CENTRO, the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College, has received a five-year, $6.468 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for research in Puerto Rican Studies.
The grant will fund CENTRO’s five-year “Rooted + Relational” research initiative, which will launch in the fall around the theme “Archives, Memory & the Present Past of Puerto Rico.” Subsequent years will tackle themes of “Boricuas in Relation” (2025–2026); “Black Cuerpas: Race, Body Politics & Culture” (2026–2027); “LGBTQ Activism, Pleasure & Worldmaking” (2027–2028); and “Land, Ecologies & Environmental Futures” (2028–2029). Each theme will inform CENTRO’s scholarly, community, and cultural programming for the year.
The grant will enhance the public offerings of CENTRO, which this past year celebrated its 51st anniversary and which has established itself as an educational and cultural hub in El Barrio. CENTRO’s Library and Archives are at Hunter’s Silberman Campus at 119th Street in East Harlem.
“The Rooted + Relational Initiative comes out of years of scholarly research, community building, and a pressing need to reframe critical discourses in the field of Puerto Rican Studies,” said CENTRO Directora Dr. Yomaira Figueroa-Vásquez. “This generous funding provides an essential foundation to this work over the next five years. We are thrilled that Mellon President Elizabeth Alexander sees the importance of Puerto Rican Studies and that the Foundation has committed to bolstering the legacy and mission of CENTRO by seeing the value of what this initiative can do for this field and our community.”
“CENTRO is a singular institution that has championed a community-activated vision of Puerto Rican scholarship and scholarly excellence for more than half a century,” said Elizabeth Alexander, President of the Mellon Foundation. “We at Mellon are pleased to support CENTRO as it embarks on this new research initiative, one that will spark further opportunities for learning and collaboration both within the CUNY system and with the broader public.”
“Hunter’s CENTRO is a unique institution that provides access to the rich cultural resources only colleges and universities can provide,” said Hunter College President Ann Kirschner. “With this generous grant, the Mellon Foundation ensures that the Puerto Rican community and all New Yorkers can experience and learn from the vibrant heritage of Puerto Rico and its diaspora.”
