Hofstra University students visited with Village of Hempstead’s mayor, Waylyn Hobbs Jr., during a trip organized by Hofstra alum Matthew Adarichev on Friday, April 3.
More than ten students arrived at Hempstead Village Hall around 2 p.m. to meet Hobbs, joined by Assistant Chief of Police Derek Warner and Commanding Officer of the Juvenile Aide Bureau Stephanie Jones.
The group discussed a large range of topics, including present ongoing issues, as well as understanding the mayoral tasks of Hobbs as they relate to the federal government and local community.
Hobbs talked about the importance of local government, especially as mayor of the largest populated village in New York. A portion of Hofstra’s campus is located within the Village of Hempstead, while the other half is in Uniondale. As such, Hobbs said that the Village of Hempstead is responsible for the safety of all residents and businesses in the area.
“I want to make sure that you have access to clear communication because if there’s some issues that you have that I don’t know about – without that clear communication – [I] will never be able to solve it,” Hobbs said. “Communication is key.”
Adarichev, who graduated in December 2025, started planning for this trip in September 2025. Adarichev contacted multiple departments at Hofstra to publicize the event. Executive Dean for Public Policy and Public Service Programs Meena Bose helped with coordination as well as catering for attendees after the visit.
The group discussed a range of present issues, like the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protests in the Village of Hempstead, especially with the recent concerns from residents regarding cooperation with the federal agency.
“[ICE has] been terrorizing some of our local residents, whether they’re documented or undocumented,” Hobbs said. “And so, I stopped them from having the ability to operate on village property, but there’s [a group of activists] that wanted me to do an executive order. I’m not doing an executive order because as mayor … if I give them [a] directive, it’s followed. I don’t have to write it. If I say it, it’s law.”
Students discussed the Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant, artificial intelligence use, outreach initiatives within the village and Hobbs’ journey to becoming mayor.
“The best way to make change is being in a position to make change,” Hobbs said. “And that’s why I ran for office. [I] had no desire to do it, but I really was tired of seeing Hempstead in the paper all the time about crime; Hempstead [being] in the paper all the time about low graduation rate; Hempstead [being] in the paper about everything negative. I wanted to see that change, and I wanted to make sure that I was in position to do the change.”
Morgan Green, a senior psychology major, was inspired by the insights on community outreach, especially post-graduation.
“It was very enlightening,” Green said. “I thought that the mayor was a very thoughtful speaker. His passion behind becoming the mayor of Hempstead is very empowering. It’s nice to see that someone who grew up in Hempstead is now in charge of taking care of it and making sure that [it lives up] to its potential.”
One of the takeaways from the trip was becoming aware of the Juvenile Aid Bureau as well as collaboration opportunities to connect with the youth department of the Village of Hempstead.
“We’re the only police department that has a Juvenile Aid Bureau where we focus on the youth of our village and all the laws that apply to those children,” Warner said. “We also do many [community engagement events] during the year.”
Benjamin Cohen, a senior history major, echoed the sentiment, emphasizing that his favorite part was learning about the potential youth collaboration and volunteering opportunities.
“I think it’s really important to kind of lay the seed of inspiration and motivation into the next generation of student leaders,” Cohen said.
Adarichev’s goal was to help students network with individuals outside of the campus and foster relations with the local community beyond just residing in it.
“Students got to hear from a local elected official; we strengthened our collaboration,” Adarichev said. “We created avenues for collaboration that I wasn’t anticipating that magically appeared.”
Cohen, who hopes to pursue law as a professional career after graduation, was inspired by Hobbs’ professional journey.
“Being able to hear, sort of, genuine testimony from someone who’s an elected official, let alone the mayor of Hempstead, and hear how he was able to use his legal education to make a difference in the Hempstead community, to me, was really inspiring,” Cohen said.
Adarichev noted the event, at present, was a one-time engagement.
“I’m happy with how it turned out,” Adarichev said. “I don’t have any plans for the future as of right now, but the door on that is open.”
