“The past two semesters leading the ‘BRESI Paid Internships to Leverage Careers’ project has been a wonderful experience.”
– Robin A Harper, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science, York College
“My BRESI internship gave me the confidence to feel that I belong in professional spaces.”
– Isabelle Peterson, Political Science major, York College
“As a BRESI grant recipient, I have had both the time and funding to do work I never thought possible.”
– Dr. Grisel Acosta, Professor of English, Bronx Community College
“I am deeply grateful and encouraged by CUNY’s strong commitment to reimagining BRES at the highest level.”
– Van C. Tran, Associate Professor of Sociology, CUNY Graduate Center
“BRESI has facilitated unprecedented faculty collaborations across CUNY creating a plethora of innovative programming.”
– Anthony P Browne, Ph.D., Department Chair of Africana, Puerto Rican and Latino Studies at Hunter College
“BRESI is transformative. It’s about action, taking ideas, values and beliefs and bringing them to life in a rich collaborative, intellectual, social and activist spirit.”
– Tsedale Melaku, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Management, Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College
“The Black, Race and Ethnic Studies Initiative has been instrumental in raising our curiosity about the dehumanizing impact of colonization on higher education.”
– Virginia Diaz-Mendoza, Assistant Professor of Counseling, John Jay College
“BRESI’s generous contribution has made it possible for us to create a more inclusive and equitable learning environment.”
– Mila Burns, Ph.D. Assistant Professor – Department of Latin American and Latino Studies, Lehman College
“The DEI Fridays program has filled some needs in our community – a need for conversations and learnings about sensitive, challenging and timely topics…”
– Anna D’Souza, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Austin W, Marxe School of Public and International Affairs, Baruch College
“Much of my [BRESI] project rebirthed itself into thinking about People of Color in urban communities and where we go for solace.”
– Regina Bernard, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Youth Studies, CUNY School of Professional Studies
Mellon Foundation Awards CUNY $5 Million to Expand Black, Race and Ethnic Studies Initiative
The City University of New York in 2020 announced an historic gift of $10 million from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to drive change across CUNY’s 25 campuses and develop and expand a range of initiatives related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the intensified effort to advance social and racial justice. One of these important efforts is a $3 million initiative to reimagine and further develop CUNY programs in Black, Race and Ethnic Studies, a key aspect of the University’s commitment to inclusion and to scholarship of the vast multiplicity of cultures represented by CUNY students and New York City as a whole.
In March 2024, The City University of New York received $5 million from the Mellon Foundation to expand BRESI. This grant will allow CUNY to launch New York’s first dedicated graduate degree program in Black, Race, and Ethnic Studies (BRES). CUNY was the largest recipient of 95 grantees awarded more than $18 million by Mellon for race, ethnic, gender and sexuality studies, reflecting the University’s unique commitment to advancing the cause of social justice.
For any questions or concerns regarding BRESI, please contact BRESI@cuny.edu.
As part of an internal documentation project for the Black, Race and Ethnic Studies Initiative (BRESI) at the City University of New York, Professor Debra Schultz and her team conducted a number of in-depth interviews with BRESI participants in the Spring of 2023. This video captures special moments from a few of these interviews painting a portrait of the people who have brought BRESI to life.
BRESI Booklet
This publication reflects the vision, hopes, and intense commitment of many people connected to the City University of New York and the values of Black, Race and Ethnic Studies, new fields of knowledge and emerging fields of study inspired by social change movements from the 1960’s to the present. It documents a transparent, inclusive, and dynamic process of inviting diverse constituencies across the University to reinterpret and re-envision Black, Race and Ethnic Studies for the 21st century. This process unfolded within the context of a city and country struggling to face a racial reckoning while reeling from a global pandemic that has disproportionately affected vulnerable communities of color.
BRESI Council
In February 2022, Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez greenlit the implementation phase of BRESI following the formal recommendations of BRESI Planning Commission. The commission’s recommendations were arrived at after a year of study and encompass an array of areas, such as academics, research, hiring and promotion, campus culture, and student advancement.
As part of the implementation phase, the Chancellor established the Black, Race and Ethnic Studies Initiative Council as a formal body within CUNY. This 13-member council is co-chaired by Dr. Hector Cordero-Guzmán, president of the Research Foundation of the City University of New York; and Dr. Judith M. Anderson, associate professor of Africana/African American Studies in the Depart of Ethnic and Race Studies at the Borough of Manhattan Community College.
Bios for the full BRESI Council can be found here.
The council’s objectives include community building with the CUNY system, serving as advisors to CUNY’s central office on BRESI matters, and collaborating with the University in long-term planning and fundraising to sustain the BRESI mission.
BRESI Grants Awarded in Summer 2022
A major component of the BRESI work was the awarding of grants in Nine RFP areas established to seed promising work to advance BRESI’s mission at CUNY. A total of 500 proposals were submitted across CUNY and 126 grants were awarded in Summer 2022. The nine RFP areas are:
- Course and curriculum design and curriculum and syllabus decolonization
- Student research initiatives
- Student internships in groups and organizations that work on ethnic studies-related issues
- Improving campus climate
- Approved ethnic studies-related centers and institutions
- Ethnic studies-related academic departments throughout CUNY
- Faculty publication efforts
- Community college faculty research grants
- Senior college faculty proposing ethnic studies-related research
BRESI History
Click here for a history of BRESI, including its town halls, planning commission, and summaries of its reports.
BRESI Highlights
Click here to see highlights from some of the BRESI projects.
In celebration of the formation of Ethnic Studies at BMCC, Borough of Manhattan Community college hosted “The Legacy and Future of Ethnic Studies at CUNY” on April 27th and April 28th, 2023.
Chancellor Matos Rodríguez tours Flatbush African Burial Grounds with Brooklyn College students who are interning at the site.