, please click here.
