Reception Honors Appointment of Dr. Daisy Cocco De Filippis as President of Hostos Community College, CUNY

On Thursday, September 30, 2021, the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute (CUNY DSI) organized a reception honoring the naming of Dr. Daisy Cocco De Filippis as the Eighth President of Eugenio María de Hostos Community College, CUNY. Co-sponsored by the Dominican Studies Association, National Supermarket Association, and the CUNY DSI, the reception was hosted by the Hispanic Society Museum & Library.

Prominent members of the academic community attended the reception including City University of New York Chancellor Félix Matos Rodríguez, who also provided some kind words of President DeFilippis. Several CUNY college presidents were in attendance including President Vincent Boudreau (City College of New York), President Bereneca Johnson Eanes (York College), President Larry D. Johnson, Jr. (Guttman Community College. President Christine Mangino (Queensborough Community College), President Claudia V. Schrader (Kingsborough Community College), and President Thomas A. Isekenegbe (Bronx Community College).

The event featured several prominent speakers including Chancellor Félix Matos Rodríguez; CUNY Trustee Mayra Linares-García; Dr. Ramona Hernández, director of the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute; Guillaume Kientz, director and CEO of the Hispanic Society Museum & Library; Mariano Díaz of the National Supermarket Association; City Council Member Carmen de la Rosa; Dean Ana García Reyes of Hostos Community College; and Professor Nelson Santana of Bronx Community College.

Several board members of the Dominican Studies Association were present including Co-Chair Dean Ana García Reyes, Dr. Ana-Ofelia Rodríguez, Director Evelyn Fernández-Ketcham, Mr. José García, Dr. Luana Ferreira, Dr. Norma Fuentes, and Professor Nelson Santana. Dr. Silvio Torres-Saillant wrote a message on behalf of the DSA, which can be read below:

Words for Dr. Daisy Cocco De Filippis: 8th President of Hostos by Dr. Silvio Torres-Saillant

Greetings to you all from Syracuse, where the weather is still trying to make up its mind about matching the season it is supposed to match. Please accept my regret for not being able to join you in person as I would have wished. Today was a heavy teaching day for me, and I need to be here tomorrow first thing in the morning for momentous committee work in the English Department, followed quickly by meetings that I cannot postpone with student organizations for which I serve as Faculty Advisor.

These words from afar are no match for the big hug and the congratulations I would extend in person to Dr. Daisy Cocco De Filippis, dear friend and indispensable colleague, on this 30th of September, in the year of our Lord 2021, when key New York Institutions have come together to salute her achievements.

Dr. Cocco De Filippis has been a trailblazer at multiple fronts: in women’s and gender studies scholarship that exposes patriarchal instincts as a factor in the representation of women in literature in the best-known corpus of writings; defense of ethnic, working class, and linguistic minority studies; opening doors for students and faculty from formerly excluded populations; forging communities of knowledge in urgent subject areas; and leadership in higher ed administration as a Dean in CUNY, a Provost at Hostos, and as the successful President of Naugatuck Valley Community College in Connecticut for 12 years.

Dr. Cocco de Filippis stood as a staunch ally of the Dominican Studies Institute Project when it began in 1991 and continues into its present splendor under the able stewardship of Dr. Ramona Hernández. With her “tertulias,” a gathering space of solidarity and creativity, she helped to open doors for many women writers in the Greater New York region. She also led the way for the creation of the Dominican Studies Association (DSA), a professional organization in academia that promotes exchange among scholars from around the world who work on Dominican subjects.

With the foregoing minuscule outline of her career in mind, it is a no brainer that the City University of New York should appoint Dr. Daisy Cocco De Filippis as the 8th Eugenio Maria de Hostos Community College President, and that the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute, the Hispanic Society of America, the National Supermarket Association, and the Dominican Studies Association should jointly mark this truly festive occasion. As co-Chair of DSA, along with Dean Ana Garcia-Reyes, on behalf of the association and ourselves, I send you, Dear Daisy, our warmest congratulations. All the best to the sponsors of the event and best wishes to all in attendance. Regards,

Silvio Torres-Saillant on behalf of the Dominican Studies Association