Expanded Horizons Ceremony Celebrates 36 Outstanding Graduates
By Barbara Kancelbaum
Thirty-six graduating high school seniors celebrated their achievements and accepted Henry Street scholarships at the Settlement’s annual Expanded Horizons Scholarship Ceremony & Decision Day on May 29, 2025. Current participants, alumni, and Henry Street leaders all spoke of the program’s profound impact in enabling access to college for young people who may have lacked opportunities and guidance in applying to and affordably attending schools of their choice.
Expanded Horizons is an eight-year program that follows students from ninth grade through college graduation. It offers a constellation of support services, including college and financial aid counseling, courses to prepare students for the college environment, SAT prep, college visits, scholarships, and help navigating the challenges of college once they arrive. Students receive $4,000 scholarships (or $6,000 if they live in New York City public housing) from either the Abrons/Aranow or Bloom-Margolies Scholarship funds. Selected graduates also receive laptop computers through the Bernard and Ellie Tannenbaum Scholarship.
Introducing the event, Henry Street President & CEO David Garza implored the graduates—many of them the first in their families to attend college—to ask for help when they need it. He spoke passionately about his experiences as a first-year Harvard student, struggling academically and uncertain of his place in the institution. “Asking for help is not a weakness; it’s wisdom,” he says. “Even today, as confident as I am in my role steering Henry Street, the best thing I can do is ask for help when I need it.”
Garza called the assembled students “the hope” and “the living embodiment of Henry Street’s mission.”
Henry Street President & CEO David Garza celebrates the Class of 2025 as a powerful force for the future
Tachrina Ahmed, director of Expanded Horizons College Access and Success, noted that students are graduating in an uncertain time, and she admonished the Henry Street community to continue advocating for student needs, including support for LGBTQ+ students, reproductive rights, and resources for students with disabilities on campus.
Student participants representing all four years of high school spoke at the event. Said Dennis Elias, a first-year student at Queens Bard High School, “I love this program so far!” His favorite part has been taking Expanded Horizons’ “Power, Privilege, and Oppression” class, which brought the students together as a community to talk about these issues. “I could see so many possibilities for my future after this class,” he said. Sehar Syed was the 10th grade participant, and Ajay Krishnan and Aleia Fernandez represented the 11th grade.
The senior speakers were Diarra Ndiaye (pictured at top), who is headed to Howard University to study political science, and Eric Cai, who will be attending the University of Rochester to study biology. Cai said that he began high school, coming out of the pandemic, with extreme anxiety. He credited Expanded Horizons with making him feel safe and appreciated, and with improving his social skills.
The alumni speakers were Rida Ali, a Boston University junior who intends to pursue international human rights law, and Yairi Rosario De Peña, a 2025 graduate of SUNY Geneseo, who studied psychology and sociology & human development. De Peña emphasized that “there is no roadmap” for academic success. Her advice for students was to expand their social networks and build a community—which is as important as the academic experience, she said.
Expanded Horizon Graduating Class of 2025
Matthew Phifer, Henry Street’s executive vice president for education & employment, closed the event, saying that Expanded Horizons is the programmatic embodiment of hope. At a time when universities and our neighbors are under attack, he said, it is a model of inclusivity, opportunity, and love.
Applications for Expanded Horizons’ 2025–26 school year are open! Rising ninth, tenth, and eleventh graders can click here to learn more and apply.
