Nai-Ne Chen Dance Company celebrated the Lunar New Year of the Water Rabbit with a performance at the Kupferberg Center for the Arts on Sunday, February 5. | |
More than luck is required to build a successful athletics program. For decades, Queens College was unique within CUNY as an NCAA Division II institution. That changed in recent years when the College of Staten Island was accepted to this level of intercollegiate play, instantly creating a friendly rivalry between our Knights and their Dolphins in the East Coast Conference (ECC). Other CUNY senior colleges with athletics are Division III and play in their own conference. Community colleges compete in NCJAA. | |
The Knights are great for Queens College. Our 16 teams attract student-athletes from the world over, whether from Long Island or overseas, with a total of approximately 240 enrolled from diverse backgrounds. The experiences of the players enhance their education and individual development. Collectively, they’re an impressive group. Last year, for example, more than 140 Knights had a GPA of 3.0 or higher. We recorded close to 30 ECC honors, including three Players of the Year, two Rookies of the Year, and two Coaches of the Year. The men’s and women’s tennis teams advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 20th and 21st straight year, respectively. Men’s basketball earned their first home playoff game since the 2010-11 season and finished fourth in conference standing. Baseball finished runner-up in the ECC Championship game after advancing to the finals for the first time since the 1998 season.
| The 2022-23 academic year is off to a great start, with three fall sports making the ECC postseason tournament. In a record-breaking year, men’s soccer earned their first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history and sophomore Adolfo Martinez Paquet received the program’s first All-American honors since the 2011 season. Women’s volleyball returned to the playoffs for the first time since the 2008 season; freshman Ryann Frontera was named ECC Libero of the Year. Women’s tennis made the ECC Championship game and earned three All-Conference honors. Also, men’s and women’s cross-country saw four student-athletes earn bids to the NCAA East Regional, held in November at Bethpage State Park. | |
Before the semester began, I was appointed to the NCAA Division II Presidents Council. In that capacity, I was honored to represent us last month at the NCAA Convention in San Antonio, Texas, joined by our athletic director, Rob Twible, and senior Myles Jackson, a track and field and cross-country athlete. I learned more about how best to advance our interests as an institution during a time of tremendous change for collegiate sports. As a council member, I participate in discussions about the NCAA policies that govern us. | |
You may be aware of the attention being paid to Division I football and men’s basketball over issues including the status of student-athletes, intellectual property rights, injuries such as concussions, and revenue sharing. Although a handful of institutions may have significantly different models, in Division II play, no institutions make a “profit” from their athletics programs, and there is tremendous diversity among the schools as well as among the sports. Because of the value of NCAA participation to Queens College and the students who are involved, I encourage the QC community to support the Knights and see them in action. | The teams reciprocate our support. Just last Thursday, men’s basketball celebrated Faculty and Staff Appreciation Night during their home game against Dominican University of New York. Faculty and staff in attendance were honored and treated to dessert, hot chocolate, and T-shirt giveaways. At halftime, the athletics department also recognized QC baseball standout Mark Cisco, who earned All-American honors as a freshman last spring. | Athletics welcomed QC Faculty and Staff on Thursday evening. | |
Athletic Director Rob Twible and QC Baseball honored All-American Marc Cisco at halftime. | |
I join the athletic department in expressing my appreciation for all our faculty and staff. Good luck to the basketball teams in the final month of the season as they battle for an East Coast Conference playoff spot! Click here for the schedule for basketball and other QC teams. | |
Arts and Humanities Dean William McClure has agreed to serve as QC's faculty athletics representative. Bill competes in Olympic weightlifting; he's nationally ranked by age and weight, proof that he's got game beyond Atari. | |
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We proudly hosted the CUNY Wheelchair Basketball games (see QView #145) last month on the Lucille Kyvallos Basketball Court in FitzGerald Gym. We are also exploring a bid to bring the Wounded Warriors games to the college. | |
CUNY Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Denise B. Maybank and President Wu | |
This past Friday, I had the pleasure of meeting Gary Padmore, who studied music performance—he plays trumpet—and music ed at QC and taught here as an adjunct. Transitioning into a managerial career, he held positions with Midori & Friends and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s before joining the New York Philharmonic as director of Education and Community Engagement; he’s now the vice president of that area. His path attests to the potential options for students in our new arts and business schools. | |
From left: Jay Hershenson, vice president for Communications and Marketing and senior advisor to the president; Jeannie Oliver-Cretara, manager of Teaching and Learning at the New York Philharmonic; Julia del Palacio, director of Strategy and associate to the dean of the Queens College School of Arts; Wu; Padmore; William McClure, dean of Arts and Humanities; Michael Lipsey, director of the Aaron Copland School of Music | |
Together with colleagues, we discussed bringing students to tour the New York Philharmonic facilities and, concomitantly, inviting orchestra members to visit the campus and meet with students. More to come as our new partnership blossoms! | |
Another ACSM alumnus, Arturo O’Farrill, collected his latest GRAMMY on Sunday night, winning Best Jazz Album for Fandango at the Wall in New York. Samara Joy, who performed so memorably at our MLK Day Celebration last month, picked up two GRAMMYs, for Best New Artist and Best Jazz Vocal Album. I congratulate both of these gifted artists. | |
While I’m on this topic, I want to put in a plug for the College of Arts’ first Arts Leadership Boot Camp, taking place on campus March 3-5. The bootcamp will feature panel discussions by experts in arts-related fields; a concert by Queens College alumni; and an interactive workshop on digital marketing and self-promotion in the arts. Students from the borough’s CUNY colleges have until February 12 at 11:59 pm to complete an application for this free program. Questions about the application may be sent to neophytos.ioannou@qc.cuny.edu. | February is of course Black History Month, and the college is hosting all kinds of activities for the campus community. Through February 28, 5 pm, you can test your knowledge in “I am QC Black History Trivia Month,” presented by the Africana Studies Program. Click here to see the questions; send answers to qcafst@qc.cuny.edu. Winners will be chosen according to the number of correct responses. Another way to explore this subject is to visit Barham Rotunda Gallery in the Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library, to see an exhibit documenting the college’s distinguished record of involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. | |
Exhibit in the Barham Rotunda | |
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I’m looking forward to this Thursday’s conversation between Microsoft attorney and executive Bruce Jackson—author of Never Far from Home: My Journey from Brooklyn to Hip Hop, Microsoft, and the Law—and Chief Diversity Officer and Dean of Diversity Jerima DeWese at 12:15 pm in the President’s Lounge (Dining Hall). | |
Next week, we will welcome Congresswoman Grace Meng to campus once again. Congresswoman Meng secured earmarkings for more than $2.1 million for two Queens College projects through the 2023 government spending package signed by President Joe Biden. Over $1.4 million was allocated for the Small Business Development Initiative to strengthen partnerships between local small businesses and the Queens College School of Business; $750,000 was allocated for a range of improvements to Colden Auditorium, the largest indoor venue in the borough. QC is receiving roughly ten percent of the over $21.3 million secured by Congresswoman Meng, New York’s senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, for 15 critical projects throughout Queens. We are grateful, as always, for the tremendous work she does to support Queens College and the greater college community. In the past, she has obtained federal support for our WETLAB (Wastewater Epidemiology Training Laboratory) coordinated by John Dennehy (Biology) and for the establishment of the Small Business Development Center. We are fortunate to have such effective and caring representation in Washington.
| As a Queens resident, I am glad to participate in the life of the borough. I was recently interviewed for a podcast posted to It’s in Queens, the newsletter produced by the Queens Economic Development Corporation and the Queens Tourism Council. On February 28, I will be one of the honorees at the annual gala of the Queens Centers for Progress (QCP), to be held at the Terrace on the Park. Proceeds will help QCP continue to offer services and support to children and adults with developmental disabilities. | |
I’d also like to mention that Borough President Donovan Richards—another important and strong supporter of Queens College—is launching a Youth and Young Adult Council, an advisory body comprising two cohorts: high school representatives age 13 to 17, and young adults age 18 to 25. Each cohort will meet monthly to develop proposals to make Queens a more inclusive borough for youth. Advisors are sought to work with the older cohort. Applications for these year-long council and advisory positions must be submitted by February 23. For complete details, email Ludy Thenor, director of Youth and Young Adult Services at Queens Borough Hall, at LThenor@queensbp.org or info@queensbp.org.
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PS: After the pandemic and its economic stress, colleges across the country have seen a distressing drop in the size of their student bodies. But clearly, people believe in the value of a Queens College education. Enrollment in our latest winter session reached 2,461, a 75 percent increase since 2018. Meanwhile, CUNY reported that our spring freshman class was the largest at QC for at least 23 years. I congratulate Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management Jennifer Jarvis, her team, and all of the college offices and departments involved for their great and ongoing work.
Enjoy the semester! Stay safe and warm!
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