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Discimus ut serviamus: We learn so that we may serve.
#27
What’s News
Queens College Celebrates Its 94th Commencement
On Thursday, May 31, at 9 am, Queens College will celebrate its ninety-fourth Commencement as part of its year-long celebration of its 80th anniversary. President Félix V. Matos Rodríguez will preside over an audience that is expected to number more than 10,000, including over 2,600 degree candidates. Honorary doctorates will be awarded to three exceptional alumni: social activist Cristina Jiménez Moreta ’07, a 2017 MacArthur “Genius Award” recipient; Mattel CEO and philanthropist Jill Barad ’73, who broke the glass ceiling to lead a Fortune 500 company; and renowned math educator Alan Schoenfeld ’68, who is the recipient of the Klein Medal, the highest international distinction in mathematics education. To read more about the honorees and some of the remarkable students who are graduating this year, click here.
Humanitarian Award winner
Joseph Hill
Marshall Scholarship winner
Josephine Cooke
Barry A. Bryer ’69 Awarded the Queens College President’s Medal
 
Distinguished alumnus Barry A. Bryer ’69 received the Queens College President’s Medal--the college’s highest administrative honor--at the baccalaureate convocation Tuesday evening, May 29, in Colden Auditorium. Bryer is a corporate securities lawyer and renowned expert on mergers and acquisitions. A prominent figure in business and legal circles who has given back to his alma mater for 30 years as a member of the Queens College Foundation Board of Trustees, Bryer is also a member of the Legal Advisory Council of Sanctuary for Families, the leading service provider and advocate for survivors of domestic violence, sex trafficking, and related forms of gender violence. Click  here  to read more. 
Technology 101
In partnership with Google, QC is piloting the company’s Computer Science Summer Institute Extension Program, a free, three-week introductory course for entering QC freshmen. Classes take place on campus; only 30 seats are available. Students with a passion for technology are encouraged to apply by June 1. Information about the program, including how to apply, is available at   https://sites.google.com/qc.cuny.edu/cssi.
The Stuff that Dreams are Made Of
President Félix V. Matos Rodríguez taped an interview last week for the ABC-TV Channel 7 program Tiempo, in which he spoke with this year’s commencement speaker Cristina Jiménez Moreta ’07 about her immigrant rights activism and how her QC education played a role in preparing her for this work. A 2017 MacArthur “Genius Award” recipient and one of  Time  magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2018, Moreta is the cofounder of United We Dream, the largest immigrant youth-led network in the country. The interview will air on Sunday, June 3 at 11:30 am​.
Tiempo host Joe Torres ( l.) with Cristina Jiménez Moreta and President Félix V. Matos Rodríguez.
Business Forum Addresses Booming Growth Among Queens Small Businesses
 
Gregg Bishop, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Small Business Services, will be the featured speaker at Queens College’s next Business Forum Breakfast. His address, entitled “Small Business is Big Business in Queens,” couldn’t be more timely. New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli’s office has just released a report on the Queens economy that says, “Queens has more residents than at any time in its history, a record number of jobs and businesses, and an all-time low unemployment rate.” The event takes place Friday, June 15, from 8 to 10 am in the Student Union Ballroom (fourth floor). To attend, RSVP by June 4 to www.qc.cuny.edu/businessforumRSVP . Information queries can be sent to business.forum@qc.cuny.edu .
Pridefest Celebration at QC June 14

President Félix V. Matos Rodríguez invites the QC community to join him on the Quad on Thursday, June 14 (rain date June 21) to celebrate the first CUNY Pridefest at Queens College. This event will include Council Member Danny Dromm, key members of other CUNY colleges, as well as QC faculty, staff, and students. “Pridefest is a wonderful expression of our college's commitment to celebrating the rich diversity on our campus and our university,” the  president notes. The program will begin promptly at noon. To RSVP,  click here .
 
The Pridefest is among a number of events this year made possible through the generous support of the New York City Council through the office of Daniel Dromm (District 25). It is a result of an ongoing partnership with CUNY colleges in Queens celebrating the occasion of the 25th Annual Queens Pride Parade. 
Building Futures
During this spring semester, QView has had the pleasure of profiling many remarkable students, faculty, staff, and alumni. If you have missed any of these, just click on a photo for their story. We also encourage you to submit for consideration someone connected to Queens College you feel is making a difference by helping students or members of the community build their future.   ​
Alexander Kouguell
Register Now

There is still time to register for Summer classes! 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 for a long vacation. Summer Session features:
 
  • hundreds of undergraduate and graduate courses, including 30 online courses
  • choice of four sessions (lasting four, six, or ten weeks)
  • affordable tuition
  • summer Pell is available for eligible students
  • free on-campus parking 
  • inexpensive and exceptional on-campus housing
 
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.

WOW #18
In 1979 President Jimmy Carter became the first president to visit Queens College, holding a Town Hall Meeting at Colden Center. ​

For all 80 Wows, c lick here
Heard Around Campus
President Félix V. Matos Rodríguez recently contributed an opinion column to the online newspaper and website The Hill , advocating for Congress to ratify the Dream Act of 2017. You can read it here . The president will also be among the honorees at Flushing Town Hall’s 39th Anniversary Gala on Thursday, June 7. The benefit, which supports Flushing Town Hall's annual arts and cultural programs, is celebrating people “who exemplify the importance of supporting the arts” . . . The May 24 edition of the Italian newspaper La Stampa featured an article about the exhibition of dresses by Italian fashion designer Maddalena Triggiani at the May 9 Queens College Gala. The clothes exhibited were part of  The Fabric of Cultures: Systems in the Making , a project conceived and curated by Eugenia Paulicelli (ELL) . . . The 17th annual  QC Mathematics Competition was held on Friday, May 25, in the Patio Room. Eleven high schools sent seven-person teams and math coaches to the event. Following a welcome from Provost Betsy Hendrey and Mathematics Chair Alan Sultan, the students tackled the problems created by Computer Science Professors Kent Boklan and Alex Ryba, who also served as judges. Each team received a book prize, and books were also awarded in the individual competition at three levels, as well as in the team competition. Bard HS in Queens finished first in both the team and individual (student Henry Sailer) competitions. The 11 competing schools were QHSLS, QSI, Townsend Harris, NEST+m, Metropolitan Expeditionary Learning School, Garden School, Bard, Queens Metropolitan, Benjamin Cardozo, John Bowne, and Queens Gateway to the Health Sciences . . . Dog Hill Poems , the twentieth collection of poetry by George Held (English, emeritus), has been issued by Goldfish Press (Seattle). Like in many of Held's previous collections, these 18 poems primarily address the natural world--specifically, the sights and sounds around a rural road in upstate New York:

In the West Woods
 
A woodpecker drills deep
In the west woods,
Drilling deep into the wood. 
 
I prefer its sound to sparrow’s cheep,
Thinking it good
Some bird’s understood
 
The need for going deep
Where none else would.
In Memoriam: E. Richard Covert
E. Richard Covert, who spent close to thirty years at Queens College, passed away this past weekend. He received his doctor of education degree from Teachers College, Columbia University, and was a member of QC’s Student Personnel Department. For many of his years on campus he served as dean of students, before retiring in 1992. Plans are underway for a memorial service on campus; more information on this will be forthcoming. Dr. Covert's family is working with the college to create a scholarship in his honor. If you would like to contribute, mail a check payable to the Queens College Foundation, with Covert Scholarship in the memo line, to: 

Queens College
65-30 Kissena Blvd.
Kiely Hall 906
Queens, NY 11367-1597
See You in September
 
QView  is a digital publication for and about Queens College. Special thanks to John Cassidy, Leslie Jay, and Bob Suter for their writing and editorial expertise; kudos to Adrian Partridge, Pablo Flores, Georgine Ingber, and Andy Poon for their design and photographic contributions; many thanks to Maria Terrone and, most recently, Beethoven Bong, for the “Building Futures” profiles; and thanks to Maria Matteo and Lillian Zepeda for their helpful suggestions along the way. Numerous members of the QC community have shared important information about their work or that of others, all of which is much appreciated.
 
It has been a special joy to report on some of the many awards and recognitions received by talented students, faculty, staff, alumni, foundation members, and other friends of the college. We produced 27 issues of the  QView  over the past year, and now with Commencement coming up, this will be our last issue before taking a summer break and then returning for the fall semester. Your suggestions are always welcome for consideration. 
 
Warmly, 


The Q View is produced by the
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Comments and suggestions for future news items and the 8Oth Anniversary Website are welcome.