03/17/2022
Dear friends of CERRU,
It is a very bittersweet task to let you know that this week is my last week as Director of CERRU. My last day will be this coming Friday March 18th. NO, I can’t tell you just yet what the next step is, but stay tuned! My heart is very full as I think back on these last twelve years with CERRU.
I am one of the founding members of the Center for Ethnic, Racial and Religious Understanding. It has been an incredible experience for me to grow along with this organization, from Program Manager, to Associate Director, to Director. I never could have done this without the leadership of Mark Rosenblum, CERRU’s Founding Director, who insisted that I had what it took to be the next Director, and to CUNY Chancellor Felix Matos Rodriguez, who gave me that opportunity, and who has continued to be a wonderful mentor and “friend of CERRU”. Also want to give thanks for strong female mentors and allies- Glenda Grace, Eva Fernandez, and Nathalia Holzman.
I know every single one of our CERRU student alumni, and I am still in touch with many of them. I have benefitted more than I can ever say from working alongside and learning from those students, along with the CERRU staff, who have been some of the most talented, creative, caring and mission driven people I could have ever imagined. Families like this one are rare, and I am incredibly blessed to have been a member of the CERRU family throughout these years. I want to particularly thank the current staff and interns of the Center for Ethnic, Racial and Religious Understanding, who have labored so hard to grow the work of the CUNY DEI Incubator, along with the work of CERRU, at this extremely critical moment. A big thank you to Aysa, Valerie, Denise, Monica, Brianna, Yael, Marlyn, Anthony and Mohammad. Words cannot express how lucky I have been to do this work with you.
I am absolutely thrilled to be leaving CERRU in the capable hands of Aysa Gray, who will serve as Interim Director. Aysa has been serving CERRU as our Associate Director, and is also one of the founding members and current Co-Director of the CUNY Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Incubator. Aysa’s student centered work at CERRU has been vast and remarkable. She has run several iterations of CERRU’s Student Fellowship at Queens College and Queensborough Community College. During the pandemic, she developed a student aid survey that blossomed into the founding of a Queens College mutual aid group. Aysa spends hours upon hours every week checking in with students, making sure that they are connected to any resources that they might need (food, housing, mental or physical health resources) in addition to all of her regular work. She also takes the lead in liaising with teams of faculty, staff and students in the seven CUNY campus groups associated with the CUNY DEI Incubator. She is a student champion, a facilitator and workshop leader of unparalleled caliber, along with someone who is a true DEI and Anti Racism expert. CERRU couldn’t be in more capable hands.
I will miss the CERRU family so much, but know, that like many of our other staff members and students, that I will often come “home.”
With Gratitude,
Sophia Salguero McGee
Founding Member, the Center for Ethnic Racial and Religious Understanding
Founding Member, CUNY DEI Incubator
