The CUNY Mexican Studies Institute (MSI), housed at Lehman College, is celebrating its 10^th year with a significant new investment from local lawmakers. In July, the institute received a funding allocation of $1 million from New York City Council to support its work.

 

CUNY MSI is one of just two research centers in the Northeast of the country dedicated to Mexican and Mexican American studies. College officials say, as part of its mission, the institute also strives to boost enrollment of Mexican and Mexican-American students at CUNY and works with international and local organizations to empower the City’s Mexican immigrants, and those interested in the Mexican diaspora.

 

José Higuera López, CUNY MSI’s deputy director said the seven-figure funding allocation, included in the City Council’s budget for fiscal year 2022, will help the institute plan not only for the months ahead, but for the next five years. Referring to the funding as a “milestone,” he noted that the award is four times the amount CUNY MSI received from the City Council just three years ago.

 

“This award reflects the commitment the city has to equity, and promoting growth,” Higuera López said. “It also sends a strong message that the Mexican Studies Institute is fully supported.”

 

CUNY MSI fosters research projects, administers the Mexican Studies Archive and Library, and sponsors conferences, workshops, symposia, and publications. It also partners with the New York Legal Assistance Group to support undocumented young people protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, and immigrants seeking citizenship, green card renewals, visas, and help filing deportation and asylum petitions.

 

According to Higuera López, CUNY MSI’s immediate goals include establishing an oral history project about the contributions of Mexicans and of Mexican-Americans to New York City. The institute also plans to expand its free support services for Spanish-speaking New Yorkers, which includes business and entrepreneurship training.

 

Founded in February 2012, CUNY MSI began its 10th fiscal year in July, and recently announced the appointment of a new director, Juan J. DelaCruz, an associate professor of economics and business at Lehman College and an associate faculty member at the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy. His two-year term begins Aug. 25.

 

As it marks a decade of service, the institute is among the busiest it has ever been. Higuera López said the institute has served more than 48,000 New Yorkers in the first three-quarters of 2021, more than three times the numbers it served in total in 2019 (16,000).

 

The funding increase was championed by Brooklyn Councilman Carlos Menchaca, who represents the Sunset Park district and is chairman of the City Council’s committee on immigration. Menchaca became New York State’s first Mexican-American elected official in 2013, and he and Higuera López have worked closely together in the past several years.

 

In reference to the funding, Menchaca said, “It was incredibly important for me to fight for this funding because representation matters,” adding that the increase puts the institute on a par with other large CUNY cultural institutes. “CUNY’s Mexican institute tells our history and uplifts the important contributions we have made to this great city,” he said.

 

Additionally, Higuera López said that the institute has also awarded some $1 million in scholarships, raised through private fundraising, to more than 250 CUNY students over the past decade regardless of the students’ immigration status.

 

“For us, the main goal is to bring students into CUNY and to show them that Lehman provides more than a degree,” Higuera López said. He added that the institute also promotes various course offerings available under Lehman’s School of Continuing Professional Studies, including ESL classes, healthcare and OSHA certifications, as well as the technology center and small business incubator.

 

“The more people come to campus, the more they can visualize themselves being on campus, and see that education is attainable,” he said. “Promoting access to education is the first step toward upward mobility.”

 

To learn more about the institute’s offerings, including a series of events being held to celebrate its 10-year anniversary, visit the institute’s website or follow it on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter.