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

#29

Earth’s Secrets To Be Revealed on Campus

During Climate Week NYC—taking place Monday, September 24-Friday, September 29—QC will host Exploring Earth’s Secrets, a large-scale interactive exhibition. As part of the show, a 45-foot inflatable replica of the research vessel JOIDES Resolution will be anchored on the Quad. JOIDES, an acronym for Joint Oceanographic Institutions for Deep Earth Sampling, serves as a base for a team of itinerant oceanographic researchers, including Stephen Pekar (SEES), who worked with Cecilia McHugh (SEES) and student and club leader Shaneeza Aziz--with support from Student Association President Carmine Coulete--to bring the exhibition here. Efforts are under way to organize a Queens College Climate Change Week in conjunction with Climate Week NYC. Events already in the works will cover earthquakes, last year’s hurricane in Puerto Rico, and sustainability and QC/CUNY. We encourage faculty to participate as well as take classes to the JOIDES Resolution replica, where tour guides will be present. If you are interested in learning more, contact Steve Pekar at [email protected] .

New Year, New Faculty, New Programs

 

QC starts academic 2018-19 with more than 50 new faculty members as well as exciting new programs.

The newcomers include biologist Sebastian Alvarado and neuropsychologist Desiree Byrd. Alvardo has performed pioneering DNA research and asserts that superheroes could, theoretically, occur; he wrote The Science of Marvel, to be published this spring. Byrd completed undergraduate majors in psychology and Africana studies; her research focuses on the roles of health disparities and culture.

Among the programs debuting this fall is a minor in data analytics, open to all undergraduates regardless of major. The curriculum, developed in collaboration with the Business Higher Education Forum, teaches students to organize, collect, manage, and analyze data—skills sought by employers in many sectors.

Also new this semester is an MAT and Advanced Certificate in Critical Languages Education for Grades 7-12. The program is designed for individuals with a bachelor’s degree in a critical language—identified by the federal government as Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, and Urdu—who wish to become certified teachers of that language and gain their master’s degree in teaching and developing new programs for secondary critical language programs.

U.S. News & World Report Gives High Grades to QC

Yet another annual college guide—U.S. News & World Report’s 2019 Best Colleges has awarded QC top placement: We come in 14th among the nation’s top 50 public colleges. The college is also cited as one of the top 100 Best Regional Universities in the North and, within that list, one of the best colleges for veterans. U.S. News establishes its rankings based on survey information from each college in up to 15 categories; the publication’s enthusiastic review of QC follows similar raves from Princeton Review, Money magazine, and Forbes.

QC Joins Nationwide Initiative to Advance Workplace Diversity

Lending the college’s support to the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion ^TM, President Félix V. Matos Rodríguez issued the following statement, which got coverage in the Times Ledger. Queens College enthusiastically endorses the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion ^TM. Since the college was founded in 1937, we have offered an outstanding education to talented students without regard to their background or financial status, and maintained a campus that is diverse, inclusive, collegial, and respectful. We attract a multiethnic, multi-faith, and multilingual student body, which allows people to break down cultural barriers through shared activities. This experience prepares individuals to enter—and appreciate—the global economy. We are proud of what we have achieved so far and look forward to creating an even more welcoming environment for all members of the Queens College community. We are making every effort to increase the diversity of our students and our faculty to better reflect the population of our home borough, which draws its residents from all over the world. Our Office of Compliance and Diversity Programs prepares the college’s annual Affirmative Action Plan and provides on-campus information and training regarding discrimination prevention, including sexual harassment prevention.

Teaching Faculty and Staff How To Assist Undocumented Students

 

As one of the most culturally diverse colleges in the country, QC has long been a place where immigrant and undocumented students can achieve the American dream. The college's unique population can also create challenges for the campus community. Some of these issues were addressed at the UndocuALLY training session held at the James Muyskens Conference Room in the Summit Apartments at noon on Wednesday, September 5.

Two undocumented QC students opened the seminar by discussing the problems they encounter. Many students in their situation have difficulty getting accepted to colleges, struggle to receive financial aid, and can mistakenly get charged out-of-state or international student tuition. They often lack confidence and proper networks and face constant fears of discrimination and deportation.

After this segment, Project ExCEL Director Jorge F. Alguera, SEEK Director Norka Blackman-Richards, Student Development and Leadership Director Dwayne Jones, and attorney Midori Jones of CUNY Citizenship Now took turns providing the audience with information on how to assist these students.

Faculty and staff were encouraged to be allies of undocumented students, with the goal of offering an inclusive climate to all. Attendees heard about the changing status of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), as well as QC’s position as a sanctuary campus to help protect members of the college community. These initiatives have a positive effect on QC’s growing population of undocumented students.  

The session also covered how to help students meet academic requirements if they are legally barred from participating in certain programs; how to listen openly but not interrogate students on their immigration status; and how to create a climate of trust. “We’ve always supported undocumented students, but the students never really knew where the resources were or whom it was safe to approach,” said Alguera.

QC will distribute window decals and paper trifold stands with the undocuALLY logo to faculty and staff, to place in their respective areas. The logos will alert undocumented students that QC is a safe location for discussing any concerns or issues in regard to immigration status.

Proposed Middle-School Program Would Be Based at QC

At a meeting of Community Education Council 24 last month, Madeline Taub-Chan, superintendent of School District 24, outlined her proposal to extend a state-funded magnet program for diversifying middle schools into the neighborhoods she serves, including Corona, Glendale, Ridgewood, Elmhurst, Long Island City, Maspeth, and Middle Village. The plan—which could qualify for up to $200,000 in funding through the New York State Integration Program—would start with Saturday classes at QC, with which Council 24 already has a positive relationship.

In other news, the council voted unanimously to rename PS 211 after a QC alumna and Corona native who was the first African-American woman in the United States to receive a doctorate in chemistry. Henceforth, the school will be known as the Dr. Marie M. Daly Educational Building.

All Politics Is Local

Tony Avella (bottom) and John Liu (top) took turns visiting campus last week; they are vying for the Democratic nomination in the state senate race taking place in Queens’ 11th district. Reminder to all registered voters: primary elections are this Thursday, September 13. Don’t miss your chance to weigh in on your party’s choice for numerous offices, all the way up to Albany. Can’t remember your polling place? Find it at https://nyc.pollsitelocator.com/search

Godwin-Ternbach Weaves New Exhibition Around Centuries-Old Fabrics

From the Desert to the City: The Journey of Late Ancient Textiles, opening at the Godwin-Ternbach Museum on September 13, focuses on fabrics made in Egypt from the third to the seventh centuries. Using examples from the Rose Choron Collection donated to the museum last year, the show is organized in three parts. The first section explores the original use and themes of these textiles—many of them decorative elements that were removed from garments, sold, and sewed onto new clothing. The second part of the exhibition addresses archeologists’ discovery of these textiles, and their impact on modern art, including paintings and theatrical costumes. The last part of the show juxtaposes the ancient textiles and contemporary works they inspired.

Warren Woodfin (Art History) curated From the Desert to the City in collaboration with museum co-directors Elizabeth Hoy and Brita Helgesen; students in a graduate seminar he taught last spring contributed to the research and writing for show as well as its catalog. For more information about the show, and the opening reception at the museum on September 13 at 6 pm, click here .

Business on the Menu This Friday Morning

It’s not too late to RSVP for this Friday’s Business Forum Breakfast, featuring Mark Shpizner, director at BlackRock, the world’s largest asset firm. Shpizner will discuss how a liberal arts education gives students the tools to advance in a corporate career. The event will be held in the Student Union, fourth-floor ballroom, on Friday, September 14 at 8 am. You can reserve your seat in three ways: online click here , by emailing [email protected] , or calling 718-997-5453.

Academic Senate Back in Session

QC’s Academic Session will be holding a special meeting in Kiely 170 this Thursday, September 13, at 3:35 pm. The Executive Committee will meet two weeks later in Kiely 141 at 3 pm. Have issues you’d like the senate to address? Contact it by clicking here or talk to the senator representing your department or office.

Getting Ready for Homecoming

Mark your calendars for Homecoming weekend, taking place next month.

Festivities will kick off with Spirit Day on Thursday, October 11. Students, alumni, faculty, and staff are encouraged to show their college pride by wearing QC gear that day. For a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card, post a photo of yourself in your outfit on social media with the hashtag #QChomecoming and tag @QueensCollegeOfficial.

On Saturday, October 13, QC will toast the classes of 1943, 1948, 1958 and 1968 with a reception at the president’s residence in Douglaston, NY. 

Sunday, October 14, will be the busiest day, starting with the QC Athletics Reunion Brunch and the Greek Life/House Plan Reunion Brunch; tickets are $20 each or 2 for $30. Afternoon events include tours, talks, a food truck festival on the Quad, and “It’s 5 pm Somewhere,” a beer and wine tasting (participants must be at least 21 with identification; advance registration and payment required). The evening culminates in a reception on the Quad for the classes of 1978, 1988, 1993, 1998, 2008, and 2013; admission costs $20 per person, or $30 for two. QC Affinity groups of 25 or more can request a private reception. Alumni who register by September 23 will be entered into a raffle for a $100 Amazon gift card. The winner must be present. For the complete Homecoming schedule, click here .

Heard Around Campus: First-year student Casey Brandes published an essay in the Daily News about what she gained by learning to play tennis through neighborhood organizations, including City Parks Foundation’s Lacoste Tennis Academy . . . Graduate student Naomi Kuo (MFA in Social Practice) devoted the last year to a community quilting project—Memories of Migration: Common Thread—in collaboration with Queens Memory, an oral history initiative of Queens Library. The completed quilt was exhibited for a week at the library; Kuo will participate in a panel discussion on the project on Friday, September 14, 6:30 pm, at the American Folk Art Museum Self-Taught Genius Gallery, 47-29 32nd Place, Long Island City; the event is free and open to the public.