{"id":334270,"date":"2026-08-31T23:14:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T23:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/334270\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T23:14:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T23:14:10","slug":"investiture-of-bccs-7th-president-launches-colleges-70th-anniversary-year-the-bronx-daily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/334270\/","title":{"rendered":"Investiture Of BCC\u2019s 7th President Launches College\u2019s 70th Anniversary Year | The Bronx Daily"},"content":{"rendered":"

With a call to build on Bronx Community College\u2019s (BCC) legacy as the \u201cCrown Jewel of the Bronx<\/a>,\u201d Dr. Larry D. Johnson, Jr. was formally invested as the College\u2019s seventh president Friday, launching BCC\u2019s 70th Anniversary year and a new chapter shaped by its Bronx Renaissance 2031 strategic plan.<\/p>\n

The historic ceremony at the national landmark Gould Memorial Library brought together higher education leaders, elected officials, faculty, staff, students, alumni and community partners to mark Johnson\u2019s formal installation and seven decades of educational opportunity and impact in the Bronx.<\/p>\n

In his address, The Bronx Renaissance: Reclaiming Our Time, Johnson called on the BCC community to embrace the future while drawing strength from the history and legacy that have shaped the College.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will not consign the best of Bronx Community College to once upon a time,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n

He spoke about Bronx Renaissance 2031 as the product of a year of listening and collaboration across the College and connected BCC\u2019s work to the future of the city it serves. \u201cWe are not operating at the margins of New York City\u2019s future. We are helping build it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The ceremony featured an academic procession, musical performances, greetings from distinguished guests and the formal presentation of the symbols of office to Johnson. F\u00e9lix V. Matos Rodr\u00edguez, Chancellor of The City University of New York, joined members of the CUNY Board of Trustees, college presidents and higher education leaders, elected officials and other distinguished guests in recognizing the occasion.<\/p>\n

In welcome remarks, Chancellor Matos Rodr\u00edguez described an investiture as a moment that honors a college\u2019s enduring mission while entrusting its future to a new leader. He also underscored Johnson\u2019s longstanding commitment to community colleges, shaped in part by watching his mother pursue a community college education while raising her children and working to build a better life for her family.<\/p>\n

As BCC enters its eighth decade, Bronx Renaissance 2031 sets four aspirational goals for the College: strengthening enrollment, retention and graduation; preparing students for long-term success; enhancing institutional capacity and operational excellence; and cultivating inclusive community connections.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis plan belongs to the BCC community,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cIt grew from your voices, our history, our aspirations and the work we have already begun together.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ceremony closed with Johnson reciting the poem \u201cLife Without Purpose\u201d, which he has shared frequently with students, faculty and staff throughout his career. He then brought the occasion back to its central message.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur time is now,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n

And for Bronx Community College and the community it is privileged to serve, he added, \u201cthe very best is still yet to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

About Bronx Community College<\/p>\n

The Bronx Community College<\/a> (BCC) is home to more than 40 academic programs that will prepare you to continue your education at a four-year institution or begin your career. In addition to our high-quality academic programs, we offer you the opportunity to learn from our outstanding faculty, create flexible class schedules and grow with the support of our academic community. A Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), we enroll students from nearly 100 countries. Our campus is also home to the Hall of Fame for Great Americans, the country\u2019s first hall of fame. In October 2012, our campus was declared a National Historic Landmark, becoming the country\u2019s first community college campus to receive such a designation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With a call to build on Bronx Community College\u2019s (BCC) legacy as the \u201cCrown Jewel of the Bronx,\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":334271,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,9,24,63,129,131,130],"class_list":["post-334270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334270","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=334270"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334270\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/334271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=334270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=334270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=334270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}