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It’s the Friday before Memorial Day Weekend, almost 6 p.m. I’m at my desk answering emails neglected since Monday. I hear voices in the reception area, which puzzles me since my office colleagues have already left for the long weekend. Two students are out there looking for me — Chime Dolkar Sherpa and a friend of hers. They’ve come to escort me to an event of the Nepali Student Association downstairs in the Mainstage Theater. Someone has suggested to them that if they want me to arrive at their event on time, they should find me in my office and drag me to the theater. (Could this have been Diana, my wife?) While I am momentarily hurt by their salute to my casual regard for punctuality, I am delighted by their assertiveness and self-assurance. It’s exactly what we hope to teach. We hustle down the back stairs.
There are several hundred people in the theater — Nepali students and their friends and relatives from across Queens. The place is buzzing. The NSA has invited Dr. Sanduk Ruit, national hero of Nepal, to LaGuardia. Prior to LaGuardia, Ruit has given talks at Stanford, John Hopkins, and Harvard. His assistant tells me he drew 80 people yesterday at Harvard; our crowd is five times larger. Ruit comes on stage. The crowd leaps to its feet and welcomes him with an enthusiastic ovation. He is formally introduced by a colleague who will interview him in this evening’s fireside chat. The introduction is in Nepali, a language I don’t know, so allow me to borrow from the Asia Society: Dr. Sanduk Ruit is an ophthalmologist who, according to New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, may have restored sight to more people than anyone in human history. Known as “the doctor who saved 100,000 eyes,” Ruit “was the first Nepali doctor to perform cataract surgery with intraocular lens implants and the first to pioneer a method for delivering high-quality microsurgical procedures in remote eye camps.” Adds Kristoff, “He performs his miracles in breathtaking fashion. In just five minutes, Ruit can give the gift of sight.” Chime joins me where I’m sitting and interprets for me. It dawns on us that we’re in the presence of global leader in public health, a national hero of Nepal, and a remarkable human being.
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 | | Rajwant Kaur, 32, Computer Science major, has been selected for the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. This summer, she will travel to South Korea for six weeks of classes in Korean and psychology. Rajwant is currently studying Korean at LaGuardia in preparation for her study abroad experience and looks forward to expanding her knowledge of East Asian cultures. Born and raised in India, Rajwant speaks six languages: Punjabi, Hindi, Dogri, Gujarati, Kashmiri, and Urdu. (By September, make that seven.) Rajwant and her family moved to the U.S. after her father was injured during a robbery. She paused her education in India to support him during his recovery. “Once he got better, my father pushed me to go back to school,” Rajwant told us. “I didn’t apply to any other colleges—LaGuardia was the first and only place I visited. When I came to ask about admissions, I felt welcome and knew this was the place where I wanted to start my journey. LaGuardia gave me a sense of belonging and purpose. This wasn’t just about education, it was about rebuilding my life with confidence, one step at a time.”
| | Computer Science Student Presents Research at CUNY Conference | |
| | | This spring, Queens College hosted the CUNY Undergraduate Research Symposium, an event that showcases outstanding research projects by students at the system’s community and senior colleges. A scheduling conflict prevented me from going so I asked one of the LaGuardia students in attendance for a report. Ei Paing Paing Htwe, a Computer Science major from Myanmar, had this to say: “My project focused on keystroke dynamics authentication. It is a behavioral biometrics technique that, despite existing for over a decade, has not seen widespread adoption due to its dependence on large amounts of training data. I concentrated on evaluating the performance of various machine learning classifiers under limited data conditions, identifying their strengths and weaknesses in real-world applications.” As most of this went over my head, I sought out Ei Paing's advisor, Dr. Alaa Darabseh, and asked him to weigh in. “Mentoring Ei Paing Paing Htwe has been a truly rewarding experience. Her dedication to exploring challenging research topics and her ability to think critically and independently are qualities that set her apart. I am confident she will make meaningful contributions to the field of artificial intelligence.” After graduating this month, Ei Paing is looking forward to continuing her studies and working toward her goal to contribute to AI research and advance safe and effective AI applications in medicine.
| | More on Those Transfer Pathways… | | Last month we reflected on the importance of LaGuardia grads transferring successfully to senior colleges to complete their bachelor’s degrees. To drive the point home, I give you two more examples… About ten weeks after graduating from LaGuardia with his associate degree in Computer Science later this month, Christian Germain will head down to Georgetown University where classes start on August 27. Christian was nominated by faculty and staff from LaGuardia’s Transfer Engagement Initiative for Georgetown’s Preferred Consideration Program. The program gives special attention to exemplary community college students who have a minimum 3.8 GPA and are nominated by their college. Around the same time, Snigdha Laxme will head up to Ithaca, NY, to Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences with (thankfully) a financial aid package covering tuition, room, and board. Having earned a 4.0 GPA at LaGuardia, we’d like to think Snigdha is well prepared for success as a Cornellian. Go Big Red! | | |
I am often asked if it’s quieter on campus in the summer. In some ways it is. Our six-week summer term gets about half the enrollment of our spring semester, so there are fewer degree-seeking students on campus. But there is plenty of activity in the ACE Division (Adult and Continuing Education). Our GED and ESOL programs are running, and we offer dozens of vocational training programs in the summer months. (There is, unfortunately, a long waitlist right now for our Electrical program.) Oh, and then there’s Claudia Baldonedo’s Summer Youth Employment Program, funded by the NYC Department of Youth and Community Development, which draws more than three thousand local teens and young adults to LaGuardia for internships and other activities. As if that were not enough, Dr. Alexis McLean, VP for Student Affairs, is launching a new summer program for 2025 — one focused on future LaGuardia students who are today only four or five years old. (Talk about optimistic enrollment marketing.)
We’re pleased to report that LaGuardia will become the first college in New York City to serve as a host site for Horizons NYC. Horizons is a summer enrichment program that uses social-emotional, experiential learning, and time-tested methods to offset summer learning losses and maintain grade-level or above academic skills for K-12 students. Participants get academics, arts, swimming, field trips, and more. (LaGuardia’s pool made us an attractive site.) A team of teachers and support staff develops long-term relationships that create an enduring community of support for Horizons students and their families. This year, LaGuardia will welcome fifteen rising kindergarteners and fifteen rising first graders, most of whom will be children of current LaGuardia students. Next summer, those students will return and move up to their next grade level as we welcome thirty new little ones in the kindergarten and first grade spots. The process continues each summer until we have a program that serves all K-12 grades at which point Alexis maxes out her credit card on their pizza.
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Three LaGuardia students are among ninety high-achieving community college students across the country awarded 2025 Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarships. Jessica Gallegos, Tabia Tarannum, Miguel Posada Perez, and Tabia Tarannum were selected from over 1,600 applicants. The highly competitive national scholarships provide up to $55,000 annually to help Cooke Scholars complete their bachelor’s degrees with minimal debt. (If this story rings a bell, it’s because in the March edition we announced LaGuardia’s eight semi-finalists.)
Jessica, 33, is a Music Recording Technology major with a 3.74 GPA. Originally from Arizona and now living in Brooklyn, she’s the first in her family to attend college. She balances full-time work and full-time studies and is a member of the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society. Jessica has applied to NYU Steinhardt, Columbia, and Brooklyn College to pursue her dream of becoming a music producer and sound engineer.
Miguel, 25, is a Mechanical Engineering major with a 3.76 GPA. After moving to the U.S. from Colombia at 19 and working three jobs to save for college, he enrolled at LaGuardia in Spring 2020 — just as the pandemic hit. At risk of losing his job, Miguel paused his studies, but he returned later with renewed focus. Now an NIH Scholar, Miguel conducts research in biomedical engineering and robotics, serves as president of the Physics Club, and is a President’s Society Ambassador. He’s been accepted to NYU, UVA, Stony Brook, Binghamton, Buffalo, and Rochester, and plans to pursue a bachelor’s in electrical engineering. His goal is to earn a PhD and contribute to interdisciplinary research in biomedical, environmental, and power systems engineering.
Tabia, 20, a Biology major with a 3.9 GPA, is from Sylhet, Bangladesh. She is president of the STEM Club, an NIH Bridges Scholar, a Phi Theta Kappa member, and a Student Government Association Ambassador. Tabia has been accepted to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a Covenant Scholar and is weighing other college acceptances. She was also selected as a 2024 Kaplan Leadership Fellow. She plans to pursue a biology degree and an MD-PhD in anesthesiology, with a focus on advancing healthcare equity.
| | Faculty Field Trip to Socrates Sculpture Park | |
| | | Much as we’re fond of our unique LaGuardia campus — almost two million square feet of industrial space in iconic factory buildings converted over the years into classrooms, labs, and such — sometimes it’s good to go outside and explore the neighborhood. And these days Long Island City has a lot to offer. On May 16, a group of us satisfied our wanderlust by heading over to Socrates Sculpture Park, nestled between Vernon Boulevard and the East River. Dr. Vera Albrecht, Chair of the Humanities Department, recruited faculty colleagues for the expedition while I imposed on Katie Dixon, the park’s director, for a backstage tour. As Katie explained, the park was once an abandoned riverside landfill and dumpsite. In 1986 a coalition of artists and community members, under the leadership of sculptor, Mark di Suvero, transformed it into an open studio and exhibition space. Today, Socrates is an internationally renowned outdoor museum and a designated New York City public park. It is absolutely worth a visit if you haven’t been there.
| | Students Celebrate Bengali New Year | On May 2, the LaGuardia Bangladesh Student Association celebrated Pohela Boishakh, the Bengali New Year 1432. During the celebration, I had the pleasure of joining the club’s faculty mentor Sada Hye Jaman to share remarks and express our gratitude to BSA members, alums, and guests. The event featured music and dance performances, and other activities in the Cobblestone Courtyard, including the presentation to the college president of the official jersey of the Bangladeshi National Cricket Team, a gift he will be sporting all summer long. Later, Protic Hasan, a popular singer from a well-known musical family appeared unannounced and thrilled the crowd when he sang one of his hit songs, "Aj amar girlfriender biya." Happy New Year! | |
We celebrated the contributions of long-serving LaGuardia faculty and staff at the 2025 Appreciation of Service Ceremony on May 29 in the Mainstage Theater. The event recognized more than two hundred employees marking milestone anniversaries, including those with 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40 and 45 years of service to the college. Provost Billie Gastic Rosado and I presented certificates and pins to each honoree. A multimedia presentation showed cultural and historical highlights — including music, films, sports, politics, and even the price of eggs — from the year each group began their LaGuardia careers. Among the honorees were faculty members Rudhra (Rudy) Meangru and Kyoko M. Toyama, Ph.D., LMHC, who marked 45 and 40 years of service, respectively. Gail Baksh-Jarrett, Ed.D., Senior Director of Enrollment Management & Student Financial Services, was among the group celebrating 40 years of service. Both Professor Meangru and Dr. Baksh-Jarrett are LaGuardia alumni.
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Last Friday I delivered my end-of-semester address to the college. Per tradition I did my best to share highlights from across the college guided by a fairly comprehensive Power Point review. A friendly studio audience clapped at the good news, including important student and faculty achievements, and encouraged my lousy jokes with faux laughter. For most the highlight was the free breakfast. If you are curious, you can see it all here.
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