Noted & Quoted: COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND ADVOCATES UNITE TO CREATE A PLAN TO FIGHT REMOVAL EFFORTS BY COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK

OFFICE OF THE HON. YDANIS RODRIGUEZ

CITY HALL

NEW YORK, NY 10007

(212) 788-7053

*** Press Release***

June 1, 2012

Contact:  Seny Taveras (917) 521-2616

Dean Pena-Mora, a Prominent Latino leader and educator has fulfilled and all exceeded all expectations required of him since his appointment in 2009

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New York, NY- Recently, Columbia University has engaged in effort to remove Dean Feniosky Pena-Mora from his position as Dean of the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science at Columbia University. Their rational for the removal is not based on Dean Pena- Mora’s merits. Since assuming the position of Dean in 2009, Feniosky Pena-Mora has demonstrated his talents as a Latino leader fully capable of leading the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Under his leadership, the Fu Foundation School of Applied Sciences and Engineering has improved its national ranking from 21^st to 15^th in only 3 years; the student body has increased its diversity, expanding the enrollment of women and minorities a great deal; professors of high esteem and acclaim have been attracted to Columbia and brought on board by Mr. Pena-Mora; and there has been a marked increase in the support for the Columbia Engineering Endowment.

Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez along with local elected officials, Dominican American National Roundtable, students and advocates held an emergency community meeting to organize a plan of action in support of Dean Pena-Mora and to show that the community will not tolerate this unwarranted effort to remove a great leader.

 “The efforts recently undertaken by Columbia University to remove Dean Pena- Mora are unjust at best,” said NYC Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez. “ In Dean Pena-Mora, we have a true leader with the proven capability to take the Fu Foundation School of Engineering into even higher prominence.”

“By all accounts, Dean Pena Mora has excelled at his job responsibilities,” said Dr. Maria Teresa Montilla, President of the Dominican American National Roundtable. “There is something unclear about this situation. We trust that Columbia University will reconsider its decision and explain to our community its real reasons to oust Dean Pena Mora from his position. We are watching closely.”