QView #135 | September 20, 2022

A talk by longtime banking executive David Slackman ’70, most recently a consultant to the chairman of Republic Bank, was the main course at QC’s first Business Breakfast of the semester on September 14. All students, particularly those with an appetite for entrepreneurship, were welcome to attend.

Famously, QC has more than 100 clubs and student organizations—and many of them set up shop on the Quad on Club Day, September 14, to promote their activities.

Dara Byrne (at right), the new dean of CUNY’s Macaulay Honors College, was met by a strong student turnout when she swung by campus on Thursday, September 15. QC is the only campus in the borough participating in Macaulay.

Welcome to QC! New faculty were celebrated at a reception held at the president’s mansion in Douglaston on the evening of Thursday, September 15. Seated at the center of the action, from left: Arts and Humanities William McClure, Stacey Romano (President's Office), President Frank H. Wu, Interim Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Patricia Price, and Interim Associate Provost for Innovation and Success Nathalia Holtzman. 

Italian American and Italian Diaspora Studies were among the topics at a conference held by the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute on Friday, September 16. Speakers included Holy Family University President Anne M. Prisco, Seton Hall University Provost Katia Passerini, and former York College Dean of Arts and Sciences Donna Chirico; President Frank H. Wu provided an introduction.

QC Recognized by US News and World Report

Once again, US News and World Report rates Queens College highly in the publication’s annual rankings. QC is ninth among the northern region’s universities for social mobility and in the top 5 percent of all colleges surveyed. In addition, QC was cited as one of the region’s best public schools and one of the best colleges for veterans.

Knights Triumphant in Undefeated Weekend

The Queens College fall athletics teams had a perfect weekend of action with women’s tennis, women’s volleyball, women’s soccer, and men’s soccer all finding the win column.

On Friday, the women’s tennis team opened the 2022 season with a dominant 7-0 win over Daemen University and then followed with another 7-0 win over D’Youville University on Saturday. Last year’s East Coast Conference (ECC) Player of the Year, Maja Makal, picked up where she left off, winning all three of her matches.

On Saturday, the women’s soccer team edged Daemen, 1-0, thanks to a goal from Marina Pappas in the 61st minute of action. Ariana Vargas and Katelyn Villacres combined to make three saves in goal to earn the shutout.

There was less drama in the men’s soccer match, as the Knights cruised to a 3-0 win over Daemen. Adolfo Martinez Paquet, Milto Sionakides, and Bryce Cherry each scored second-half goals to lead the Knights, who are now 6-2 overall and 2-0 in ECC play.

On Sunday, the women’s volleyball team capped off a perfect Knights weekend with a 3-1 (26-24, 25-22, 15-25, 25-22) win over Caldwell University. Alexis Deodat led Queens with a career-best 16 kills, and Despina Boudouris had a career-high 42 assists.

QC Joins Hillel in Combating Antisemitism

Queens College is among 12 campuses—seven of them from CUNY—joining Hillel International’s Campus Climate Initiative, a program that strives to foster a college environment in which Jewish students feel comfortable expressing their identity free of antisemitism, harassment, or marginalization. CCI, now in its third year, gives campuses the tools to assess their current climate, learn best practices and policies, and develop action plans for making measurable improvements.

“CUNY has a rich and storied history of service to Jewish New Yorkers that is an important part of our tradition of openness to groups that have been excluded from higher education,” said CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez. “We have remained vigilant and unequivocal in our intolerance of antisemitism, yet we know more needs to be done across the world to end antisemitism in all forms. I’m proud of our growing partnership with Hillel International and grateful they selected so many of our campuses for their Campus Climate Initiative, which works to end antisemitism and build safe, learning environments where all students can thrive, regardless of race or religion.”

New Exhibitions at Godwin-Ternbach

Two shows are debuting at the Godwin-Ternbach Museum on Wednesday, September 28. 

Understatements: Lost and Found in Asian America—the first exhibition presented with the support of the Thomas Chen Family/Crystal Windows Endowment—explores the term “Asian American.” The eight contemporary artists who are featured represent multiple backgrounds and disciplines, working in painting, sculpture, video, and other media. “I am very excited that this inaugural exhibition supported by me and my family will spur imaginations and dialogue within the community,” said Chen, who founded Queens-based Crystal Window and Door Systems. To attend the opening reception at September 28 at 6 to 8 pm, RSVP to gtmuseum@qc.cuny.edu by September 21. Understatements will be on display through January 6, 2023.

The lobby gallery will be devoted to Wunderkammer I: Material Pleasures. The term wunderkammer is German for “wonder chamber” or “cabinet of curiosity,” a place where unusual items are displayed. This show highlights 65 remarkable objects from the Godwin-Ternbach’s collection, which represents 5,000 years and contains nearly 7,000 pieces. Wunderkammer I will be viewable through August 20, 2023,

Missing from the Movies

Latinos are consistently underrepresented in films made in the United States. Sara Veronica Hinojos (Media Studies) discusses this phenomenon in Hollywood’s Persistent Erasure of Latinos, a talk she’ll give tomorrow—September 21—in Powdermaker 119. This Hispanic Heritage Month event is presented by the Queens College Office of Compliance and Diversity.

Exploring the Intersection of Queer and Latinx Identities

NuYorican poet and homeless LGBTQIA+ youth activist Emanuel Xavier will read from his work during Americano: Growing Up Queer and Latinx in the USA: A Latinx Literary and Academic Experience, on Thursday, September 29, 6 to 8 pm. The hybrid event, held in conjunction with Hispanic Heritage Month, will take place in person at the Student Union Ballroom and online; register here.

The program will include a Q&A session followed by an in-person empanada social featuring a performance by NuYorican ballroom artist Legendary Monster and the House of Babylon. The first 50 in-person CUNY attendees will receive a free copy of Selected Poems of Emanuel Xavier. Guests are invited to have their books signed by the author and chat with him one-on-one during the social.

This event is made possible through the generous support of the New York City Council, Queens College, and the LGBTQ Public History Project at LaGuardia Community College. CUNY and Queens College co-sponsors include The CUNY Office of Student Inclusion Initiatives; the Latin American and Latino Studies Program; the Women and Gender Studies Program; the Hispanic Club; the Alliance of Latin American Students/ALAS; Student Association; ALPFA; the Crear Futuros Program; the Office of Student Development and Leadership; the Center for Ethnic, Racial and Religious Understanding/CERRU; the Gender, Love and Sexuality Alliance/GLASA; Utopia Parkway Student Literary Journal; and the Queens College Division of Student Affairs.

Americano: Growing Up Queer and Latinx in the USA will be photographed, recorded, and archived at the LaGuardia and Wagner Archives.

107th Precinct To Host Halloween Event

Families are sure to have a wheel good time at Cunningham Park’s upper parking lot on October 22, from 10 am 2 pm. That’s when the 107th Precinct community council youth coordination officers and community affairs will host Trunk or Treat, with free food, games, and activities.

Trunk or treating, akin to tailgating, gained traction during the pandemic as an alternative to trick-or-treating. Participants decorate their cars, stock them with candy, and park in a common area; kids put on costumes and visit the vehicles to collect their spoils.

To learn more about the festivities at Cunningham, contact Police Officer McCarthy at 917-704-6897 or Police Officer Gorman at 929-270-6439.

Alumna Starts Foundation to Help Mothers Complete Their Education

According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, 26 percent of all undergraduate students in the United States, or 4.8 million students, are raising dependent children. Obtaining a college degree is a difficult task for anyone, but students with children or who are pregnant face unique challenges which can make completing their education seem overwhelming.

Queens College alumna Josephine Rose ’21 hopes to play a role in helping those young mothers continue to pursue their dreams. That’s why she recently started the Kathleen Mullally Foundation to provide scholarships to mothers of young children to help overcome the challenges they face in pursuit of their education. Scholarship winners receive $1,000 per semester to help defray the cost of tuition.

“I wanted to take a step in changing the culture of seeing family and motherhood as an obstacle to getting an education. Rather, we should change the mindset to see it as something that’s a gift to everyone,” said Rose.

The foundation is named in honor of Rose’s great aunt, with whom she was very close. Mullally had more than 50 nieces, nephews, great nieces, and great nephews. She passed away in 2019.

“She always wanted to have children and never did and loved us very much,” added Rose. “I thought it would be a really wonderful way to remember her to name the foundation after her.”

Degrees of Success

Rose has always had a connection to Queens College. Both her parents, Michael and Kristina Rose, got master’s degrees at Queens College; her great grandfather, Joseph Mullally, was professor of philosophy at QC until his retirement in the late 1970s.

Rose, a Macaulay Honors College Scholarship student, chose to go to Queens as well, earning her bachelor’s degree in music performance in 2021 and her certificate in music education the following year. She began teaching music at an elementary school this fall.

“It was a really incredible opportunity to go to one of the best schools in the state for free,” Rose said. “It was kind of a no-brainer. It was really amazing. I got such a fabulous education. I’m really grateful and super blessed.”

During her time at QC, Rose was a member of the Student for Life Club at Queens College and volunteered at the Pregnancy Resource Center, where she helped to provide resources—such as clothing, formula, job references, and housing—for young mothers in need.

It was there that a friend of hers suggested she start a charity to help pregnant and parenting mothers in college. Rose liked the idea and began the challenging process of setting it up during the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. She was fortunate to find an accountant who agreed to work pro bono to set up the 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

Creating More Supermoms

Although the scholarship is available to students from any school, the two scholarships awarded to date have been given to Queens College students. Rose hopes to expand the foundation in the future by holding fundraising events, with the goal of awarding multiple scholarships each semester and expanding their reach to students throughout CUNY and SUNY.

l to r: Malika Pegues, Josephine Rose

In spring 2021, the first award was given to Malika Pegues, who was in CUNY’s Baccalaureate for Unique and Interdisciplinary Studies program and took many of her courses at QC. Pegues overcame living in a domestic violence shelter with her three daughters to graduate in 2022 magna cum laude with a degree in cognitive and behavioral neuroscience and therapeutic recreation. During the pandemic, she would drop off her children at her mom’s house in Brooklyn and drive to a Panera on Long Island (where restaurants were still open and had access to Wi-Fi) in order to take her classes. She would study all day at Panera, drive back to get her kids, get to the shelter before curfew, then cook her dinner for her kids and get them to bed. She did this daily for two semesters until she was able to get an apartment in spring 2021.

“I was trying to create some stability for my daughters, and I literally had to restart my whole entire life,” said Pegues. “The scholarship just helped with bills, with transportation, and with a babysitter. To get all those stressors handled was a great help to my mental health.”

Pegues is now a recreational therapist who helps others with their mental health and is pursuing her MSEd in school psychology at Brooklyn College.

“It’s so rewarding,” noted Rose. “The students, when you hear their stories, it doesn’t even feel like work. It’s so amazing to me.”

Earlier this year, the second scholarship was given to Kishauna Givans, who recently had her first child with her husband. Givans, who is from Jamaica, W.I., came to the United States a few years ago to seek medical treatment after a paralysis that hit her suddenly. Thanks to a number of treatments, she has regained her mobility. After her dealings with the medical profession during her illness, she was inspired to pursue a career in health care public policy to help others. Givans earned her bachelor’s degree from QC and is now working toward her master’s in public health at the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health.

“When you’re that kind of mother, you’re a hero,” added Rose. “These are the kind of people that make our world go round. That’s what this is about—changing the cultural mindset. They didn’t have to keep their children. They chose to be a super mom. That’s part of what we are trying to encourage—more supermoms in the world. That’s what’s going to create a better future.”

Students interested in applying for the scholarship can complete an application form by going to the foundation’s website and downloading the application form. Donations to the foundation being accepted through its GoFundMe page. 

Paulette Mullings Bradnock ’84

Paulette Mullings Bradnock, chief audit executive for BNY Mellon and vice chair of the Queens College Foundation (QCF), died of COVID on September 15—her birthday—in her native Jamaica.

Mullings Bradnock's family had settled in the Bronx but, impressed by the QC campus and the quality of its accounting programs, she commuted here instead of attending college closer to home. Her degree in Accounting and Information Systems landed her a job at Chemical Bank, where she worked in both audit and the retail bank control functions. Continuing through Chemical’s merger with Chase Manhattan Bank, and Chase’s merger with J.P. Morgan, she accumulated experience and responsibilities. After 21 years, she moved to American International Group, becoming senior vice president and chief audit executive before joining BNY Mellon in 2015.

Mullings Bradnock was widely admired for her achievements in the banking and financial services sector. American Banker listed her in its annual top 25 “Women to Watch” from 2017 through 2021; the publication described her as “an innovator who reimagined all aspects of the audit cycle.” She was also one of Savoy’s “2018 Most Influential Blacks in Corporate America.” Speaking at the launch of the Queens College Business School last March, Mullings Bradnock credited QC with changing her life and equipping her for professional success. Two months later, she was an honoree at the Queens College Gala, when her son, Reginald, presented her with the President’s Leadership Award. 

“I extended my deepest condolences to Paulette's family,” said President Frank H. Wu. “She was an extraordinarily accomplished business executive who most generously volunteered her time and talents to benefit others. I am deeply grateful for all her efforts on behalf of her alma mater. It was my privilege to work with her and I am confident that her life story will inspire students now and in the future.”

In addition to her role on the QCF, Mullings Bradnock served on the board of governors for the Institute of Internal Auditors New York Chapter and was a member of the board of trustees for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

Mullings Bradnock is survived by her husband, Howard Bradnock, whom she met at QC; their children Sean, Taylor, and Reginald; and her mother, siblings, relatives, and friends.

Reginald Bradnock presented his mother, Queens College Foundation Vice Chair Paulette Mullings Bradnock ’84, with the President's Leadership Award at at the Queens College Gala.

Jeffrey Arnstein

Alumnus Jeffrey Arnstein, a self-taught antiques restorer whose clientele included the Christie’s and Sotheby’s auction houses, died on July 30. He was 75.

Born and raised in the Bronx, Arnstein attended QC on a scholarship, majoring in anthropology and biology. One of the rare members of his generation who admits to missing Woodstock—after hitting heavy traffic, he reversed course—he taught in a Harlem public school as a conscientious objector rather than serve in Vietnam. His family recalls that he hiked a good deal of the Appalachian Trail, accompanied only by a donkey he adopted along the way.

Arnstein found his calling after opening an antiques and jewelry shop on City Island and learning to refinish furniture. He moved the business to Hartford, Connecticut, where he did widely admired work for institutions such as the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art and the Old State House. Remarkably, he was colorblind; his apprentices helped him achieve the correct wood tones.

Relocating once again in his sixties, Arnstein settled in Baltimore, Maryland, where he was revered both for his craft and for mentoring at-risk teens. He also volunteered at a recovery center for men and taught at the local branch of Reading Partners. Arnstein is survived by his partner Jane Lambdin D’Ambrogi, his son and daughter, and their families.

Sebastian Alvarado (Biology) has been invited to be a panelist for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s virtual workshop  on the future of brain machine interfaces on September 22-23 . . . . Dianne Greenfield (SEES) was among the panelists at Are We Ready? NYC Resilience and Sustainability a Decade after Superstorm Sandy, a daylong press briefing presented on September 16 by CUNY’s Advanced Science Research Center . . . . 

Stephanie Lee, a Godwin-Ternbach staffer who turned her garage into a gallery (QView 103), is having a one-person show, Ouroboros, at Flushing Town Hall through October 2. Lee’s work gives a contemporary spin on a traditional Korean art genre. Meanwhile, her Garage Art Center is presenting Gift Box, a site-specific installation in which artist Sui Park repurposes single-use cable ties. Gift Box will be on display through October 9 . . . . Grace Pai (EEC), who held a CUNY Transformative Learning in the Humanities (TLH) faculty fellowship for academic 2021-22, is serving as a TLH pedagogy co-leader this year . . . . Thomas Ruggio, a QC alumnus teaching art history at Iona University, discovered a lost 17th century masterpiece in a New Rochelle church, as reported by QNS. The painting, Holy Family with the Infant St. John, is by Cesare Dantini, a Florentine artist whose work is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. . . . John Waldman (Biology) published an op-ed in The Hill on saving wild Atlantic salmon from extinction in the United States.