On April 10, readings from Eugenio María de Hostos’ literary works highlighted the English Club’s 16th Annual Dramatic Reading Competition.
As part of the College's 175th birthday tribute to Hostos the man, students celebrated his creative legacy, which he explained in "¿Es Poesía Tener los Ojos en la Cara?":
"Is it poetry to have eyes on your face? You are absolutely right, that is indeed what poetry is. To see certain things you need eyes that know how to look. (Eugenio María de Hostos, translated by Professor Orlando J. Hernández)
"¿Es poesía tener ojos en la cara? Usted tiene razón, eso es poesía. Para ver ciertas cosas se necesitan ojos que sepan mirar."
Coordinated by professors Maya Sharma and Christine Hutchins, the competition bolstered students reading skills while giving them deeper insight into great literature. Since its modest beginning in 1998, the competition has grown into an extremely popular event with the participation of students, faculty members and staff.
Hostos President Félix V. Matos Rodríguez praised the work of the competitors, adding that incorporating the works of Hostos gave a new dimension to this event.
As always, the students were the stars. The poems and dramatic monologues they performed were by such masters as Langston Hughes, Oscar Wilde, Pablo Neruda, and William Shakespeare—some in English, others in Spanish.
These were the winners:
Liliana Rosario: Eugenio María de Hostos' "Antes y Después"
Luis Ojeda: William Shakespeare's Sonnet 76: "Why Is My Verse so Barren of New Pride?"
Dario Peralta: Shakespeare's Hamlet, "To Be or Not To Be"
Shantell Douglas: Judith Viorst’s “True Love”
Faculty judges were professors Margaret Barrow, Craig Bernadini, Heidi Bollinger, Orlando Hernández, Ángel Morales, and Rees Shad, and the coordinator of judging was Professor Vermell Blanding.
About The Hostos English Club:
The Hostos English Club is a student-run organization that is open to the campus community. It holds social and cultural activities throughout the academic year and sponsors the annual Student Dramatic Reading Contest in the spring and Celebration of Student Poets in the fall. The officers of the English Club for 2013-2014 are President Germán Santos, Vice President Evelyn Sierra, Secretary Ebonie White and Treasurer Alex John Baptiste.
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.
Hostos offers 29 associate degree programs and five certificate programs that facilitate easy transfer to CUNY's 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 The City University of New York (CUNY), the nation's leading urban public university, which serves more than 480,000 students at 24 colleges.