Dr. Grisel Y. Acosta, associate professor of BCC’s Department of English Language and Literature, has been named one of 16 members of a CUNY-wide planning commission that will assess the current offerings of the City University of New York’s Black, race and ethnic studies programs and recommend innovations. The commission is part of a CUNY initiative funded by a $10 million gift from the Mellon Foundation, $3 million of which has been allocated to reimagining Black, race and ethnic studies at the University.

Dr. Acosta was the Chair of Bronx Community College’s COACH Committee, spearheading a permanent Diversity and Inclusion Committee on campus. She is the editor of the anthology, Latina Outsiders Remaking Latina Identity and a Geraldine Dodge Foundation Poet. Her first book of poetry, Things to Pack on the Way to Everywhere, is an Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize finalist and will be published by Get Fresh Books in April.