{"id":160555,"date":"2026-03-11T17:50:38","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T17:50:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/160555\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T17:50:38","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T17:50:38","slug":"building-on-belonging-brooklyn-college","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/160555\/","title":{"rendered":"Building on Belonging | Brooklyn College"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before stepping into his role as director of the Black and Latino Male Initiative<\/a> (BLMI), Christopher Rodriguez Hernandez spent a decade helping students thrive through the ASAP program at Kingsborough Community College (CUNY). That experience\u2014along with his own journey through foster care\u2014shaped his deep commitment to student success.<\/p>\n

Now, just over a year into his new role, Rodriguez is bringing new energy and vision to BLMI, a program he describes as \u201ca one-stop shop\u201d for students who need support, community, and a place to belong. The initiative provides personalized academic advisement, peer and faculty mentorship, career planning and leadership workshops, and prioritizes finding mentors that its mostly black and brown student population can relate to. (The program is open to students of all races and genders.)<\/p>\n

Rodriguez talks about his path, the challenges students face, and what it means to build a space where students feel like they\u2019re home.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve had a remarkable journey. Can you share a bit about your background and how it shaped your work today?<\/p>\n

\u00a0I was born in Puerto Rico and came to New York when I was nine\u2014originally just for vacation. But my mom decided to stay, and we ended up navigating some tough times, including homelessness and eventually foster care. I lived in public housing and then with foster families. That experience shaped everything. I always wanted to be a doctor, and I pursued that dream all the way to medical school. But due to financial issues\u2014my loan was canceled\u2014I couldn\u2019t complete it. That\u2019s when I found myself in education, working with foster youth, and realized this was my calling.<\/p>\n

What drew you to BLMI and Brooklyn College?<\/p>\n

Honestly, it felt like destiny. Through my master\u2019s program in higher education, I focused on men of color in STEM. When I saw the opportunity at BLMI, it aligned perfectly. What impressed me most was the legacy\u2014former students returning as staff, alumni staying involved. That speaks volumes about the impact of the program. It\u2019s not just a student initiative, it\u2019s a community.<\/p>\n

What are some of the biggest challenges you see students facing, and how is BLMI addressing them?<\/p>\n

\u00a0Resource gaps are a major issue\u2014transportation, housing, food insecurity, tuition. We\u2019ve had students come from programs where they received MetroCards, and suddenly they\u2019re here without that support. We\u2019re working to build emergency funds, scholarships, and partnerships to help fill those gaps. We also sent students abroad this summer\u2014two to Japan, one to Spain\u2014but rising costs meant we could only send three instead of six. We want to do more.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your vision for BLMI moving forward?<\/p>\n

\u00a0I want BLMI to be a true one-stop shop for students. We\u2019re implementing student success plans that include academic, career, and social-emotional components. We\u2019re using tools like Navigate to help students track their progress and goals. My background in ASAP taught me the value of intrusive advisement\u2014checking in regularly, using data to identify roadblocks, and creating targeted support. We\u2019re also building stronger ties with other campus programs and departments to ensure students are connected across the board.<\/p>\n

What has surprised you most since joining Brooklyn College?<\/p>\n

The level of collaboration. I\u2019ve worked in different higher ed spaces, and it\u2019s rare to see such strong partnerships across departments\u2014Africana Studies<\/a>, Sociology<\/a>, LGBTQ+ Resource Center<\/a>, Women\u2019s Center,<\/a> ISSO<\/a>. Everyone is invested in student success. We had a summer institute where staff, faculty, and alumni all came together to engage new students. That kind of unity is powerful.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the vibe like in the BLMI space?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s home. Students walk by and hear conversations in Spanish, see people who look like them, smell jerk chicken\u2014it\u2019s familiar, comforting. I had two Latino students stop by and say, \u201cYou guys are speaking Spanish in there?\u201d That sense of belonging is everything. It\u2019s not just about programming; it\u2019s about creating a space where students feel seen and valued.<\/p>\n

If resources weren\u2019t an issue, what\u2019s your dream for BLMI?<\/p>\n

\u00a0I\u2019d love to create dedicated internships for our students\u2014tailored to their majors, with alumni mentors and networking opportunities. We took students to a Latino leadership conference in New Jersey, and it was transformative. Imagine if we could send them to national conferences in Seattle or California. I\u2019d also love to take students suit shopping before galas or professional events. We\u2019ve had to rely on donations, but how amazing would it be to say, \u201cLet\u2019s go to Men\u2019s Warehouse together\u201d?<\/p>\n

What impresses you most about Brooklyn College students?<\/p>\n

\u00a0Their talent and drive. I sit down with students for success planning, and they\u2019re already building portfolios, launching businesses, developing software. They\u2019re not waiting for permission\u2014they\u2019re doing it. We just need to make sure the system isn\u2019t getting in their way. If we\u2019re not ready to support them, we\u2019re the barrier.<\/p>\n

Outside of work, what keeps you grounded?<\/p>\n

\u00a0I\u2019m a father of two\u2014a 15-year-old son and a two-year daughter. We\u2019re big on road trips and hiking. Every Father\u2019s Day, my son and I go camping. It\u2019s our tradition. We\u2019ve hiked in New<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Before stepping into his role as director of the Black and Latino Male Initiative (BLMI), Christopher Rodriguez Hernandez…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":160556,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[66257,98,100,99,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-160555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-black-and-latino-male-initiative","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160555\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}