QView #203 | April 29

Organized around themes of culture, climate, community, compliance, and change, Diversity Week activities helped participants better understand each other and themselves. Multiple events took place; here are a few highlights.

The week began on April 21, when President Frank H. Wu led a Monday Mile walk around the Quad, talking with students en route.

Elsewhere on the Quad, attendees at a Pronoun Party made buttons specifying their preferred pronouns or other Pride messages. The event included Pride-themed lawn games and a performance by QC’s queer dance team, the House of GLASA. A pop-up clinic from CUNY Law School’s Sorensen Center offered information about legal name changes, updates to government-issued ID, and more.

The next day, the Office of Compliance and Diversity screened the documentary From Here/From There (De Aquí De Allá). The film followed Luis Cortes Romero, a lawyer and DACA recipient, as he argued before the Supreme Court on behalf of Dreamers threatened with deportation. From Here producer Nicole Solis-Sison and QC Immigrant Student Support Initiative coordinator Carla Cordova Farfan fielded questions after the film.

From left: Nicole Solis-Sison, Carla Cordova Farfan

Interfaith dialogue and halal and kosher foods were on the menu on Wednesday, April 23, when CERRU hosted a discussion with the Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council (MJAC). The speakers were Bahman Farahdel and Yawar Shah, MJAC New York co-chairs; Ari Gordon, AJC director of Muslim-Jewish Relations; and Natalia Mahmud, MJAC program director.

From left: Vice President for Communications and Marketing and Senior Advisor Jay Hershenson, MJAC Co-Chair Bahman Farahdel, CERRU Director Iyabo Oyewo-Hall, MJAC Program Director Natalia Mahmud, President Frank H. Wu, AJC Director Ari Gordon, MJAC Co-Chair Yawar Shah, AJC Assistant Director Marisa Bearak, Chief Diversity Officer and Dean of Diversity Jerima DeWese

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs at the college include initiatives to combat antisemitism, Islamophobia, racism, sexism, and other discrimination and bigotry. On Thursday, April 24, the Dismantling and Combating Hate Conference delved into DEI and higher education: the achievements of these initiatives and the directions they may take in the future.

Local cultural and political leaders gathered at the Queens Museum on Monday, April 21, to launch the fourth annual Queens Rising arts festival. Kupferberg Center for the Arts and QC play leading roles in the festival, which presents events throughout the borough in June.

From left: Sally Tallant, president and executive director of the Queens Museum; Lorraine Chambers Lewis, CEO of LIJ Forest Hills Hospital; Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, Jr.; Michelle Stoddart, senior VP of Community Development and Public Affairs at Resorts World, NYC; Katha Cato, executive director of the Queens World Film Festival; Grecia Nedelka Sotelo, project manager of Queens Rising; and Jeffrey Rosenstock, AVP for Governmental Relations & External Affairs

Campus was busy on Tuesday, April 22. Staff learned about obstacles faced by undocumented and immigrant students strategies to support them at an UndocuAlly session presented in the Patio Room by Cynthia Carvajal, director of Undocumented & Immigrant Student Programs at CUNY. The event was sponsored by the QC Immigrant Student Support Initiative and the Innovation and Student Success Office.

Meanwhile, family and friends of esteemed Chemistry Professor Emeritus Harry Gafney gathered at Remsen 103 to watch as the room was named in his honor. Support for the Dr. Harry Gafney Teaching and Research Lab came from the professor’s friend and former student, Ed Finkenberg ’75.

With Commencement around the corner, departments are already holding their annual celebrations. The Sociology Department feted outstanding students at its Honors and Awards Ceremony on Tuesday.

Three-Peat! Men’s Tennis Captures Third Straight ECC Title

The Queens College men’s tennis team captured its third-straight East Coast Conference (ECC) Championship on Saturday, defeating St. Thomas Aquinas College, 4-1.

The Knights fell behind early, losing a point on doubles play, but in singles competition, QC won all four completed matches to clinch the title, their 11th in school history. Queens has now earned a berth into the NCAA Tournament, which begins on May 9. The pairings for the tournament have yet to be announced.

The Queens College baseball season is coming down to an exciting finish as well. The Knights split a four-game set with Mercy University over the weekend and are holding on to the fourth and final ECC playoff spot with just one week left in the season. They play a four-game series against St. Thomas Aquinas beginning Friday, May 2, and hold a one-game lead over D’Youville University for the final playoff spot.

For the latest Knights news and updates on all spring sports post-season action, be sure to visit the athletic website, queensknights.com

College Presidents Defend Higher Education

Taking a stand with college and university presidents and leaders of scholarly societies around the country, President Frank H. Wu added his name to A Call for Constructive Engagement, released on Tuesday, April 22, by the American Association of Colleges and Universities. Written in response to federal actions affecting higher education, the statement marks the first time current presidents have spoken out collectively in large numbers about these issues. The educators sought to speak in “one voice” against “unprecedented governmental overreach and political interference now endangering American higher education.” 

Two Faculty Win Guggenheims

QC faculty members Karen Strassler (Anthropology) and John Yao (ACSM) have been awarded prestigious Guggenheim Fellowships for 2025. They are among the 198 individuals who, after a rigorous process and peer review, were selected from a pool of almost 3,500 applicants from the United States and Canada. QC has two winners out of five within the 26-unit CUNY system. 

“We are delighted that Professors Strassler and Yao have been recognized with Guggenheim Fellowships, an achievement that is a testament to their hard work,” says President Frank H. Wu. “I am proud that we are a public institution serving mostly middle- and lower-income students, yet we are fortunate enough to have world-class faculty committed to learning and the arts.”

Structured as unrestricted grants, Guggenheim Fellowships give recipients the time and freedom to focus on meaningful projects and pursue excellence in their chosen fields.

“I am deeply honored to receive this award,” says Strassler, “and grateful to my CUNY colleagues and students who inspire me every day. I will be researching how people with breast cancer use images to document their experiences, advocate for themselves and others, and change the ways that we as a society see this devastating disease. I hope that my work can amplify theirs.”

“I am extremely honored and humbled to be named a Guggenheim Fellow in the field of music composition,” says Yao, a jazz trombonist, composer, arranger, and educator who holds a 2007 MA from QC. His fellowship will enable him to work on Let’s Make Some Noise, which he describes as “an immersive, interactive music experience, where the audience participates in the musicmaking in conjunction with my big band, called John Yao & His 17-Piece Instrument.” He plans to research, compose music, host workshops, and prepare for a culminating concert.

Karen Strassler

John Yao

Denese Gordon To Serve as Interim VP for Facilities

Denese Gordon, formerly chief administrative superintendent of Campus Buildings and Grounds, has been named interim assistant vice president for Facilities Planning and Operations. A QC staff member for more than 25 years, she holds an MS in Business Management and Leadership from the CUNY School of Professional Studies. Gordon is picking up the portfolio of Zeco Krcic, who was recently appointed CUNY associate vice chancellor for Facilities, Operations, and Emergency Response. A national search will be conducted for his permanent successor.

Corky Lee’s Legacy

The Queens Memory Project will mark the beginning of AANHPI Heritage Month by co-hosting a discussion on Corky Lee’s Asian America: 50 Years of Photographic Justice on Thursday, May 1, at 5:30 pm, at Flushing Library. Lee, a QC alumnus, was a ground-breaking Asian American photographer and activist. Jiefei Faye Yuan of Queens Memory will moderate the panel, featuring Chee Wang Ng, co-editor of Corky Lee’s Asian America, and Virgo Lee, an advisor to Lee’s estate. New York Assembly Member Ron Kim and NYC Commissioner on Human Rights Rocky Chin will offer opening remarks.

Queens Memory, a community archive that documents life in Queens, is a collaboration between Queens Public Library and Queens College.

For those who can’t attend in person, the panel will be accessible via Zoom: 

queenslib.org/37cd

Meeting ID: 833 9180 7019

Passcode: 383237

Greek Film Festival

In conjunction with Timarete, the eighth annual Hellenic Arts Festival, entries from the Drama International Short Film Festival will be shown on May 3 in Rosenthal Library 230. The first screening will take place at 4 pm; the second, with different films, will be held at 6 pm. Timarete is presented by the Academy of Hellenic Paideia, which promotes the classical tradition of Paideia, utilizing Greek language as a gateway.

Ester R. Fuchs will present “Antisemitism and the Future of Higher Education” on Monday, May 5, at 6:30 pm in Rosenthal Library 230. A QC alumna, Fuchs is professor of international and public affairs and political science and director of the Urban and Social Policy Program at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs; in November 2023, she was appointed co-chair of the university’s Antisemitism Taskforce. She will discuss her experiences doing this work, what she learned, and what universities must do to ensure that Jewish students are not subject to any form of hate, bias, or discrimination on campus.

This event is part of the Center for Jewish Studies Speaker Series and co-sponsored by Queens College Hillel and the Center for Ethnic, Racial, and Religious Understanding. It is made possible by the Zborowski Family Lecture Endowment in memory of Marvin and Celina Zborowski.

Students Pool Their Talents in Choreography Showcase

Writer John Koenig coined the word sonder to express “the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own.” That concept underlies Sonder, the QC student choreography showcase, taking place May 8-11 in Goldstein Theatre. The program draws on the combined talents of student choreographers, dancers, and costume and lighting designers. Appropriately, even the posters were designed by students.

Stephanie Greene, a dance major, created Precipice as an exploration of anxiety/depression and suicidal ideation. “At some times, I wanted the movement to feel weighted to really convey that sense of powerlessness and defeat,” she says. “At others, I wanted the movement to feel wild and out of control to convey the sense of hectic anxiety. I knew I wanted to have one person represent the person in crisis with the others whirling around them to represent the facets of their psyche.”

Aliyah Morris, also a dance major, was inspired by her baptism last year to choreograph a piece that embraces faith. Her musical choices reflect that journey. “The first song is ‘Tired’ by Kelly Price. It’s about being lost, tired, stressed, and sad. That’s how people feel before they find their peace and purpose,” she explains. “The second song is ‘Open the Eyes of My Heart’ by Jordan G. Welch. The meaning behind it is asking God to touch your heart and accepting Him into your life. The last song is ‘Hear Him’ by Emma Nissen. The song represents finding peace in God's presence."

The original works in Sonder by Stephanie Greene, Aliyah Morris, Jaida Perez, Rebekah Pryce, Madison Rojas, and Brian Urena promise to dive into the joy, turmoil, and beauty of life. For performance times and ticket information, click here.

Yaakov Kirschen ’60

“Dry Bones” cartoonist Yaakov Kirschen passed away on April 14; he was 87.

After graduating from QC, Brooklyn-born Kirschen sold cartoons to Cracked Magazine and Playboy.

Moving to Israel in 1971, he changed his name from Jerry to Yaakov, and two years later began drawing “Dry Bones.” Published in the Jerusalem Post for 50 years and subsequently in the Jewish News Syndicate, the daily strip had an international following for its pointed commentary. The title, Kirschen told New Jersey Jewish News, referenced Ezekiel’s vision of a valley of dry bones.

Kirschen was a member of both the U.S. National Cartoonists Society and the Israeli Cartoonists Society. Widely admired in his adopted country, he was awarded the Nefesh B’Nefesh Bonei Zion Prize in 2014. The honor recognizes English-speaking olim—people who immigrate to Israel—for their contribution to the country’s culture.

Kirschen is survived by his wife, artist Sali Ariel; three daughters; eight grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Joanne Malin

Joanne Malin, an actor, director, coach, and founder of two professional touring companies designed to introduce young people to live theatre and Shakespeare, passed away on April 17. The QC alumna was 90.

A member of the second class of New York City’s High School of Performing Arts, Malin continued her theatrical education at QC and the University of Florida, where she held a graduate fellowship. In 1969, settled in Memphis, Tennessee, she developed Red Balloon Players, the city's first integrated theatre company. The troupe entertained children with free performances in parks. In 1986, she founded a second company, ShoWagon, to bring Shakespeare and other theatrical voices to students in public junior high schools.

Malin’s work extended from Theatre Memphis, where she served in multiple capacities, to productions at Playhouse on the Square, Circuit Playhouse, Germantown Community Theatre, Rhodes College, the University of Memphis, and Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre.

When Malin retired to Westminster, Maryland, she didn’t slow down. She launched a readers theatre program at Carroll Lutheran Village, led a campaign there to fund and acquire a concert-quality piano that is still in use, and coached voice and dialect for the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company.

Malin is survived by her husband of 60 years, Stephen Malin, professor emeritus in Theatre Arts at the University of Memphis, whom she met at the University of Florida; their daughter, son-in-law, and grandson; and other family members and friends.

Allan Siegel

Real estate entrepreneur Allan Siegel, a QC alumnus, died on April 5 at the age of 93.

The son of immigrants who divorced when he was young, Siegel worked his way through QC by playing clarinet and saxophone in in jazz combos. After graduating, he joined real estate firm Pearce, Mayer & Greer as a broker. Rising in the ranks, he was promoted to partner at the firm, which merged with W.R. Grace & Co. in 1972. Eight years later, he launched a real estate division at Bear Stearns and Co. 

Dedicated to the arts, Siegel served on the Board of the Connecticut Alliance for Music and hosted performances at his home. He is also remembered as a competitive tennis player and a Ruby Life Master in the American Contract Bridge League.

Predeceased by his wife of 63 years, Siegel is survived by their two children, daughter-in-law and son-in-law, and three grandchildren.

Miles Grier (English) won best first book prizes from two societies—Early American Literature and the Shakespeare Association of America—for his book Inkface: Othello and White Authority in the Era of Atlantic Slavery (University of Virginia Press 2023) . . . . Shadman Hoque, next year’s Knight News editor in chief, was accepted into the 2025 cohort of Fordham Law’s Increasing Diversity in Education and the Law (IDEAL) Pipeline Program. IDEAL spans two summers and includes classes, workshops, LSAT prep, and related events . . . .

Cathy Rothbard ’76 spoke to WSAV in Georgia about her father’s experience aboard the St. Louis; the story was released in observance of Yom HaShoah. The St. Louis sailed from Hamburg, Germany, to Havana, Cuba, in May 1939. Most of the 937 passengers were denied entry. When the United States didn’t admit them, either, the liner recrossed the Atlantic, leaving the desperate travelers in Western Europe. The majority of the passengers were Jewish; 254 of them were killed in the Holocaust . . . . Caroline Rupprecht (Comparative Literature) presented a lecture on Gerhard Richter’s Auschwitz-Birkenau (2014) paintings at the Contemporary Antisemitism Conference in London, UK, on March 31. Rupprecht’s lecture was supported by a $3,000 microgrant she received from Academic Exchange Network (AEN).