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RECTOR OF OLDEST UNIVERSITY IN THE
WESTERN HEMISPHERE VISITS PRESIDENT OF
HOSTOS COMMUNITY COLLEGE

On Monday, November 2, 2009, President Félix V. Matos Rodríguez and members of his cabinet welcomed College Rector Franklin García and a delegation of higher education officers from Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (UASD) to Eugenio María de Hostos Community College.  Founded in Hispaniola in 1538, UASD is the oldest university in the Western Hemisphere.

In this meeting, President Matos Rodríguez and Rector García expressed their mutual commitment to renewing existing collaboration exchange agreement between UASD and Hostos.

“On behalf of the Hostos Community College and City University of New York entire family, I am pleased to welcome you to our campus; this is your house,” said President Matos Rodríguez.  “We are proud, grateful and fortunate to have our ongoing partnership with UASD, and particularly for the longtime UASD/Hostos Study Abroad and Teacher Training Programs that Ms. Ana I. García Reyes has coordinated for the past 25 years. Through this program, which has maintained a 95%-110% retention rate for the past 10 years, Hostos Community College and CUNY have generated innovative inter-institutional partnerships that have produced new knowledge about Dominican culture and provided educational advances for the benefit of our students, educators, leaders, staff members, and residents of surrounding communities.”

UASD members of the delegation accompanying Rector García included, Dr. Santo Inocencio Mercedes, Dean of the School of Law and Political Science; Dr. Jorge Asjana, Dean of School of Medicine; Rafael Morla de la Cruz, Dean of School of Humanities; Dr. Juan Medina, Secretary General; Carlos Julio Carrasco, Treasurer; José Cancel, Financial Manager; Rocio Billini-Franco, former Coordinator of Academic Exchange Programs;  Carmen Julia Mejia, Coordinator of Protocol; and John Sheppard, a retired faculty member and Representative of  Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo in New York.

In addition to President Matos Rodríguez, Ms. Ana I. García Reyes, Special Assistant to the President and Director of international Programs, and Ms. Dolly Martínez, Deputy to the President, were present at the meeting.

About UASD

The Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (UASD), the first institution of higher education in the Americas, is the only public university in the Dominican Republic.  It was founded on October 28, 1538, under the Papal Bull “In Apostolatus Culmine” of Pope Paul III.  UASD has its main campus in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, and 14 regional campuses throughout the country. The main campus has seen extensive renovation of its infrastructure, as well as the construction of a new library and a modern athletic complex. I New buildings have also been erected on all of the regional campuses. One of the UASD’s principal aims during this first decade of the twenty-first century has been to strengthen scientific research and to bring the post-graduate program to the doctoral level.  Research is conducted primarily through nine research institutes, which have some very significant achievements to their credit. These include the Institute for Anthropological Research, the Center for Marine Biology, the Seismological Institute, the Institute for Criminal Justice, the Human Sexuality Institute, the Geographic Institute, and others.

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