Noted Educator Dr. Maxine Greene to Receive Honorary Degree from C.W. Post
Professor is Outspoken Opponent of "Bootcamp" Educational Styles

May 5, 2003 - Dr. Maxine Greene -- a preeminent American philosopher of education and professor emerita of Columbia University's Teachers College -- will receive an honorary Doctor of Pedagogy degree from the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University during 45th annual commencement exercises on Sunday, May 11. Honorary degrees are awarded to individuals who, through their perseverance, dedication to their field, and commitment to community, serve as role models to students.

In an age of educational reform characterized by stifling standardization and relentless testing, Dr. Greene has taken a stand against the rigid curriculum and evaluation methods that she believes typify the American educational system. Critical of its "bootcamp style" of instruction that drills phonics and math into children's minds, she favors a decidedly more liberal approach that encourages creativity and imagination in teachers and students alike. The idol of thousands of educators around the globe, this octogenarian professor emerita of Columbia University's Teachers College believes that the educator's role is to develop and promote a learning environment that nurtures a child's natural inquisitiveness. Quoting Virginia Woolf, she explains, "We are trying to move from the 'cotton of daily life' to the 'moments of being.'"

The author of numerous articles and publications, her books, including "The Dialectic of Freedom" and "Releasing Imagination: Essays on Education, the Arts and Social Change," have had a profound effect on teachers, researchers and school reform activists. Her summer workshops for educators at the Lincoln Center Institute for the Arts in Education, which she helped found 25 years ago, are standing-room-only events that attract participants from as far away as Australia.

"Exclusions & Awakenings: The Life of Maxine Greene," a 57-minute film directed and produced by Markie Hancock and Kathryn Gregorio, captures the very essence of the woman, the educator and the philosopher, who overcame tremendous personal and professional obstacles to become an honest and compelling voice of reason in troubling times. Her revolutionary ideas will continue to influence the teaching and learning process in this country and around the world for many years to come.

Dr. Greene will receive her honorary degree along with two other highly accomplished individuals: Congressman Peter T. King, a Republican who is serving his sixth term in the U.S. House of Representatives, and journalist Robert A. Caro, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of such books as "The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York" and "The Years of Lyndon Johnson."

The C.W. Post Campus, a private, co-educational institution of higher learning, has awarded more than 85,000 degrees in its 49-year history. The Class of 2003 includes 708 baccalaureate degree candidates, 889 master's degree candidates, two doctoral students receiving the Psy.D. in clinical psychology and three doctoral students receiving the Ph.D. in information studies.

C.W. Post is one of six campuses of Long Island University, the seventh largest private university in the United States. With more than 13,000 full- and part-time students, C.W. Post offers a broad range of undergraduate and graduate programs in accountancy, business (AACSB accredited), computer science, liberal arts and sciences, library and information science (ALA accredited), education, health professions and nursing, public service, and visual and performing arts. C.W. Post also offers an extensive continuing education program.