1970s Alumni Attend Ramón Jiménez’s Tribute At Hostos

A group of Hostos alumni from the 1970s attended the Ramón Jiménez tribute held at the College on September 19, 2014.
 
Roberto Lugo ’77, Milton Quintana ’75, Nilsa Saniel, Maria O’Neill ’85, Juan (Papo) Ramón Ortíz ’84, Madelyn Olmeda ’75, and Ponce Laspina ’76, all active players in the struggle to Save Hostos became emotional remembering being arrested after marching to City Hall and the CUNY Central Office all those years ago. 

Roberto Lugo ’77, who traveled from Philadelphia with his wife Nydia said, “My daughter is now in law school in California and I am completing my Ph.D. in Puerto Rican history. My personal story is intimately related to the history of Hostos.  I was shaped by Professor Ramón Jiménez as a young man and by my experiences as a member of the “Committee to Save Hostos.”  

Nilsa Saniel, another Hostos graduate, still lives just a few blocks from the College.  Though now retired, Nilsa continues to be an active member of the South Bronx Congress organization.

(Left to right) Photo 1: Prof. Gill Hambert, Jorge, Juan Ramón (Papo) Ortíz,
Félix Vega Pencha ’78, and Nydia Edgecombe. Photo 2: Nydia and
Roberto Lugo ’77, Nydia and Wally Edgecombe.

“For me Ramón represents a lifetime commitment to the South Bronx Community,” Saniel said. “I walk every day through this community and still see many obstacles we must overcome to increase the quality of life of our residents.  However, when I look at Hostos, I see a bastion of hope and prosperity for the residents of the South Bronx. Hostos represents what we can accomplish as a community, if we unite the way we did in the 1970s.  ‘The people united will never be defeated,’ that was our slogan then, and it is our slogan now to continue our struggle for equality.”   

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 since 1968. It serves as 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. The College’s unique "Student Success Coaching Unit" provides students with individualized guidance and exemplifies its emphasis on student support services.  

Recently named one of the top 10 finalists for the 2015 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, Hostos offers 27 associate degree programs and two certificate programs that facilitate easy 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 480,000 students at 24 colleges.