Bio
Arnaldo Bernabe leads the Hostos Community College campus security force, creating a safe environment for the nearly 7,000 students who attend its campus in Mott Haven. The challenge for Bernabe is to help students see that security is in place for them. Many of the students who attend Hostos may have had difficult dealings with law enforcement and many speak a first language other than English. “We need to be more than security officers. We have to understand the difficulties students face on a daily basis and act as colleagues working together to create a safe and rewarding educational community,” says Bernabe. Bernabe has demonstrated a remarkable ability to bridge campus communities, even to the extent that the college created an admissions campaign featuring Bernabe and his team. Widely recognized as a mentor, he has a keen ability to develop security officers, such as recruiting a Hostos cafeteria cashier and developing her into a peace officer who has graduated from the Academy and is a key member of the security team. “Chief Bernabe is not only a safety officer at Hostos; he is an educator, a role model, a person of true wisdom, and the one person absolutely everyone calls upon,” says one Hostos faculty member. When homelessness became a problem for some Hostos students, Bernabe worked with college counselors and faculty to help these students find a place to live, and for emergencies, made special arrangements to allow these students to stay in the college. The dignity he extends to every member of the Hostos community has earned him the respect of students, faculty, and staff alike. Says one security officer, “He is such a wonderful leader. Our entire community owes so much to him.”
