News from LaGuardia Community College |
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LaGuardia’s 50th Commencement Held In-Person on Queens College Quad
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On June 21 LaGuardia awarded Associate Degrees and Certificates to nearly 2,500 joyful graduates. It was our first in-person commencement since 2019. Because our campus – an assortment of repurposed industrial buildings in Long Island City – lacks an appropriate space for such a gathering we decamped to Queens College, which has occupied 80 lush acres in Flushing since 1937. Indeed, QC was the site of LaGuardia’s first commencement for the 256 members of the Class of 1973.
To mark the occasion of our 50th commencement, NYS Governor Kathy Hochul made a special appearance. She arrived a bit late because she suffered a flat tire caused by a NYC pothole, a mishap familiar to many in the audience. In her remarks Governor Hochul commended the Class of 2022 for enduring the challenges of the pandemic, completing their LaGuardia degrees, and forging ahead to brighter futures. About halfway through the program a few raindrops fell from the hazy midday sky. An event coordinator approached me and asked in hushed tones if we should accelerate the awarding of the degrees fearing that the recipients might be deterred by foul weather. Not this group! “On with the show,” I whispered back. A few more speeches, the clouds lifted, and the graduates and their families were off to their celebrations.
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Pride Month Events and Exhibits |
As a founding member of the CUNY LGBTQIA+ Consortium, LaGuardia always brings a big group of students, faculty, and staff to the Queens Pride Parade. On Sunday, June 5, our return to in-person participation was welcomed by beautiful parade-marching weather. LGBTQIA+ representation in New York politics and education are explored in two events produced by the LaGuardia and Wagner Archives. A Seat at the Table examines the experiences of New York City LGBTQIA+ elected officials from the 1990s to the present. LaGuardia students helped produce the exhibit featured on the New-York Historical Society website for Pride Month. The Archives’ Director of Public History Programs, Dr. Stephen Petrus, moderated a panel, First Grade Culture Wars: The Children of the Rainbow Curriculum Controversy of 1992, at the Historical Society on the debate at the time over teaching about LGBTQIA+ families in NYC Department of Education curriculum.
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Welcome to LaGuardia's New Provost |
I'm pleased to announce the appointment of our new provost and senior vice president of Academic Affairs, Dr. Billie Gastic Rosado, who will be taking the baton from Dr. Paul Arcario, who is retiring this summer after an incredible 34-year career at LaGuardia. Dr. Gastic Rosado is currently an associate dean at NYU's School of Professional Studies, which serves working adults, parents, transfer students, veterans, and lifelong learners. Prior to NYU, she served on the New York State Professional Standards and Practices Board for Teaching, was the inaugural Chief Research Officer at the Relay Graduate School of Education, and held faculty positions at UMass Boston and Temple University. Dr. Gastic Rosado earned a Ph.D. in the Sociology of Education and an M.A. in Sociology from Stanford, an Ed.M. from Harvard, and a B.A. in Economics from Yale. She is a first-generation college graduate who grew up in Astoria, Queens. She will join us as our new provost on August 15. |
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LaGuardia Faculty Secure 26 Individual Research Grants |
LaGuardia faculty recently secured 26 individual grants to support research projects on topics that include linguistic justice, exoplanets, neuropsychiatric conditions, and more in fields from Biochemistry to Women’s Studies. The awards are from the Professional Staff Congress-City University of New York (PSC-CUNY) Research Award program. Sponsored faculty research at this level is rare in community colleges. In LaGuardia’s case, our faculty engage students in their projects, involving them in research and learning that deepen their understanding of their fields and expose them to the possibilities of advanced studies and career opportunities. |
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Crain’s Touts Jobs Direct, ‘ASAP for Workforce Students’
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Jobs Direct, a pilot program to put jobs-focused students on the fast track to well-paid positions in high-demand fields, was featured in two articles of the May 26 Crain’s New York Business on post-pandemic education and training. The program is modeled after ASAP, CUNY’s high-touch student advising and support program acclaimed for boosting graduation rates of associate degree students. Jobs Direct provides students with scholarships covering 80–100% of tuition, paid internships, job placement services, mentorship, and career advising with industry professionals. Currently, training is for two healthcare positions employers are struggling to fill: Certified Clinical Medical Assistant and Central Service Technician. Thanks to the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation, Siegel Family Endowment, Lucius N. Littauer Foundation, Here to Here, Amazon, Pinkerton Foundation, and TD Charitable Foundation, for supporting the program.
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Provost Paul Arcario recently secured a two-year grant of $190,000 for The LaGuardia Mindfulness Corps, an initiative designed to increase student success and retention by providing training in Mindfulness practices and strategies. The grant is from the College Completion Innovation Fund (CCIF), part of Graduate NYC, a citywide college readiness and success initiative housed at the CUNY Office of K–16 Initiatives. Though technically retiring this summer, Dr. Arcario will be on campus in the fall to lead the Mindfulness workshops since he promised to do that in the grant application and we intend to hold him to it. (In CUNY retirement can get complicated.) We are all quite pleased that our good friend, Paul, will still be around.
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Canstruction Event Raises Awareness of Food Insecurity
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LaGuardia’s Food Insecurity, Justice & Community Need Committee recently presented Canstruction LaGuardia, an event to raise awareness of food insecurity. Student groups created Canstruction structures from unopened cans of food, including “Stomp Out Hunger” from the Nutrition & Culinary Management Club, and “Sunshine” from President’s Society Environment. After their 15 minutes in the spotlight, the structures were dismantled and the cans of food were donated to the LaGuardia CARES food pantry, where they were distributed to students in need.
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