[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 104 (Monday, June 23, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1313-E1314]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 APPLAUDING THE MARK THAT AUGUSTA SOUZA KAPPNER LEAVES ON BANK STREET 
                         COLLEGE AND EDUCATION

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 23, 2008

  Mr. RANGEL. Madam Speaker, I rise today because a visionary in the 
field of education has left her post at a premier New York institution 
after championing the cause there for over a decade. Augusta Souza 
Kappner, endearingly nicknamed ``Gussie,'' has stepped down from the 
helm at Bank Street College of Education--a one-of-its-kind, 
independent graduate school, set beside its own K8 day school, that 
offers dynamic programs in professional development and community 
service. She came to Bank Street 13 years ago with unimpeachable, 
history-making credentials, having served as the first African-American 
woman to preside over the City University of New York, and afterwards, 
as the assistant secretary for vocational and adult education in the 
Clinton Administration's Department of Education.
  Besides the obvious heft, intellect, and insightfulness a woman of 
her caliber inarguably brought to the position, those around her cite a 
contagious sense of humor, an aura of accessibility, and a profound 
loyalty to the institution as her defining assets. During her tenure at 
the college, Kappner launched a series of innovative programs, ones 
dealing with teacher preparation, early childhood education, leadership 
development, and dropout prevention and college preparation for 
adolescents. She oversaw as the college developed a new center to 
advocate for high quality literature for all children, led efforts to 
universalize pre-k for New York students, and built partnerships with 
hundreds of public schools, creating in one instance a project that 
trained more than 400 principals and assistant principals in the city. 
She was committed to the Bank Street mission, motivated by its push to 
address every and any contemporary challenge in American education, 
guiding the institution through a strategic planning process to affirm 
and interpret its ambitious aims and increasing its endowment sevenfold 
through its capital campaign.
  Kappner's unrelenting work ethic can be traced to her modest 
beginnings, raised a poor kid in South Bronx, looking after her 
dependent mother. She went on to earn a degree from Barnard College, a 
master's degree

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in social work from Hunter College, and a doctorate in social welfare 
policy from Columbia University.
  She leaves with a trail of notable achievements to her name and 
legacy, and she is well-poised, prepared, and positioned for her next 
endeavor.

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