RCC, Groups Honor Couple for Community Work

Dr. Edmund W. Gordon and Dr. Susan G. Gordon of Pomona are being honored for their longtime community work by Rockland Community College and a coalition of local community groups.
 
The celebration of their work will also serve as a fundraiser for their organization, The CEJJES Institute. The event is set for Sunday, Sept. 26, 2 - 5 p.m. at the RCC
Cultural Arts Center on the college's main campus in Ramapo. Admission is $50.

The Gordons are the co-founders of The CEJJES Institute, based in Pomona, where the cultural, educational and research foundation is dedicated to improving the educational and social conditions for all disenfranchised people.  The Gordons have advocated for public schools in East Ramapo, encouraged the collaboration of various organizations and nurtured several groups under the umbrella of The CEJJES Institute, according to RCC.

The Gordons were founding members of the Spring Valley NAACP and West Street Day Care Center and have supported organizations such as The Martin Luther King, Jr. Multi-Purpose Center and the African American Historical Society of Rockland County. 

Dr. Edmund W. Gordon is the Scholar-in-Residence for RCC's Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. Dr. Susan G. Gordon is a former member of the East Ramapo school board, of which she also served as president for three years. In 2006, the Gordons were inducted into the Rockland County Civil Rights Hall of Fame by the Rockland County Commission on Human Rights.

The celebration begins at 2 p.m. with a formal reception in the Cultural Arts Center Atrium. At 3:15, Dr. Claude Steele, provost of Columbia University and professor of psychology, is set to be the keynote speark at a presentation titled "Through the years." The presentation includes a video tribute to the Gordons.
 
For more information, contact Wylene Branton Wood, president, African American Historical Society of Rockland County, at 845-362-2126, wylenewood@aol.com, or Dana Stilley, Program Chairperson, African American Historical Society, and RCC Recruitment Specialist, at 845-574- 4294, dstilley@sunyrockland.edu, or visit: www.aahsofrockland.org