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

#25

Honors by the Dozen

Twelve students were recognized at the 12th Annual Student Affairs Awards Banquet on May 10. Alissa Belzie, Cheryl Boatswain, Beatriz DaMotta, Cindy Flores, Ricardo Guerra, Joseph Hill, Malka Hirsch, Mahnoor Mirza, Bernard Murry II, Elma Rahman, Natalia Viteri, and Katarina Wengerter were this year’s honorees. Congratulations to all! And s pecial thanks to Vice President for Student Affairs Adam Rockman and his staff for organizing this special event in recognition of exemplary student leadership and achievement.

President Matos Rodríguez, student winner Elma Rahman, and Limarys Caraballo (SEYS).

Choral Society Performs Britten Masterwork

The QC Choral Society, joined by the QC Orchestra and QC Choir, will present Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem in concert on Saturday, May 19, at 8 pm at Colden Auditorium. A powerful and moving plea for peace, this composition combines the traditional Latin Requiem and works by Wilfred Owen, a British poet who wrote about and died in World War I. The vocal solos will be performed by alums Jennifer Grimaldi, a soprano, and Gilad Paz, a tenor, and faculty member Sidney Outlaw, a baritone; James John (ACSM) will conduct. Tickets cost $20 and are available through the Kupferberg Center Box Office at 718-793-8080 or online at www.kupferbergcenter.org.

Campus Prepares for Commencement

Undergraduates and graduate students combined, about 2600 men and women will receive diplomas at QC’s 94th Commencement on Thursday, May 31. Several distinguished alums will also be honored this season. At graduation, Commencement speaker and MacArthur Fellow Cristina Jiménez Moreta ’07, an advocate for immigrant rights and co-founder of United We Dream, will be presented an honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters. Mattel CEO and philanthropist Jill Barad ’73, who broke the glass ceiling to lead a Fortune 500 company, will also be awarded an honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters. Renowned math educator Alan Schoenfeld ’68, who holds the Elizabeth and Edward Conner Chair in the Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Berkeley, will receive an honorary Doctor of Science degree. At the Baccalaureate ceremony on May 29, Barry Bryer ’69, chair of the Queens College Foundation, will receive the President’s Medal in recognition of his longtime and devoted service to his alma mater.

Cristina Jiménez Moreta ’07

A Sound Solution

 

The years have taken their toll on the Queens College Clock Tower bells, rendering some of them inoperable. In a novel demonstration of the proverbial expression, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade,” a sweet solution has been found.

 

As explained by Zeco Krcic (AVP, Facilities, Planning & Operations), mechanical issues with some of the bells prevent the carillon from playing the traditional Westminster Chime as it was designed to do at quarter-hour intervals. before tolling the time at the top of each hour. The solution proposed by Kevin Birth (Anthropology): Until all of the bells can be restored to service, draw upon the talent available on campus to create a new chime melody using the still functioning bells.

 

Krcic’s department contacted Janice Smith (Interim Dean of Humanities), and soon thereafter Edward Smaldone (Music) took up the challenge. He composed two melodies, “Morning” and “Afternoon,” to be played at the appropriate times of day in place of the familiar Westminster theme. (Sensitive to the surrounding community, the bells only sound between 9 am and 7 pm.) The Music School has an historic link to the Clock Tower: One of its members, the late David Walker, took a personal interest in the design of the bells, traveling with his wife to the Royal Eijsbouts Bell Foundry in the Netherlands when they were cast.

 

Named the Chaney-Goodman-Schwerner Clock Tower to honor the three civil rights workers murdered in Mississippi during the summer of 1964 (Andrew Goodman was a QC student), the tower was built in 1988 with funds from the New York State Dormitory Authority and dedicated on November 7, 1990. Ranging in weight from 209 to 3,377 pounds, the bells are individually tuned. Each bears an inscription and is dedicated to a different segment of the Queens College community.

 

Krcic suggests that the new melodies should also serve as an inspiration for a larger effort now in conceptual development to rejuvenate the clock tower, enhancing its appearance as well as addressing some of the functional and maintenance aspects of the structure.

 

Joe Brostek (former Executive Director of Events), learning of the tower bell project on a recent visit to campus in his capacity as a member of the QC Retirees Association Executive Committee, said, “I directed Commencement for 22 years and I always enjoyed signaling for the joyous peal when degrees were conferred.”

Register Now

Now is the time to consider registering for summer classes at QC. Students can earn up to 15 credits and get a jump on completing their degree, or on meeting the requirements for the Excelsior Scholarship or on advancing in QC in 4--and still have time left over for a long vacation. Summer Session features:

 

 

For information on schedules, courses, tuition, and to apply, visit  www.qc.cuny.edu/Summer. If you have questions, contact Academic Advising at 718-997-5599.

President Félix V. Matos Rodríguez was one of 26 local heroes honored at Douglaston Manor on May 10, when the TimesLedger presented its fifth annual Queens Impact Awards. He is pictured here with ​New York City Councilman and Deputy Leader Jimmy Van Bramer. Several speakers on the program cited the positive impact of Queens College on their lives and that of their family members. (Photo: TimesLedger)

Jerry Seinfeld ’76 claims that the only time he found a parking spot in Queens was when he returned to the college in 1994 to receive an honorary degree.

For all 80 Wows, c lick here

John Dennehy (Biology) got rave reviews for his turn as a guest speaker at the Oceanside Library’s Science Café on May 10. His subject: microorganisms in our bodies . . . Harry Levine (Sociology) was quoted in a New York Times article on May 13 about ethnic disparities in marijuana arrests. Andy Beveridge (Sociology) was also cited as a resource for the article . . . Cecilia McHugh (SEES) has been elected a fellow of the Geological Society of America. She will be honored, along with the other newly elected fellows, at the GSA’s annual meeting this fall . . . PBS Newshour gave coverage to the study economics faculty members Francesc Ortega and Suleyman Taspinar conducted on the long-term effects hurricane Sandy had on New York’s housing values . . . Eugenia Paulicelli (ELL), who gave the keynote at the Made In Italy symposium organized by her colleagues in Italian Studies at FIT, was cited in an article about the conference in La Voce di New York . . . Rani Srinivasan, a writing consultant at the QC Writing Center, was accepted by the Oxford Program for Undergraduate Studies for the Fall 2018 semester . . . John Waldman (Biology) delivered the Kirkland/Spizuoco Memorial Science Lecture at Shippensburg University on April 24 as part of the Minds@Work Conference. His topic was “Restoring the Once-great Fish Migrations of the Susquehanna and Other Atlantic Rivers” . . .  Edisa Weeks (Drama, Theatre & Dance) was interviewed about QC’s dance program in the June issue of Dance Teacher magazine.