62 THE QUEENS COURIER • BUZZ • JUNE 3, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
buzz
Queens College marks Pride Month with virtual events
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Queens College will celebrate Pride
Month with two virtual events of diversity
and inclusion.
“Queens College is deeply proud to
be a member of the CUNY Queens
Consortium. Th is year’s theme is ‘We
are resilient.’ So many of us in our lives
have faced some sort of prejudice or discrimination,
Maspeth High School welcomes new therapy dog
BY JULIA MORO
with a trusted adult in their life outside
Jmoro@schnepsmedia.com.com
of their family,” Blauner said. “Eli will
@QNS
assist in that.”
According to Blauner, of the over 60
Eli, a 4-year-old border collie,
dogs involved in this program, only four
started working as a therapy dog for
or fi ve are in high schools.
Maspeth High School last week to help
“We have an opportunity to be a real
students with their mental health aft er a
leader for the city and for the program
challenging year.
to show what kinds of interventions and
Right now, about 50 percent of Maspeth
what kinds of outcomes are going to be
High School students are taking classes in
benefi cial for a high school population,”
the building throughout the week. Vice
Blauner said.
Principal Jesse Pachter said Eli will make
Eli comes into the school
the most impact when all students return
three times a week, assisting
to school in the fall.
in building confi dence,
“Th ere’s a lot of social isolation,” Pachter
learning and socialization.
said. “A lot of students who have shown
“We have students perform
they’re anxious, they’re feeling depressed,
debates, and a lot
they’re feeling lonely, and we’re hoping
of students get very nervous,”
that by coming back to school full-time
Pachter said. “So in
next year and bringing Eli on board,
order to alleviate some of
will be a positive impact to help these
their stress and worry,
students work through social and
we bring Eli in where
emotional problems.”
he would be partnered
David Blauner works at Maspeth High
with a student
School as a school counselor and has
or group of students
owned Eli for four years. Because of Eli’s
experiencing
temperament and age, Blauner thought
anxiety.”
he’d be the perfect support dog for the
Maspeth High
students.
School had to
Blauner and Eli were trained and certifi
go through an
ed through Th e Good Dog Foundation’s
approval process
Comfort Dog Program, teaching the dog
that consisted
and handler to be a team in providing
of site visits
intervention in educational and therapeutic
by the
environments.
Comfort
“I’m thinking about the ninth-grader
D o g
that comes into our school in September,
Program,
who has not been in a school building for
ensuring the facility
for the dog. After
18 months, has not felt a positive connection
was adequate
applying to the program in 2019, the
school was approved in May and Eli got
to work.
whether it be related to our
race, gender, religion or sexual orientation,”
said Queens College President
Frank Wu. “Combatting prejudice and
discrimination is a never-ending battle,
but the struggles we face in life can
off er us opportunity to grow stronger
and experience personal growth.
Some of the most diffi cult moments
of our lives can transform us into
the person we never thought we
could be.”
In lieu of a physical contingent at the
annual Queens Pride celebration in
Jackson Heights, on Th ursday, June 3,
from 7 to 8 p.m., the CUNY Queens
LGBTQI+Consortium will host its second
virtual event celebrating LGBTQI+
in Queens.
Organizers from LaGuardia
Community College, Queens
College, York College,
Queensborough Community College and
the CUNY Law School will create displays
of pride, including live music, student
performances, drag numbers and
remarks from community leaders.
Queens Pride Co-Founder Councilman
Daniel Dromm and
other members of the New York City
Council will attend.
On Friday, June 25, from 4 to 6 p.m., the
college will host the fourth annual CUNY
Pride Fest, which will bring together faculty,
staff and students from 25 CUNY
colleges, honors and professional schools
in a virtual celebration that includes
drag performances, musical acts, a DJ,
dancers and a virtual phone booth for
participant use.
Th e event will be livestreamed on
YouTube.
Th e event is made possible through
the generous support of the New York
City Council through the offi ces of
Councilman Dromm and Speaker
Corey Johnson, and LaGuardia
Community College/CUNY.
Co-sponsors of the event include Th e
Offi ce of the President at Queens
College, the Queens College Offi ce of
Student Development and Leadership,
the CUNY Offi ce of Student Inclusion
Initiatives, the Women and Gender
Studies Department at Queens College, the
Queens College Student Association, the
Arts Club at Queens College, the Queens
College Gender, Love and Sexuality
Alliance/GLASA and the LaGuardia and
Wagner Archives at LaGuardia Community
College.
Video footage of both events will be
preserved in the LaGuardia and Wagner
Archives/CUNY.
Photos Courtesy of David Blauner
Eli, the 4-year-old border collie, on his fi rst day of work at Maspeth High School.
Photo via Getty
Images
/WWW.QNS.COM
link
link
link
link
