U.S. Representative Adriano Espaillat presented a ceremonial check for $3.15 million in federal funding to The City College of New York-based CUNY Dominican Studies Institute on Apr. 1, supporting the renovation and expansion of its facility.
The funding aims to strengthen the institute’s research and community programs, which focus on preserving and sharing the history of people of Dominican descent in the United States and beyond.
Espaillat praised the institute as a “perfect example of how you can strengthen a community by giving dollars for research and other types of programs.” He highlighted recent work by DSI Director Ramona Hernandez in uncovering the story of Esteban Hotesse, an Afro-Latino Tuskegee Airman whose legacy had been nearly lost due to a fire. “His name disappeared because it was lost during a fire, but DSI Director Ramona Hernandez and her team were able to dig that up,” said Espaillat. The discovery led to Hotesse’s posthumous Congressional Gold Medal being presented to his grandchildren at CCNY.
Espaillat also said, “Their grandfather was not only a Tuskegee Airman, but was one of the guys that led the protest in the officers’ hall, and the officers’ club, which…helped spark the civil rights movement. This guy, who nobody knew about, Dr. Hernandez was able to find out about him.” He added that such work “makes us stronger as a community, as a city, as a state, and as a nation,” stating: “In fact, the way we fight back now is by strengthening this identity that she’s stubbornly trying to preserve. I commend her for her work, and I’m glad to give $3.1 million for this program, and there’s more to come.”
CCNY President Vincent G. Boudreau called DSI “an academic mission of rigorous research and a consistent energetic mission of community outreach,” praising its role in recovering Dominican American history: “the work they have done over the years to recover and make available…the history of Dominican people…and…the role of the Dominican community in civic action.” Boudreau thanked Espaillat for being “an energetic and generous advocate” for both DSI’s mission and federal support opportunities: “This work wouldn’t be possible without the support you’ve given us,” he said.
DSI Director Hernandez emphasized that this grant will expand an institution unique outside both New York City and even outside the Dominican Republic itself: “It’s going definitely to transform the Dominican Studies Institute in terms of space and our capacity.” Founded in 1992, CUNY DSI is recognized as America’s first university-based center devoted exclusively to studying people with roots from Dominica.