(Left to right) Sonia Maldonado, Carmen González,
Howard Jordan and Lizette Colón.
 
On March 18, Hostos Community College welcomed Seattle University Professor of Law, Carmen González, who spoke about the obstacles women of color encounter in the workplace, particularly in academia. Professor González is the co-editor of the critically acclaimed book, Presumed Incompetent: The Intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia, which examines the persistence of race, gender, class and other forms of bias in academia and the strategies to create a more welcoming and inclusive campus climate. 

Professor González talked about how these situations can be better handled, how an improved environment can be created, while taking questions from a large audience of faculty, staff and students in the Hostos Gallery.

Among her many accomplishments, Professor González writes in the areas of international environmental law, environmental justice, trade and the environment, and food security. After graduating from Yale University and Harvard Law School, she clerked for Judge Thelton E. Henderson of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. She also practiced law at Pillsbury, Madison and Sutro, where she specialized in environmental litigation. She later served as an attorney at Pacific Gas and Electric Company and as Assistant Regional Counsel in the San Francisco office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Professor Melisa Garcia, of the Women's Center Director at Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA., also served as a commentator.

Just one of the College’s many Women’s History Month events, the lecture was coordinated by Hostos Professor Sonia Maldonado, who is also the Co-Chair of the Affirmative Action Committee, and Professor Lizette Colón, the Hostos PSC Chapter Chair.

The idea for the event came out of Professor Howard Jordan’s radio program, the Jordan Journal, which previously had Professor González as a guest.

About Hostos Community College
Eugenio María de Hostos Community College is an educational agent for change that has been transforming and improving the quality of life in the South Bronx and neighboring communities since 1968. It serves as a gateway to intellectual growth and socioeconomic mobility, as well as a point of departure for lifelong learning, success in professional careers, and transfer to advanced higher education programs. The College’s unique "Student Success Coaching Unit" provides students with individualized guidance and exemplifies its emphasis on student support services.
 
Recently named one of the top 10 finalists for the 2015 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, Hostos offers 27 associate degree programs and two certificate programs that facilitate easy transfer to The City University of New York’s (CUNY) four-year colleges or baccalaureate studies at other institutions. The College has an award-winning Division of Continuing Education & Workforce Development that offers professional development courses and certificate-bearing workforce training programs. Hostos is part of CUNY, the nation’s leading urban public university, which serves more than 500,000 students at 24 colleges.