Dr. Greg Mantsios is Founder and Director of the Murphy Institute

One year ago, the Murphy Institute announced creation of a scholarship program designed to promote diversity in labor leadership and labor education. The mission of the Joseph S. Murphy Scholarship Program — named in honor of former CUNY Chancellor Joseph S. Murphy, a tireless advocate for working people — is to foster a new generation of labor leaders and labor studies educators who reflect the composition of the U.S. workforce, now nearly half women and more than 30% people of color.  We are pleased to report that our first scholarship recipients will begin their studies in September, 2014.

The 2014-15 scholarship winners will be recognized at our second annual scholarship fundraiser at the Murphy Institute on Tuesday, June 24th, 6:00  p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The event has multiple purposes, including recognition of rising leaders in the labor movement. However, our principal objective is to raise funds for continuance of the scholarship. We hope to raise $100,000 this year (and in each of the following four years) to match a challenge grant initiated by former CUNY Chancellor Matthew Goldstein. If we are successful, it will mean $1 million dollars in scholarship money for students from diverse constituencies.

With the help of our donors, we expect to award thirty scholarships over the course of the next five years. Undergraduate students will receive $20,000 each and graduate students, $30,000. Recipients will be provided with mentorship and internship opportunities as well as an exceptional program of study with some of the best Labor Studies faculty in the country. With these incentives, we expect to attract a pool of young social justice activists from around the country. It is our hope that, from this group, some new leaders will emerge to carry the labor movement into the future.

This year’s event will also honor four rising leaders from the labor movement who have distinguished themselves in the areas of social and economic justice. The 2014 honorees are:

• Arelis Tavares, Community Outreach Director, New York State AFL-CIO
• Maryann Rosa, Community Outreach Coordinator, NYC Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO
• Milly Silva, Executive Vice President, 1199SEIU
• Marvin Holland, Political Director, TWU Local 100

The work of these young stars of the movement is an inspiration to all of us who fight for the rights of working men and women and we’re honored to recognize them for their important work.

 The evening’s featured speakers will include:

• New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito
• CUNY’s new Chancellor, James B. Milliken
• New York State AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento
• New York City Central Labor Council President Vincent Alvarez
• TWU Local 100 President John Samuelsen
• CWA Local 100 President and Chair of the CUNY Labor Advisory Board Arthur Cheliotes

Organized labor is one of the largest and most diverse institutions in the country. Along with its history of improving working conditions and advancing the rights of workers, it has stood for equality in the workplace and the society. In recent years, it has made strides in diversifying its own leadership, but the pace of change has not kept up with shifts in the racial and gender composition of the workforce. Diversity has been equally slow in coming to the academic field of Labor Studies. The Joseph S. Murphy Scholarship Program was designed to address these disparities.

*Feature photo: May Chen presenting two of the six emerging leader awards to the DREAMers Mikhel Crichlow and Alden Nesbitt at last year’s event.