Daisy Cocco De Filippis, Ph.D.
President,
Hostos Community College
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
Welcome to the 2026 Spring Semester at Hostos Community College!
Welcome to Hostos Community College!
Spring is a time of renewal, of warmth and growth after the dreary days of winter. It embodies fresh starts and new opportunities.
So does Hostos.
Whether you have one more semester left before graduation or are about to embark on your studies, the College is here for you. Generations of students have transformed their lives through the power of education. Our every effort is based on our desire to see you succeed.
This institution of higher learning draws its name and its philosophy from Don Eugenio María de Hostos, the Puerto Rican philosopher, educator, man of letters and fighter for the independence of Puerto Rico. His belief in education for women, the abolition of slavery, self-governance, and social justice remains a perpetual source of inspiration, and this outstanding figure’s visionary thinking played a crucial role in the College’s founding in 1968.
Spring 2026 finds Hostos in a wonderful position. We were recently awarded more than $100,000 in competitive funding from the CUNY AI Innovation Fund, recognizing the College’s leadership in advancing ethical artificial intelligence (AI), innovative pedagogy, and faculty-driven instructional transformation. Thanks to a $568,000 grant from the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation, beginning in the 2025-26 academic year all eligible students in Hostos’ Registered Nursing (RN) and Licensed Practical Nursing (LPN) programs will receive full tuition grants. Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott’s $15 million dollar gift in 2021 continues to fuel a host of wide-ranging educational, cultural, and social initiatives. As a result, Hostos has more to offer students than at any other time in its existence.
The world outside the campus is far less pleasing. It can seem overwhelming and frightening. That is why I want to stress this fact: Hostos is and always will be a welcoming home to all students, regardless of race, creed, color, country of origin, gender, or political opinion. Our strength as an institution stems from our diversity and our ability to work together. Student and Instructor are collaborators and colleagues – part of a shared community of learning. All are welcome at Hostos. All are respected and valued. Nothing will change this.
I am overjoyed to offer these words of welcome as you begin the semester.
Mil gracias y bendiciones,
Daisy Cocco De Filippis, Ph.D.
President
About The President
Dr. Daisy Cocco De Filippis returned to Hostos Community College as President in August 2020 after serving as President of Naugatuck Valley Community College for twelve years. She also previously served as Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at Hostos from 2002-2008.
President Cocco De Filippis has overseen an impressive array of programs and initiatives including a successful Middle States Evaluation to maintain the college’s accreditation; the creation of a new five-year Strategic Plan for 2023-2028; the awarding of a $15 million grant from the MacKenzie Scott Foundation, the largest charitable donation in Hostos history; the opening of a new Hostos Research Center; the college’s selection as a top ten finalist for the 2023 Aspen Community College Prize; successfully lobbied Congress for millions of dollars in Congressionally Directed Spending to support student programming; and receiving recognition from the U.S. Department of Education as one of just six recipients in its first-ever Postsecondary Success Recognition Program.
Dr. Cocco De Filippis holds a Ph.D. in Latin American Literature, an M. Phil in Spanish Literature from the Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York, an M.A. in Spanish Literature and a B.A. summa cum laude in Spanish and English literatures from Queens College, CUNY. A published author and literary critic, she is recognized internationally as a pioneer in the field of Dominican women studies and Dominican authors in the U.S. In 2016, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in the Humanities by the University of Santo Domingo (UASD), the oldest university in the Americas, in recognition of her contributions to Dominican, Caribbean and Dominican Diaspora literatures. She is the first woman of Dominican descent to be President of a CUNY school.
Dr. Cocco De Filippis has served on the board of multiple educational and community organizations, as well as Commissioner for the New England Commission for Higher Education.