Queens BP Richards helps celebrate
QCC president’s one-year anniversary
Mayor issues COVID-19 vaccine mandate for
student athletes playing high-risk sports
BY ALEJANDRA O'CONNELLDOMENECH
Mayor Bill de Blasio issued
a COVID-19 vaccine mandate
Friday, Aug. 20, for the roughly
20,000 New York City public
school athletes who play highrisk
sports like football, volleyball
and wrestling.
The mayor broke the news
during his almost weekly
interview on WNYC’s “The
Brian Lehrer Show” with less
than a month to go before the
start of the fall semester on
Sept. 13.
De Blasio’s order comes
a week after the New York
State Education Department
released a 21-page-long
health and safety guide for
schools, virtually identical
to current guidance from the
Centers of Disease Control
and Prevention.
In its guidance, NYSED
recommends that schools located
in areas with high COVID
19 transmission rates
cancel all high-risk sports and
activities like band and choir
unless all participating students
are vaccinated.
Vaccine-eligible students
interested in playing a highrisk
sport this fall must get
their first dose of the COVID
19 vaccine before the start
of competitive play, which differs
by sport. For two popular
fall sports, football and volleyball,
the window for vaccination
is slowly closing with the
first day of competitive play
for the sports starting on Sept.
3 and Sept. 27 respectively.
Student athletes hoping to
play in the winter or spring
must be fully vaccinated by
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.26 COM | AUG. 27 - SEPT. 2, 2021
the start of those seasons
and students taking part in
bowling will also need to
be vaccinated since it takes
place in a space that requires
vaccination, according to
a Department of Education
spokesperson.
The vaccine requirement
for some student-athletes is
the latest step by officials to
drive up vaccination rates
among public school students
returning to schools for a full
reopening this fall.
So far, about 56% of all vaccine
eligible children in New
York City, or roughly 300,000
kids between the ages of 12 and
17 have received at least one
dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech
vaccine, the only inoculation
granted emergency approval
for use among children.
The DOE has not specified
how many of those partially
and potentially vaccinated
children are public school
students.
As part of “vaccine blitz”
geared toward the city’s young
people, mobile vaccination
sites will visit public school
athletic league practices this
fall.
BY JENNA BAGCAL
Queens Borough President
Donovan Richards paid
a special visit to the Queensborough
Community College
(QCC) campus to celebrate Dr.
Christine Mangino’s one-year
anniversary as the school’s
president on Tuesday, Aug. 17.
In honor of Mangino’s
milestone Richards issued an
official proclamation on Aug.
17, the same day that QCC
welcomed back faculty and
staff for the start of the fall semester.
The school appointed
Mangino as its head after a
two-year-long search, making
her the sixth president of the
Bayside CUNY.
“Dr. Mangino is an esteemed
educator, pedagogical
scholar and advocate of
student-centered learning.
She has brought to Queensborough
enthusiasm, excellence
and commitment, and
is providing our borough’s
residents with access to lifechanging
educational opportunities,”
Richards said.
“I know Dr. Mangino to be
a champion of student success.
She is known for her
innate ability to build community
partnerships and she
is grounded in a strong belief
that community is the foundation
of Queensborough.”
When Mangino was
named QCC president back
in June 2020, she spoke with
QNS about the challenges of
navigating the new role during
COVID-19 and operating
classes online.
“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 told
QNS in August 2020.
Under Mangino’s leadership
over the past year QCC
has earned several grants,
including a NASA grant,
$430,000 for behavior healthcare
and new adult learners
and emergency funding under
the American Rescue Plan.
The school has also implemented
its first-ever, five-year
strategic plan with a focus on
“equity for all” and furthering
its mission as a leading
“student-ready” college.
“It was such a highly unusual
environment in which
to get to know everyone and
to understand the culture of
the college when I started because
of the nature of COVID
19 and our time away from
each other. But I want to say
how warm, welcoming, and
amazing you all are in person.
Zoom does not do you justice,”
Mangino said. “Thank you for
doing everything you do to
support our students.”
The QCC president grew
up in North Merrick, Long Island,
and was the first in her
family to go to college. She
started at Nassau Community
College, then earned her bachelor’s
and master’s degrees
in education from Hofstra
University and a doctorate in
instructional leadership at St.
John’s University.
Prior to coming on board
at QCC, Mangino was the Provost
of Hostos Community
College in the Bronx, where
she stayed for 16 years.
According to CUNY Chancellor
Félix V. Matos Rodríguez,
Mangino’s personal
and professional experiences
throughout her career have
shaped her commitment to
education.
Queensborough Community College President Dr. Christine
Mangino and Borough President Donovan Richards.
Courtesy of QCC
Mayor Bill de Blasio Photo by Mark Hallum
EDUCATION