Bronx borough president to high school grads: ‘Start breaking the mold of what the face of techies look like’

The tech industry in New York City has a diversity problem. The Bronx Academy for Software Engineering was launched to help solve it.

The high school, known as BASE, graduated its first class of seniors on Wednesday. With a curriculum that blends computer programming and social justice, the school will soon provide official Career and Technical Education certification, allowing students to graduate with an endorsement of their job-readiness.

Venture capitalist Fred Wilson helped start BASE with the goal of creating a pipeline of talent for a burgeoning local technology sector, and ensuring the city’s diversity is reflected in hiring. In New York City, 53 percent of the population is black or Hispanic, but those groups make up only 20 percent of employees in the tech industry, according to a 2015 report by the Center for an Urban Future.

At BASE, about 30 percent of students are black and about 60 percent are Hispanic.

“The tech sector should look like you. All of you,” Wilson told the graduates. “I want to thank you for showing the world what’s possible … I want to ask you to go out into the world and take over the tech sector. I’m going to be rooting for you.”

About 81 percent of the inaugural class graduated, according to founding principal Ben Grossman. That’s well above the borough average of about 65 percent last year, and also beats the citywide average of about 73 percent. All of BASE’s graduates are college-bound, according to the school.

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. — who has pushed for computer science education in Bronx schools, and to attract the technology sector to the borough — gave the commencement speech for BASE’s first class of seniors. Here’s why he almost didn’t graduate from high school — and his advice for defying stereotypes about what it means to be from the Bronx.

This speech has been condensed and lightly edited for length and clarity.

This is a celebration and a ceremony. It’s about a journey that you’ve already been through with your family, and one that you will continue to take as life goes on. I’ll try to not to belabor this, but let me give you a little bit of what you will perhaps encounter during that journey. Number one: It doesn’t matter where you start. It’s all about where you finish. Why? Even though I’m the borough president, I, unlike you, did not walk and did not graduate during my high school graduation. The reason why I didn’t graduate is because I transferred my senior year, chasing love. I didn’t focus on my studies the way I should. So it took me a little longer. And we got pregnant afterwards — don’t try this at home. We started a family. I did the best that I could to provide as a messenger for the New York City Council, my first government job. Then I went on and I ran for the New York State Assembly and, at the age of 23, I became the youngest legislator in the State of New York at the time. So it doesn’t matter how or where you start. It’s how you finish. But even when you believe that you made it, number two: There are going to be haters. Let them hate. I say that because even when I was in the New York State Legislature, here I am being sworn-in, I’m 23-years-old. I have my wife and children. My mom and dad. A joyous occasion, just like today. And yet, a colleague of mine at the time, who was there for a long time, he says, “What school did you graduate from again? What college?” And I was still a college student at LaGuardia Community College. And he says, “Well, I’m Harvard. Yale Law.” Nothing wrong with being Harvard, Yale Law. God bless him. But I just didn’t like the way he said it. He was being condescending. No me gustó. I didn’t like it. It’s the way people sometimes look at you, about where you come from. And so I said, “Wait a minute. You’re Harvard, Yale Law. I’m LaGuardia Community College. And here we are, sitting next to each other. Either I’m a great success, or you’re just a terrible failure.” He was trying to throw shade at me. You got to let the haters hate. You’ve got to understand that people are going to judge you because, perhaps you have an accent. Perhaps you did not go to MIT. Perhaps you didn’t go to Harvard or Yale. Maybe your parents aren’t affluent or wealthy. Or maybe just because you come from the Boogie Down Bronx. You got to go out there, and you got to conquer. Do the best that you can and be representatives for yourself, your family, your community. And break the mold. We’re at a place now where corporate America, the tech world, is looking at our borough, like they’re looking at other places, to try to find a home. This is where you come in. This is where you start breaking the mold of what the face of techies look like. There’s a sensitive time in this country, where even coming out of the White House, there’s this vilification of diversity. We come in all shapes and colors. We embrace them and we know that diversity is our strength. You go out there. You get your degrees. You conquer the world. And you represent BASE, you represent your family, and you represent the Boogie Down Bronx as well. You represent evidence that, if you give a young man, a young woman from our community — with all of that swag — you give them resources, they’ll conquer the world. Understand that you’ve already started in a better place than some of us. You’re already equipped with the backing and the love of a community — whether it’s your parents or your educators. You have the attention of giants in the fields that you want to go into. Some might say you’re lucky. Luck is but an equation. Luck equals opportunity, plus preparation. I believe that BASE has prepared you to go out there and seize all the opportunities that will be presented in front of you. Oh, by the way. That young lady I was chasing? Twenty-eight years later, she’s still my wife.