New Office Provides Resources for Immigrant Students on Their Road to Success

The doors are open at 117 Roosevelt Hall, the new Immigrant Student Success Office (ISSO) at Brooklyn College. The office will provide comprehensive resources for immigrant and first-generation college students, including faculty mentorship, financial aid advisement, free legal services, and personalized counseling.

“We will help these students on their journey of getting a college education, right through graduation,” says Jesús Pérez '95, director of ISSO. “We will guide them academically, make sure they are connected to mentors and advisers, as well as legal aid, if needed,” he adds. Pérez, who has worked at Brooklyn College since 1992 and has served as the director of the school’s Center for Academic Advisement and Student Success for 15 years, brings a special understanding to the job: He is a Brooklyn College alumnus who emigrated from Mexico as a child.

“Mr. Pérez brings extraordinary professional expertise to the role of director of ISSO,” says Brooklyn College President Michelle J. Anderson. “Part of our core mission is a commitment to educate immigrants and first-generation college students from the diverse communities that make up our city and state.”

The Immigrant Student Success Office was made possible by a generous gift from Irwin '56 and Concepción Federman. Irwin, the son of immigrant parents, is a venture capitalist and a Brooklyn College Board of Trustees member.

Brooklyn College is a microcosm of the ethnically rich borough of Brooklyn it serves as well as a mirror of the wide diversity in New York City itself. A vibrant, intellectually engaged community, our student body comprises individuals from 139 countries, speaking 103 different languages, who share in the educational home our ample campus provides. Brooklyn College attracts bright, ambitious individuals and is particularly well suited to those who are eager to explore a wide range of academic disciplines.