Two outstanding graduates of Eugenio María de Hostos Community College’s dual degree engineering program with the Grove School of Engineering at City College stopped by Hostos on September 8
th to reconnect with friends and give some encouragement to current students.
Professor Yoel Rodríguez’s Physics I class welcomed Dane Christie and Qudus Lawal back. Christie, who attended Hostos from 2008 to 2010 and received a prestigious National Science Foundation's Graduate Research Fellowship, is now pursuing a Ph.D. at Princeton University. He is studying Chemical Engineering, specifically polymer dynamics in nanoconfined systems.
Lawal, the Valedictorian of Hostos’ Spring 2011 graduating class, just earned his bachelor’s from Stanford University in Spring 2014. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Chemical Engineering at Stanford.
Lawal was born in Nigeria, West Africa, and Christie, who is originally from Jamaica, came to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic. Both men spoke about how Hostos and Professor Rodríguez had supported them in their educational journeys.
Christie and Lawal urged the students to work hard and be confident of their abilities.
“You are in the right place now,” Lawal said. “The support I received at Hostos was excellent. Just keep working hard and anything is possible.”
“Dane and Qudus are role models for our Hostos dual-degree engineering program. Their educational journeys have not always been easy, but their determination, perseverance, hard work, dedication, and passion for science and engineering have made them what they are today: symbols of student success. We are incredibly proud of them,” Professor Rodríguez said.
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 480,000 students at 24 colleges.