CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez commented on Gov. Hochul’s 2025 State of the State address on Tuesday. Read below his full statement:
“Gov. Hochul’s 2025 State of the State address offered a clear-eyed vision of a more inclusive and sustainable future and how public institutions like CUNY can play a critical role in preparing New Yorkers to meet tomorrow’s challenges.
“Key to this vision is ensuring all New Yorkers can thrive personally, professionally and academically. To that end, Gov. Hochul’s plan to expand apprenticeship programs to all seven CUNY community colleges and her new initiative to fund free community college for adults pursuing degrees in high-demand fields such as nursing, teaching, technology and engineering will expand access to industry pipelines and enable countless individuals, particularly those from underserved communities, to access prosperous, sustaining careers.
“Any focus on the future, however, would be incomplete without addressing climate change. Gov. Hochul smartly recognizes the potential contributions that CUNY’s 25 campuses can play in the critical work of curbing our consumption of fossil fuels and meeting New York State’s ambitious carbon reduction goals. The effort to make these facilities healthier will benefit not just our faculty, students and staff but the thousands of New Yorkers who live and work in the surrounding neighborhoods.
“I’m grateful to Gov. Hochul, whose new proposals, which build on recent investments establishing the CUNY School of Medicine as an independent institution and expanding our Associates of Applied Science College Apprenticeship program, will ensure the nation’s most diverse and largest public urban university remains an engine of upward mobility for all New Yorkers.”
