Daisy Cocco De Filippis

{{Infobox person

| name = Daisy Cocco DeFilippis

| image = DaisyCoccoDeFilippis.JPG

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_name = Daisy Cocco

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1949|2|25|df=y}}

| birth_place = Dominican Republic

| nationality = Dominican
American

| other_names = Daisy C. Defilippis

| occupation = Community college president

| years_active =

| alma_mater = Queens College
CUNY Graduate Center

| notable_works =

| children = 3

| relatives = Miguel Cocco

}}

Daisy Cocco DeFilippis (born 25 February 1949) is a Dominican-American academic administrator and author. She is the current president at Hostos Community College in The Bronx, making her the first person born in the Dominican Republic to serve as President of a college of the City University of New York. From 2008 to 1 August 2020 she was president of Naugatuck Valley Community College (NVCC) in Waterbury, Connecticut. She is the author of works of fiction and non-fiction dealing with Dominican and Dominican-American women.

Early life and education

Cocco was born in Santo Domingo on 25 February 1949. Her parents divorced when she was 4{{sfn|Guilamo|2016}} and her mother remarried that same year.{{sfn|CUNY Dominican Studies Institute|2008}} Cocco lived with her mother and her second husband in a home owned by an Italian couple.{{sfn|Cocco De Filippis|2001|p=93}} Her maternal grandmother, Gabriela Menendez Henriquez (Mama Beila), a schoolteacher, who encouraged her to read Dominican poetry and books, was a stabilizing and influential figure in her childhood.{{sfn|Guilamo|2016}}{{sfn|CUNY Dominican Studies Institute|2008}} By the age of 9, she was fluent in Spanish and Italian.{{sfn|Guilamo|2016}}

Her mother moved to New York City, and Cocco joined her when she was 13 years old.{{sfn|Cocco De Filippis|2001|p=93}} She graduated from high school there, married Nunzio De Filippis, and at 19 had her first child, Joseph.{{sfn|Guilamo|2016}}{{sfn|McKenna|1999}}{{sfn|Leland|2001|p=E3}} Attending night school at Queens College, City University of New York, Cocco graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and English literature in 1975.{{sfn|Guilamo|2016}}{{sfn|McKenna|1999}} Continuing her education at Queens College, she completed her master's degree in 1978 in Spanish literature.{{sfn|Guilamo|2016}}

Career

In 1978, Cocco became an adjunct lecturer for York College, City University of New York.{{sfn|CUNY Dominican Studies Institute|2008}}{{sfn|McKenna|1999}} She had two more sons, Nunzio Andrew and James Louis,{{sfn|McKenna|1999}}{{sfn|El universitario|2016}} and began working on her doctorate at CUNY Graduate Center, completing her Ph.D. in Spanish language in 1984.{{sfn|Guilamo|2016}}{{sfn|McKenna|1999}} Sociologist and historian, Ramona Hernández, and historian, Anthony Stevens-Acevedo stated that Cocco was the "first person of Dominican ancestry to complete her Ph.D. in the City University of New York".{{sfn|Guilamo|2016}} Her career at York College advanced and she became a professor of Spanish, chair of the Department of Foreign Languages, and in 1994 was promoted to president of the Dominican Studies Association.{{sfn|McKenna|1999}}

Cocco's research has focused on the literature of the Dominican Republic, but more broadly the Caribbean and Latin American region, including the Diaspora.{{sfn|Álvarez-López|2020}}{{sfn|The Hartford Courant|2009|p=H17}} Her particular interest has been interpreting and translating the works of Dominican women writers and disseminating their works to broader audiences.{{sfn|Guilamo|2016}} She is recognized internationally as a pioneering scholar, who has built a reputation for her studies of Dominican women and has received numerous awards and honors for her scholarship.{{sfn|Guilamo|2016}}{{sfn|Diario Libre|2020}} She has written over 50 books and academic journal articles and published translations of over four dozen poems by Dominican writers.{{sfn|El universitario|2016}}

After 20 years of teaching, Cocco moved into administrative roles, serving as associate dean of academic affairs at York College.{{sfn|CUNY Dominican Studies Institute|2008}}{{sfn|Diario Libre|2020}} From 2002 to 2008, she was the Chancellor and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs of Hostos Community College in The Bronx.{{sfn|Diario Libre|2020}} In 2008, she became the president of Naugatuck Valley Community College in Waterbury, Connecticut. Under her guidance student retention rose,{{sfn|Guilamo|2016}} enrollment increased, and a campus was opened in 2016 in Danbury, Connecticut.{{sfn|Naugatuck Valley Community College|2014}} She also worked with local governance to bring evening bus service to Waterbury.{{sfn|Murray|2020}}

Citing a need to return to her family in New York because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Cocco retired effective 1 August 2020 from Naugatuck Valley Community College and became the interim president of the Hostos Community College.{{sfn|Murray|2020}}{{sfn|Diario Libre|2020}} Her appointment marked the first time a Dominican woman has served as "president of a university in the CUNY university consortium".{{sfn|Diario Libre|2020}}

Honors and awards

2003 Order of Merit Cristóbal Colón, with the Rank of Commander, presented by Hipólito Mejía, President of the Dominican Republic.{{sfn|CUNY Dominican Studies Institute|2008}}
2005 Hija Distinguida of Santo Domingo/Distinguished Daughter Award, presented by the Mayor of Santo Domingo.{{sfn|CUNY Dominican Studies Institute|2008}}
2005 Order of Merit of Duarte, Sánchez and Mella with the Rank of Commander, presented by Dr. Leonel Fernandez, President of the Dominican Republic.{{sfn|CUNY Dominican Studies Institute|2008}}
2016 Honorary Doctorate of Letters, Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo.{{sfn|El universitario|2016}}

Selected works

Hija de Camila/Camila's Line Santo Domingo: Editora Nacional, Feria del Libro Dominicano, 2007
Documents of Dissidence, Selected Writings by Dominican Women New York: Foundational Series, CUNY Dominican Studies Institute, 2000
Tertuliando/Hanging Out, Dominicanas & Friends Santo Domingo: Publicación Permanente de la Feria del Libro Dominicano [Dominican Edition], 1997, and New York: CUNY Caribbean Exchange Program, Hunter College, CUNY, 1997
Sin otro profeta que su canto, antología de poesía escrita por dominicanas Santo Domingo: Biblioteca Taller, 1988
Stories from Washington Heights and Other Corners of the World Co-editor. New York: Latin American Writers Institute, 1994
Telling To Live, Testimonios by Latina Researchers Co-author. Duke University Press, 2001

References

=Citations=

=Bibliography=

{{cite news |last1=Álvarez-López |first1=Luis |title=La Mujer Dominicana: Inmigrante en busca de la Igualdad, de Antonio Méndez, Santo Domingo: Letras de Ultramar, Comisionado de Cultura de los Estados Unidos, 2009 |url=https://www.elcaribe.com.do/2020/08/28/la-mujer-dominicana-inmigrante-en-busca-de-la-igualdad-de-antonio-mendez-santo-domingo-letras-de-ultramar-comisionado-de-cultura-de-los-estados-unidos-2009/ |accessdate=8 September 2020 |date=28 August 2020 |newspaper=El Caribe |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20200829081350/https://www.elcaribe.com.do/2020/08/28/la-mujer-dominicana-inmigrante-en-busca-de-la-igualdad-de-antonio-mendez-santo-domingo-letras-de-ultramar-comisionado-de-cultura-de-los-estados-unidos-2009/ |archivedate=29 August 2020 |location=Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic |language=Spanish |trans-title=The Dominican Woman: Immigrant in Search of Equality, by Antonio Méndez, Santo Domingo: Letras de Ultramar, United States Commissioner of Culture, 2009}}
{{cite book |last1=Cocco De Filippis |first1=Daisy |editor1-last=Latina Feminist Group |title=Telling to Live : Latina Feminist Testimonios |date=2001 |publisher=Duke University Press |location=Durham, North Carolina |isbn=978-0-8223-8328-4 |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/book/69455 |chapter=The House That Mamá Biela Built |chapter-url=https://muse.jhu.edu/chapter/2523186}}
{{cite book |last1=Guilamo |first1=Daly |editor-last1=Knight |editor-first1=Franklin W. |editor-last2=Gates |editor-first2=Henry Louis Jr. |editor2-link=Henry Louis Gates, Jr. |title=Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro–Latin American Biography |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, England |isbn=978-0-199-93580-2 |chapter-url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199935796.001.0001/acref-9780199935796-e-514?rskey=WLuZ9v&result=15 |chapter=Cocco De Filippis, Daisy (1949– ), literary scholar, professor, higher education administrator, and community college president}}{{subscription required|via=[http://www.oxfordreference.com/ Oxford University Press]'s Reference Online}}
{{cite news |last1=Leland |first1=John |title=Gays' Parents Nudge for Grandchildren |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58905895/star-tribune/ |accessdate=8 September 2020 |date=19 January 2001 |agency=New York Times News Service |newspaper=The Star Tribune |location=Minneapolis, Minnesota |page=E3 |via=Newspapers.com}}
{{cite news |last1=McKenna |first1=Sheila |title=Profile / Daisy Cocco de Filippis |url=https://www.newsday.com/news/new-york/profile-daisy-cocco-de-filippis-1.343474 |accessdate=8 September 2020 |date=23 October 1999 |newspaper=Newsday |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20200908183913/https://www.newsday.com/news/new-york/profile-daisy-cocco-de-filippis-1.343474 |archivedate=8 September 2020 |location=Melville, New York |url-status=live }}
{{cite news |last1=Murray |first1=John |title=NVCC President Announces Retirement |url=http://www.waterburyobserver.org/wod7/nvcc-president-announces-retirement |accessdate=8 September 2020 |date=1 April 2020 |newspaper=The Waterbury Observer |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20200429131141/http://www.waterburyobserver.org/wod7/nvcc-president-announces-retirement |archivedate=29 April 2020 |location=Waterbury, Connecticut}}
{{cite web |ref={{harvid|CUNY Dominican Studies Institute|2008}} |author= |title=Daisy Cocco De Filippis |url=https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/dsi/dominican-blue-book-daisy-cocco-de-filippis |website=CUNY Dominican Studies Institute |publisher=City University of New York |accessdate=8 September 2020 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20200908175940/https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/dsi/dominican-blue-book-daisy-cocco-de-filippis |archivedate=8 September 2020 |location=New York, New York |date=2008 |url-status=live }}
{{cite news |ref={{harvid|Diario Libre|2020}} |author= |title=Designan a Daisy Cocco de Filippis presidenta interina del Hostos Community College |url=https://www.diariolibre.com/actualidad/designan-a-daisy-cocco-de-filippis-presidenta-interina-del-hostos-community-college-EK18036525 |accessdate=8 September 2020 |date=1 April 2020 |newspaper=Diario Libre |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20200908193642/https://www.diariolibre.com/actualidad/designan-a-daisy-cocco-de-filippis-presidenta-interina-del-hostos-community-college-EK18036525 |archivedate=8 September 2020 |location=Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic |language=Spanish |trans-title=Daisy Cocco de Filippis appointed interim president of Hostos Community College |url-status=live }}
{{cite news |ref={{harvid|The Hartford Courant|2009}}|author= |title=Discussion of Anthology of Dominican Women Authors |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58913775/hartford-courant/ |accessdate=8 September 2020 |date=1 March 2009 |newspaper=The Hartford Courant |location=Hartford, Connecticut |page=H17 |via=Newspapers.com}}
{{cite web |ref={{harvid|Naugatuck Valley Community College|2014}}|author= |title=President's Message |url=http://www.nv.edu/About-NVCC/Presidents-Message/itemId/1998/About-Dr-De-Filippis |website=NV.edu |publisher=Naugatuck Valley Community College |accessdate=8 September 2020 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202234706/http://www.nv.edu/About-NVCC/Presidents-Message/itemId/1998/About-Dr-De-Filippis |archivedate=2 February 2017 |location=Waterbury, Connecticut |date=2014}}
{{cite news |ref={{harvid|El universitario|2016}}|author= |title=UASD inviste a Daisy Cocco de Filippis como Doctora Honoris Causa |url=http://eluniversitario.do/index.php/el-universitario/item/1757-uasd-inviste-a-daisy-cocco-de-filippis-como-doctora-honoris-causa |accessdate=8 September 2020 |date=7 October 2016 |newspaper=El universitario |publisher=Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170304175956/http://eluniversitario.do/index.php/el-universitario/item/1757-uasd-inviste-a-daisy-cocco-de-filippis-como-doctora-honoris-causa |archivedate=4 March 2017 |location=Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic |language=Spanish |trans-title=UASD Invests Daisy Cocco de Filippis as Doctor Honoris Causa}}