Discimus ut serviamus: We learn so that we may serve.

QView #231 | May 27

Newly named Guggenheim Fellows Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich (Media Studies) and Molly Rose Lieber (Dance and Women’s and Gender Studies) joined campus executives for a celebratory coffee break on Tuesday, May 19. The two faculty members are among 223 recipients for this year, chosen from nearly 5,000 applicants. 

From left: Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Patricia Price, President Frank H. Wu, Guggenheim Fellow Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich, Social Sciences Dean Kate Pechenkina, Guggenheim Fellow Molly Rose Lieber

Above and below: High school students who hope to become teachers visited the School of Education on May 19.

Men’s basketball coach Chris Alesi met QC sports fans and discussed the season’s highlights on Wednesday, May 20.

From left: Vice President for Communications and Marketing and Senior Advisor to the President Jay Hershenson, Director of Public Safety Vincent Sinclair, Men’s Basketball Coach Chris Alesi, President Frank H. Wu, Communications Writer/Editor John Scarinci, Director of Athletics and Recreation Robert Twible

Tis the season for end-of-academic-year events. Last week’s festivities included BALA Graduation on the evening of Wednesday, May 20.

Celebrating the Class of ’26

At QC’s 102nd Commencement Ceremony on Thursday, May 28 at 9 am on the Quadrangle, the college will award approximately 4,300 undergraduate and graduate degrees—and the campus community is invited to attend. Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, Jr. will receive the Queens College presidential medal, the school’s highest administrative honor, and deliver the keynote. Marie Maynard Daly ’42, the first Black woman in the United States to earn a PhD in chemistry, and Lucy Freeman Sandler ’51, a renowned medieval art historian, will be recognized with honorary degrees. Daly’s degree will be awarded posthumously; her granddaughter Carly Reid will accept it. Please refer to the recent mailer from President Frank H. Wu for information about the Commencement schedule and protocol for the occasion.

Men’s and Women’s Tennis Seasons Come to an End at NCAA Championships; Mallon Named Baseball All-American

The men’s and women’s tennis teams both saw their fantastic 2026 seasons come to an end at the NCAA Championships last week. Competing out west in Surprise, Arizona, both squads faced tough opening-round matchups. The women fell 4-0 to Catawba College on Tuesday, and the men lost 4-0 to Flagler College on Wednesday. Despite the abrupt finish, the 2026 season will go down as one of the best in school history. The women posted a stellar 17-5 record, while the men dominated at 22-3, with both programs capturing East Coast Conference titles.

Meanwhile, on the diamond, Vincent Mallon was recognized for his outstanding performance this season. The standout was named a National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) All-American, earning a third-team selection. Mallon batted .406 with 13 home runs and 49 runs batted in over just 39 games, becoming only the fourth player in program history to earn All-American honors.

That concludes another great year for the Queens College athletics program. QC’s dedicated student-athletes will be working hard during the offseason to build upon the program’s success next school year.

Build Your Credit This Summer

Summer Session at Queens College will begin next week—and there’s still time to enroll. Students can choose from hundreds of courses in in-person, hybrid, and online formats and earn up to 15 credits. Classes last four or seven weeks and start as early as June 1.

Bringing Music to Borough Parks

The Queens Jazz Trail Concert Series will return this summer, offering free programs in borough parks on consecutive Thursday evenings, July 7 through August 27. The eight-part series includes appearances by Grammy Award-winning QC alumnus Arturo O’Farrill (July 23) and QC alumnus, faculty member, and Guggenheim fellow John Yao (July 30). Also on the schedule: salutes to the 100th birthdays of Queens luminaries John Coltrane (July 16), Miles Davis (August 13), and Tony Bennett (August 27). All concerts start at 7 pm. The complete lineup is posted here.

The Queens Jazz Trail Concert Series is presented by Kupferberg Center for the Arts, Flushing Town Hall, and Louis Armstrong House Museum in partnership with NYC Parks. 

Exploring Hair in Context-ure

Not to be confused with a similarly named 1980s pop duo, WHAM, the Woodside Heights Art Museum, presents exhibitions connected to its immediate neighborhood. The current show, Curly, Wavy & Straight: Barber Shops & Beauty Salons of Woodside Heights, is inspired by the area’s dense concentration of hair businesses—within a half-square mile, there are 15 barber shops and salons as well as a school for hairdressers. WHAM co-founder and artistic director Micki Watanabe Spiller has been patronizing some of these establishments and sharing her experiences here. Haircuts aren’t free, but admission to WHAM (41-48 54th Street, Woodside Heights 11377) is.

On permanent exhibit in the courtyard adjacent to the museum are artists’ signs, including one by former New York City Department of Sanitation Public Artist in Residence Sto Len, who made a presentation to QC art and urban studies classes in 2022 (QView 140).

Joan Behrmann ’56

Newspaper editor Joan Behrmann died on March 5, a few days before her 90th birthday.

After earning a bachelor’s degree at QC, Behrmann went to the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. In a career that spanned the East and West Coasts, she worked for the Charlotte Observer, Miami Herald, and Miami News; was a founding editor of USA Today; and served as the first female executive editor of the Palm Springs Desert Sun. Retiring to Sante Fe, she devoted time to the Santa Fe Opera as a volunteer docent and president of its guild.

Berhmann is survived by her husband, two children, two grandchildren, brother, and extended family members.

Harriette Blechman ’67

Harriette Blechman, an English and theater teacher at Townsend Harris High School, passed away on April 5. She was 79.

Graduating from Queens College with a BA in English, Blechman headed to Indiana University for an MA. Then she returned to Queens, where she spent the rest of her life. Members of the Townsend Harris community remember her for putting on multiple school productions. While she retired in 2006, she didn’t stop teaching—she led seminars on civil rights, the American Revolution, and other topics as education coordinator for the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

Blechman is survived by her brother, two nieces, and three grandnieces.

Associate Provost for Academic and Faculty Affairs and Graduate Studies Maria DeLongoria is listed in City & State’s 2026 Trailblazers in Higher Education  . . . .

Mitchell Draizin, founder and chair of the CUNY LGBTQI+ Advisory Council, will receive a university honorary degree at the LaGuardia Community College Commencement Ceremony, to take place at QC on June 18 . . . .

Africana Studies Director Natanya Duncan is a recipient of the Jerome Krase Award for outstanding research by CUNY associate professors. During the upcoming academic year, each awardee will present their research in a talk alongside others as part of the Sandi Cooper and Jerome Krase lecture series, when the award will be officially conferred . . . .

Michael Newman (LCD) is quoted in “L-I-R-R vs. Lurr: The Debate Splitting New York Commuters,” published in the New York Times last week . . . . Mathew Sarmiento, an anthropology major and Mellon Mays Undergraduate fellow, has won selection as a 2026 Beinecke Scholar. This prestigious national award provides exceptional juniors in the arts, humanities, and social sciences with funding for graduate study. To date, 775 students have been named Beinecke Scholars since the first awards were given in 1975. Sarmiento is QC’s first Beinecke Scholar since 2019 . . . . NYC Men Teach Director Nathaniel Smith and University Director of NYC Men Teacher William Anders were interviewed by Cheryl Wills for a “Focus“ episode about the tenth anniversary of NYC Men Teach, the diversity of the program and its success . . . . Karen Weingarten (English) and Núria Rodríguez-Planas (Economics) are among the university faculty members whose work is highlighted in the newsletter CUNY Research in Focus • May ’26 • Vol III • Issue 5 . . . . Rosalynn Ye ’25, a Macaulay Honors Scholar, has won a Fulbright fellowship to serve as an English teaching assistant in Taiwan. She was a tutor at the Writing Center and an intern in Experiential Education’s Teaching in Vietnam initiative. Ye plans to pursue a master’s in education and become a teacher . . . . Yinxian Zhang (Sociology) is among the recipients of the Henry Wasser Award for outstanding research by CUNY assistant professors. During the upcoming academic year, each honoree will present their research in a talk alongside others as part of the Feliks Gross and Henry Wasser lecture series, when the award will be officially conferred . . . . The IMA Student Chapter at Queens College has earned the Award of Excellence—Gold Status—from its parent organization, the Institute of Management Accountants. As part of the award, the chapter will receive $500.

This is the last issue of QView for the semester. Warmest congratulations to all members of the 2026 graduating class. The newsletter will be published once over the summer and resume its usual schedule in Fall 2026.