QView #162 | October 11, 2023

Pop the virtual corks: Queens College turns 86 today—Wednesday, October 11. Classes began on this date in 1937.

After attending the Greenbuild International Conference—an event devoted to environmentally friendly construction—ten Brazilian architects and engineers made an October 1 stop on campus. QC’s Global Student Success Program (GSSP) arranged the visit in collaboration with partners in Brazil to showcase QC’s grounds, sustainability efforts, and strategies for conserving energy. The visitors’ itinerary included the Queens Botanical Garden in fall bloom. GSSP looks forward to welcoming these construction professionals back in the future and providing educational opportunities for students from Brazil and around the world.

A September 28 ceremony at the Wall that Heals erected—temporarily in Flushing Meadows Corona Park—paid tribute to New York City's Vietnam veterans.

On October 4, in his first Knight News meet and greet of the semester, President Frank H. Wu talked to newspaper staff and fielded their questions.

Accompanied by Queens Hillel Executive Director Jenna Citron Schwab and President Frank H. Wu made a sukkah visit on October 4.

President Frank H. Wu, New York City Council Member James Gennaro, and colleagues gathered at the west corner of Kissena Boulevard and 65th Avenue on October 5 to designate Barry Commoner Way. The namesake, one of the founders of the environmental movement in the United States, taught at QC and founded its Center for the Biology of Natural Systems—now known as the Barry Commoner Center for Health and the Environment. The center’s director, Steven Markowitz, spoke on the program. Commoner’s widow Lisa Feiner was also in attendance. The street naming, captured on video, was followed by a reception in the lobby of Goldstein Theatre.

New York State Assembly Member Patricia Fahy walked across campus with President Frank H. Wu and Professor John Dennehy . . .

and talked to students on the Quad.

New York State Assembly Member Patricia Fahy, chair of the Higher Education Committee stopped by on October 5 for a campus tour and conversation with students, faculty, and staff. As shown in this video, the itinerary included an e-bike charging station, the WETLAB, and the offices of Irish Studies and the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences.

From left: Chemistry Professor Bill Hersh; Zeshan and Talat Hamdani, brother and mother of Salman Hamdani ’01; President Frank H. Wu

A plaque memorializing Mohammed Salman Hamdani ’01—an EMT and medical school applicant killed on September 11, 2001, in the collapse of the World Trade Center’s north tower—was unveiled on Cooperman Plaza on October 5. Following reports that Hamdani never arrived at his job at a Rockefeller University lab, suspicions arose in some media that he could have been involved in the attacks. Speculation ended when his remains were recovered at Ground Zero in March 2002, proving that he lost his life trying to save others. The plaque unveiling was followed by a screening of American Jedi: The Salman Hamdani Story, a 38-minute documentary.

Hamdani is also honored at QC by the award his family established for a graduating senior who has maintained high standards in scholarship and character and has been accepted to medical school. To date, there have been 13 recipients. Donations are accepted at the Salman Hamdani Memorial Scholarship Fund - Queens College/CUNY  

Karl Mitchell (Economics), standing at left, moderated the panel on Overcoming Challenges as a Black Entrepreneur.

On October 6, QC hosted the 18th annual BMI Conference: Legacy Building through Business and Entrepreneurship. Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado, President Frank H. Wu, and Project ExCEL Executive Director and Academic Advisor Rajiv Singh were among the speakers at the plenary session. The panel on Overcoming Challenges as a Black Entrepreneur, moderated by Karl Mitchell (Economics), included Reginald Wills ’22, co-founder of Collabiversity, which took first place in the network round of the national Blackstone LaunchPad Business Ideas Competition, under the category of Social and Climate Impact (see QView 150).

The CUNY BMI Career and Internship Fair, organized in collaboration with the Queens College Office of Career Engagement and Internships, made its debut at this conference.

On October 8, at the invitation of the LGBT Network, the CUNY LGBTQIA+ Consortium co-sponsored the Queens National Coming Out Day Fair in Astoria, Queens, launching a new annual event. LaGuardia Community College Director of Admissions Shannon Lund and Associate Biology Professor Allie Brashears; York College Percy E. Sutton SEEK Program College Assistant Ryan Jagbeer; and Queens College Student Life Events Manager/LGBTQIAA+ Programs Coordinator JC Carlson and student leader Luis Villa met with fairgoers, many of them college-bound queer youth. (Brashears and Carlson represented the consortium in addition to their respective schools.) Carlson also shared material provided by CUNY Law School, including information from the CUNY Law School TGNC Rights Incubator Project prepared by Jack Pellicano ’23 about legal name and gender changes. This project has been funded by the CUNY LGBTQIA+ Consortium since its inception in 2021.

Coping with Crisis

Thousands of miles separate the Middle East from New York City. But the news from Israel and Gaza resonates painfully on the Queens College campus, where many people have family and friends affected by the conflict. As President Frank H. Wu noted in a recent mailer, members of the QC community are expected to treat each other respectfully, wherever they stand on the issues. 

The Office of Compliance and Diversity is developing opportunities for students, faculty, and staff to participate in inclusive dialogue and access supportive services.

Distressed students can talk to licensed psychologists, social workers, professional counselors, or supervised interns by appointment through Counseling Services. Services are free and confidential. To contact the counseling center, call 718-997-5420, email [email protected], or visit the center's office on the first floor of Frese Hall Monday through Friday, from 9 am to 5 pm.

CUNY’s confidential employee assistance program provider, CCA@YourService, is available to faculty and staff around the clock. To contact CCA@YourService, call 800-833-8707 or log on to www.myccaonline.com with the company code “CUNY.” 

Women’s Tennis Stays Undefeated

The Queens College women’s tennis team is off to a 3-0 start this season after earning two victories this past week. The Knights defeated Molloy University, 7-0, on Saturday before topping Dominican University of New York, 5-2, on Monday.

On Sunday, the women’s volleyball team won a hard-fought, 3-2, match over Roberts Wesleyan University. Christina Franco recorded a career-high 23 kills to lead the Knights, who have a solid record of 10-6 (4-2 ECC) and sit in second place in the ECC standings. 

The women’s soccer team went 1-1 last week, falling to American International College (AIC) on Wednesday but bouncing back to defeat Lincoln University, 3-0, on Saturday. In the win over Lincoln, Julia Ragone led the Knights with a pair of goals. She now has a team-leading five goals this season. QC is 4-5-2 (1-2-1 ECC) this season.

The men’s soccer team earned a 3-3 tie against AIC last Tuesday and fell, 2-1, to University of the District of Columbia on Saturday. Adolfo Martinez Paquet netted a goal in each game to lead QC. The Knights are 5-4-2 overall and 2-2 in ECC play.

On Saturday, the men’s and women’s cross country teams competed at the New Jersey Institute of Technology Invitational, with the women’s team finishing in 13th out of 26 teams and the men placing 16th out of 29 teams.

It’s another busy week ahead for the fall sports teams. Today—October 11—the soccer teams will host a doubleheader, with the women’s team welcoming Assumption University at 5 pm and the men entertaining Adelphi University at 7:30 pm. On Thursday, women’s tennis hosts University of New Haven at 1 pm, and the cross country teams will compete at St. Joseph’s University Invitational on Saturday at 11 am. Also, Roni Rikkonen of the men’s tennis team, who won the ITA East Regional Tournament earlier this season, will go to Rome, Georgia, to compete at the ITA Cup, which begins on Thursday.

For the latest Knights news, be sure to visit https://queensknights.com.

Knight To Celebrate

Athletics invites all QC students to attend Bonfire Knight, taking place tonight—Wednesday, October 11 at 7 pm—in Parking Field 5. Here’s a chance to cheer on the men’s and women’s soccer teams and enjoy smores, music, and roller skating. For more information, email [email protected].

RITES of Fall

Edisa Weeks (Dance) is on leave this semester to present and perform 3 RITES: Life, Liberty, Happiness, a three-part project she began in 2015. Each portion integrates dance, live music, text, visual installations, community discussions and shared meals to humorously and poignantly interrogate why life, liberty, and happiness were included as unalienable rights in the United States Declaration of Independence. 3 RITES: Liberty and 3 RITES: Happiness, the second and third parts of the trilogy, will debut locally this fall. 

Liberty, which addresses issues of social justice in America, will be performed October 12-14 at 8 pm and October 15 at 3 pm at the Mark O’Donnell Theater at the Entertainment Community Fund Arts Center, 160 Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn.

Happiness, which emphasizes wellness and self-care, will be presented November 16-17 at 6 pm and November 18 at 1 pm and 6 pm at the Weeksville Heritage Center, 158 Buffalo Avenue, Brooklyn.

3 RITES: Life, Liberty, Happiness, produced by Marýa Wethers, was commissioned and is presented by 651 ARTS, with co-commissioners Billie Holiday Theater, Kelly Strayhorn Theater, Mount Tremper Arts, National Performance Network, and support from Creative Capital.

Federal Reserve Bank of New York CEO To Visit Campus

The Queens College School of Business is pleased to announce that John C. Williams, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY), will be speaking at Queens College in a “fireside chat” moderated by President Frank H. Wu on Wednesday, October 18 at 12:15 pm in the Student Union Ballroom.

“The visit and conversation with John Williams is an exciting opportunity for all Queens College students,” said Schiro Withanachchi, associate dean of the School of Business. “This will especially benefit students in the School of Business and those who have an interest in the U.S. economic outlook.”

Williams has worked with the New York Fed since 2018. Prior to his time there, he was the president and CEO of the San Francisco Fed. He began his career as an economist at the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, and he has served in key roles at the White House Council of Economic Advisers and Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.

The college established a relationship with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York following a speech President Wu delivered in May to colleagues from the Federal Reserve System, on the topic of Asians in the United States. The event received overwhelmingly positive feedback from attendees and helped to usher in a partnership between the Queens College School of Business and the FRBNY. Williams indicated interest in visiting Queens College.

Withanachchi was introduced to the Economic Education team at the Federal Reserve and QC began discussing potential opportunities for the school. In addition to the chat with Williams, the School of Business is participating in the College Fed Challenge (a competition designed to bring real-world economics into the classroom) and planning a Spring 2024 museum and learning center visit in the Financial District. Last July, QC students in the School of Education were invited to a two-day in-person professional development session on economic literacy to gain Continuing Teacher and Leader Education (CTLE) credits.

“We are so fortunate that the FRBNY was enthusiastically supportive of suggested opportunities!” Withanachchi added.

All are welcome, but students majoring in accounting, economics, corporate finance, FinTech, and international business, as well as business and liberal arts (BALA) minors are especially encouraged to take advantage of this unique opportunity to learn about the FRBNY. The FRBNY executes monetary policy, provides financial services, supervises banks, and develops economic policy to address issues that affect our region and the national economy. This is an experiential learning opportunity where students will be able to listen to Williams and ask questions. Those interested in attending can RSVP here.

Appetite for New Food Services

After consultation with staff and students, the Queens College Auxiliary Enterprises Corporation has issued an RFP—request for proposals—regarding food services on campus.

“We are particularly interested in providing variety to those who dine on campus regularly,” noted Chief Financial Officer Joseph Loughren. Vendors will need to consider the needs and preferences of a college population that includes international students and those with vegetarian, vegan, gluten-sensitive, Halal, and kosher diets. “Members of our campus community are also advocates for issues that may relate to food service operations, such as environmental, agricultural, labor, and trade policies,” added Loughren.

Interested vendors must visit campus on November 14 at 11 am and submit proposals by November 29 at 11 am.

Heard about the Queens Night Market vendors on campus, but don’t know where to find them? New signage on campus points the way.

Literature and Arts of the Americas Focuses on Dominican Works

City College’s Department of Classical and Modern Languages & Literatures,

its MA Program in Spanish, Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group, and the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute will launch the latest issue of Review: Literature and Arts of the Americas—Contemporary Dominican Writing and Art (no. 106)—on October 12, from 6 to 8 pm in Shepard Hall 291 at City College.

Led by the magazine’s editor, Daniel Shapiro, the event will include remarks by Ángel Estévez, chair of Classical and Modern Languages & Literatures at City College; Ramona Hernández, director of the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute; and guest editor Néstor E. Rodríguez, professor of Latin American Literature and Caribbean Studies at the University of Toronto. To attend, register at Launch of "Review: Literature and Arts of the Americas" (no. 106) Tickets, Thu, Oct 12, 2023 at 6:00 PM | Eventbrite.

Founded in 1968, Review: Literature and Arts of the Americas is the major forum in the United States for contemporary Latin American and Caribbean writing in English and English translation; it also covers Canadian writing and the visual and performing arts in the Americas.

Review 106, guest-edited by Rodríguez, focuses on contemporary Dominican writing and arts, with articles by leading scholars and texts by writers residing in and outside the Dominican Republic. The magazine is published by Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, in association with City College’s Department of Classical and Modern Languages & Literatures.

Exhibiting Interest in October

October is Italian Heritage and Culture Month, a great time to see the latest show at the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute. A Legacy of Making: 21 Contemporary Italian American Artists is on display in the institute’s galleria on weekdays. According to Calandra, “connections to a discernable Italian art tradition—or for that matter to Italian American aesthetic practices more specifically—vary across the exhibition, ranging from the explicit to the suggestive to the nonexistent.”

Image: Claudia DeMonte, Il Corno, 2013

Esperanza Spalding and Antonio Brown in Action



Celebrated bassist, singer, and composer Esperanza Spalding and dancer, choreographer, and director Antonio Brown have an ongoing collaboration—and this weekend you will be able to watch them at work. The Louis Armstrong House Museum will livestream their open studio on October 14 at 5 pm.

Andrew Beveridge (Sociology) was quoted in “New York is Rebounding for the Rich. Nearly Everyone Else Is Struggling,” published in the New York Times on September 28 . . . . Joshua Brumberg, a long-term member of QC’s psychology faculty, has been appointed interim president of the CUNY Graduate Center . . . . The October issue of Poetry magazine includes an essay on Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize-winner Kimiko Hahn (English), a folio of work by Hahn, and an essay she wrote on a poetic form with examples can be found here . . . .

Heather Horton (Art) led her class, accompanied by President Frank H. Wu, to the Frick Madison on October 4 to see the Barkley L. Hendricks exhibit . . . . Oded Nir (CMAL) translated “How To Teach Hebrew” (QView 161) into Hebrew for use by Hebrew Public, a network of charter schools . . . . Doug Rushkoff (Media Studies) appeared on an episode of “In Depth,” a program presented by C-SPAN’s Book TV . . . . Anthony Tamburri (Calandra Institute) will be honored at Italian Charities of America’s 87th Annual Dinner Dance at Roma View Catering on October 22 . . . .

Simone Yearwood (Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library) was named Academic/Special Librarian of the Year by the New York State Library Association (NYLA). She will receive the award at the inaugural reception for NYLA’s Annual Conference, to be held in Saratoga Springs on Friday, November 3 . . . .

CUNYTV Urban U aired a new segment about the Louis Armstrong Center . . . . the Ma’an News Agency—a Palestinian wire service—and the Times of Israel covered the presentation Jerusalem-born Palestinian scholar and peace activist Mohammed S. Dajani Daoudi gave at QC last month . . . . QNS reported on the visit U.S. Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education Nasser Paydar and White House staff made to campus to mark AANAPISI Week.