Centennial Gala 2025: Dr. Robert Waterman, Bridge Builders Award

By David Gil de Rubio | dgilderubio@mec.cuny.edu

Spanning divides have always been a part of whatever path Dr. Robert Waterman has gone down, be it as a religious leader, educator, mentor or community elder. 

It’s a large reason why he’ll be getting honored with the Bridge Builder Award at the Medgar Wiley Evers Centennial Celebration Gal & Dinner that is going to be held on Thursday, October 23 at The Penthouse at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. It’s the kind of unexpected validation Waterman was grateful for when he found out he was going to be a recipient of the award.

“It’s an honor, because sometimes people are not recognized in their own space for doing outside work,” he said. 

“It means a lot to be respected in that manner and that the president would think highly enough of me to give me that award. It’s a very humbling experience knowing that I started over 10 years ago at Medgar Evers College, doing the same community work that I do now and to be able to bring that community work and my gifts to Medgar Evers College. I’m happy, glad and all the adjectives you can use is what I’m experiencing at this moment for being considered a recipient of the Bridge Builders Award.”

Brought over to the Crown Heights by former Medgar Evers College president, Dr. Rudy Crew, Waterman has worn many hats in the decade-plus that he’s been building up the student body that’s come through. Currently the Director of Career Management, Waterman has worked in a number of departments including the Male Development and Empowerment Center (MDEC) and Student Affairs. 

As the current pastor of the Antioch Baptist Church of Brooklyn, Waterman has brought that particular skill set over to help serve the Medgar Evers College community. 

“I think there is a holistic style that I bring,” he explained. “I don’t just represent spirituality because of my career life itself. Growing up in South Carolina, cropping tobacco and working at a cucumber factory, which were my summer jobs. And then becoming an engineer for a decade or so. Then moving from engineering and becoming a pastor, an educator at the Board of Education and then working here in higher education. 

“I bring a couple of holistic tools that allow our students to look at their total selves and how one part of you affects the other. Your mental health all the way through to your physical being. That you have to look at yourself as a whole being and not just mentally, but physically also. I think I bring that to Medgar Evers College.”

Waterman’s role as the Director of Career Management includes his hosting an annual job where upwards of 100 potential employers attend, giving students the opportunity for a face-to-face meeting that will be the beginning of a rewarding career path. 

Part and parcel of all this are the mentorship and engagement the father of three gets to exercise in helping students realize their fullest potential. It’s a specific kind of skill set Waterman honed over the years that’s not without its obstacles.

“The challenge I have is making sure that our students are really taking advantage of these opportunities that we bring to the campus,” he said. 

“And helping them really set their goals to not just being students, but being participants of our holistic world and understanding that after they graduate, they need to now be able to not just have a job, but to have a career.”

He added, “I will say, engagement with these young people is my favorite part of what I do. Young ladies who experience having no father—you become that mentor father. Young men who are struggling with manhood, you become that mentor to them. Mentorship is very important. I think that is what helps every student to get by. It would be ideal if every student had a mentor in school, not just an advisor, which is totally different, but a mentor, somebody to encourage them, listen to them and to be there for them.”

Landing at Medgar Evers College, Waterman is quick to point out the important role the school plays in the community. And the gratitude he has for being part of what it represents and his role in ensuring the mission is met on a day-to-day basis.

“Medgar Evers College was established for the purpose of filling a gap for someone going to Brooklyn College, BMCC or other colleges like York in Queens,” Waterman said. 

“Medgar Evers College fills the hole of education. The hole that transfers people out of poverty. All the student life stuff that we have here — it’s a part of that key part, from the Transition Academy, MDEC, Student Life, Miss Amani’s Office, SEEK, ASAP — all of these create a sense of family across the board. 

“I believe that Medgar Evers College is so important, especially at this time and moment that we as the adults, staff and faculty must believe that it is so important that we take a backseat and push them forward to make sure that we create another generation of leaders within our community or we will become stagnant.”