By Gabriela Flores
Reporting Assistance by Michela Arlia
Six days after fall classes began, Dr. Hamilton Raymond, Brooklyn College’s former Associate Director of Student Activities who worked as a liaison and mentor for student organizations, announced his resignation from the college to club leaders. After three years in his position, Raymond will move to North Carolina for a work opportunity at Johnson C. Smith University, a historically black university.
“For the past three years, I have served you all as your Associate Director of Student Activities, and it has been nothing short of a great experience learning and working with you all, both new and old,” Raymond said in an email to student club leaders, noting his resignation was effective Thursday, Sept. 1.
After joining BC’s Student Affairs in 2019, Raymond published “Invisible Men: Disappearance on Black Men in College ” and earned his doctorate in higher education, leadership, and management in 2021. The Flatbush native with Haitian roots pursued a career in education after a Nursing Beyond Borders trip to Guatemala. Raymond soon realized his true calling – “uplifting minorities by sharing resources and knowledge,” he told BC News.
“My mom, who raised me as a single parent, instilled in me a work ethic that I am unable to shake, thankfully, so as soon as I came back from Guatemala, I got to work on switching careers and taking the first step toward the education field,” Raymond said to BC News in June.
As Raymond’s position remains vacant, Student Affairs has an interim plan in place where other administrators and Student Activities, Involvement, and Leadership’s assistant directors, are managing his role’s responsibilities.
“We thank Hamilton for his service to Brooklyn College over the past three years and wish him much success as he moves forward in his career,” said Moraima Smith, Assistant Dean for Student Life, who noted the college knew of Raymond’s resignation in advance.
Students who worked closely with Raymond are rooting for him, his family, and his future at JCSU.
“He was my liaison, at some points he was my mentor, at some points he was my therapist,” said Louis Di Meglio, the president of the Graduate Student Organization. “He was there to be exactly what he needed to be, which was a good listener, and he did what he could. And that’s always appreciated.”