Queens College (QC) is one of the four-year
colleges in the City University of New York
system. Often referred to as “The College of the
Future,[2]”
its 80-acre campus is located in a residential area of Flushing in
the borough of Queens – U.S. most ethnically diverse
county[citation
needed] – with a student body that
represents over 170 countries. Queens College is consistently
ranked among the leading institutions in the nation for the quality
of its faculty and academic programs, the achievement of its
students, and its affordability.
In 2013 Queens College was ranked #2 nationally by the
Washington Monthly for giving students the
"best bang for their bucks."[citation
needed]
History
This marker, just outside the
Student Union building, marks the
original location of the one-room schoolhouse
Before
1937
Before Queens College was established in 1937, the site of the
campus was home to the Jamaica Academy, a one-room schoolhouse
built in the early 19th century, where Walt Whitman once worked as teacher.[3]
The building was located on Flushing-Jamaica Road (later renamed
Kissena Boulevard). Jamaica Academy became public in 1844.[4]
In 1909, the New York Parental School, a home for troubled boys,
opened on the land surrounding the future site of Queens College
and incorporated Jamaica Academy on its campus. Buildings such as
Jefferson Hall (named after Thomas Jefferson) were used as both
dormitories and classrooms.[5]
In 1934, the New York Parental School was investigated amid
rumors of abuse.[6]
The school was shut down and students were transferred to local
public schools. A few months later, the grounds were turned over to
the city. The city planned to house 500 mental patients from
Randall's Island
Hospital, who were temporarily displaced by the construction of the
Triborough Bridge.[7]
Founding
Meanwhile, County Judge Charles S. Colden appointed and chaired
a committee to assess the feasibility of opening a free college in
Queens. In September 1935, the committee recommended the
establishment of such a college.[8]
Mayor La Guardia backed the recommendation and pushed for the free
college's creation. In March 1937, the Board of Education
designated the site of the former Parental School to be the future
location of Queens College.[9]
Paul Klapper, former dean of the School of Education at City College of New York, was
appointed the new college's president.[10]
The college opened in October 1937—later than anticipated due
to a painters' strike—with 21 members on its teaching staff
and 400 students in its inaugural freshmen class.[11][12]
The college campus grew as buildings were constructed and
enrollment increased. But changes beyond growth were in store for
Queens College: in 1970,CUNY adopted the controversial policy of
Open Admissions, which guaranteed a place at CUNY for any high
school graduate in New York, regardless of traditional criteria
like grades or test scores. The program was intended to offer
college education to more New York City residents, in particular
those of color. But Open Admissions did not seem to affect Queens
College as much as it did other schools — a year after its
implementation, only 10% of its student body was black or Puerto
Rican, according to the newly appointed college president, Dr.
Joseph S. Murphy.[13]
In 1973 enrollment at Queens reached an all-time high of 31,413
students. By 1976 new concerns overtook the college as New York
City faced a crippling financial crisis. CUNY's policy of free
tuition was revoked; the overall CUNY budget was cut by $135
million; and CUNY Chancellor Robert Kibbee demanded that Queens
College slash its budget by 15%.[14]
Some faculty members resigned in protest.[15]
The New York Times reported in December 1976 that "Queens
College, considered the jewel in the university's crown, has been
particularly hard hit by the cuts, which have gone to the heart of
the faculty."[16]
All hiring and building on campus was halted.
1980s
By 1984 student enrollment had declined to 15,000. But with a
$175 million building program in place by 1986 for the college's
50th anniversary, enrollments were expected to rise and the college
was beginning to recover from the financial crisis of the 1970s. In
addition, the student body, in accordance with the mission of the
short-lived Open Admissions program, had grown much more diverse,
and college faculty were trained to understand Latin American
culture and how to teach American literature to non-American
students.[17]
By that time, former Queens College president Dr. Joseph S. Murphy
was CUNY Chancellor. In the 1990s, the college attracted
high-profile researchers to its faculty, including the virologist
Luc Montagnier.[18]
Under President Allen Lee Sessoms, the college underwent some
growth but also some missteps, including the highly publicized
inability to fund the planned AIDS research center that Dr.
Montagnier had been hired to lead.[19]
Recent
The college campus continued improving its facilities. Under a
$1 billion CUNY-wide improvement program, Queens College's
Powdermaker Hall was given a $57 million renovation, begun in
2000.[20]
By 2014 enrollment was 20,000 students, half of whom come from
minority backgrounds.[21][22]
Dr. Felix V. Matos Rodriguez was
appointed president of Queens College by the CUNY Board of Trustees
in 2014.[23]
Involvement in Civil Rights
movements
Queens College students were active participants in the Civil
Rights movements of the 1960s, including the March on
Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. The most well-known
student activist was Andrew Goodman, who was slain in Mississippi
in 1964 with two other young men, James Earl Chaney, and
Michael H.
Schwerner; all three were trying to register African-Americans
to vote in the South. Schwerner and Chaney were on the organizing
staff of CORE; Goodman was a "Freedom Summer" volunteer. The three
activists were stopped and arrested for allegedly driving over the
speed limit on a Mississippi road. After being brought into the
sheriff's department and released, the three young men were stopped
by two carloads of KKK members on a remote rural road. The men approached
their car, then shot and killed all three young men. The murders
received national attention, and six conspirators were brought to
trial and convicted by federal prosecutors for civil rights
violations. The Chaney-Goodman-Schwerner Clock Tower of Rosenthal
Library, a highly visible borough landmark, is named in their
honor.[24]
In February 2011, Queens College inherited the personal
collection of the late James Foreman. The collection, along with other
civil rights leaders' collections, is available for research at the
Queens College Civil
Rights Archive. A special program on February 17, 2011 included
a presentation by the Honorable Julian Bond for Black History Month, as well as a formal
announcement of the acquisition.[25]
Academics
Degrees and
Programs
Queens College is a liberal arts college that offers
undergraduate degrees in 78 majors, master's degrees in 24 departments, 20
doctoral degrees through the CUNY Graduate
Center, and a number of advanced certificate programs.[26]
It is also one of seven participating schools in the CUNY Honors
College. Queens College has a Freshman Honors Program,[27]
as well as a program called TIME 2000 for future math educators.
The college's Professional & Continuing Studies program offers
non-credit courses in such fields as health care, paralegal
studies, real estate, and risk management.
Academic centers and
institutes
The College is home to many centers which focus their research
on various pressing social issues facing the local communities,
students, faculty and the many ethnic and religious groups of the
Queens area.
- Asian American/Asian Research Institute: Works to
integrate the talents of individual faculty and the resources of
other CUNY institutes to create a community of scholars to help
focus their energies on Asia and the Asian American
experience.
- Asian/American Center: Dedicated to community-oriented
research that analyzes the multi-cultural diaspora experience of
Asians in global and local communities.
- John D. Calandra Italian American
Institute: Fosters higher education among Italian-Americans and
ensures that the legacy of the Italian-American experience is
documented and preserved for future generations. This is
accomplished through research, counseling, lectures, symposia, and
administering an exchange program with CUNY and Italian
universities.
- Barry Commoner Center for Health and the Environment
(formerly Center for the Biology of Natural Systems): Conducts
research that analyzes real world environmental and resource
problems and their policy implications. Recent projects include a
study of the impact of air pollution on asthma sufferers in the
South Bronx and a continuing examination of the health workers
involved in the cleanup of ground zero after the terrorist attacks of September 11,
2001.
- Center for Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies:
Initiates, supports, and coordinates the teaching of Byzantine and
modern Greek studies. The center also promotes Byzantine and
Neo-Hellenic scholarship and publications, and relates academic
research and teaching to the needs of the Greek community in Queens
and elsewhere.
- Center for Jewish Studies: Through outreach and
research, the Center for Jewish Studies serves as a bridge between
the academic program and the social community. Additionally, the
Ibrahim Leadership and Dialogue Fellowship program, the only trip
to bring students to both Israel and Saudi Arabia, is run partly
through the Center for Jewish Studies.[28]
- John Cardinal Newman Club: Run by the Catholic Newman
Center, this area provides a social environment for all students of
all faiths.
- Center for the Improvement of Education: Builds
relationships between public schools and Queens College.
- The Michael Harrington Center for Democratic Values and
Social Change: Promotes public discourse about social issues,
advocates for social change, and works in partnerships with others
to build a more just and equitable democratic society. The
institute is primarily concerned with the employment, health, and
educational needs of economically disadvantaged communities.
- The Neuroscience Research Center: The goal of the center
is to enhance the research and education of students at Queens
College through the establishment of programs at both the
undergraduate and graduate levels concerning neuroscience. Members
of the center have established a five-year NIH MARC program at the
college for minorities in the biomedical research sciences. The
faculty at the center have produced over 800 peer-reviewed
publications over the past fifteen years, with nearly 300 in the
past five years alone. Since 1990, the center faculty have also
received funding for 51 external and 54 internal grants.
- Queens College Model United Nations Team: Run in
conjunction with the Political Science Department, this program
provides students the opportunity to explore their interests in the
international policy and the United Nations.
- Queens Memory Project: The Queens
Memory Project, a digital archive which aims to record and preserve
contemporary history across the borough of Queens, is a
collaborative effort between Queens College and Queens Library that
includes digitized materials from the Rosenthal Library's
Department of Special Collections.
- The Center for Ethnic, Racial and Religious
Understanding: CERRU was created in fall 2009 through a
grant from the US Department of Education. CERRU is a non-partisan
organization that facilitates cross-cultural engagement
Aaron Copland School of
Music
The Aaron Copland School of Music
is one of the oldest and most distinguished departments at Queens
College, founded when the College opened in 1937. The department's
curriculum was originally established by Edwin Stringham, and a
later emphasis on the analytical system of Heinrich Schenker was
initiated by Saul Novack.
ACSM offers three different types of music undergraduate
degrees; general music (BA), Performance (B.Mus), and Music
Education (BA/Ed)
Campus and
facilities
The 80-acre campus, located off Kissena Boulevard, is on the
highest point in the borough. Six of the original Spanish-style
buildings dating back to the early 20th century still stand, such
as Jefferson Hall, which was built in 1900[citation
needed]. The college has since expanded to
over 40 buildings, including the main classroom building,
Powdermaker Hall, rebuilt in 2003 and named after the college's
distinguished anthropologist Hortense Powdermaker.
Queens College is the only CUNY college that participates in
Division II sports[citation
needed]. A Child Development Center, staffed
by professionals, offers inexpensive child care services to
students with children. The college is also home to the
Godwin-Ternbach Museum, which houses more than 6,000 works of
art.
The college holds courses at several off-campus locations,
including the 43rd Street Extension Center in Manhattan and the
CUNY Center for Higher Education in downtown Flushing, which opened in late 2003.
The college has a low-rise 506-bed residence hall on campus
called the Summit Apartments, which opened in the fall of 2009.
Queens College is one of only three CUNY campuses with dorm
facilities (the other two being Hunter College and City College).
The college is home to the Aaron Copland School of Music, located in the
music building that was constructed in 1991. The building houses
the music library and the 490-seat LeFrak Concert Hall.
CUNY School of Law was previously located
to the west of the campus of Queens College; while it was always a
separate administrative unit of CUNY, the building itself read
"CUNY School of Law at Queens College," and was once a building for
the Department of Education. The CUNY Board of Trustees approved
plans for the Law School to be relocated to 2 Court Square in Long
Island City, with the first semester of classes held in
2012.[29]
Queens College has since taken over the former Law School building,
now named Queens Hall and home to the college's language
departments.
Townsend Harris High School and
John Bowne High School are located at
the edge of the Queens College campus.
-
The owl, a symbol of knowledge and wisdom, hangs above
the entrance to Jefferson Hall.
-
A stele on the facade of Remsen Hall.
-
-
Klapper Hall opened in 1955 as the college's first library.
Named after the college's first president, Paul Klapper, it was
renovated in 1992 after the construction of Rosenthal Library.
-
-
Hortense Powdermaker Hall is considered
"smart" because it is fully wireless,
each classroom has both audio and visual equipment, and because it
is soundproof.
Benjamin Rosenthal Library
The campus maintains the Benjamin Rosenthal
Library. The library's Chaney-Schwerner-Goodman Clocktower was
named after the three civil rights workers who were murdered in
1964, including Andrew Goodman, a Queens College student.
Built in 1988, the library contains over 800,000 books, 32,600
print and electronic materials, the electronic archives, a
collection of multimedia materials in its Media Center and an art
center. The library is also home to the papers of Robert Morris
and the Louis Armstrong archives.
The Art Library and the Queens College Art Center are on the
sixth floor of Rosenthal. The Art Library has over 70,000 books;
5,000 bound periodicals; and 110,000 slides, pictures, and
exhibition catalogs and pamphlets. The collection includes
resources for the study of all aspects of the visual arts and
material culture, including art and architectural history, theory,
criticism, materials, techniques, and practice.
Nurtured by both the Aaron Copland School of Music and the
Queens College Libraries, the Music Library has evolved into a
first-class research facility and is the largest music collection
in the CUNY system. The Music Library is located on two levels in
the School of Music building and contains over 35,000 scores,
30,000 books, and 20,000 sound recordings, including the David S.
Walker Music Education Collection and the Ursula Springer Choral
Music Collection.
Godwin-Ternbach Museum
Since 1957 Queens College has been collecting works of art,
these collections were initially used for teaching purposes and
were meant to serve the college community. The collections were
eventually brought together with the establishment of the
Godwin-Ternbach Museum in 1980. The museum is now a part of the
Kupferberg Center for the Arts, which has joined together all the
works of art on campus in collaborations of visual, performance,
dance, and theater arts.[30]
In the early 1990s, the museum was downsized due to budget cuts.
Over the next few years, the college kept it open but on a reduced
budget and staff. In 2001, however, the college hired Amy Winter as
director of the museum. To address the concerns of the museum
Winter turned to MAP (The Museum Assessment Program); as a result
not only did the museum improve its facilities but increased its
collections-related staff as well.[31]
Today the museum is an integral part of Queens College that serves
not only the faculty and staff but the community at large.
The museum, located in Klapper Hall, maintains a fine collection
of 6,000 pieces of art, as well as artifacts from all cultures
dating from ancient times to the modern day. These include works by
Rembrandt Van Rijn, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and Georges Braque. The museum also hosts a series
of exhibitions each year. These exhibitions and events are free and
open to the public.
Residence
The Summit is Queens College's first
residence hall, it opened in the fall of
2009.
Queens College’s first residence hall, the Summit
Apartments, opened in 2009. This low-rise, 506-bed facility is
located in the middle of the campus.[32]
Queens College is still primarily a commuter school, as only 500 of
its over 19,000 students live on campus. The building has a gold
certificate from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
(LEED), an organization that certifies buildings to have met
environmentally sustainable construction standards.[33]
Queens College's residence hall offers study lounges on each floor,
wireless internet, laundry services, and a state of the art fitness
center. The Summit Apartments also includes kitchens with full-size
appliances, as well as dining areas, microwaves, couches,
entertainment stands, and music practice rooms.[34]
The Summit Apartments has attracted students from around the
country and the world to Queens College, especially aspiring
artists looking to attend the internationally renowned Aaron Copland School of Music. Although it
remains a commuter school, the college has become more dynamic as a
result of the construction of the Summit; offering students a
traditional college experience at an affordable public university.
In addition to the Summit, many students rent apartments off campus
in the surrounding neighborhoods.
Transportation
Queens College operates a free shuttle service for students from
campus (next to the Student Union building) to major transportation
hubs in Flushing and Jamaica. The shuttle service also transports
students from the Kissena end of campus to the Main Street end. The
shuttle operates seven days a week.
Student
life
The
Student Union building is home to most of
the clubs on campus.
Demographics
Demographics of Queens College[35]
|
Men |
Women |
| Asian/Pacific Islander |
1,583 |
2,263 |
| Black/Non-Hispanic |
558 |
1,233 |
| Hispanic |
1,031 |
2,166 |
| Native American |
8 |
15 |
| White/Non-Hispanic |
3,583 |
6,046 |
| International Students |
471 |
615 |
The college is located in Queens, New York, the most diverse
county in the nation.[36]
Queens College students represent 170 countries and speak over 90
different native languages[citation
needed]. This rich variety has influenced
Queens College's curriculum, research, and outreach
programs.[37]
Clubs
Queens College's cultural diversity is also represented in its
clubs and organizations. Queens has over 100 different clubs and
organizations, ranging from fraternities/sororities to cultural,
religious, technology, and art clubs[citation
needed]. Most of the organizations are located
within the Student Union building. To complement the college's
educational mission, the Student Union provides various facilities,
services, co-curricular activities, and programs.[38]
After one year as the "Israel Business Club", a small group of
Queens College students successfully achieved chapter status in the
TAMID Group. The TAMID Group (formerly
'"TAMID Israel Investment Group"') is a student-led, apolitical,
and areligious organization on 35 elite U.S. college campuses that
provides experiential learning and leadership opportunities to
2,000+ students through hands-on interaction with the Israeli economy. TAMID
offers students a comprehensive education curriculum, pro-bono
consulting for Israeli startups, and capital market investment
research. The group is currently led by Mikki Weinstein, Shlomo Klahr, Max
Fruchter, Raphi Winkler, and Lara Spitz. TAMID at Queens College
earned the Spirit of TAMID national award for founding TAMID Tank, a series of events
connecting student entrepreneurs with investment opportunities.
Greek
Life
Queens College Greek life consists of eight fraternities and seven
sororities.[39]
Greek membership numbers in the hundreds, with more members in
Greek Life than in all the other clubs on campus combined. The
Queens College Greek life supports a variety of different
philanthropies with thousands of dollars in donations to various
charitable organizations, as well as thousands of hours of
volunteer work. The Dining Hall is a popular gathering place for
Greeks, as is the field directly outside during good weather. They
hold events such a Greek Week, Fall Brawl, and Meet the Greeks,
where they showcase their respective organizations, as well as
compete for recreation.
Athletics
The Athletic Office at Queens College sponsors 19 men's and
women's championship eligible varsity teams in eight different
sports. The longest running among these programs are the men's
basketball and baseball teams. The men's basketball team has put a
team on the court in every season since its inception in 1938. On
February 14, 2004 the team played its 1500th game and, in those
1500 games, has produced twenty 1,000-point scorers. Of these
twenty players, twelve have achieved this after the college began play in NCAA Division II in 1983 and four
(Alan Hevesi (#5),
Norman Roberts (#15), Jeff Maloney (#22)
and Norman Roberts (#15)[clarification
needed]) have had their numbers retired.
Although the program has a long-running record of achievement, its
biggest successes have come in the 21st century. In 2001 the
Knights earned their first NCAA Division II Northeast Regional bid. A
year later the team earned its second consecutive bid along with
the program's first NYCAC championship. In 2005 the team once again
was crowned NYCAC Champions and received an automatic bid to the
NCAAs.[40]
Men’s Baseball
With the exception of three years during World War II, the baseball program, like men's
basketball, has fielded a team since 1938. In both 1967 and 1976
the team captured the Knickerbocker Conference championship, and in
1981 it won the CUNY championship. Their championships in 1976 and 1981
also earned them NCAA Division III tournament bids. More
recently, the squad captured the NYCAC regular season championships
in 1997 and 1998, the NYCAC tournament championship in 1998 and a
bid to the NCAA Division II Northeast Regional. Seven players have
been drafted and nine players have gone on to play professionally
with organizations including the New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals. The latest of these
draftees is 1998 All-American Justin Davies who, after playing in
the Toronto Blue Jays organization for two
seasons, has spent four years (2000–2004) as on outfielder
for the Long Island Ducks of the Independent
League.[40]
Women’s Basketball
The women's basketball team has also experienced success. On
March 24, 1973, the Knights, who were ranked #2 in the country,
took the FitzGerald Gymnasium court with the AIAW (Association for
Intercollegiate Athletics for Women) National Championship at
stake. On February 22, 1975 they played in the first women's
basketball game ever played in Madison Square Garden.[41][42]
Three players from this era (Debbie Mason (#15), Gail Marquis (#25) and Althea Gwyn (#31)) have
had their numbers retired. On January 4, 2015, the two teams played
in the Maggie Dixon Classic as a commemoration
of the 40th anniversary of the original event.[43]
In the 2000s, the team has rebounded from a short down period to
make a return to the NYCAC playoffs while producing several
top-flight players, including Honorable Mention All-American in
Carolyn Burke. In 2014 and 2015, under the Leadership of Bet
Naumovski, the women's team won East Coast Conference Championships
and advanced to the second round of NCAA postseason play in
2015.
Softball
In the period from 1997 to 2003, the softball team posted a .640
winning percentage and won 30 or more games in a season three
times. One of those 30 win seasons came in 1999 when the team won
their first NYCAC tournament championship and earned their first
NCAA bid. Two season later, third
team All-American Cheryl Cosenzo helped lead the Lady Knights to
their second NYCAC championship as well as an NCAA bid and in 2002
the team earned their third Northeast Regional bid in five
years.
Tennis
Team
The women's tennis team has experienced nineteen consecutive
winning seasons. The team has won four conference championships,
while its players have won a number of individual and doubles
titles. In 2004 Dominika Bajuk was selected as NYCAC Player of the
Year. The Lady Knights have also earned NCAA Division II
post-season championship bids in 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005; as
well as in 1995 when, as hosts, they won their region.[40]
The men's track and field team hosted and won the East Coast
Conference Championships in 2013.
Rankings
- In 2013, Queens College was ranked #2 nationally in Washington Monthly's "Best Bang For
Your Buck" college guide.
- In its 2006 edition of "America's Best Value Colleges,"
The Princeton Review ranks Queens
College 8th in the United States.[44]
- Queens College is ranked as one of the "25 Hottest
Universities" in the Newsweek/Kaplan 2008 College Guide.[45]
- In 2015, Forbes.com placed Queens College at #308 as one of
America's Best
Colleges.[46]
- In 2015, Queens College was included in The Princeton Review's list of top 322
green campuses.
Notable alumni and faculty
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Edwin Moise –
American mathematician and mathematics education reformer
(Faculty)
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Alumni
List
In television
Seinfeld