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

QView #227 | April 21

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr.

Members of the arts community and the people who support it met on Monday, April 13, when the Queens Museum hosted a reception to launch the fifth annual Queens Rising arts festival. Attendees included Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, New York City Council Member Shanel Thomas-Henry, Queens Museum President and Executive Director Sally Tallant, Long Island Jewish Forest Hills Hospital President Lorraine Chambers Lewis, Resorts World New York City Senior Vice President of Community Development and Public Affairs Michelle Stoddart, and from QC, Assistant Vice President for External and Governmental Relations Jeffrey Rosenstock and Kupferberg Center for the Arts Director Jon Yanofsky. Queens Rising events will take place throughout June.

President Frank H. Wu shared the year’s highlights and challenges in his State of the College address on Tuesday, April 14 at LeFrak Hall. Immediately afterward, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Patricia Price took the podium for the Faculty and Staff Awards Ceremony. For those who couldn’t attend, a video of the event has been posted.

Visit the new State of the College landing page for additional photos, including coverage of award recipients.

New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin toured the Tech Incubator on Tuesday, April 14, and then visited James Vacca’s Urban Studies class with New York City Council Member James Gennaro.

Addressing the room: (from left) James Vacca, Julie Menin, James Gennaro

Works by BFA students were showcased in the fourth annual Photography & Imaging Thesis Exhibition in the Klapper Hall Student Art Gallery. Thesis advisor Tony Gonzalez (left) joined President Frank H. Wu at the show’s closing reception on Wednesday, April 15.

This semester’s CETLL Learning Showcase, held on April 17, focused on assignments that use generative AI to build students’ skills. The program featured presentations by Gina Rae Foster (John Jay College of Criminal Justice), a co-author of Flipping the Pyramid: Developing Critical Thinking Skills with GenAI, and a panel of CUNY faculty and staff. Then attendees had the opportunity to develop or revise assignments they plan to give students. 

From left: Gina Rae Foster (John Jay), Spring Cooper (CUNY School of Public Health), Sebastian Alvarado (QC), Víctor M. Torres-Vélez (Hostos), Elena Sigman (QC)

Queens College was a top borough destination on Sunday, April 19. Accepted students received a warm welcome during Become a Knight Day. They had the opportunity to learn about QC Student Service Departments, tour campus, meet deans of QC’s schools, and learn about ways to finance their education. Faculty and staff were available to answer questions from students as well as family members.

. . . . Meanwhile, on campus, the Godwin-Ternbach Museum (GTM) held Field Day: The Art of the Game! The family-friendly event featured a session with the Chinatown Basketball Club, art-making workshops, and a community book talk.

Men’s Tennis Closes Regular Season with 20th Victory

The Queens College men’s tennis team capped off an outstanding regular season last week, winning all three of their matches to reach 20 victories on the season. The Knights (20-2, 5-1 East Coast Conference) bested Long Island University on Monday before defeating Adelphi University on Tuesday and St. Thomas Aquinas on Friday.

The Knights will now gear up for the ECC Men’s Tennis Championship, which will take place on Saturday, April 25 at 1 pm at the USTA National Tennis Center against St. Thomas Aquinas.

The women’s tennis team also had an outstanding regular season, finishing with a record of 14-4 overall and 8-0 in the ECC. They will compete in the ECC semifinals on Friday at the USTA National Tennis Center. The time will be announced later this week.

In other spring sports, the baseball team put up some football-like scores this weekend, as they trounced the College of Staten Island on Saturday by a score of 21-11 and then came back the next day to defeat CSI by a score of 17-4. Vincent Mallon hit his team-leading 10th home run of the year to lead QC. The Knights will play a four-game series versus D’Youville University this weekend, beginning on Friday.

In track and field, the Knights had another strong showing, this time at the Pratt Invitational. Nathanael Hansen earned a first-place finish in the men’s 1,500-meter run (4:27.06) and Jalen George won the shot put with a mark of 13.33 meters. For the women, Celeste Minkwe Jore was victorious in both the 100-meter dash (12.55) and 200-meter dash (25.93). Jordyn Cruz claimed first in the 800-meter run (2:19.82) and Jenna Cruz won the 1,500-meter run (5:16.58). QC will return to action next weekend to compete in the CCSU Blue Devil Invite.

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

Diversified Activities

“Where Do We Go From Here” is the theme of this year’s Diversity Week, taking place April 27 through May 1. As usual, each of the five days is organized around a single topic: culture, climate, community, change, and compliance. DEI leaders from QC and higher education institutions across Queens will join community partners at the Dismantling Hate Conference on Thursday, April 30. Michael Garner, New York City’s first chief business diversity officer, will give the keynote. To reserve a seat, register here.

From Armstrong’s House to Our House

The Louis Armstrong House Orchestra will make its first appearance at the Kupferberg Center for the Arts on May 2. The concert, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the album Louis Armstrong and Friends, will feature an all-star lineup playing new arrangements as well as rare compositions. The ACSM Jazz Big Band will open the show. Complimentary tickets are available for Queens College students, alumni, staff, and faculty.

Seeking a Design Fit to a T

After an impressive debut last summer, the QC Dragon Boat Team is getting ready for its sophomore season. Here’s a chance to help it dress for success! Members of the QC community are invited to submit an original T-shirt design representing the QC Dragon Boat Team. Entries must be sent to qcdragonboat@gmail.com by Sunday, May 10, at midnight; the winner will be picked on May 15. For information, click here.

Poetry Month, Continued

This week, QView publishes a poem in which New York State Poet Laureate Kimiko Hahn (English) meditates on a Queens landmark.

Ode to the Mud in Corona Park

“Walk so silently that that the bottoms of your feet become ears.”
—Pauline Oliveros

After all, you persist this late winter

to offer history and souvenir

so I walk--as a teacher instructed--

listening to you with my feet. I hear

the slow creak of a glacier, ice sheets

breaking stone into terminal moraine.

I hear the waters in a glacial lake and rivulets.

Torrents turning earth to marsh.

Then, the Lenape hunted then the Dutch

used tufts and twigs for grazing animals.

I hear their lowing. I hear muskets.

I hear the metal on road and rail.

And after the rich enjoyed a quiet green resort,

there came dumping. Can you hear the tons

of ash? Can you hear the stench and infestation?

Can you hear the fur trappers and squatters?

I hear them and the locals collecting firewood.

I hear the lawns unrolled for the fair.

The vigils and games! (The crimes--

we can't forget the crimes--)

Hear the picnic benches and picnickers.

Hear the macadam. The gravel. Hear

new stampedes. New trains of thought.

New embraces. New ardor.

The centuries whisper to my feet.

From The Ghost Forest: New and Selected Poems (W. W. Norton, 2024)

Creating a More Accessible College

In order to comply with current Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards, Queens College embarked on a construction plan in 2019. A project that included installation and upgrades of accessible ramps, paths, and entry points throughout the campus began in December and will continue through summer. Other projects to come are in the pipeline.

“There are a few ADA projects currently in design and some in construction,” says Denese McFarlane, interim assistant vice president for Planning, Design and Construction. “In design we have Phase 3 of our restroom renovations, later to happen in the next year and a half.”

These are targeting restrooms in Kiely Hall, the Student Union, and Rosenthal Library. Phase 2 will address restroom renovations in Queens Hall, the Science Building, and Remsen Hall. “Phase 2 is supposed to be going through the bid process, with the expectation that it will happen soon after,” says McFarlane.

“We have the exterior ADA projects currently in construction. These include routes, sidewalks, and accessible routes around the campus. All these projects are to help us be more accessible and to meet the regulatory compliance.”

“Projects are phased because we have a lot of square footage and acreage,” McFarlane explains. “It’s a significant amount of dollars being invested, and of course, all those dollars are not available all at once. That’s why we need to phase projects.”

“The plan is to have a route that is accessible so that you can get to every building on the campus, and within the buildings there are restrooms that are within compliance.”

“The projects that are already being constructed are all with funding that was already secured,” she continues. “The design cost is typically separate from the construction cost. The designs have been funded, and we await additional funding to move the projects into the construction phase.”

“All of the CUNY colleges need to have some amount of work done,” observes McFarlane. “So, we won’t get everything [funding] all at once because everybody needs to have a share of the pot.”

Alumnae To Be Honored in May

Three highly accomplished QC alumnae will receive recognition at next month’s ceremonies.

Suzanne Brenner ’81 will be given the President’s Medal during Baccalaureate on Tuesday, May 26. At Commencement two days later, honorary doctorates will be awarded to Marie Maynard Daly ’42 (posthumously) and to Lucy Freeman Sandler ’51. The careers of these distinguished graduates are summarized in a recent mailer.

Robert Gustafson ’57

Curator, gallerist, and writer Robert Gustafson died in January 2026 at the age of 90.

Armed with a BA from Queens College, an MFA in theater arts from Carnegie Mellon University, and evidently, a good eye, Gustafson ran galleries in New York; Santa Fe, New Mexico; and Spoleto, Italy. He helped the Cooper Hewitt Museum, the Museum of the City of New York, the Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, the Harvard Theatre Collection, and other institutions expand their collections of original costume and scenic designs from opera, ballet, and theater. He also curated exhibitions of theatrical design.

As founder of Apollo Muses Center for the Arts—based at the Lu Shan Estate in Chester, New Jersey—Gustafson presented more than 230 concerts, exhibitions, and theatrical events across the Mid-Atlantic region from 1983 through 2007. His publications include a monograph, The Court Theaters of Europe, and his memoir, A Path Lit By Stars: Reminiscences.

Petro Sodol ’79

Vietnam veteran turned librarian Petro Sodol died on December 31, 2025. He was 90.

World War II forced Sodol and his family to flee their native Ukraine. Eventually, they settled in Brooklyn, where he graduated from high school. Then he joined the U.S. Army. After 20 years of service, including two tours in Vietnam that earned him decorations from both the Vietnamese and American commands, he retired with the rank of major.

Switching careers, Sodol completed a master's in library science at QC. Working for Prolog Research and Publishing Corporation, he did extensive research on the Ukrainian Liberation Movement, concentrating on the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. A member of the Ukrainian scouting movement since his youth, he helped establish the Scout Leader Training School (Lisova Shkola).

Umar Kagzi ’22 developed software for Artemis II. As reported in QView 141, he began working for NASA as an intern in 2021 . . . . Caroline Rupprecht (Comparative Literature) presented lectures on April 6 and April 8 at Ibn Zohr university in Agadir, Morocco. The first talk, for the English department, was about U.S. poet and writer Allen Ginsberg; the second, for the French department, was on French philosopher and filmmaker Guy Debord . . . . QC faculty members Madeline Hunt-Ehrlich (Media Studies) and Molly Rose Lieber (Drama, Theatre, Dance & Fashion) have been named to the new cohort of Guggenheim fellows. This news will be covered in greater detail in a future issue of QView . . . .

Queens College received an "A " grade on the latest campus antisemitism report card issued by the ADL (Anti-Defamation League). President Frank H. Wu joined Baruch College President David Wu, Brooklyn College President Michelle Anderson, NYU Dean of Students Rafael Rodriguez, SUNY Rockland President William Mullaney, and ADL executives in an April 14 webinar with "A" grade college executives about responses to issues arising on campus and strategies to combat antisemitism and bigotry.