FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM AUGUST 13, 2020 • THE QUEENS COURIER 15
higher education
Four new Queens CUNY presidents
discuss college in the COVID-19 era
BY JACOB KAYE
jkaye@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Th e 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.
“Th is has been a dream of mine for
a very long time, for these kinds of
students, at this kind of institution,”
Johnson Eanes said.
Th e York College president has spent
the past 25 years working in higher education,
most recently serving as the vice
president of student aff airs 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.”
Th e 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,”
Dr. Christine Mangino, Kenneth Adams, Frank Wu and Dr. Berenecea Johnson Eanes were all recently appointed as presidents of CUNY colleges in Queens.
Wu said. “I wanted to bethecollege
president of Queens College,
because of the diversity and the mission.”
Like Johnson Eanes and Wu, Dr.
Mangino had long had a passion for
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
Community College spent 16 years with
Hostos Community College, serving in
various roles, including as the vice president
of academic aff airs.
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.
Th e 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.
Th e 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
Photo via YouTube/Schneps Media
online, but at the end of the day, some
of the instruction has to be in-person
because of equipment and access to labs,”
Adams said.
But for all four presidents, the challenges
of running a school online stretches
beyond instruction.
“Th e 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
fi rst 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.
“Th ere 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.”
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