March 2024

March always takes me by surprise, even though this year I had an extra day in February to prepare for it.

Among the highlights of last month were occasions when I met valued members of the extended Queens College community. About two weeks ago, I had dinner with Shirley Strum Kenny, the eighth president of QC and to date the only woman to hold that position, with our spouses. After nearly a decade here, Shirley went on to lead Stony Brook University—what a career, which took her and her husband, a history professor, from their native Texas. She’s working on a memoir and in this excerpt, she reflects on her appointment to Queens College and how it was covered by New York newspapers.

Heading to Florida, I visited Carole and Norman Barham. Alumni from, respectively, the classes of 1966 and 1968, they remain closely connected to their alma mater, supporting scholarships, a library endowment, and funding for internships. The rotunda in Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library is named after them, as is a lounge in the Summit Apartments. I’m delighted to report that I have recommended to the CUNY Board of Trustees that much-deserved honorary doctorates be conferred on both Barhams at Commencement this year. I thank the Academic Senate for its participation in and dedication to the review process. 

On Leap Day, the college hosted its annual breakfast for Queens legislators. Year in, year out, I am deeply grateful for the support the borough’s delegation gives this campus, enabling us to provide students the facilities they need and deserve. CUNY officials and leaders from our sister institutions in Queens County helped provide compelling presentations on improvements needed in both operating and capital budget funding. Combined with visits to Albany and district offices, this event was a part of our sustained advocacy campaign to promote greater investment in public higher education at CUNY and Queens College.    

Reliable supporters of public education include Queens Borough President Donovan Richards (at left), and, to the other side of me, New York State Senator Joseph Addabbo Jr. and Assemblymember Khaleel Anderson ’19.

The CUNY contingent at the breakfast included, from left, CUNY School of Law Dean Sudha Setty, Queensborough Community College President Christine Mangino, me, York College Interim President Claudia Schrader, and LaGuardia Community College President Kenneth Adams.

At free hour that day, the Study Abroad Fair showcased the many overseas options available to our students. This summer, courses will be held in France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, and South Korea. Applications for most of these courses are due March 22; for programs in Sorrento, Italy, the deadline is March 15. Visit QC Global’s summer 2024 page for more information.

From left: Study Abroad Advisor for Summer and Winter Programs Joelle Grosso, Financial Officer Connie Venieris, QC Global Executive Director Patrick O’Connell, Exchange Programs Advisor for International Semester and Yearlong Programs) Blanche Zahran, National Student Exchange Coordinator Sharon Shulman

Congrats to our men’s basketball team, who qualified for the East Coast Conference playoffs as the #6 seed. The Knights will travel to Amherst, New York to take on the #3 seed, Daemen University, on Wednesday, March 6 at 7 pm. I’ll be rooting them on as I watch the livestream of the game. Should the Knights win, they will advance to the semifinals on Saturday against the College of Staten Island, who received a first-round bye.

I’m also excited to see the spring sports get underway. The baseball and tennis teams are already off to good starts, and softball and track and field are getting underway soon. It should be a great season!

I joined elected officials on Sunday, March 3, when a street in Flushing was named in honor of late Assembly Member Michael Simanowitz, a strong and loyal supporter of Queens College. Seen with me in photo above, from left, are New York City Council Member James Gennaro and, after me, Assembly Member Sam Berger, Congresswoman Grace Meng, and New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. QC was recognized for providing the sound system and chairs: Roland Brooks, brought, set up, and managed the sound equipment and with Jeffrey Rosenstock delivered the chairs.

In honor of Women’s History Month, the Women and Gender Studies Program offered the first of four weekly events yesterday (Monday, March 4): a talk by Susan Stryker. A scholar of queer and trans history, Stryker explored recent research on what gender is, and isn’t. Next Monday, March 11, Bernadita Llanos, professor of Spanish and Women’s and Gender Studies at Brooklyn College, will discuss novels by Chilean writer and artist Diamela Eltit. The lecture will take place from 3:10 to 4:25 pm in Rosenthal Library, Room 525, and on Zoom, ID 889 8661 9705, pass code 373993.

Our student photographers are extraordinarily talented, and the proof is on display at the Photography and Imaging Thesis Exhibition, set up in the Student Art Gallery on the fourth floor of Klapper Hall. A reception will be held at the gallery tomorrow, Wednesday, March 6, from 5 to 8 pm.

On March 15, from 1 to 3 pm, the Tech Incubator will host a conversation with entrepreneur and philanthropist Liz Elting in Campbell Dome. Elting founded her language solutions company TransPerfect as a student in 1992 and led it until 2018. To reserve a seat at her talk, click here.

Three days later, students can take me on during the next Wu vs. You. Join me on March 18 at noon at the Corner Pocket Game Room for pool, table tennis, air hockey, foosball, or video games! I look forward to the friendly competition. “Wii” can have fun.

I’ll sign off with a reminder about my State of the College speech and the annual presentation of well-deserved faculty and staff awards on Tuesday, April 2, from 3 to 5 pm in LeFrak Concert Hall. Immediately afterward, a reception will be held in the atrium. Please make arrangements to join us at this special occasion. Also, looking ahead, I encourage everyone to reserve the dates for Baccalaureate and Commencement, respectively May 28 and May 30.  

Summer is just around the corner, which means it’s not too early for students to think about Summer Session, with more than 400 courses to choose from in four sessions. The first session starts on June 3. Learn more here.

PS: Last weekend’s closure of the Frick Madison—temporary home of the Frick Collection—reminded me of a trip I took there with Art History Professor Heather Horton and one of her classes. Since Fall 2022, more than 500 QC students visited the Frick Madison through their courses. For many students, that was their first time inside a museum, an experience they called transformative. I hope that these visits will resume after the Frick Collection is reinstalled in its renovated Fifth Avenue home.