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Eighty Years Since First Meeting, United Nations Security Council Returns to Lehman
UN Secretary-General António Guterres (right) greets Michael G. Waltz, U.S. Permanent Ambassador to the UN (Photo: Brian Hatton)
March 25, 2026
The United Nations Security Council returned to Lehman College on Tuesday, March 24 to commemorate its initial meetings that took place on the Lehman campus, 80 years ago this week.
The gathering, hosted by United States Permanent Ambassador to the UN Michael G. Waltz, brought together 14 of 15 Security Council members, UN Secretary-General António Guterres, and several deputies and undersecretaries. Lehman College students, faculty, and staff joined the group at different points throughout the visit.
It also marked the fourth time a UN Secretary-General has visited the campus. The first was founding Secretary-General Trygve Lie, followed by Boutros Boutros-Ghali and Ban Ki-moon, who delivered the 2016 Herbert H. Lehman Memorial Lecture.
The morning kicked off with an informal conversation between Ambassador Waltz and a small group of students comprised of veterans and those studying pre-law and human rights.
“This was a phenomenal opportunity to gain insight on the significance of diplomacy,” said Jared Farjado, a senior double-majoring in political science and Latin American and Caribbean studies. “Personally, a fruitful experience that I will forever take with me. Understanding the complexity of the world is understanding ourselves.”
Students with Ambassador Michael G. Waltz and Deputy Ambassador Tammy Bruce, center;
Provost Jorge Silva-Puras, right; Director of Veterans and Military Affairs Luis Soltero-Rodriguez,
and Substitute Associate Professor Joaquin Monserrate, on left. (Photo: Brian Hatton)
“Meeting Ambassador Waltz yesterday was genuinely meaningful for me,” said Jessica Lozada, a Navy veteran. “The way he engaged with our questions felt real—thoughtful, honest, and grounded in experience. What stayed with me most was the moment he paused to share a military tradition with me: his coin. As a veteran, that gesture hit deeper than words. It reminded me of the pride, connection, and shared service that continue to shape who I am and the work I’m striving to do.”
The group of Security Council members then convened for a guided tour of the Old Gym—where the Council first met on March 25, 1946, when the College was part of Hunter—that included a presentation on the history of the Security Council, led by the UN’s Chief of Guided Tours Rula Hinedi and Lehman Professor Emeritus Duane Tananbaum.
The original ticket used by the public and an updated facsimile, which was given to Security Council members (original courtesy of the United Nations)
As the Council members made their way up to the Old Gym, they were presented with facsimiles of the tickets used by members of the public who viewed the original 1946 meetings. Photographs of the meeting were placed along the route to create a visual timeline connecting their tour to the Security Council’s history on campus, and the space was arranged to resemble the original 1946 setup—minus the expedited construction that made the first meeting possible in just two weeks.
Security Council members in the Old Gym (Photo: Brian Hatton)
A second presentation in the Music Building highlighted the College’s close relationship to the broader history of the international body. Eleanor Roosevelt and the nascent United Nations Commission on Human Rights began their work on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at the College, while its namesake, Herbert H. Lehman, led the UN’s postwar relief efforts.
Following the tour, Council members dined and met privately in the president’s conference room for a rare session held outside the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan.
UN Security Council ambassadors and Secretary-General on the Lehman campus.
Watch news coverage of the tour by NY1 and WABC,
See more photos of the tour by UN News.
Learn more about Lehman’s connection to the United Nations:
Why is the UN in NYC? The Untold Story (video)
A City Opens Its Doors to the World