Bea González to retire from Syracuse University

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Bethaida (Bea) González — a long-time administrator at Syracuse University and a former president of Syracuse Common Council — is set to retire on July 3.

González also spent time as a member of the Syracuse City School District board of education in the early 1990s.

When González retires on July 3, she concludes more than four decades of service in higher education and continuing education administration.

Most of those years were spent at University College of Syracuse University (UC), where she rose through the ranks to become dean of the college. For the past three years, she has been the university’s vice president for community engagement. In that role, she has used her “lifetime of community involvement, strong relationships and years of distinguished public service as an elected official to energize and strengthen the connections between Syracuse University and the greater Syracuse community,” per a university news release.

González in academia

When González came to Syracuse at age 3 from her birthplace of Cayey, Puerto Rico, her family settled in an apartment on Adams Street, on the periphery of the Syracuse University campus.

After graduation from Corcoran High School, González went to SUNY Binghamton through the Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP). She stayed there for eight years as a counselor in the HEOP program until coming back to Syracuse in 1984 to be closer to her family.

González came to Syracuse University as an academic counselor at UC. During her tenure at UC — from academic counselor to associate dean, interim dean (2004), to dean (2007) — González focused on providing the “best possible education and experience” for students — first-generation students, part-time students and veterans — through programs that met their needs.

González was named special assistant to Syracuse Chancellor Kent Syverud in 2015. In that role, she worked with “diverse” groups across campus.

“I always saw UC as a mission-driven organization within the University with a very clear mission of access and inclusion,” González said. “UC has a history within the field of adult higher education for being an early adapter. I tried to be really true to that mission of creating opportunity through educational programming appropriate for the population.”

Community involvement

In January 1991, then-Syracuse Mayor Tom Young appointed González to fill a vacant position on the Syracuse City School District board. She ran for the seat in November of that year.

She completed a four-year term on the school board but decided not to run for reelection to focus on raising her son, who was still young at the time.

“I needed to make the choice to take care of my family first, but I said I would be back when my son goes to college,” she said.

Her son, Nick, graduated from college in 2000, and, González was asked to run in the 2001 election for president of the Syracuse Common Council. She ran, was elected, and became the first Latino/a elected to the position.

González has also had a “great impact” on the city of Syracuse through her service on community boards.

In 1990, University Trustee and community leader Judy Mower and fellow community leader Chuckie Holstein co-founded Leadership Greater Syracuse, a leadership-development program. They turned to González to help ensure that the program engaged all people.