NYC Gazette

June 13, 2024

In recognition of Father’s Day, The City University of New York (CUNY) today congratulated the Class of 2024 graduates from the CUNY Fatherhood Academy. This free program provides underemployed young fathers with access to education, employment, and professional development. Funded by the New York City Young Men’s Initiative, the academy helps participants earn a High School Equivalency diploma or prepare for college. Since its inception, it has supported 1,400 fathers.

“We congratulate our 2024 graduates who came through the CUNY Fatherhood Academy, knowing that we are almost as proud of these fathers as their families are,” said CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez. “Earning a college degree can be transformational for not just the graduate but for their entire family, and CUNY is committed to providing the resources that New Yorkers need to be able to succeed professionally and personally.”

Launched in 2012 at LaGuardia Community College, the academy has expanded to Hostos Community College and Kingsborough Community College. It offers two program options: a 16-week High School Equivalency (HSE) prep option and a 10-week college prep option.

Among the graduates is Tyshawn Washington, a father of three daughters who is graduating from LaGuardia Community College this spring. Washington spent time incarcerated at Rikers Island as a teenager before dropping out of high school to work in construction. He returned to school just before the COVID-19 pandemic and found the CUNY Fatherhood Academy, where he earned his High School Equivalency diploma before enrolling at LaGuardia.

“I like spending time with my kids, and I am glad to have found a haven at LaGuardia and with the Fatherhood Academy that has helped me to prepare myself to create a more comfortable life for my kids,” said Washington. “I have learned so much, and I am glad to have a chance to help other people so that we all can work toward the futures we want for us and our families.”

Washington will begin classes toward a bachelor’s degree at Baruch College with hopes of eventually earning an MBA. His children also have another role model among CUNY’s 2024 graduates; Washington’s longtime partner earned her master’s degree in social work from York College.

Another graduate, Christian Ortiz, earned his bachelor’s degree in writing and literature from Hunter College after previously graduating from LaGuardia Community College in 2019 with support from the CUNY Fatherhood Academy. Ortiz lost his mother to brain cancer when he was a junior in high school and had a daughter the following year.

“The CUNY Fatherhood Academy in many ways saved me and helped me become the man I am today,” said Ortiz. “I felt I was part of a community, and I was able to grow professionally while building good relationships with my professors. I would have never imagined my life or my daughter’s life turning out this well.”

The academy helps participants become more engaged parents and achieve long-term economic stability through part-time employment, counseling sessions, workshops including High School Equivalency preparation classes, tutoring services, individualized counseling sessions, parenting seminars, financial incentives, job preparation assistance as well as college readiness workshops.

As participants complete the program aimed at fathers aged 18-30 years old; they are connected to various student support programs within CUNY itself which combats trends such as student father dropout rates which stands currently around sixty-one percent according Institute For Women Policy Research.

CUNY remains one of America’s largest urban public universities offering transformative educational opportunities since its establishment back in eighteen forty-seven serving over two hundred twenty-five thousand students annually across five boroughs within NYC awarding fifty-thousand degrees per annum producing notable alumni faculty members recognized globally via prestigious awards like Nobel Prizes MacArthur Genius Grants continuing its mission providing accessible quality education irrespective socio-economic backgrounds.