Discimus ut serviamus:
We learn so that we may serve.
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FitzGerald Gym Gets to the Top of Improvements
The project to replace the roof of FitzGerald Gymnasium will be completed by the end of spring 2020, according to Project Manager Kelston Saul (Campus Planning, Design and Construction), who has been overseeing the work.
Begun at the end of the spring semester in 2018, the project entails replacing the old roof with a modern, energy-efficient vinyl composite that will help reflect sunlight and keep the gym cooler during summer months, saving a significant amount of energy. “Additionally,” explains Saul, “all gym lighting fixtures are being replaced with a new LED type, providing additional energy savings and improving comfort, as they generate much less heat than traditional lighting.”
NCAA-standard broadcast lighting will also be installed for the purpose of televising games.
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Godwin-Ternbach Presents Contemporary Cuban Artists
The unique esthetics of Cuban art, which draws on African, European, and Latin/Caribbean influences, will be showcased in
Arte Cubano, opening at the Godwin-Ternbach with a reception on Wednesday, October 16, from 6 to 8 pm. On view through February 20, 2020, the exhibition features more than 25 Cuban artists, including Esterio Segura, who created the installation “Goodbye My Love” for Times Square Arts in 2013. Collectively, the pieces on display encompass everything from found objects to cast bronze.
Arte Cubano was co-organized by Mid-America Arts Alliance and the Center for Cuban Studies (NYC).
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Delivered to alumni’s mailboxes this month and now available online, the
Fall 2019 Queens magazine is packed with exciting articles about QC and the individuals whose lives were changed by their time on campus. In this issue, read about graduate programs that enable people to advance their careers; a revived Big Buddies initiative that pairs student mentors with homeless children; the latest developments at Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library; support from Alumni donors and so much more, including Alumni News.
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Dean Michael W. Wolfe (Division of Social Sciences) reports on recent initiatives to QC’s active Business Advisory Board, including its chair, Barbara Steiner (center) and member Gary Carson.
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This Week’s Fair for Exploring Academic Options
All students are welcome at the Major/Minor Fair, taking place on Wednesday, October 16, from noon to 2 pm in the Student Union, fourth floor. Students can enjoy sandwiches and refreshments while exploring possible areas of academic concentration. Information will also be available about options ranging from service learning, pre-professional advising, and honors programs to Study Abroad and the National Student Exchange.
Click here to learn more.
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Rosenthal Library Books New Archival Fellows
Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library has hired two new fellows and an undergraduate intern to assist with processing and preserving archival materials, and most notably, to aide in the creation of the memory lab—a place where members of the QC community can go with old videos and photographs and convert them to modern formats free of charge.
Placements to Last Two Semesters
Tom Gubernat and Jeanie Pai, graduate students studying library science, are the archive fellows for the 2019-20 school year, while Reign McConnell, a SEEK student, is the library’s undergraduate intern.
The graduate fellowships were made possible by a grant from the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, an organization that gives modest grants to libraries to help make their resources more widely accessible to scholars and the general public. The funding will go toward a stipend for fellows and for professional development.
Gubernat’s main responsibility this year will be in the creation of the memory lab. He has experience as a post-production editor and is also a media archivist and filmmaker at Medgar Evers College. The memory lab will be ready for the QC community by the end of the spring semester.
“With [the memory lab] you are using people’s memories and their family stories that they are seeing through these home movies in a way to make older generations comfortable with technology,” notes Gubernat. “With the younger generation, it’s kind of cool to see this older material; there’s a retro element to it.”
Pai, who is also production coordinator for an event company that runs educational games in museums and historical cities, will be responsible for processing collections that include digital materials. One of her big jobs this year will be archiving collections from the Kupferberg Center.
“I’ve always been drawn to history,” says Pai. “Collecting things has always been a sentimental hobby of mine. I think it’s is a really great way to preserve the social memory of things.
Intern from SEEK to Handle Program's Records
For the first time, the library will also have an undergraduate intern from the SEEK program to assist in the archival process. McConnell, a junior majoring in English, plans to pursue a master’s degree in library and information studies. Her role will be to archive the records of the SEEK program and to help transcribe oral histories conducted with prominent alumni, faculty, and staff associated with the program.
“I’ve been really interested in libraries for a while,” says McConnell. “It was a passion that I had, so I wanted to continue to pursue it.”
Annie Tummino, the head of Special Collections and Archives, set up the fellowships for the first time in spring 2019 as a one-semester program. The current fellowships will last for the full academic year.
“We really like to publicize that we have [collections] so people can use and access them,” says Tummino. “I think it’s important to bring the fellows into that process so that they understand not only how to process a collection, but to demonstrate its value and advocate for more resources for the archives as well.”
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Mini-Symposium Gives Thought to Food
Everyone displayed an appetite for knowledge last Monday, October 8, as
Food, Identity, and Borders took place in Remsen Hall. The one-day mini-symposium, sponsored by the Departments of Philosophy; Jewish Studies; and Family, Nutrition and Exercise Science, focused on borders and how they relate to food identity around the globe.
A Lot on Participants' Plates
The day began with introductions by Sari Kisilevsky (Philosophy) and food journalist Rachel Wharton, author of the newly released book
American Food: A Not-So-Serious History.
Then the Street Vendor Project, a nonprofit organization that seeks to protect the rights of street vendors, discussed the challenges that peddlers of food and merchandise face in New York City. These difficulties include caps on food vendor permits, unclear and inconsistent regulation, and heavy restrictions.
Next, Adán Medrano—a Houston-based chef, writer, and filmmaker—spoke about Texas Mexican cuisine and its uses in resisting colonization and celebrating Mexican-American culture and life. He also prepared a delicious authentic dish for those in attendance. Medrano recently published the book
Don’t Count the Tortillas: The Art of Texas Mexican Cooking, and has a documentary,
The Roots of Texas Mexican Food, in the works.
At lunchtime, students from Kisilevsky’s Business Ethics class brought in their own dishes to make presentations on their history and the meaning food holds for their own identities.
After lunch, Brigid Washington, author of the cookbook
Coconut. Ginger. Shrimp. Rum: Caribbean Flavors for Every Season, gave a talk, “From Slave Food to National Treasure: Callaloo’s Ascent.” A popular soup or stew created in Trinidad hundreds of years ago by African slaves, callaloo has evolved into the country’s national dish.
Dafna Hirsch, an instructor at the Open University of Israel, closed out the event with “Food and Borders in Israel-Palestine.” Hirsch’s topic was the history of the pureed chickpea spread hummus, an Arab specialty adopted by Jews in Israel.
“I agree with Adán Medrano,” concludes Kisilevsky. “Cooking and eating is an act of resistance. It ties us to our homes and our communities and allows us to reassert our identities and our dignity in the face of hegemonic forces.”
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In May 2018, the
QView profiled Campus Security Assistant Annette Beckford. We’re republishing this story for the benefit of students, faculty, and staff who are relatively new to campus.
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Giving a Cheerful Welcome to Campus Visitors
People arriving by car at the Kissena Boulevard main campus gate are likely to be in for a pleasant surprise: an unexpectedly warm welcome from Campus Security Assistant Annette Beckford. “Hello, Sunshine,” she may say, greeting visitors with a warm smile, or “Follow the yellow brick road,” a humorous sendoff after providing serious directions to parking lots or buildings.
“I love being part of the QC body,” says Beckford, who has worked on campus since 2007, keeping traffic moving smoothly rain or shine, sometimes during double shifts. “I believe a great attitude comes from something you’re passionate about.”
Beckford is clearly passionate about QC, projecting her enthusiasm and cheer to all she meets, including students. “The kids are amazing,” she observes. “When they graduate, they come by to embrace me.”
Born on the island of Jamaica, Beckford grew up in a small Creole community. Her father did road work for the local government and her mother was a fish vendor. “I know every fish in the ocean,” Beckford says. To this day, she enjoys cooking Caribbean food, especially fish dishes.
During high school, she received some nursing education, but after graduating, she developed a business in women’s clothing. “I traveled to Panama, Venezuela, and Curacao to buy jeans, fancy dresses, and some household linens, and then sold them at home in Jamaica,” she says.
At the age of 27, Beckford immigrated to the United States under the sponsorship of her godmother. “Connecticut was so different from what I was used to,” she recalls. When she took the Metro North railroad down to Grand Central Terminal, followed by a ride on the E train to visit a friend, her eyes were opened. “This Jamaica felt like paradise to me,” she says. “I told myself that Queens is where I’m going to stay.” She has, putting down roots in the borough 20 years ago and becoming an American citizen.
Beckford gravitates to helping others, so it’s not surprising that her first work in the United States was in the health care field. For five years, she served as a home health aide, providing live-in hospice care to people who were dying. “I wasn’t scared of this,” explains Beckford, noting that both her father and godfather died in her arms. “People tell you their history—things they haven’t said before. You tell them funny things that put a smile on their faces.”
She changed careers after noticing that Andrew International, a security company, had an office a few blocks from her home. “I stopped in to get information,” she says. “It’s good to try different things.” After training and testing, Beckford received state certification as a security officer and was assigned to Queens College.
“Lieutenant Deborah Huggins—who was then a sergeant—was so nice to me! I was assigned to relieve security officers who were taking their 30-minute breaks. I walked all over and really got to know the campus and lots of people.”
Employed by CUNY since 2012, Beckford hopes one day to become a peace officer. A registered CPR responder, she has never had to use this training or apprehend any lawbreakers on QC’s grounds. “Peace officers can call us for backup if needed, but that’s never happened,” she reports.
Beckford was recognized for her outstanding job performance several years ago at the college’s annual faculty and staff awards event. “I was so happy and excited,” she says, calling the ceremony her most memorable experience at QC. “I’m truly blessed and hope to stay here until I retire. But that’s a long way off.”
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Building Futures Profile:
Jisun Oh
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The Wisdom to Know Something and Teach Someone
Jisun Oh works as a special education teacher for P.S. 24 in Flushing. She credits Queens College for the close relationships with professors who provided the support that enabled her to complete her studies and receive her teaching certification. “I met such great professors who really mentored me and guided me to become a special ed teacher,” she says.
Oh received her undergraduate degree at Alfred University where she majored in Early Childhood, Childhood Education and Child Psychology before deciding upon her graduate studies at Queens. “I have a brother with special needs,” she says. “He played a vital role as to why I pursued special education. I was really interested in the Project I Care Program at Queens College. There were two parts that interested me: They wanted us to serve a lower income population and they wanted us to serve a population where there were children with special needs. That’s where my heart was at. So, I knew that this was exactly where I needed to be.”
Oh’s parents immigrated to the United States as teenagers. Oh initially lived in Queens a short distance from QC, but moved to Long Island while in middle school. In high school she says she found it difficult to fit into a less diverse population and cliques. As a consequence, she says she spent more time speaking with her teachers, such as during lunch hour, which she says influenced her decision to become a teacher.
Oh says her mother encouraged her to become a teacher, telling her that her Korean name, Jisun, means wisdom to know something and to teach someone. Combined with her experiences with great teachers in high school, she says, “By my junior year in high school I knew a hundred percent for sure that I was going to become a teacher.”
Of her graduate studies at QC, she observes, “I met such great professors who really mentored me and guided me to become a special ed teacher.”
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Joseph Brostek ’55 was at Shea Stadium in 1969 when the New York Mets won the World Series for the first time. His account of that night—and the piece of turf he brought home as a souvenir—was recently
published in the Queens Gazette . . .
David Lapin ’72, who led Community Music Center of Boston from 1983 until 2017, just published his memoir, The Education of a Brainiac: A New Yorker’s Quest for the Good Life in the Hub of the Universe, available on Amazon . . . SEES students
Inva Braha (left) and
Samantha Tramontano (center) each received $3000 from the Paula and Jeffrey Gural Graduate Scholarship;
Tuffani Taigeshwar (right) received $5000 from the Samuel and Karola Wachsberger Scholarship.
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Schiro Withanachchi (Economics) (second from left) is leading QC’s first cohort of Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) Faculty Fellows: Ashraf Shady (Elementary and Early Childhood Education), Rafael De Balanzo Joue (Urban Studies), Muhammad Kabir (Political Science), Mari Fujimoto (Classical, Middle Eastern, and Asian Languages and Cultures), Jennifer Auerbach (International Education Specialist at CUNY), Regine Joseph (European Languages and Literatures), Jacqueline Darvin (Secondary Education and Youth Services), Vanessa Perez (Political Science), Desiree Byrd (Psychology), Dustin Grella (Art), Hope Windle (Community Development Lead at SUNY COIL Center) and Seongyeon Ko (Foreign Languages). The fellowship offers faculty the opportunity to develop strategies for incorporating an international element into their courses, advance research with international colleagues, and expand QC’s global presence through collaborations with international partners.
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Q View
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