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

QView #239| October 20

From left: George F. Vermenton, Margarito Rubio Nicho, Freddy Hurtado

Three QC graduates—portfolio property manager Fredy Hurtado ’24, Baccarat accounting manager Margarita Rubio Nicho ’22, and healthcare entrepreneur and technology innovator George F. Vermenton ’13—came back to campus on Tuesday, October 13, to participate in a Hispanic Alumni Business Forum. Karl Mitchell (Economics) moderated the panel, a Hispanic Heritage Month event presented by the Economics Department, Office of Alumni Relations, QC School of Business, and Latino and Latin American Studies.

Moderator Karl Mitchell (Economics) at the podium

QC marked the opening of the basketball season on October 13 in FitzGerald Gym with MidKnight Madness. The evening’s activities included musical chairs, a relay race, and a dance contest. T-shirts were given to the first 100 fans with QC identification who came to the gym.

The School of Business served up the semester’s second Business Breakfast on October 14, hosted by Dean Carmen Cotei. The speaker was Jason Schwartz ’04, partner and innovation lead in Ernst & Young’s Financial Services Assurance practice. Schwartz, who majored in accounting and information systems at QC, shared insights from his professional journey, discussed the evolving business landscape, and offered an optimistic perspective on artificial intelligence and its growing role in the workplace. The event featured an engaging discussion and a lively Q&A session.

Jason Schwartz talking to students

Grace Rosen, president of the Queens College Gender Love & Sexuality Alliance (GLASA), speaks from the podium.

The rain came and the rainbows remained on Wednesday, October 14, when students gathered in Klapper Circle for Coming Out at Queens College, an annual National Coming Out Day event. Students shared their coming out stories and enjoyed a craft activity.

This event was sponsored by the LGBTQIAA+ Programs and Resource Center at QC through the generous support of the CUNY Institute for LGBTQIA+ Community Engagement & Public History and the New York City Council. The Queens College Center for Ethnic, Racial & Religious Understanding (CERRU) provided refreshments and beverages and the Gender Love & Sexuality Alliance (GLASA) at QC led the craft activity. Other cosponsors present at the event were the Women and Gender Studies Program at QC, Mt. Sinai Sexual Assault and Violence Intervention Program and Learn Mobo.

What are your best options during an active shooter situation? In “Run, Hide, Fight,” a workshop on October 14, NYPD Sergeant Jeffrey Gallego explained the steps people can take to protect themselves. For additional information, watch Active Shooter Preparedness, a video made by the Office of Communications and Marketing.

Faculty from QCC and QC shared their knowledge during “Career-Connected Learning in the Curriculum: Best Practices at Queens College and Across CUNY” on Thursday, October 15, in the Muyskens Conference Room. After opening remarks by Interim Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Daniel Weinstein, QCC’s Punita Bhansali (Biological Sciences), CUNY Faculty Co-Director of Career-Connected Learning, spoke about university-wide initiatives. Then three faculty members from QC—Soribel Genao (ECP), Spring 2026 QC Career-Connected Learning Faculty Fellow; Felicia Madimenos (Anthropology), 2025-26 CUNY Career Success Fellow; and Christine Ramadhin (SEES), Spring 2026 QC Career-Connected Learning Faculty Fellow—offered presentations related to their respective academic fields.

The event was sponsored by the Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning & Leadership; Queens College; Queens College Experiential Education; and the Center for Career Engagement and Internships.

The Early Childhood Education Resource Center in Rosenthal 405 made its debut with a ribbon cutting on Thursday, October 15. The well-lit space is furnished with a flat-screen panel, magnetic boards, a bulletin board, an alphabet rug, and of course, lots of books.

From left: Eduardo Ortiz-Carlson, Luis Rivera, Kinai Garrido, Violet Kessler, JC Carlson-Ortiz. Not pictured: Najyah David.

The Queens College LGBTQIAA+ Programs and Resource Center fielded a delegation for the grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony of Our Space—a youth drop-in center at the Woodside location of the AIDS Center of Queens County (ACQC)—on Thursday, October 15. Queens College students helped reveal the center's new logo, and QC student Kinai Garrido offered remarks. A citation was presented by Assembly Member Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas’ office and Assembly Member Steven Raga led the ribbon cutting.

A longtime partner of Queens College, ACQC offers free and confidential HIV and STI testing in the LGBTQIAA+ Resource Center in Queens Hall Room 232 every Tuesday, from noon to 4 pm, when classes are in session. In addition, ACQC will provide free testing at Sex in the Dark: An Anonymous Q&A Forum on Wednesday, October 28, from 6 to 9 pm in the Patio Room.

A day for knights: Nearly 1,000 visitors—counting prospective students and their family members—attended QC’s open house on Sunday, October 18. More than 120 staff and faculty were on hand to discuss programs and field questions. Even the weather cooperated, showing campus to advantage. 

Women’s Tennis Falls in CACC Championship Match

The Queens College women’s tennis team advanced to the finals of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Championships this weekend but fell to Thomas Jefferson University by a score of 4-3. 

The match came down to the very end, with the decision coming down in #4 singles, which Jefferson won in three sets. The day prior, the Knights defeated Chestnut Hill College, 4-1, in the CACC semifinals. 

The Knights finished the fall portion of their schedule with an impressive record of 12-2. Despite the loss, they will still have a chance to qualify for an NCAA tournament bid when they resume their season in the spring. 

On the pitch, the men’s soccer team (10-4-2) took on two local rivals this week, defeating Adelphi University, 2-1, on Wednesday before earning a 2-2 draw with Molloy University on Saturday. The women’s soccer team (7-3-4) had two scoreless ties this week, one coming against American International College on Wednesday and the other against the College of Staten Island on Saturday. 

In cross country, the Knights competed at the St. Joseph’s College Invitational. Jordyn Cruz led the Knights with a fourth-place finish in the 5k race (20:03.29), while Carly Koprowski finished sixth (20:13.89). For the men, Daniel DeGregori paced QC with a tenth-place finish in the 8k race (29:26.55). 

Coming up this week:

Women’s soccer closes out the regular season with a match at Mercy University on Wednesday followed by a road contest against D’Youville on Saturday. Both matches begin at noon. 

Men’s soccer will also travel to Mercy and D’Youville on Wednesday and Saturday respectively, with both matches starting at 2:30 pm. 

Women’s volleyball is at D’Youville on Saturday as well for a noon match before coming home to take on Daemen University on Sunday at noon. 

Cross country competes at the Adelphi University Short Course Showdown this Friday. The race will begin at 2 pm at Bethpage State Park. 

For the latest Knights news, scores, schedules, and more, visit queensknights.com 

A Donation That’s On the Books

Queens College Library (QCL) held a celebration on October 14 for a substantial gift from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York (TECO): 366 boxes of books in 16 categories, including, but not limited to, anthropology, art, history, language and literature, and social sciences. As reported in a QNS article, most of the books are written in traditional Chinese; some are bilingual (traditional Chinese and English); and some are in English. Following QCL borrowing policies, researchers interested in East Asian studies, classical Chinese, Chinese literature, and East Asian civilization should benefit from the new collection.

“I am thrilled to be here tonight as we celebrate an extraordinary donation of books from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York to our Benjamin Rosenthal Library,” Queens College Interim President Elizabeth Hendrey said at the event. “This generous contribution significantly elevates our capacity to teach and to explore East Asian history, literature and art.”

The collection comprises more than 7400 titles. Some are being cataloged as reference materials, while others will be available as regular loanable books.

Spooky Doings in the Borough

October is the time to scare, be scared, and flavor everything with liberal doses of pumpkin spice. Not sure where to go or what to do? Here are some options.

Queens Public Library hosts family-friendly crafting sessions, costume parties, screenings, and other activities at borough branches all month. Check the schedule. No car? No problem. In fact, it’s better. The Department of Transportation reroutes traffic for “Trick or Streets” dates in Queens and the rest of the city to accommodate walking tours, face painting, live entertainment, and more.

For those who come out only at night, the Astoria bar/café/event space Medusa Art Studios drapes itself in darkness and offers thematic programming—think murder mysteries, ghost stories, and on October 30, four hours of vampire movies followed by a “Dance of the Damned” and a New Orleans Night Market.

At the Maple Grove Cemetery “Trunk or Treat” on October 24, participants fill car trunks with candy to hand out to children. The proceedings include a magic show and a contest for Best Decorated Car. Register in advance here. The event doubles as a food drive; bring canned goods for distribution to local pantries.

As the title suggests, Halloween on the Farm at the Queens County Farm Museum on October 31 will feature candy stations, hay rides. Admission to the three-acre Amazing Maize Maze is included with the ticket price. The maze has been a farm museum tradition for more than 20 years and to date, everyone has made it out alive.

Alondra Rodriguez, an undergraduate majoring in psychology and early childhood and elementary education, was awarded a scholarship by the New York Women’s Forum. Rodriguez plans to attend graduate school in bilingual special education. This year, 13 of the forum’s 21 awardees were from CUNY schools . . . .

The Department of Theatre, Dance and Fashion and The Queens College School of Arts will present Marie Antoinette October 29–November 1 and November 5–8. The play re-examines the life and times of the notorious queen who represented the excesses of French monarchy and the cruelty of the revolution that ended it.