Assembly Resolution No. 1359

BY: M. of A. Rules (Rozic)

MEMORIALIZING Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim
October 11, 2017, as Queens College Day in the State
of New York

WHEREAS, New York State and the Borough of Queens are proud to be
home to Queens College (QC) of the City University of New York (CUNY),
the greatest urban university system in the world; and with QC
celebrating its 80th Anniversary during the 2017-2018 academic year; and

WHEREAS, Queens College has always been dedicated to the idea that a
first-rate education should be accessible to talented people of all
backgrounds and financial means, and prepares its students to become
informed and caring citizens of our global society; and

WHEREAS, Queens College enjoys a national reputation for its
outstanding liberal arts and sciences and pre-professional programs,
honors programs, and research and internship opportunities; and

WHEREAS, Queens College's 19,000+ students represent over 170
countries and speak more than 110 languages, creating an extraordinary
campus where a wealth of cultures and perspectives come together with
respect and a commitment to learning; and

WHEREAS, A recent study by the Equality of Opportunity Project
ranked Queens College in the top 1% of all American colleges in moving
students from poverty to prosperity; and

WHEREAS, In an assessment of over 27,000 degree-granting
institutions worldwide, the Center for World Universal Rankings placed
Queens College in the top 3.5% for the quality of its education and
faculty and the percentage of its alumni who find employment; and

WHEREAS, The research performed by Queens College's dedicated
faculty has generated millions of dollars in support from such
organizations as IBM, the National Science Foundation, Google, the
American Heart Association, the U.S. Departments of Energy and Defense,
the Mellon Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Wildlife
Conservation Society, and many others; and

WHEREAS, QC has had more graduates serve in the U.S. House of
Representatives than any other CUNY college: Joseph Crowley (14th
District), Adriano Espaillat (13th District), and Gary Ackerman (5th
District, retired); and

WHEREAS, QC's special centers and institutes serve the diverse
communities in the borough of Queens by addressing pressing social
issues such as cancer, pollution, and racism, and other units
celebrating the borough's many ethnic and religious communities; and

WHEREAS, QC also serves the community by offering low-cost/free
services through its Speech-Language-Hearing Center and its
Psychological Center, and its English Language Institute is the second
oldest in the nation; and


WHEREAS, QC is dedicated to fostering a sense of community and
developing channels of communication among veterans, military personnel,
and dependent students, and has been designated a 2017 Military Friendly
School by Victoria Media, recognized as a "Top School" by Military
Advanced Education & Transition in its 2017 MAE & T Guide to Colleges &
Universities, and has been included in Military Times Best: Colleges
2018; and

WHEREAS, QC's more than 160,000 alumni have gone on to excel in all
areas of society and can be found at the top of almost any field,
whether it be medicine, law, business, education, the media, politics,
science, or entertainment; and

WHEREAS, QC contributes to the state's talent pool as a powerful
economic engine and a leader in tech education, with more computer
science majors than any university in New York City and the only Tech
Incubator in the borough of Queens; and

WHEREAS, QC has the third-highest number of accounting and business
students in all of New York State, and has graduated more teachers,
counselors, and principals than any other college in the metropolitan
area; and

WHEREAS, QC has more earth and environmental science majors than any
other CUNY college, and its faculty in the School of Earth and
Environmental Sciences have conducted projects on all eight continents
and all five oceans; and

WHEREAS, Queens College was named one of the nation's top 20 best
value colleges for students to earn teaching degrees by Best Value
Schools' 2018, and its graphic design program was ranked among the top
five percent of all public colleges and universities by the Animation
Career Review; and

WHEREAS, The Aaron Copland School of Music's renowned faculty and
alumni include nationally recognized composers, conductors, and
performers who have received more than 60 Grammy Awards and nominations,
including a Grammy this year for alumnus Arturo O'Farrill; and

WHEREAS, The college's Evening Readings series has brought to campus
over a dozen Nobel laureates; and

WHEREAS, QC introduces students to the best of the arts thanks to
the Kupferberg Center for the Visual and Performing Arts, which includes
the Louis Armstrong House Museum and the Godwin-Ternbach Museum, the
largest comprehensive collection of art and artifacts in the borough;
and

WHEREAS, QC's Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library is home to the archives
of jazz legend Louis Armstrong as well as to a vast Civil Rights
archives and the papers of such noted New York public servants as Judge
Charles Colden, Congressmen Benjamin Rosenthal and Gary Ackerman, and
Assembly Speaker Saul Weprin; and

WHEREAS, The college has consistently been praised by the Princeton
Review, U.S. News & World Report, and Forbes and Money magazines for its

outstanding academics, world-class faculty, generous financial aid
packages, and affordable tuition; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
memorialize Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim October 11, 2017, as
Queens College Day in the State of New York; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor of the State of
New York.