Message to the College Community (November 29)

From President Frank H. Wu:

As we head into the final days of the fall semester, I want to take a moment to express and strongly reaffirm our values at Queens College. We must place the highest priority on addressing significant issues through dialogue in constructive, civil, and peaceful ways. This is an honored tradition at Queens College, where we create opportunities for mutually respectful discussions about difficult topics. All institutions of higher education are charged with the responsibility to foster dialogue. We benefit from our location in “the world’s borough,” where so many individuals and communities have come, settled, and thrived, benefiting from the freedoms and the opportunities of this nation and this city.

Queens College opposes bigotry in any form; this includes combatting antisemitism and Islamophobia, as well as racism and sexism and other discriminatory behavior that are explicit and implicit. We endeavor to avoid the stereotypes that are repeated all around us in society while also ensuring that individual instances of conduct violations are addressed through applicable policies and processes. The safety of the campus community is paramount, and we will continue to investigate reports of any actions that compromise it.

Here are some of the actions taken on campus and valuable reminders for these challenging times: 

• We have increased Public Safety patrols on campus and are working closely with college offices and departments, such as Student Affairs and the Office of Compliance and Diversity, and with the Community Affairs division of the NYPD 107th Precinct to ensure the safety and well-being of all who study and work on campus.

   

•  Any incidents will be investigated as appropriate following city and state law and CUNY policies. Please refer to CUNY’s Equal Opportunity and Non-Discrimination Policy and the Henderson Rules/Rules and Regulations for the Maintenance of Public Order.
• In order to facilitate constructive dialogue, CERRU will be coordinating opportunities for discussion consistent with their mission of working with students, faculty, and staff to create a safe, vibrant, just, and equitable space for education and beyond. CERRU has long played a significant role on our campus, and under the leadership of Chief Diversity Officer & Dean of Diversity Jerima Dewese, they will continue to facilitate conversations that may be difficult but are crucial.
• As a reminder, should you encounter or become aware of any misconduct, harassment, assault, or discriminatory action, please report it to the Office of Compliance and Diversity. Formal reports can be filed via email (titleix@qc.cuny.edu), by phone at 718-997-5888, or in person in Kiely Hall 134. Retaliation is not tolerated on our campus.

   

• With the help of the Office of Student Affairs, we have asked our Counseling Center to be available to meet with any student who wishes to share personal concerns. The Counseling Center has on staff licensed psychologists, social workers, and professional counselors, as well as supervised interns. To reach them, call 718-997-5420 and leave a message with your name, CUNY ID number, and phone number. Calls will be returned on the same business day between 9 am and 5 pm. Alternatively, students can email the same information to counselingservices@qc.cuny.edu or visit the center’s office on the first floor of Frese Hall weekdays from 9 am to 5 pm.

• Faculty and staff may reach out to CCA@YourService, CUNY’s confidential employee assistance program provider. CCA@YourService may be contacted 24/7 by calling 800-833-8707 or logging on to www.myccaonline.com with the company code “CUNY.” 

I know from my own life how devastating bigotry can be. My responsibility as college president extends to doing everything I can to sustain a sense of equality and respect on our campus, as I recently wrote about in an op-ed that appeared in The Daily News. Toward that end, I will not hesitate to call out what strikes at the values we espouse and strive to live up to. My own ability to stand up and speak out needs to be used to say: Discriminatory, racist, and hateful sentiments do not belong here; they threaten our students’ ability to learn and our employees’ expectations about their workplace. 

Thank you to all in our community who continue to support civil discourse on challenging matters and to oppose all forms of racism, bias, and discrimination.