How Community College Number Eight came to be named for Eugenio María de Hostos.

A Hostos Community College Press Release of January 8, 1971 explains the following:
(Contact: Charlotte Kaufman)

"Hostos Community College will be closed on Monday, January 11, 1971, in honor of the birthday of its namesake, Eugenio María de Hostos.

Hostos Community College of the City University of New York, previously known as Community College Number Eight, was named by the Board of Higher Education on September 29, 1969. The name was proposed by Board member Luis Quiero Chiesa and approved by unanimous vote of the College's Advisory Board, composed of 28 community leaders in the South Bronx where the college is located.

The College is the first institution of higher learning in the continental United States to be named for a Puerto Rican. The naming was acclaimed by many distinguished persons, including Mayor John V. Lindsay, former Bronx Borough President Herman Badillo, and Congressman James Scheuer."

The CUNY Board of Higher Education met and passed the following on Tuesday evening September 29, 1969 which reads as follows:

NO. C3C: NAMING OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE NUMBER EIGHT: RESOLVED, That in grateful recognition of Eugenio Maria de Hostos' contributions to the intellectual and spiritual wealth of the Americas and to stimulate interest and pride from the large Puerto Rican community of the South Bronx, the Board of Higher Education name Community College Number Eight "Eugenio Maria de Hostos Community College."

Prepared by William Casari, College Archivist
Hostos Community College
January 2004

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