PRESS RELEASE

E u g e n i o

M a r a

d e

H O S T O S
COMMUNITY COLLEGE
of The City University of New York
Contact: Nstor Montilla Office of Community Relations and International Programs (718) 518-4300/4355 email: nmontilla@hostos.cuny.edu May 25, 2006

For Immediate Release

Two Hostos Alumnae Are the First Serrano Scholars to Graduate from Columbia University
BRONX, NY. May 25, 2006. Columbia Universitys Class of 2006 included two alumnae of Eugenio Maria de Hostos Community Colleges Serrano Scholars Program. Ms. Luz-Maria Lambert from the Dominican Republic, and Ms. Kazi Ahmed, a Bangladeshi-American from New York, both earned Master of International Affairs (MIA) degrees from the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). The commencement exercise took place at Riverside Church on the afternoon of May 15, 2006. The ceremony was followed by a reception at Ancell Plaza, International Affairs Building, at Columbia Universitys Morningside Campus. While pursuing her Associate in Applied Science degree in Microcomputers for Business at Hostos Community College, Ms. Kazi Ahmed joined the first cohort of students recruited for the Serrano Scholars Program. After completing her associates degree, she was accepted to Columbia Universitys School of General Studies, where she obtained her bachelors degree with a major in Economics. Last week, Ms. Ahmed received her penultimate degree as a Serrano Scholar, the Master of International Affairs with a concentration in Environmental Policy Studies. Columbia University trusted me; Hostos Community College trusted me. I am very grateful for the opportunity; I feel blessed indeed! said Ahmed. During her studies at SIPA, Ms. Ahmed pursued a number of internships relevant to her intended career in international affairs and public policy, including various positions at the Department of Environment and Conservation in Sydney, Australia, the NASA-Goddard Institute of Space Studies at Columbia University, and the New York City Economic Development Corporation, where she served on a team of consultants examining the feasibility of renewable power technologies in New York City. 1

Ms. Luz Maria Lambert earned her Associate in Science degree in Business Administration from Hostos Community College in 1999. Also a member of the first cohort of Serrano Scholars, Ms. Lambert interned in Congressman Serranos district office while working toward her bachelors degree in Political Science at Columbia Universitys School of General Studies. During this time, she participated in the Columbia Ecosystem Experiences for Undergraduates, an intensive ecology and conservation biology program in Sao Paulo, Brazil. While matriculated at SIPA for her Master of International Affairs degree in International Security Policy, she served as a graduate intern for the U.S. State Department. A semi-finalist for the prestigious Presidential Management Fellow program, Ms. Lambert is fluent in Spanish, English, and Portuguese. She is also a co-founder of the Dominican Womens Caucus, a group that assists women with housing, educational opportunities, immigration information, and other issues. I am a product of an evolutionary intellectual process that started when I entered Hostos to study Business Administration, points out Ms. Lambert in a written statement she sent to Hostos Community College. I enrolled at Hostos because it was the only College in NYC that offered bilingual education. Hostos provided me with a sense of belonging, a family type of environment not found anywhere else. After welcoming faculty, students, families, friends and distinguished guests including His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan IV, Hostos Community College President Dolores Fernandez and her Chief of Staff Sandra Ruiz, Dr. Lisa Anderson, Dean of SIPA, spoke of the genesis of the program: More than five years ago our three schools--Hostos Community College, Columbia Universitys School of General Studies, and SIPA--began a collaboration designed to fulfill the hope of Bronx Congressman Jos Serrano for a more diverse American foreign service. It was my idea to create a program that would prepare minority folks, Latinos, Hispanics, for the foreign-service, said U.S. Congressman Jose Serrano upon learning that Ahmed and Lambert had earned their Masters degrees. I am very happy that the first two just graduated from Columbia University. I believe this would be the beginning of a change in our foreign policy. During the May 15th graduation ceremony, as each graduates name was called, President Fernndez stood proudly by until the turn came for Ms. Lambert and Ms. Ahmed to come forward and present themselves as new graduates of Columbia University. I am pleased and proud to be here today to congratulate these outstanding students, said President Fernandez; Their academic success serves to illustrate that Hostos Community College of The City University of New York is indeed reaching impressive milestones that seemed almost unattainable beforeI particularly want to congratulate both Ms. Ahmed and Ms. Lambert for being the first Hostos students to complete the Serrano Scholars Program, and for having the fortitude to endure the rigors of obtaining an excellent college education. Ms. Lambert and Ms. Ahmed have my heartfelt congratulations, said Dr. Daisy Cocco De Filippis, Hostos Community College Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. The achievement of these two young women will resound strongly on the Serrano Scholars here at Hostos, and the inspirational example they set is one to be admired and emulated by the best and the brightest of our students. Ms. Ahmed was born in New York to Bangladeshi parents. My parents come from Bangladeshand I spent some time in Bangladesh as well. I am a Muslim womanthen I am an American womanthen I am a Bangladeshi-American, said Ahmed in an interview this week at Hostos Community College. 2

Ms. Lambert was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, to a very humble family. As she lost her father at a very early age, she had to work from the time she was eleven years old to help pay for school. In her statement, Ms. Lambert declares: The Serranos Scholarship has changed my life as an immigrant who came to the U.S. full of dreams and no way to fulfill them. Knowing no English was not an advantage. Going from handing out flyers on 5th Avenue, to wiping tables at McDonalds, to selling pretzels and Italian ice in from of Macys to evening English classes to work as an instructional assistant at a high school to become an entrepreneur all over Central America, and to finally realized my dream of studying international relations at an Ivy League school, is mind-boggling. The significance of this program goes beyond my own accomplishments because today immigrant men and women like me know that it is possible to succeed if one is persistent. Ms. Lambert ends her written remarks with her favorite quote from U.S. President John Calvin Coolidge: Press on: Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan press on has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race. Eugenio Mara de Hostos Community College of The City University of New York offers access to higher education leading to intellectual growth and socioeconomic mobility through the development of linguistic, mathematical, technological, and critical thinking proficiencies needed for lifelong learning and for success in a variety of programs, including careers, liberal arts, transfer, and those professional programs leading to licensure. In addition to offering degree programs, the College is determined to be a resource to the South Bronx and other communities by providing continuing education, cultural events, and expertise for the further development of the communities it serves. Contact: Nstor Montilla, (718-518-4355), nmontilla@hostos.cuny.edu Hostos Community Colleges Office of International Programs and Community Relations of The City University of New York (CUNY).