Discimus ut serviamus: We learn so that we may serve.
QView #111 | October 19, 2021
What’s News
Groucho Marx, famously, wouldn’t join a club that would include him. Judging by the turnout for Club Day on Wednesday, October 13, QC students have no such issues. Faith-based organizations, Greek life, and poetry and arts clubs were among the groups represented on the Quad, making pitches for membership.
Recipients of academic excellence awards paused for a photo op.
Dean’s List Students, Provost Scholars, and Presidential Scholars for 2020-2021 were honored at the Academic Excellence Ceremony in Colden Auditorium on Thursday, October 14. Almost 4,000 students were recognized with particular reference to their academic success during these challenging times. Kenneth Newman, associate general counsel and assistant secretary/chairman of the competition law group at the Walt Disney Company, delivered a moving keynote speech about his admission to and experiences at Queens College. Newman (seen at right in photo with President Frank H. Wu) received the President’s Medal—the college’s highest administrative honor—in recognition of his professional achievements as well as his outstanding service to QC students and humanity. The event was livestreamed for the benefit of honorees and guests who could not attend in person. Click here to watch the video.
The success of MidKnight Madness—marking the start of the men’s and women’s basketball season at QC—was a slam dunk on Thursday, October 14, as athletes took to the court for a three-point contest, scrimmages, and more. With President Frank H. Wu, Chief of Staff Meghan Moore-Wilk, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs Jennifer Jarvis, and CUNY Director for Inclusive and Adaptive Sports Ryan Martin in attendance, the Department of Athletics and Recreation honored all 16 athletic programs, including CUNY Wheelchair Basketball. Click here to watch the video.
Save the Date for State of the College

In less than two weeks—on Monday, November 1, at 3 pm—President Frank H. Wu will deliver his State of the College Address in Colden Auditorium. Outstanding full-time and adjunct faculty from each of QC’s schools will receive Excellence in Teaching Awards at the same event. Seating in Colden will be available on a first-come, first-served basis; the proceedings will also be livestreamed.
The College CARES
Seema Ahmed
Gary Brucato
QC has hired additional counselors to address students’ mental health concerns under the federal CARES Act. (CARES funds were distributed to CUNY colleges in the last fiscal year; due to an extension, QC was able to apply those funds in the current fiscal year.)

The new counselors include Seema Ahmed, a licensed master social worker, and Gary Brucato, a clinical psychologist.

Ahmed is an alumna of QC and the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College. She previously worked at LaGuardia Community College as a program director of Pathways to Parenting and as an adjunct professor in the Natural Sciences Department. In partnership with the New York City Department of Education, she developed wellness programs for South Asian seniors, licensed TLC drivers, and families of young children.   

Brucato comes to QC after eight years as the assistant director of the Center of Prevention and Evaluation at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, a clinic dedicated to the evaluation, treatment and study of psychosis risk. He has served as a consultant to individuals, families, clinicians, investigators, forensic specialists, authors, and journalists throughout the country.
A Breath of Fresh Air

Facilities”—the latest video in the return to campus series prepared by the Office of Communications and Marketing, in collaboration with student and faculty leaders and the Department of Drama, Theater and Dance—covers measures that have been implemented to maintain ventilation and safety on campus now and in the future. Previous videos in the return to campus series include “What To Know About Campus Access,” “What You Need to Know About Modes of Instruction,” and “What You Need To Know About Health Services.
Alumnus Dreams Up a Dance

Jiemin Yang ’16, a participant in the CUNY Dance Initiative and the New York City Artist Corps, has used his residency to develop “Carry a Dream with You,” which will receive its world premiere at the Queens Botanical Garden on Wednesday, October 20, at 3:30 and 5 pm. As the title suggests, the work is inspired by the experiences of people who came to New York to pursue their dreams.
“Carry,” set to live music, will move through the garden and the audience is invited to follow the performers. On Wednesdays, admission to the garden is free after 3 pm.
Major/Minor Opportunities

Undergraduates facing major crossroads can get some clarity from 12:15 to 1:45 pm tomorrow—Wednesday, October 20—at the QC Major/Minor Fair. Students will be able to consult faculty experts within each academic area via Zoom and learn more about the majors, minors, honors, career advising, and master’s programs available at QC. Click on https://qcsocialsciences.org/ to download program brochures, review requirements, and explore spring and summer 2022 course schedules.
Notes on Voting

Gotham’s next mayor, comptroller, and public advocate will be determined by the general elections; New Yorkers will also select the president of their respective boroughs. To determine who is seeking office in your district, visit https://ballotpedia.org/Sample_Ballot_Lookup.

Early voting will be held October 23-31, 2021. Queens College will serve as an early voting site for those who live in the district. The general election will take place on November 2. To find out where you can vote and when, check https://findmypollsite.vote.nyc/.

If you’re voting by absentee ballot, it must be postmarked by November 1, 2021. Alternatively, you can bring your ballot to an early voting site from October 23 to 31 or, until 9 pm on November 2, to the Board of Elections office serving your county. You can also deliver your ballot to your regular polling site on November 2 by 9 pm.

The archive of influential cross-media artist Barbara Rosenthal ’75, “Old Master of New Media,” has been acquired by Queens College CUNY in a combined sale and donation facilitated by a generous patron. The artist’s materials are being catalogued before transport to the Szilvia Tanenbaum Archive Wing of Special Collections within Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library.

Born in the Bronx, Barbara Rosenthal—no relation to the library’s namesake—studied at numerous local institutions, including the Arts Students League of New York and New York University, before completing a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. At Queens College, she earned an MFA in painting. In the decades since she graduated, she built up an international career, holding solo exhibitions and residencies across North America and Europe and winning acclaim for her distinctive photography, installations, and performance art. 

“The enormous value of the lifetime of record-keeping, notes, drafts, versions and materials for every project in many media, plus every household and moment-to-moment life-recording and professional correspondences meticulously organized by this major artist, is infinite,” said Annie Tummino (Special Collections and Archives). “It is revelatory of the creative process in ways unique among our archival collections.”

Photo by Rhys Votano
In Memoriam
Eric Cassell

Eric Cassell, an internist and a founding fellow of the Hastings Center—an independent bioethics research institute in Garrison, New York—passed away last month at the age of 93.

A Queens native, Cassell was educated in New York and spent most of his career here: He graduated from QC in 1950, earned a master’s degree from Columbia University, and an MD from the New York University School of Medicine. After two years in France with the U.S. Army Medical Corps, he did his internship and residency at Bellevue Hospital.

Cassell served for decades as a clinical professor of public health at Cornell’s Weill Medical College and directed its Program for the Study of Ethics and Medicine. But he reached a wider audience with his efforts to explain how patients experience illness and dying. “Eric was, in my mind, the intellectual father of palliative care,” Susan Block, professor of psychiatry and medicine at Harvard Medical School, told the New York Times.

Cassell’s family recalled him as a food enthusiast and amateur chef. He is survived by his wife; two children; five stepchildren; a granddaughter and two step-grandchildren; and a step-great-grandchild.
Heard Around the Virtual Campus
Paul Simon ’63 turned 80 last week. Among the well-wishers was Rolling Stone, which posted an item about a novelty tune Simon wrote before he attained fame for “The Sounds of Silence” . . . . Anthony Tamburri and Joseph Sciorra (both of the Calandra Institute) were interviewed on WBAI News about Italian Americans’ changing relationship to the figure of Christopher Columbus.
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