Four new Queens CUNY presidents
discuss college in the time of COVID-19
BY JACOB KAYE
The newly appointed presidents of
four CUNY schools in Queens sat down
with Schneps Media last week to discuss
their backgrounds and the challenges
their respective schools face in
the coming months — and potentially
years — as a result of the COVID-19
crisis.
With a spring semester to learn from
and a summer of planning under their
belt, the presidents see the challenge
as a chance to move the CUNY system
into the future and to provide opportunities
to students they may have not
otherwise been able to provide.
But prior to being appointed as
college presidents, Dr. Berenecea
Johnson Eanes, the president of York
College; Dr. Christine Mangino, the
president-designate of Queensborough
Community College; Frank Wu, the
president of Queens College; and Kenneth
Adams, the president-designate of
LaGuardia Community College, each
had interesting careers that led them
to their current roles in university
leadership.
For Dr. Johnson Eanes, becoming
the president of a college had always
been a something she hoped to do. Years
ago, she told a friend that she would one
day hold the leadership role.
“This has been a dream of mine
for a very long time, for these kinds of
students, at this kind of institution,”
Johnson Eanes said.
The York College president has
spent the past 25 years working in
higher education, most recently serving
as the vice president of student affairs
at Cal State Fullerton.
While Johnson Eanes seemed to be
on the path towards a college president
role, her new colleague, Wu, said he
never saw himself in his new role.
“In some ways, I’m an improbable
college president,” Wu said. “It’s not
something I ever thought I’d ever do.”
The Queens College president began
his career as a lawyer but soon decided
he was more passionate about teaching
and learning. He became a professor
at Howard University, then joined the
board of trustees at Gallaudet University,
a school for the deaf and hard of
hearing. He also served as the dean of
the law school at Wayne State and the
chancellor of the University of California
Hastings College of the Law.
But when the opportunity to serve
as Queens College’s president came
along, Wu knew what to do.
“I didn’t want to be a college president,”
Wu said. “I wanted to be the college
president of Queens College,
because of the diversity and the mission.”
Like Johnson Eanes and Wu, Dr.
Mangino had long had a passion for
Dr. Christine Mangino, Kenneth Adams, Frank Wu and Dr. Berenecea Johnson Eanes were all recently appointed as presidents of
CUNY colleges in Queens. Photo via YouTube/Schneps Media
education.
Originally getting a degree in hotel
management, Mangino went back to
school to earn a degree in elementary
education and English. From there,
the soon-to-be president of Queensborough
TIMESLEDGER | 18 QNS.COM | AUG. 14-20, 2020
Community College spent 16
years with Hostos Community College,
serving in various roles, including as
the vice president of academic affairs.
In her new role, Mangino sees an
institution that carries on her educational
beliefs.
“Queensborough excited me because
they have the same passion for
academics,” Mangino said. “We’re going
to do some really exciting things
together.”
Kenneth Adams, who will soon begin
to serve as LaGuardia Community
College’s president, has spent a majority
of his career focused on economic
development, which isn’t the “traditional
background” of a college president.
However, when serving as the commissioner
of the New York State Department
of Economic Development,
Adams worked closely with the presidents
of CUNY and SUNY schools. He
saw that state and city schools were
serving an incredibly valuable economic
role for both its students and its
community.
“I had this obsession with CUNY as
a real driver of economic mobility and
opportunity,” Adams said.
Adams left the Cuomo administration
to work as the dean of workforce
and economic development at Bronx
Community College, where he’ll continue
to work until taking a seat at the
top of LaGuardia Community College
in August.
But becoming the leader of a major
institution during the COVID-19 crisis
will have its challenges.
“I don’t think anyone planned it
quite this way,” Adams said.
The COVID-19 transition
For all four presidents, the focus
of the fall will be providing a quality
education and a vibrant student life
through an online platform.
The vast majority of classes will be
exclusively online at CUNY colleges,
with handful of courses taught in a
hybrid format, with most instruction
online and some instruction taught in
person.
LaGuardia Community College’s
nursing program is one of its largest
academic programs. Students enrolled
in the program require access to
equipment that can only be utilized in
person.
“We have occupational training
programs where we do as much as we
can online, but at the end of the day,
some of the instruction has to be inperson
because of equipment and access
to labs,” Adams said.
But for all four presidents, the
challenges of running a school online
stretches beyond instruction.
“The spring semester was really
about survival, but now we need to
make sure that students have a connection
to the college, the faculty, and are
able to create friendships with other
students,” Mangino said.
At Queens College, Wu and his team
found a way to replicate the fanfare
of the first day of school by purchasing
virtual confetti for 99 cents — a
cheaper alternative to the confetti gun
the school typically uses to welcome its
students.
Johnson Eanes said her school will
focus on the trauma her students and
faculty face.
“First and foremost, we have to
acknowledge the amount of grief and
trauma,” she said.
Despite the hardships of being
forced to change the way in which college
instruction is taught, Wu, Adams,
Mangino and Johnson Eanes see the
challenge as a great opportunity.
“There is nowhere but forward. We
can’t go back,” Johnson Eanes said. “I
think we have a fantastic opportunity
at York and we’re ready.”
/QNS.COM
