April 2024

This afternoon—April 2—I will have the pleasure of summarizing the year’s developments and recognizing outstanding faculty and staff members of our community at the State of the College Address and Faculty Staff Award Ceremony. My newsletter gives me a chance to focus instead on recent news.

From left: Valerie Fryer-Davis with WGS Director Red Washburn and College Assistant Kayla Reece.

I thank Red Washburn, director of Women and Gender Studies (WGS), for organizing thought-provoking Women’s History Month programming on Monday afternoons. The series concluded on March 25 with Trans and Black Love and Rage as Revolutionary Struggle, a talk presented by Valerie Fryer-Davis, a doctoral candidate in English at the CUNY Graduate Center.

From left: Retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Terrance Holliday, Office of Veteran and Military Support Services Associate Director Dennis Torres, Interim Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs Sean Pierce

The same day, the Office of Veteran and Military Support Services hosted a ceremony in which the office’s associate director, Dennis Torres, received the Service Member Patriot Award. Issued by Employer Support for the Guard and Reserve—an office in the Department of Defense—this award acknowledges support provided to those serving in the National Guard or Reserves, or the spouse of a Guard or Reserve member. Retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Terrance Holliday presented the much-deserved honor to Dennis.

DA Melinda Katz at the podium; Executive Assistant DA Colleen Babb, the evening’s emcee, behind her

Queens District Attorney Melissa Katz honored community leaders at her annual Women’s History Month celebration at QC on Tuesday, March 26. New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams gave an inspiring keynote at the event, held on our campus for the third year in a row.

City Council Speaker Adams (far left) and DA Melinda Katz (far right) bookend honorees (from left) NYPD Detective Tanya L. Duhaney; Queens DA Community Coordinator Rokeya Akhter; Queens DA Intake Bureau Chief Anne-Marie Mullaney; and Gianna P. Cerbone, chef and owner of Manducatis Rustica VIG in Long Island City. 

The following evening, campus was the site of a Holi Festival, presented by the Queens College SASA and GSA, with an open dance floor, henna, refreshments, and more.

Meanwhile, Vice President for Communications and Marketing and Senior Advisor to the President Jay Hershenson, Assistant Vice President for External and Governmental Relations Jeffrey Rosenstock, QC Hillel Executive Director Jenna Citron Schwab, Center for Jewish Studies Director Arnold Franklin, and QC Chabad’s Rabbi Shaul Wertheimer and Mrs. Tzipah Wertheimer joined me at Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills, where Assemblymember Samuel Berger organized a discussion of Jewish life at Queens College. We distributed a brochure on the topic. I spoke strongly against antisemitism, circulated an action program jointly announced with Jenna Citron Schwab to combat it, and fielded questions from the audience.

Our spring sports continue to look strong this season. The baseball team won three games last week to improve to 15-10 overall and 6-2 in the East Coast Conference (ECC), and softball is 3-1 in ECC play. Our men’s and women’s tennis teams continue to play well; the women defeated nationally ranked Wilmington University last week. And our outdoor track and field team has competed in two meets thus far, posting several top finishes. 

With the way the season has gone so far, I’m confident that when the next Frankly Speaking is released in May I’ll be talking about spring teams getting ready for the ECC playoffs!

Queens College is proud to be classified as a Hispanic-Serving Institution, defined as a not-for-profit institution in which Hispanics comprise at least a quarter of undergraduate full-time equivalent students. Yesterday, Herminia Gomez, USDA liaison for HSIs, toured campus. (She’s a Hunter alumna; her father, her siblings, and her partner all hold CUNY degrees.)

After visiting FNES facilities with me . . .

Herminia Gomez lunched with students and provided a comprehensive presentation about federal internship and employment opportunities.

I’m delighted to report that CUNY’s Office of Transformation has designated three QC faculty members—Khanh Le (Linguistics and Communication Disorders), William Orchard (English), and Jian Xiao (Accounting and Information Systems)—as Career Success Fellows for academic 2024-25. Through the Career Success Fellowship, faculty develop ways to embed career-relevant information into their courses and share these insights with colleagues. Sebastian Alvarado (Biology), a member of the current Career Success cohort, will serve on a three-person team that will explore ways to implement fellows’ work.

Khanh Le

William Orchard

Jian Xiao

I’ll finish this newsletter by promoting several upcoming campus events. 

Next Monday, April 8, the college’s Society of Physics Students will gather outside Rosenthal Library from 1 to 5 pm to view the solar eclipse. All are invited. The sky will be at its darkest between 3 and 3:30 pm; the contiguous United States won’t experience another major solar eclipse for more than 20 years.

The campus will welcome accepted students on our new initiative, Become a Knight Day, April 14. The fun starts at 2 pm on the Quad: refreshments, music, tours, and more. I encourage faculty, staff, and current students to attend.

Since this college opened its doors, it has welcomed people of all backgrounds. In that spirit, and in further affirmation of our values, I am releasing today a video message as we plan to host our second annual Diversity Week from April 15 to 19. Once again, programming will culminate in the Dismantling and Combating Hate Conference; David Hinojosa, director of the Educational Opportunities Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, will deliver the keynote. Mr. Hinojosa served as lead counsel for multiracial students and alumni defending affirmative action in suits Students for Fair Admission (SFFA) brought against Harvard and the University of North Carolina; he argued the UNC case before the Supreme Court.

On April 17 at 12:30 pm, the Office of Student Development and Leadership will host the college’s third annual COVID memorial event on Cooperman Plaza. We will gather in remembrance of loved ones lost in the pandemic; several students will share their stories.

I hope to see everyone at LeFrak Concert Hall at 3 pm and at the reception after the ceremony.

PS: Szilvia Tanenbaum has compiled an amazing record of generosity to Queens College. She has made gifts to Rosenthal Library, where Room 300i is named in her honor, and to support book arts courses. Szilvia recently brought a QC contingent—Interim Dean of the School of Arts and Humanities Simone Yearwood, Godwin-Ternbach Museum Co-Directors Louise Weinberg and Maria Pio, and me—on a field trip to Storm King Art Center in New Windsor, NY.

From left: Storm King Curator Nora Lawrence, Interim Dean of Arts and Humanities Simone Yearwood, yours truly, Szilvia Tanenbaum, and GTM Co-Directors Louise Weinberg and Maria Pio