‌
Discimus ut serviamus: We learn so that we may serve.
#37
What’s News
Knatokie Ford, a biomedical scientist who served as an advisor in the Obama White House, cited her own impressive career in her November 14 presentation in Rosenthal Library about diversity and inclusion in the STEM fields. Ford's appearance was sponsored by the Office of the Provost, Women and Gender Studies Program, and the Division of Education.
Above: City Council Speaker Corey Johnson (second from left) joined former City Council Member and QC alum James Vacca (third from left) and President Félix V. Matos Rodríguez for a tour of QC's Tech Incubator on Friday, November 16. As chair of the council's technology committee, Vacca played a critical role in the incubator's creation. Below: Johnson and Matos visit the Urban Studies class Vacca has been teaching this semester. The speaker delivered a wide-ranging and well-received lecture.
Budding artists referenced what they knew during Family Day at the Godwin Ternbach Museum on November 11. In connection with the museum's current show, children were encouraged to make mosaics.
Above: QC alums (from left) Raymond Edwards '84, Mark E. Rose '85, and Frederick Peters '79 participated in a panel discussion about real estate on the afternoon of November 13, at a Professionals on Campus event in Campbell Dome. On Monday, Anat Gourji '96 (at left in adjacent photo), senior vice president of technology governance and chief operating officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, spoke at POC's Women in Leadership presentation moderated by Assistant Provost Eva Fernandez.
President Félix V. Matos Rodríguez and (to his left) Student Association President Carmine Couloute spoke yesterday when the Knights Table Food Pantry held its official opening in the Student Union, Room LL29. Backed by a grant from the Carrol & Milton Petrie Foundation, the Office of Student Development & Leadership launched the pantry with the help of the Student Association, the New York Public Interest Research Group's Hunger and Homeless Outreach, and campus clubs and Greek organizations. Food drives and fundraisers, to be held on and off campus, will support the pantry's continued operations. The Knights Table welcomes visitors Monday through Thursday, from 10 am to 2 pm and 4 pm to 7 pm, and on Friday from 10 am to 1 pm. If you would like to volunteer or have any questions, please feel to stop by or send an email to knightspantry@qc.cuny.edu
It's never too soon to make summer plans! QC is offering four summer sessions, with the earliest registration in the tristate area; students can act now to secure their first-choice courses.
Legendary Hip-Hop Dancer “Kwikstep” Choreographs Piece for Dance Concert

This semester, Gabriel “Kwikstep” Dionisio—who taught a popular hip-hop course at QC last spring—has been back on campus, creating a piece for students to perform at this fall’s dance concert. 

Admired in the dance community for decades for his breaking, or breakdancing, Kwikstep has worked with prominent hip-hop figures throughout his career. He performed at VH1’s “Hip-Hop Honors,” which recognized hip-hop icon Afrika Bambaataa, as well as PBS’s Peabody Award-winning Everybody Dance Now and the Emmy-nominated September Songs: The Music of Kurt Weill . He danced for then-President Bill Clinton during a 1999 New Year’s Eve celebration that rang in the new millennium at the Lincoln Memorial.

Kwikstep has done commercial work for Dr. Pepper, Levi’s, and Stride Gum, and ­has appeared in films and TV, including the movie Brown Sugar, starring Sanaa Lathan. He has also choreographed dances for artists such as Will Smith, Fabolous, Missy Elliot, and KRS-One; most recently, he served as a consultant, choreographer, and dancer for the Netflix series “The Get Down.” In addition, he was an artistic director and commentator for the Red Bull BC One—an international individual breaking competition that crowns the world’s best b-boy (male breakdancer).

Kwikstep and his wife, Ana “Rokafella” Garcia, run Full Circle Souljahs, a not-for-profit dance company that seeks to preserve and embrace New York City hip-hop culture as it evolves onstage. They have taught workshops in various school systems and libraries, as well as at the Lincoln Center and Kennedy Center. At the American Dance Festival in June, both were awarded the 2018 Distinguished Teacher Award, becoming the first hip-hop instructors—and two of only 34 people in the festival’s 84-year history—to receive this honor.
“Kwikstep is an excellent teacher,” said Edisa Weeks (Dance), director of QC’s fall concert. “He not only teaches people the foundations of b-boying/b-girling, but he also emphasizes the importance of knowing the roots of hip-hop. Students in his course learn about the history, lifestyle, and culture of hip-hop.”

While Kwikstep teaches the choreography for his dance, he instructs the students in some of the basics of breaking, such as toprock ( a foot movement performed from a standing position), popping ( a continuous flexing of the muscles to the beat), and locking ( moving the body out of control then back into control, locking into position, collapsing, then locking back). “It can take years to be decent at popping,” said Kwikstep. “We will have about 30 to 40 hours of practice prior to the concert.”

Kwikstep is confident that the students will put on a good show. “The same way I do my dance, is the same way I teach,” added Kwikstep. “I have to adjust to the students. All will be accomplished on stage. They won’t just learn how to break, they will learn how to break through.”

The fall dance concert, Dimensions, will be presented in Goldstein Theatre on Thursday, November 29, and Friday, November 30 at 7 pm; on Saturday, December 1, at 8 pm; and on Sunday, December 2, at 3 pm. The schedule is as follows: General admission is $16; tickets for students and seniors are $10. All seats on November 30 cost $5. Tickets will be available at: http://kupferbergcenter.org
From left: Last week, Ira Harkavy, director of the Netter Center for Community Partnerships at the University of Pennsylvania and chair of the Anchor Institutions Task Force, met up with QC's Vice President Bill Keller, Career Development Center Director Zavi Gunn, and President Félix V. Matos Rodríguez at the annual AITF conference. In a plenary session, Matos reported on how QC collaborates with K-12 education and expands access to education for vulnerable populations.
Participatory Art

If an image is worth a thousand words, a lot of conversation should be inspired by Activism , an exhibit of political cartoons taking place in the Muyskens Conference Room tonight at 7 pm. Students will be served mocktails and given a chance to interact with cartoons that address topics such as student debt, immigration, and gun violence. Then these themes will be explored by a panel comprising faculty member John Bowman (Political Science) and student leaders from the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) and the participatory budgeting initiative. Panelists will connect the issues to midterm election results and discuss the next steps for New York and the entire country. Resource tables set up at the exhibition—hosted by the Summit Apartments and developed by its resident assistants Christina Cover and Melanie Builes—will help students learn about opportunities for active citizenship.
Ready, Aim, Pitch!

QC’s first annual Pitchfest—a contest in which New York City-based tech entrepreneurs compete for cash prizes and a year of discounted membership in QC’s Tech Incubator—will hold its final round in Rosenthal Library, Room 230, on Thursday, December 6, from 5 pm to 8 pm. The college community is cordially invited to mingle with investors and startup founders and hear the ten finalists, chosen from 125 entries, pitch their products and services in person. The companies cover a wide range of sectors, including transportation, health care, and educational support.
Click here to view the digital version of Queens Magazine.
Bright Sheng '84 received the MacArthur "Genius" Award in 2001 for being "an innovative composer whose skillful orchestrations bridge East and West, lyrical and dissonant styles, and historical and contemporary themes to create compositions that resonate with audiences around the world"

Click here to see the full list of QC WOWs!
Glenn Burger Named Interim Dean of Graduate Studies

Glenn Burger, a CUNY faculty member since 2000 and chair of the English Department since 2011, has been appointed interim dean of Graduate Studies. In that capacity, he will lead the college-wide effort to maintain and improve the quality and diversity of our graduate offerings and establish new programs. He is working with departments to increase online and hybrid academic options, and also has oversight of the accelerated MA program.

An expert in medieval English literature and medieval cultural studies, Burger edited Hetoum’s A Lytell Cronycle (1988), a 14th-century crusade history, and with Steven Kruger co-edited Queering the Middle Ages (2000). His most recent monograph, Conduct Becoming: Representing Good Wives and Husbands in the Later Middle Ages, was released this year by the University of Pennsylvania Press.
Heard Around Campus
Thomas Grech , president of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, cited QC, "which graduates more computer science majors than any other college in New York City," when interviewed by Ernie Anastos about Amazon's plan to build a center in Long Island City . . . . The Sociology Department has started the final year of its three-year, $44,000 grant, "Preparing Data Science and Analytics Enabled Undergraduates," which aims to increase the pipeline of students getting ready for jobs in the data-rich economy . . . . . Through a competition open to all CUNY and Graduate Center faculty, Desiree Byrd (Psychology) has been selected to co-teach a course offered with the Futures Initiative 2019-2020 . . . . Danielle Izzo (Academic Advising) was chosen to make a presentation at the 2018 Long Island Council of Student Personnel Administrators Annual Conference. Her topics was "Keeping it R.E.A.L. with Students: Talking about Retention, Engagement, and Advisement Learning-Outcomes . . . . Mansi Khurana , a neuroscience major, received the outstanding undergraduate research award at this month's Student National Medical Association Region IX Medical Education Conference . . . . Cecilia McHugh (SEES) was named a 2018 Fellow of the Geological Society of America at its awards ceremony in Indianapolis . . . . Gregory O'Mullan (SEES) will be moderating NYC's Wetlands: 2050, a panel discussion taking place on Friday, December 7, at 6:30 pm, at Queens Borough Hall . . . .
In Memoriam
Wolfgang Zuckermann, 1922-2018

Harpsichord expert Wolfgang Zuckermann ’49, a renaissance man best-known for his expertise in a baroque instrument, passed away on October 31 at the age of 96.

Born in Berlin, named after Mozart and Goethe, Zuckermann was brought up in a culturally rich Jewish household that valued music: He played cello in a string quartet with his father and brothers. Fleeing Nazi Germany, the family came to New York City in 1938. After becoming an American citizen and serving in the army, Zuckermann—by then known as Wallace or Wally—studied English and psychology at QC; at his graduation, he was designated a Queens College Scholar, the institution’s highest honor at the time.

Opting out of a career in psychology, he got trained as a piano tuner and found himself buying, repairing, and selling old instruments. Drawing on those skills, Zuckermann built his first harpsichord in 1955. Demand grew for his products. Four years later, tired of making service calls to his clientele, he revolutionized the field by creating kits that allowed people to assemble their own instruments, which they could maintain themselves. The “five-foot Z-box” became an international sensation. “Zuckermann was (is?) arguably the best-known name in the harpsichord-maker world,” says Raymond Erickson (Music).

With the publication of his book, The Modern Harpsichord (1969), Zuckermann branched out into other work. He started a dance and music festival in Bucks County, Pennsylvania; sponsored the off-off-Broadway venue Caffe Cino; and, angered by the Vietnam War, became a peace activist and moved to England. He wrote books about historic preservation, environmentalism, and anti-consumerism, and organized an International Buy Nothing Day program. He spent his last 24 years in Avignon, France, where he ran a bookstore that served English cream tea with scones.
 
 

Happy Thanksgiving to all!
The Q View is produced by the
Office of Communications and Marketing. 

Comments and suggestions for future news items and the 8Oth Anniversary Website are welcome.