Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott Gifts Hostos with $15 Million Eugenio María de Hostos Community College is proud to announce a $15 million gift from philanthropist, author, and activist MacKenzie Scott. This is the largest single gift in the College’s history and one of the largest in the history of The City University of New York (CUNY). Hostos Digital Design and Animation “Shelter in Place” at Governors Island The Hostos Digital Design and Animation Program is giving four Hostos students and two recent graduates a summer experience to remember in Governors Island—4heads, the annual artist residency, to create a multi-media art installation titled, “Shelter in Place,” set to open the public in late September. EdCast Receives Two More Telly Awards for Excellence in Cable Broadcasting “EdCast,” the CUNY TV program produced, written, and hosted by Hostos Professor Linda Hirsch, is the recipient of two 2021 Bronze Telly Awards in the Television General-Education category for excellence in television broadcasting. “Returning to Campus During Covid-19” and “Powerful Voices: New Approaches to Stuttering,” featuring Hero High School Student Noel Mullings, were the winning episodes. Hostos Presents ‘Speaking Up for AAPI at Hostos’ Roundtable On Wednesday, May 26, 2021, Hostos presented “Speaking Up for AAPI at Hostos,” a roundtable discussion supporting Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities. Interim President Daisy Cocco De Filippis and the Chair of the College-wide Senate Professor Ernest Ialongo welcomed distinguished panel guests Congresswoman Grace Meng, Senator John Liu, The City University of New York’s Asian American and Asian Research Institute Executive Director Joyce Moy, Guttman Community College Assistant Professor Grace Pai, Hostos professors Kristopher Burrell, Helen Chang, and Victor Torres Velez, and student Sadia Zaman. Eugenio María de Hostos Community College Holds Its 51st Commencement Ceremony with Keynote Speaker Julissa Reynoso Pantaleón, Chief of Staff to First Lady Dr. Jill Biden On Friday, May 28, 2021, Eugenio María de Hostos Community College held its 51st commencement ceremony over the College’s YouTube channel. Though security protocols over the global pandemic dictated a digital ceremony, Hostos registered 1225 candidates for graduation, marking a milestone in a year of great uncertainty. Hostos Allied Health Students Fatima Choudhry and Silvia J. Prado Carpio Receive the Nasry Michelen Foundation 2021 Allied Health Scholarship Hostos Allied Health students Fatima Choudhry and Silvia J. Prado Carpio are the recipients of the Nasry Michelen Foundation’s first $2,000 allied health scholarship award. They were recognized at the College’s 37th Honors Convocation. Interim President Cocco De Filippis To Present Five Presidential Medals at Hostos’ 51st Commencement Ceremony In recognition of their extraordinary service, Interim President Daisy Cocco De Filippis will present Presidential Medals to a Hostos student, staff member, community leader, and faculty at the College’s 51st Commencement Ceremony. Kaplan Scholar Oumou Dili Traore Knows How Empowering Education Can Be As the end of the school year approaches and commencement ceremonies near, one is reminded again of the transformative power of education. The sights and sounds of that joyous day when, in-person or virtually, students receive their diplomas not only gladden the heart, they demonstrate the power of the community college system and the on-going need for institutions like Hostos. The positive changes they make possible in the lives of so many is evident in the stories students share. Class of 2021 Allied Health Star Student Highlight: Antionette Fleming Antionette Fleming is graduating from Hostos’ License Practical Nursing (LPN) certificate program this spring and one step closer toward her goal of someday training the nurses of tomorrow. Class of 2021 Allied Health Star Student Highlight: Rachel Yepes Nursing student Rachel Yepes moved from Stanford, Connecticut, to New York City in search of a fresh start when she was 19 years old. She found a new home with family friends in the Bronx, where the Hostos bridge spanning across the Grand Concourse caught her eye, signaling an opportunity for her to continue her education in pursuit of a healthcare career. “I was like, it seems like I should go here,” she said. Hostos Community College Announces Associate of Humane Letters Recipient and Keynote Speaker for the 2021 Digital Commencement Ceremony The Office of Interim President Dr. Cocco De Filippis is pleased to announce Julissa Reynoso Pantaleón, Chief of Staff to First Lady Jill Biden, will be Eugenio María de Hostos Community College’s 51st Commencement Ceremony Keynote Speaker. Hostos student and Kaplan Scholar Boinzemwende Jarmila Roxane Ouango Selected for a Summer Internship at the Brookhaven National Laboratory Hostos student and Kaplan Scholar Boinzemwende Jarmila Roxane Ouango will serve as a summer intern at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, NY. The internship is made possible by the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) which recently contributed $17.3 million to fund internship and research projects and to provide access to DOE’s National Laboratories. Hostos’ Public Safety Officers Help Reunite Missing Baby with Mother The morning of Friday, May 14, Hostos Community College Public Safety Officer Raul DeJesus was standing outside of Hostos’ A-Building (475 Grand Concourse) when an individual exiting the subway station located in front of the College pleaded for his assistance and told him that there was an incoherent man on the subway platform, walking around aimlessly with a small infant. Officer DeJesus immediately notified his supervisor and NYPD via his two-way radio. He then entered the subway station with Sergeant Alfredo Rodríguez and Sergeant Mayra Pinzon. Inside the subway station, they encountered the man inside a waiting train, holding an infant. Hostos Continuing Education and Workforce Development Awarded Consolidated Funding Application The Division of Continuing Education and Workforce Development (CEWD) and the Division of Academic Affairs was awarded $430,000 by New York State through the Consolidated Funding Application (CFA) process in Next Generation Job Linkage funds. Robin Hood Foundation COVID-19 Relief Grant for Student Emergency Assistance and Tuition Support The Hostos Community College Foundation is pleased to announce that it has received a generous $150,000 grant award from the Robin Hood Foundation to provide assistance to students who have experienced financial hardship as a result of the pandemic. The Hostos Community College Foundation 2021 Virtual Annual Scholarship Benefit On Thursday, April 29, the Hostos Community College Foundation presented its premier of the 2021 Virtual Annual Scholarship Benefit. This special event afforded the Foundation the opportunity to express its appreciation to its generous donors, celebrate their impact on students’ lives, and illustrate the phenomenal offerings that Hostos provides to its students and the community. This year, the well-attended Annual Scholarship Benefit raised more than $107,000 in support of student success and the educational mission of the College. Chancellor of Universidad Autónoma of Santo Domingo Visits Hostos The Chancellor of Universidad Autónoma of Santo Domingo (UASD), Dr. Emma Polanco Melo, visited Hostos Community College on April 21, 2021 to meet with Hostos Interim President Dr. Daisy Cocco De Filippis and Associate Dean of Community Relations Ana I. García Reyes. FACULTY ACCOMPLISHMENTS | SPRING/SUMMER 2021 Professor Henry Lesnick is retiring as professor emeritus. OAA is proud to share a few highlights from his career as a member of the Hostos Community College faculty. Henry Lesnick, Hostos CC Professor Emeritus, taught and developed courses in Language and Cognition, English, and Humanities departments. He was an active member in multiple national professional organizations, chairing committees, organizing presentations, and publishing in journals. Professor Lesnick helped organize the Hostos committee to stop English only and worked to defeat the national effort to pass the English language amendment (ELA). He spoke to the NY State Senate education committee on the discriminatory and educationally destructive effects of the amendment and the white nationalist agenda of its prime promoters. And, wrote a paper on the ELA for Governor Mario Cuomo, at his request, and worked with Jose Serrano who was the major opponent of the ELA in congress. Professor Mohammad Usman has a new article in the International Journal of Housing Policy titled, “Urban informality in the Global North: (il)legal status and housing strategies of Ghanaian migrants in New York City.” The article focused on how documented and undocumented Ghanaians access housing in the Bronx. The findings reveal how strong ties to one's ethnic social network critically influence access to housing, irrespective of legal status. Mohammad Usman, Sabina Maslova, and Gemma Burgess (2020). Urban informality in the Global North: (il)legal status and housing strategies of Ghanaian migrants in New York City, International Journal of Housing Policy, DOI: 10.1080/19491247.2020.1814189 Professor Elys Vasquez-Iscan was appointed Co-Chair of the NYS AIDS Institute HIV Advisory Body in the fall of 2020. In spring of 2021 She received a scholarship to attend a certificate program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Professor Herve Fossou, who graduated in 2015 from Hostos in the Community Health degree program has been accepted in a Ph.D. program in epidemiology at Washington State University. He will start in the fall 2021. Professor Iris Mercado applied for the Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) initiative, and the Mindset GPS (Growth Mindset, Purpose & Relevance & Sense of Belonging) course. Professor Mercado was quoted in an article published in Consumer Report magazine earlier this year, and is a serving Board Member of the BronxCare Martin Luther King Jr. Health Centers. English Department This year, CUNY TV's EdCast, hosted and produced by Dr. Linda Hirsch, devoted five episodes to addressing the effects of the Pandemic on education: 1. The Digital Divide and COVID-19 2. Returning to Campus during COVID-19 3. Children, Trauma and COVID-19 4. Education 2020: How COVID-19 Shaped the Curriculum 5. Reaching Vaccine Resisters: CONVINCE USA Assistant Professor Ana Ozuna was a $40,000 Grant Awardee recipient from the Mellon/ACLS Community College Faculty Fellowship from Spring 2020-Spring 2022. Incredible Achievements of Hostos Writing Center Tutors The Writing Center is incredibly pleased to announce that 7 WC tutors are graduating from their Bachelor's degrees, with 3 entering graduate programs in Fall 2021. When these tutors were recommended to the Writing Center by their Hostos professors, we knew they were going to accomplish great things. We are so proud of Jenifer Vivar, who was awarded a prestigious NOAA-CESSRST scholarship to pursue a Master of Science in Data Science and Engineering at City College; only ten fellowships are awarded each year to promising stars in Data Science. Alyesha Alston will be commencing a Master of Arts in Forensic Mental Health Counseling at John Jay, having soared to the President's list, Dean's list, and June 2018 Honors Convocation Speaker at Hostos and graduated from SUNY Potsdam with a B.A. in Psychology. Ashley Barreto will be entering a Master of Fine Arts (Studio Arts) program at Michigan State University after graduating magna cum laude from Lehman College. Victor Valerio, a former fellow of the competitive Skadden Arps Honors Program in Legal Studies at City College, graduated magna cum laude with a double major in Political Science and English. He was also selected to be a Partners for Change Fellow in 2019 and completed 150 hours of service in community organizing. Eva Soriano earned a B.B.A. in Marketing Management and a minor in Theater, for which she has been awarded outstanding performance in the theatrical arts. Ashley Thomas, Hostos class of 2017, received a B.A. in Social Work from Lehman College, having interned at Bronx Parent Housing Network Promise Place as well as Lanet's Place. Shaneka Crossman, who graduated magna cum laude from City College, was the recipient of an NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates internship to apprentice as a developmental and comparative psychology researcher at Yale University. Please help us to offer hearty congratulations to these Hostos alumni who have built on the foundations Hostos has provided them to shine big and bright, as well as to Maya Abdoussala, who is graduating from Hostos with the Presidential Medal of Honor. What a year! In addition, please enjoy this new published piece by Sarah Key, our Poet-in-Practice, in Heartwood Literary Magazine: http://www.heartwoodlitmag.com/lucky-thirteen Scholastic Achievement Candidate Reflection Class of 2021, Mark W. Davy, candidate for the Scholastic Achievement Award, shared the following reflection with Provost Drago and the Office of Academic Affairs. I am humbled by this recognition. I've had to knock down so many more obstacles than the front doors of Hostos to enter these hallowed halls. Even this acknowledgement, near the end of my junior college journey, found me in need of uplifting. It has bolstered my faith beyond imagination into certainty, for I know now that I am not alone. Hostos has aided me in that realization. My journey, however personal, is not unique- nor my burden the heaviest. I have seen young children sitting quietly beside single mothers, and shared notes with young fathers late to class from work. I have felt the weight of the world lifted off my back by the combined strength of a thousand bright minds laboring together. I have become part of a communal struggle, and I am better for it. Thank You, Dreams! Thank You, Hope! Thank You, Hostos! Mark W. Davy '21