CUNY invites immigrants - documented or not - to join 15-week hospitality management training

BY Elizabeth Hays
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Originally Published:Sunday, May 2nd 2010, 9:28 PM
Updated: Monday, May 3rd 2010, 9:49 AM

Arizona may be cracking down on illegal immigrants, but one New York college is inviting them in.

New York City College of Technology in Brooklyn has launched a free pilot program that aims to get Mexican restaurant workers to go back to school, even if they're undocumented.

"For me, it's going to open a lot of doors," said Salvador, a 45-year-old busboy from Mexico City who illegally moved to the city nine years ago.

The high school dropout jumped at the chance to get ahead and is now inspired to get his GED.

"I want to be someone in the future," he added.

The first class at the CUNY branch started in February. It gives bussers, line cooks and other restaurant staffers - some of whom dropped out decades ago - 15 weeks of hospitality management training combined with English and math.

"This opened the door to college that I was afraid to open," said Adriana, 31, an undocumented single mom who works as a manager at a Manhattan restaurant. "This class gave me so much confidence."

Students end up with a City Tech certificate that's also recognized in Mexico. CUNY officials said the program, funded by a $100,000 grant from the Mexican government, is likely the first of its kind in the country.

Though many city agencies, such as public schools and hospitals, are required to provide services for immigrants regardless of status, the CUNY program goes further and actively courts even illegal immigrants.

Officials from CUNY, long a launching pad for immigrant strivers, said it isn't their business to ask students their legal status.

CUNY Vice Chancellor Jay Hershenson said the program is a pragmatic approach to head off an "educational catastrophe" among Mexicans immigrants, who are among the city's fastest growing groups but have among the lowest college rates.

CUNY has also launched a Web site called "¡SÃ*, Se Puede!" or "Yes, you can!" aimed at luring Mexican students, and assures them that even without documents they can enroll.

"Hopefully, someday soon there will be immigration reform in our nation," Hershenson said. "But since we live in the present, we want to do everything we can now."ehays@nydailynews.com

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/201 ... z0msjvO1gU