April 2025

I am proud to lead a campus that offers such an enormous range of activities. Last week was typical. 

At free hour on Wednesday, March 26, the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences held Beyond the Degree: Finding Your Future Career. Students heard from Meagan Lenna, an assistant geologist at the New York State Department of Transportation, and Michael Reed, a former product engineer for Environmental Systems Research Institute and now a graduate student at QC. (Tomorrow at free hour, the Learning Commons will present a business career panel https://bit.ly/4c9TjoH, and in the evening, Writers at Queens will present a Roundtable on Careers in Media and Publishing bit.ly/4hq6XWj; these are hybrid events featuring alumni speakers.)

From left: Dara Laczniak (SEES); Meagan Lenna; Emily Albines, a SEES peer advisor; Yaacov Strickon, a SEES peer mentor; Michael Reed

Also on March 26, the Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning, and Leadership organized a panel on the topic of Faculty Service: Strategies to Recognize and Communicate Our Contributions.

From left: Susan Davis (ACSM), François Pierre-Louis (Political Science), Schiro Withanachchi (BALA), Kate Pechenkina (Dean of Social Sciences), Soniya Munshi (Urban Studies)

The following day, NYC Men Teach hosted a Women’s Herstory Month Celebration with music, spoken word, and a book talk with Sonja Cherry-Paul MSEd ’00, an educator, curriculum developer, and best-selling author, and Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz, a professor of English education at Columbia University. During a pre-event mixer, copies of Cherry-Paul’s Antiracist Reading Revolution [Grades K-8]: A Framework for Teaching Beyond Representation Toward Liberation—which features a foreword by Sealey-Ruiz—were given away and autographed.  

On Friday, I was at Hennekens Stadium to watch the Queens College baseball team defeat the College of Staten Island (CSI), 9-3. Prior to the game, CUNY Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Operating Officer/Acting Senior Vice Chancellor for University Human Resources & Labor Relations Hector Batista threw out the ceremonial first pitch (photo below). I enjoyed taking in the game with CSI President Timothy G. Lynch and a QC delegation of Vice President for Communications and Marketing and Senior Advisor to the President Jay Hershenson, Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management Jennifer Jarvis, Athletic Director Robert Twible, and Student Association President William Barron.

I enjoyed a photo op with (from left) CUNY Executive Vice Chancellor and COO/Acting Senior Vice Chancellor for University Human Resources & Labor Relations Hector Batista and CSI President Timothy G. Lynch.

From left: Executive Vice Chancellor and COO/Acting Senior Vice Chancellor for University Human Resources & Labor Relations Batista had a laugh with Assistant Coach Carlos Pena and Outfielder Michael Prisco.

There is plenty of sports action on campus right now with all our spring teams (baseball, softball, tennis, track and field) in the heart of their seasons. As the weather warms up, be sure to come out and support your Knights. You can find the latest Knights’ news and schedules on the athletic website.



Like other CUNY campuses, QC is participating in the Constructive Dialogue Initiative – The City University of New York to improve campus culture. The goal: to foster an environment in which students, faculty, and staff can exchange ideas openly, even amid disagreement. As part of a multi-tiered approach, members of my cabinet and I have participated in training sessions. The program will include a certification program for student-facing staff, dialogue-facilitation workshops for faculty and staff, scalable online learning, and impact assessment.

QC is being filmed for a television show! Crews have descended on campus with cameras and drones to shoot an episode of The College Tour, a series that airs on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and YouTube. I’ll speak more about The College Tour and “Become a Knight Day” scheduled for Sunday, April 6, when I present the State of the College address this afternoon. I hope everyone will join us in LeFrak Concert Hall at 3 pm for the address and the Faculty and Staff Award Ceremony, followed by a reception in the Dining Hall’s Patio Room.

PS: The month is young, but it’s not too early for a reminder about QC’s third annual Diversity Week, April 21-25, organized around the theme of Reaffirming our Unity, Strength and Progress. Dean of Diversity and Chief Diversity Officer Jerima DeWese and the team of the Office of Compliance and Diversity are working with faculty, staff, and students on a superb lineup. I’ll start the week by walking and talking with students during my next Monday Mile; we’ll meet on April 21 at noon, behind the flagpole near Jefferson Hall. 

Looking further ahead, I want to encourage students to give serious thought to attending Summer Session, which offers hundreds of courses—in person and fully online—across multiple disciplines. In this video Summer Session, one student explains why she opts for Summer Session. View the full schedule here.

Spring is here and the Quad has a glorious look and feel as the temperatures are thankfully warmer. Stay safe and see you on campus!