Hunter College’s Center for Puerto Rican Studies welcomed seven Latino elected officials and several staffers, President Nancy Cantor, and students on September 19 for a legislative breakfast and open house highlighting its library and archives at the Silberman Social Work School in East Harlem.
CENTRO’s Executive Director Yomaira C. Figueroa-Vásquez said that the Hispanic Heritage Month event was part of CENTRO’s mission of making its resources — including archival collections, library, reports, data tools & dashboards, study guides, lesson plans, and more — available to students, researchers, and the community.
The event alligned with President Cantor’s vision of establishing Hunter College an anchor institution — a beacon of educational opportunity and public resource in the neighborhoods in which it operates.
“We are so proud of what we have created here in El Barrio and of the vast reach that CENTRO has within and beyond New York City,” Figueroa-Vásquez said.
For CENTRO’s Director of Public Policy, External and Media Relations, and Development, Carlos Vargas-Ramos, the breakfast was an opportunity to support the lawmakers advocating for their constituents.
“We want to provide substantive data to state legislators that we hope will result in policy measures advancing the interests of our community,” he said. “Data for Hispanics or Latinos tends to be scant. We focus on districts where Latinos represent the majority or the plurality.”
CENTRO’s Data Hub also presented at the legislative breakfast highlighting its many resources available to elected officials and their constituents. CENTRO’s interactive reports use data-visualization tools and web maps to illustrate major changes in the Puerto Rican population and serve as a valuable resource for policy makers.
The elected officials who attended were:
- Senator Luis Sepúlveda
- Senator Nathalia Fernández
- Assemblymember Karinés Reyes
- Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas
- Assemblymember Amanda Séptimo
- Assemblymember Marcela Mitaynes
- Assemblymember Grace Lee
Staffers of Senators José Serrano, Kristen González, and Julia Salazar, and Assemblymembers Manny De Los Santos, Edward Gibbs, and Yudelka Tapia also attended.
