Alpha Phi Omega Scholar Safia Hossain
The Foundation for City College has accepted a gift of $25,000 from the estate of Edward Flower ’46 (1929-2022) to be added to the Alpha Phi Omega Endowed Scholarship Fund.
The Fund currently provides an annual scholarship of $2,500 to a Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership sophomore or a junior in economic need who possesses a minimum GPA of 3.0 and who demonstrates services to the College and/or the community. The annual scholarship can be divided into two separate awards.
“My father felt very strongly about the education he got, and that was reflected in part, by his leadership in this fraternity,” said Andrew Flower, the executor of his father’s estate. “He would be very happy to give to fund scholarships for students who demonstrate leadership qualities.”
This year’s Alpha Phi Omega Scholar is junior Safia Hossain, a psychology major with a double minor in English and International Studies. Growing up as a Muslim-American South Asian Bangladeshi, she saw the mental health disparities and lack of resources in her community, and wants to advocate for underrepresented communities. She currently volunteers at the Asiyah Women’s Center, the first women’s emergency center in New York City and New Jersey. The Center creates a safe space for women and children who survive domestic violence, face housing insecurity, and seek refuge.
Hossain aspires to work in human resources to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The Fund was originated by CCNY alumni of the Gamma Epsilon Chapter of the national service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega. The surviving members of the fraternity (among them: Sheldon Luskin ’55; Don Rosenberg ’53; Walter Rosenthal ’52 MA; Ivan Samuels ’53; Helen Sternheim ’55; Herb Wall ’53; Audrey Wilner, who attends in memory of her husband, Alfred Wilner '53; and Paul Zwilling ’54) meet every first Sunday of the month via Zoom, as they care deeply about the values of the Alpha Phi Omega society and its commitment to community service.
About The City College of New York
Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided a high-quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. CCNY embraces its position at the forefront of social change. It is ranked #1 by the Harvard-based Opportunity Insights out of 369 selective public colleges in the United States on the overall mobility index. This measure reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at CCNY can move up two or more income quintiles. Education research organization Degree Choices ranks CCNY #1 nationally among universities for economic return on investment. In addition, the Center for World University Rankings places CCNY in the top 1.8% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. Labor analytics firm Emsi (now Lightcast) puts at $1.9 billion CCNY’s annual economic impact on the regional economy (5 boroughs and 5 adjacent counties) and quantifies the “for dollar” return on investment to students, taxpayers and society. At City College, more than 15,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity and scholarship. This year, CCNY launched its most expansive fundraising campaign, ever. The campaign, titled “Doing Remarkable Things Together” seeks to bring the College’s Foundation to more than $1 billion in total assets in support of the College mission. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit.