EL SEMANARIO HOSTOSIANO/HOSTOS WEEKLY | March 25, 2022 | Vol. 4 No. 9, Spring 2022 Semester

Friday, March 25, 2022 | Vol. 4 No. 9, Spring 2022 Semester

MESSAGE FROM PRESIDENT DAISY COCCO DE FILIPPIS

My Dear Colleagues and Students,

I know you will join me in welcoming Dr. Erica Chito-Childs, who is a participant in the CUNY Leadership Institute (TCLI) for Urban-Serving Institutions. Dr. Chito-Childs is a professor of Sociology at Hunter College and The Graduate Center of The City University of New York. I was invited in the fall to serve as her mentor this academic year 2021–2022. Part of the program is visiting the College for a two-week residency. She will be provided an office adjacent to the President’s Office beginning March 28 to April 10. Executive Chief of Staff Diana Kreymer, and her staff, will be assisting her in setting up meetings. Should you wish to send her a welcoming note, please click here to send her an email.

As indicated by CUNY, TCLI is designed to strengthen the higher education leadership pipeline for the nation’s urban serving institutions by developing diverse higher education leaders, with a particular emphasis on those with a background in the Arts and Humanities. The former President of York College, Dr. Marcia V. Keizs, and former University Provost/Executive Vice Chancellor and Interim Chancellor, Dr. Vita C. Rabinowitz, have agreed to serve as TCLI Inaugural Chair and TCLI Distinguished Faculty, respectively. In addition, Dr. Joseph P. Zolner, former Senior Director of the Harvard Institutes for Higher Education, is serving as TCLI Consultant and Lead Faculty. Please click here for more information.

I wish you another hopeful and productive week as we move forward with the conclusions of preparations for our Middle States evaluation visit on April 3-6, 2022. I am so proud of the work of so many colleagues.

Mil gracias y bendiciones, Daisy

Daisy Cocco De Filippis, Ph.D.

President

A POEM

Muse

By Meena Alexander

I was young when you came to me.

Each thing rings its turn,

you sang in my ear, a slip of a thing

dressed like a convent girl—

white socks, shoes,

dark blue pinafore, white blouse.

A pencil box in hand: girl, book, tree—

those were the words you gave me.

Girl was penne, hair drawn back,

gleaming on the scalp,

the self in a mirror in a rosewood room

the sky at monsoon time, pearl slits

In cloud cover, a jagged music pours:

gash of sense, raw covenant

clasped still in a gold bound book,

pusthakam pages parted,

ink rubbed with mist,

a bird might have dreamt its shadow there

spreading fire in a tree maram.

You murmured the word, sliding it on your tongue,

trying to get how a girl could turn

into a molten thing and not burn.

Centuries later worn out from travel

I rest under a tree.

You come to me

a bird shedding gold feathers,

each one a quill scraping my tympanum.

You set a book to my ribs.

Night after night I unclasp it

at the mirror's edge

alphabets flicker and soar.

Write in the light

of all the languages

you know the earth contains,

you murmur in my ear.

This is pure transport.

MESSAGE FROM SGA PRESIDENT BRIAN CARTER

Hello and good morning to my fellow SGA contemporaries and current student body of Hostos Community College,

I am here with my weekly words of encouragement and want to sprinkle some enlightenment into your thoughts on the behalf of the SGA.

We shine the spotlight on our Women’s Basketball Team who are the NJCAA national runner-ups. They may have not won the actual championship, but they deserve recognition for the entire season.

We invite students to learn about the value of having financial goals and encouraging saving over spending. The workshop will also cover how we spend our time. We will also share information on the Project Hope initiative. This support program will help student parents with children under three years of age to use the Hostos Children’s Day Care Center. Project Hope is currently accepting applications for next semester.

There is a great new initiative for students for the Spring and Summer semester via the MacKenzie Scott Scholarship Initiative. Students have the opportunity to work on campus in a department of their choice — Nursing, Computer Lab, Counseling Center, Library, Student Activities, Student Leadership Academy, Gym, Career Services, SDEM, Writing Center just to name a few. The pay rate is $20 per hour. You must work at least ten hours per week. Please feel free to take advantage of these opportunities.

Remember you can become an SGA Student Government Association leader, apply at the Student Activities Office.

MIDDLE STATES SELF-STUDY UPDATE

Submitted by MSCHE Steering Committee Co-Chairs Professor Kate S. Wolfe and Professor Nelson Nuñez Rodríguez

Campus Preparation for the Remote Team Visit (A spotlight on Standard IV)

Hostos appears to meet Standards IV compliance expectations. These compliance requirements require that the institution recruits and admits students whose interests, abilities, experiences, and goals are congruent with its mission and educational offerings. In addition, the institution should commit to student retention, persistence, completion, and success through a coherent and effective support system. The strengths found in the Self-Study indicate that Hostos students receive many supports – from accurate English and Math placement to advisement, academic supports, cohort-based offerings, and extracurricular activities - that help them progress academically and enrich their experience with college life. In addition, Hostos has clear programming to support English Language Learners, and shows a long history of AES assessment, which has recently become more intentionally integrated with planning across the college with the introduction of A-PART. The evolving needs of the student body we serve does present challenges. These include reinforcing a student onboarding process that ensures they learn about and access the many resources available to them as they complete their degrees and then seek to transfer or find employment upon completion. Furthermore, the college should work to strengthen the Credit for Prior Learning (CPL) approach for Hostos’ student population. In this regard, Hostos has undertaken significant efforts to expand CPL, including the creation of non-credit pathways between CEWD and Hostos’ degree programs. As we prepare for the final on-site visit and plan to capitalize the inquiry momentum created by the self-study, the following questions help to interrogate efforts aiming to improve our student experience at Hostos:

How has the “Are You Ready? Tutorial” been assessed and in what ways can we improve assessment of student outcomes for those who take this tutorial?
What supports need to be in place to offer a mandated comprehensive orientation to all entering students, including a mandatory First Year Seminar?
Which student support services should continue to have online access in addition to in-person services?
What Hostos advisement services do you think work best? What evidence is there to support this belief?
Should Hostos develop a uniform CPL policy? What are the benefits of doing so?
How can we integrate efforts to develop a comprehensive approach to improve student retention?

PRESIDENT’S INITIATIVES

Submitted by Director of Research Programs Sofia Oviedo, Ph.D.

Dear Students and Colleagues,

I hope that all is progressing well at this mid-way point in the semester. This is a particularly eventful season with the launch of Ms. MacKenzie Scott’s Gift: President’s Initiatives which are generating many wonderful opportunities for students, faculty, and staff to connect with one another. Educating for Diversity activities have begun taking place such as the Women’s and Gender Studies student panel that engaged students in a discussion around the impact of COVID-19 on women of color. The Latin American Writers Institute hosted a comics writing workshop, “Vengeful Goddesses, Warrior Queens and Other Monsters,” with Bronx-based cartoonist Iván Vélez, and the Own Your Power committee began a series of sex education workshops with its first one, “Would you like FRIES with that?” focusing on consent.

The Hostos Research Center announced the ADELANTE winning proposals that will support faculty and staff-led research projects and provide opportunities for student research internships. The Families United in Education Program is supporting a cohort of 11 family members who are pursuing their education at Hostos by connecting them to tutoring services, health and wellness resources, cultural activities, and promoting family bonding.

Last week the President’s Office held a lovely reception in honor of the continuing education students that were awarded the Ms. MacKenzie Scott Adult and Continuing Education (ACE) scholarships to support their transition and enrollment in a Hostos degree program. Several scholarship recipients attended including María Pera, Alexandra Martínez, and Mary Lorenzo. They had the opportunity to meet with President Daisy Cocco De Filippis, Vice President Evelyn Fernández-Ketcham, and Provost Shiang-Kwei Wang who all shared inspiring and encouraging words and presented them with the scholarship award. The students were all very appreciative of the incredible support that they have received at Hostos. We wish them and all the ACE scholarship recipients much success in their educational journey at Hostos.

In addition, last week we announced two new initiatives, Jobs on Campus and the Ms. MacKenzie Scott Academic Department Scholarships, which will provide increased employment and scholarship opportunities for our students. (See below for important application deadlines.)

This week I am excited to announce the NextGen Public Health Scholars 2+2+2 Program, a new initiative that partners Hostos Community College with the Columbia University School of General Studies and the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health’s Department of Epidemiology. This program is ideal for Hostos students majoring in allied health, nursing, community health, public health and environmental engineering who are interested in pursuing a career in public health and epidemiology where they can turn their passion for addressing complex public health problems impacting communities of color into a reality. Selected students will receive full tuition coverage, a stipend, academic tutoring, mentoring, summer bridge programming, and career guidance. Students that are accepted into this program will first complete their Associate degree at Hostos, go on to complete their Bachelor of Arts at the Columbia School of General Studies, and then complete another two years to graduate with a Master of Public Health or Master of Science from the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health. This is an incredible opportunity that will pave the way for building a new cadre of diverse public health practitioners, policymakers, and leaders. We are inviting student applications to select the first cohort of students to start the program in Fall 2022.

To learn more about the NextGen Public Health Scholars Program and download the application click here.

Important Deadlines:

Academic and administrative departments and offices are invited to submit Jobs on Campus applications for Spring and Summer 2022.

Spring deadline is April 1. The summer deadline is April 29.

To access the Jobs on Campus application click here.

Academic departments are invited to submit student selection forms for the Ms. MacKenzie Scott Academic Department Scholarships.

The deadline to submit student nominations is April 29.

To request a nomination form, please email Sofia Oviedo at soviedo@hostos.cuny.edu.

INSTITUTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS, RESEARCH, AND ASSESSMENT

Submitted by Dr. Babette Audant, Dean of Academic Affairs and Institutional Effectiveness, Research and Assessment

In praise of planning

Among the strengths we point to throughout the Hostos self-study report is more than a decade of strategic planning. Appropriately, and coincidentally, our current strategic plan comes to a close as we approach the end of our Self-Study cycle (note: cycle, as in, we don’t ever really stop doing Self-Study). Our peer evaluators will “arrive” virtually on April 3, and through conversations with various campus constituents, they will finalize their report and recommendations to us.

These recommendations, in addition to less formal feedback and conversation with members of the evaluation team (our peers), will be woven into the next strategic planning process. They are a source of data, a valuable perspective on our own reflections and analyses of what we’ve done in the past, and what we will do in the future to support our students’ success, and advance our mission.

A strategic plan is a framework. In addition to measurable goals (metrics, key performance indicators/KPIs, et al.), it also sets forth a narrative frame for how we achieve these goals. It puts in place priorities, as well as hypotheses about what will work. Its development will depend on the active participation of all: staff, students, faculty.

The final document will hold us accountable for our commitments. It is an expression of trust in what we are able to achieve together.

This public statement of our institutional commitments in the 2017–2022 Strategic Plan guided decision-making as we entered the pandemic, including the allocation of resources. The student-centeredness of the SP was reflected time and again during the first year (and beyond) of the pandemic, ensuring that students had access to the food pantry, counseling, and tutoring services, in addition to hardware and software. More generally, the SP laid out language for how we talked about what we achieved and invited all members of the Hostos community to pay attention to how metrics like completion, retention, and graduation are necessarily related.

As a framework, no plan is immutable. While informed by data, and based on hypotheses about what will work best, life happens. Contexts change. Having a strong plan creates space for regular re-assessment of progress — and course correction, if needed. And, a strong plan will be grounded by our mission pillars, allowing us to dream big and bold and plan for systematic change while staying true to who we are.

OFFICE OF GOVERNMENTAL AND EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

Submitted by Director of Governmental and External Affairs Eric Radezky, Ph.D.

This week’s updates come from the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs and AMNY.

Summer Youth Employment Program Applications Open for New Yorkers Aged 14-24

The 2022 program will include two six-week cohorts beginning July 5 and running through August 20. Applications can be completed online or at a participating community-based organization during the application period, which runs through Friday, April 22, 2022. For more information, New Yorkers can call 311 or DYCD Community Connect at 1-800-246-4646.

Fair Fares – Ride for Half Price

Fair Fares is an NYC program that allows eligible New Yorkers to qualify for a MetroCard at a 50% discount. Mayor Adams and the City Council recently made the program permanent, but a recent story in AMNY shows that only about one-third of eligible New Yorkers are taking advantage of this cost-saving program. Check your eligibility on the Fair Fares website where you can apply today. The website also has information on ordering a replacement card if you lost yours.

File Your Taxes with NYC Free Tax Prep – Income Limits Apply

The New York City Department of Consumer Affairs offers free tax prep options and providers for individuals and families below certain income thresholds. Anyone who lives or works in New York City can use an NYC Free Tax Prep site. Services offered include assisted self-prep, virtual tax prep, drop-off service, and in-person tax prep. Income limits and other eligibility requirements may apply. Learn more at nyc.gov/taxprep or call 311 and ask for tax preparation assistance. See other frequently asked questions on the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs website.

NEWS FROM THE OFFICE OF ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

Submitted by Professor Clara Nieto-Wire, Ph.D. Mathematics Day @ HCC Event Coordinator & Chair of the Organizing Committee

The 7th Annual Mathematics Day @ Hostos

On behalf of the Mathematics Department, the Hostos community is cordially invited to attend the 7th Annual Mathematics Day @ Hostos Community College, on Wednesday, March 30, 2022, from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

About the 7th Annual Mathematics Day @ Hostos

The overall purpose of the event is to highlight the relevance of Mathematics in all disciplines and aspects of life. The theme for this year is “The Role of Mathematics Education in a Person’s Life – A Quest to Gain Insight on the Purpose of Education in Today’s Society.” In addition, we aim to emphasize the importance of inclusion of all voices (students, faculty, administrators, all disciplines, etc.) to achieve the goal of the event.

The motivation for Mathematics Day has been typical questions and comments students share during math classes, such as, “Do I really need to learn this?”, “Would I ever use this?”, “I just need this class to graduate”, “I just need a C.”

It is clear that in many instances, we might not be aware of the benefits of a mathematical education, and furthermore, neither the benefits of education in general. Oftentimes education is thought of merely as a means to getting a degree that leads to a well-paid job.

Many students at community colleges are trying to identify their career and life interests and we would like to engage our audience in a reflection of how powerful can education be when it is understood beyond just “getting a degree to get a job.”

The question of why studying mathematics has been around since ancient times. Presenters and panelists will share their thoughts on the theme, exemplifying the impact of education in their personal journeys and their contributions to society, and share the thoughts of thinkers from other times with the audience. It would be wonderful if you could join us in this conversation.

Registration, Agenda and Record of Students’ Attendance:

The flyer and the agenda of the event have been distributed widely at the college in the past days. Please feel free to continue sharing them in your courses, with students, with your office or department, and with all colleagues from Hostos. The Official Technical Program of the event (including all abstracts and narratives) will be available electronically on the week of the event on the webpage of the Mathematics Department.

All faculty and program managers are encouraged to bring their classes and teams during a class period as a group, and/or to motivate students to join on their own any session at their convenience.

There will be 3 sessions: Session 1 at 11 a.m., Session 2 at 12:30 p.m., and Session 3 at 2 p.m. Each session has a unique link to join. The 3 links will be available inside the registration. Please copy and paste the registration link in your browser. You will be able to attend as many sessions as you desire.

Records of students’ attendance will be available to faculty who request it. If you need to confirm that your students attended any of the sessions, kindly ask your students to enter the name of the class and faculty for your course when they register for the event.

Please contact Professor Clara Nieto-Wire at CNIETO@HOSTOS.CUNY.EDU if you have any questions about the event, or to request a record of attendance of your course.

Thank you very much and we are looking forward to seeing you all during the 7th Annual Mathematics Day @ Hostos Community College.

Acknowledgments: The Mathematics Department Would Like to Express Its Gratitude to All Who Made this Event Possible Sponsors and Collaborators: Office of the President, Office of Academic Affairs, Office of Administration and Finance, Center for Teaching and Learning, Academic Departments, Library, Office of Student Activities (OSA), Logo and Branding by Prof. Juno Morrow, Information Technology (IT), Education Technology (EdTech), Student Government Association (SGA), Leadership Academy, Hostos Academic Learning Center (HALC), Supplemental Instruction Program, Peer Leaders, Duplicating, Hostos Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP), Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP), Black Male Initiative (BMI), Hostos Academic Engineering Talent Program (HEAT), STEM Club, Mathematics Club, Engineering Club, Mathematics Department Faculty and Staff.

CAIMAN CLUES

The “Caiman Clues” for the Spring ’22 semester

Students: Every week, for the Academic calendar year, read the Caiman Clues for helpful tips and reminders.

Caiman Clues —Your Hostos Helping Hand to Success

NEWS FROM THE DIVISION OF STUDENT DEVELOPMENT AND ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT

Submitted by Vice President of Student Development & Enrollment Management La Toro Yates, Ph.D.

“Won't You Celebrate With Me”

By Lucille Clifton

Won’t you celebrate with me

What I have shaped into

a kind of life? I had no model.

born in babylon

both nonwhite and woman

what did i see to be except myself?

i made it up

here on this bridge between

starshine and clay,

my one hand holding tight

my other hand; come celebrate

with me that everyday

something has tried to kill me

and has failed.

About Lucille Clifton.

Spotlight

Folusho Adeoti (fall ’21) now at NYU and Reola Alexander (student in Dental Hygiene Program) were selected to be members of the Phi Theta Kappa All-New York Academic Team.

Scholarship Office

Welcome to the Scholarship Office at Hostos Community. Our goal is to help students identify and apply to internal and external scholarships to help them in completing their educational goals. and provide support services when applying. We assist students with the entire process: develop a scholarship portfolio, complete the applications, write personal statements and obtain letters of recommendation. Scholarship assistance is available on a walk-in basis or through appointments.

As our spring 2022 semester is midway through…

Facilitated first Personal Statement Seminar in collaboration with the Writing Center and the Scholarship Club on March 17th.
We had 54 attendees for the event. The student-facilitator interaction was excellent; students asked a lot of great questions.
The students learned how to write a personal statement and learned about other services and events the Writing Center has to offer.
Students were encouraged to schedule one-on-one meetings with tutors.
Working with Academic departments to promote the 22 Scholarships on Academic works; sending out reminders to students about the scholarships and deadlines.
Identified three new external scholarship opportunities for students.
Students can apply for scholarships at: https://hostos.academicworks.com.

NEWS FROM THE DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE

Recently the Hostos Sustainability Council was Reconvened to Address Plastic Waste at CUNY

Late in 2021, Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation S.6815/A.7564 which requires all SUNY and CUNY campuses to create waste diversion plans to reduce and work towards eliminating single-use plastics and begin food composting on all campuses. The legislation also requires school administrators to work collaboratively with faculty, staff, and students to reduce single-use plastics and begin composting programs on campus. I am very excited to have the backing of the state of NY in these important Sustainability efforts. In early March, we had our first Sustainability Council meeting after the signing of the legislation. We do have a small group of faculty and staff with only ONE student! We encourage the entire Hostos community to get involved and join us in making a more environmentally sustainable Hostos, NYC, and the world. Please join us in this effort. Anyone who is interested in getting involved please reach out directly to Zack Korenstein, Environmental Health and Safety Consultant for Hostos at zkorenstein@hostos.cuny.edu.

Reminders:

The deadline of the Chancellor’s mandate, in compliance with Governor Hochul’s public policy directive issued on December 31, 2021, requiring all PSC titles and all ECP title employees to be fully vaccinated and to upload proof of vaccination into CUNYfirst has been changed from April 1, 2022, to May 27, 2022.

Free COVID-19 vaccine and booster shots are available at Hostos every Tuesday and Wednesday, from 9 am to 6 pm at the Vax Van parked on Grand Concourse between the B and C buildings. Please bring your CUNY photo ID.

The Hostos COVID-19 Testing Site is located in the A building lobby (475 Grand Concourse). No appointment is necessary. The testing site hours are:

Monday | 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Tuesday | 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Wednesday | 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Thursday | 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Friday | 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

NEWS FROM THE DIVISION OF CONTINUING EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

Student Success Story through CEWD Allied Health Pathway!

Henry Osei Tutu is an immigrant from Ghana who came to New York and faced difficulty securing sustainable employment. Working in various seasonal and minimum wage jobs did not provide him with fulfillment and after his seasonal job as a delivery man ended, he found himself unemployed. Henry’s favorite subjects in school were sciences and medicine. His dream was to pursue a career that would allow him to put these subjects into practice. Henry sought out allied health training opportunities and was referred to the Division of Continuing Education and Workforce Development.

Henry applied and was accepted into the Division’s Allied Health Career Pipeline Program - HPOG program in January of 2019. Henry completed the Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) training, successfully passed the certification exam in February 2019, and started working in April 2019. Henry worked at Constant Care Health Services Center (an HPOG employer partner) located in the Bronx earning $16 an hour. While working as a CNA. Henry continued his educational pathway completing Patient Care Technician (PCT) training through HPOG in February 2020. For the first time in his life Henry was receiving benefits that included health insurance, dental insurance, paid time off, sick time-FMLA, short term disability, and time and half, when employees work overtime.

Always striving to continuously improve the quality of his life, in October 2020, Henry became employed as a CNA at Montefiore Medical Center (an HPOG employer partner), here in the Bronx earning $21 an hour with improved benefits. In June 2021, Henry became employed as a PCT at NYU Langhorne in New York City making a salary of $50,200. As Henry commented, “The Allied Health Career Pipeline Program gave me a sturdy foundation in my career pursuit, provided me with practical resources and gave me the confidence to serve humanity. It has become a vital part of my life as far as socio-economic stability is and education is concerned. Many of us can point to it as a life bridge to a great career beginning.”

Executive Management Certificate Program Launches 9th Cohort this Spring

The 9th cohort of CEWD’s Center for Bronx Nonprofits (CBNP) Executive Management Certificate Program, in collaboration with the Community Resource Exchange (CRE) begins March 24, 2022, with 25 participants. The students selected for the program come from a variety of Bronx nonprofits including Children’s Aid, Highbridge Advisory Council Family Services, and the Osborne Association.

Scholarships for this Spring’s cohort were generously provided by Ponce Bank, a local institution, known for promoting local economic development. The nine-month program trains emerging leaders to address organizational and leadership challenges through applied learning. For more information, please contact mminogue@hostos.cuny.edu.

View the Continuing Education & Workforce Development Spring 2022 Catalog

NEWS FROM THE DIVISION OF INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT

Save the Date for the 2022 Annual Scholarship Benefit

Wednesday, May 18 | 6 p.m.

The Division of Institutional Advancement is pleased to announce that it will be hosting the 2022 Annual Scholarship Benefit in-person at the scenic Glen Island Harbor Club. We welcome you to join us as we celebrate the much-anticipated in-person return of this wonderful event. The Benefit is the premier fundraising event for the Hostos Community College Foundation, and it supports student scholarship opportunities. To see sponsorship opportunities or purchase your discounted faculty, staff, or alumni ticket, please visit the website.

Let’s Keep the Hostos 20.22 Class Campaign Momentum Going!

The 20.22 Class Campaign is underway! Make a gift toward our transformational student support funds and help future Hostos alumni to persist.

Save the Date for the 2022 Alumni Laugh-A-ThON

Thursday, April 28 | 6 p.m.

The Laugh-A-ThON is back! Join the Office of Alumni Relations at the fabulous Rosa’s at Park for a night of fun and festivity. The evening will be headlined by hilarious alumna Melissa Diaz. Admission is $40; each ticket will include one drink and light bites. An official announcement with details on how to purchase tickets will be in your inbox soon. We’ll see you there!

Upcoming Office of Alumni Relations Events

Please mark your calendars to save the date for the following upcoming alumni events. More details to follow.

4/28/2022 – In-person – Alumni Laugh-A-ThON*

4/21/2022 – In-person – Hostos Alumni Mixer

4/22/2022 – Engineering Alumni Awards (Location TBD)

*The previously communicated date for this event has changed.

Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture

March 2022

The Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture is ready to welcome you back to in-person programming! Please see upcoming performances below and visit the website to check out the full spring calendar.

Upcoming In-Person Events:

Para un Panderetero Mayor A Celebration of Héctor “Tito” Matos

Friday, March 25 | 8 p.m.

A special evening celebrating the life, legacy, and spirit of Héctor “Tito” Matos, the master percussionist, vocalist, and passionate guardian of the plena – the African-rooted musical form from Puerto Rico. Tito helped create and name the Hostos Center’s BomPlenazo Festival — the biennial celebration of Afro-Puerto Rican music and dance that began in 2000.