Myself Third: Spirit of New York Scholarship

Background Information

The following remarks, written by CUNY Chancellor Matthew Goldstein and scholarship founder Robert Friedman, originally appeared in a booklet prepared for the 2009 Myself Third awards ceremony.

On January 17, 2002, Robert Friedman—a retired partner at Goldman Sachs (and founding partner at Robeco-Sage Capital Management) and a loyal and generous alumnus of the City University of New York (CUNY)—established a new scholarship for high school students bound for CUNY. The Myself Third: Spirit of New York Scholarship pays tribute to the altruism of rescue workers following the events of September 11, and serves as an inspiration to young people to model selflessness and civic responsibility in their own communities.

Since the establishment of the Myself Third program in 2002, more than 100 students have received scholarships in excess of $290,000 to help defray the cost of college matriculation. In 2008, twelve $2,500 scholarships and two $5,000 Myself Third: Engineering Scholarships were awarded to students in College Now, a collaborative initiative of CUNY and the New York City Department of Education that prepares high school students for college-level work. This year, ten $4,000 scholarships will be awarded to College Now students, all of whom are attending CUNY this fall.

Myself Third gives us the opportunity to invest in talented young people who have shown loyalty and generosity through individual acts of service in their communities. Mr. Friedman's vision reminds us that our future will require civic responsibility and compassion to sustain the greatness of our city and our country.

It is with immense pleasure that I present the winners of the 2009 Myself Third: Spirit of New York Scholarship and the winners of the Myself Third: Engineering Scholarship.

——Chancellor Matthew Goldstein, The City University of New York

One of the most important lessons Americans learned from the horrific events of September 11 was the responsibility we have to each other. We have been reminded in the starkest possible way of the gravity of those responsibilities and of how much we all depend on those who willingly give of themselves whatever the cost. The heroic efforts of rescue workers and others who responded so selflessly on and after September 11 recall the special qualities that make our country great. The Myself Third scholarship program has been established to honor this altruism and to inspire young people to cultivate and practice the qualities of tolerance, responsibility, and compassion we have all witnessed.

"Myself Third" is a lesson taught by my sixth grade teacher in the Bronx—to put oneself third after responsibilities to God and to country. I congratulate each of the winners of this scholarship. You have demonstrated involvement in your communities and an understanding of the importance of not only academic achievement, but of a commitment to the well being of your fellow Americans. Good luck to each of you as you pursue your studies in the City University, my alma mater. The values you have demonstrated in your high school career will inspire us all in the years to come.

——Robert Friedman, founder of Myself Third scholarship competition