Hostos Public Safety Corporal Clara Albino will receive the Teamsters Local 237 President’s Award in recognition of her outstanding leadership skills and commitment to her colleagues. The President’s Award is among the highest honors bestowed upon Local 237 members, and Albino will be the first Latina in CUNY to receive it.

Albino will receive the Teamsters Local 237 President’s Award on Friday, September 20, during their Latino heritage celebration, surrounded by loved ones, including members of her Hostos family.

Clara AlbinoAlbino is honored and thrilled to learn she will make history as a longtime member of the CUNY family. A Hostos alumna, Albino previously worked at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and in 1996 began working at Hostos as an assistant manager in the newly opened café. It wasn’t long before she met Director of Campus Police and Security Services, Chief Arnaldo Bernabe, who was a sergeant at the time. Albino credits Chief Bernabe and her colleagues with helping her push past her fears and self-doubt to pursue new opportunities and excel in a field she never thought she would go into—public safety. Albino became a campus security assistant in 1999, and in 2005 she was accepted and attended the University Public Safety Academy for three months. Upon her successful graduation, she earned the title of Campus Peace Officer Level I.  Within a year, she rose to her current rank as Corporal.

Albino is grateful to her Hostos family for their continued support, which she pays forward every chance she gets. Although her role does not require her to spend a lot of time in the field, Albino enjoys creating opportunities to interact with and impact the college community, be it through her work supervising and troubleshooting issues in the I.D. room or speaking to students about careers in public safety. “I’ve learned so much, and I’ve met so many people,” she shared. “I love helping people.”

Albino cannot imagine wanting to work anywhere else or with anyone else. “This is my home,” she said. “Chief and I work so well together; we’ve been working together for 20 years. I have the utmost respect for him.”

The feeling is mutual. Chief Bernabe is immensely proud of Albino. “Corporal Albino, or ‘Clarita’ as we prefer to call her, is not only a dedicated, thorough and thoughtful employee, she is also a mentor to many of the officers within the public safety command,” he said. “She is an indispensable member of the public safety team and is a cherished member of the college community. She is a trustworthy colleague and close friend to many of us.”

Teamsters Local 237 is the largest local union in the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, a union of New York City employees who work in government agencies and several municipalities on Long Island.
 
About Hostos Community College
Eugenio María de Hostos Community College is an educational agent for change that has been transforming and improving the quality of life in the South Bronx and neighboring communities for over half a century. Since 1968, Hostos has been a gateway to intellectual growth and socioeconomic mobility, as well as a point of departure for lifelong learning, success in professional careers, and transfer to advanced higher education programs.
 
Hostos offers 27 associate degree programs and two certificate programs that facilitate secure transfer to The City University of New York’s (CUNY) four-year colleges or baccalaureate studies at other institutions. The College has an award-winning Division of Continuing Education & Workforce Development that offers professional development courses and certificate-bearing workforce training programs. Hostos is part of CUNY, the nation’s leading urban public university, which serves more than 500,000 students at 25 colleges.