More than 255 abstracts - an all-time record - were presented by more than 300 students at the 9th Annual Honors Conference, held May 3 at Queensborough Community College. Five other colleges took part: Borough of Manhattan Community College, Kingsborough Community College, New York City College of Technology, Nassau Community College and Queens College. Five additional institutions: Hofstra, St. John’s, Berkeley College, LIU-CW Post and SUNY-Empire State College sent representatives for potentially interested transfer students.
Dr. Diane B. Call, President of Queensborough Community College, welcomed guests and thanked the faculty and staff “who tirelessly help students reach beyond the limits of the classroom through their guidance and mentorship.”
Dr. Avrom J. Caplan, Associate University Dean for Research at The City College of New York, congratulated the mentors and mentees for their dedication to academic success.
The opening program spotlighted three QCC student performances, including two from the Department of Music: the Mozart aria Un ´aura Amorosa sung by Tito Gutierrez and a composition based on the Species Counterpoint by Utsab Giri. Katerina Cinquemani, Sean Harrison and Peter Huang from the Speech Communication and Theatre Arts Department enacted selected scenes from Our Town by Thornton Wilder.
Students made their scholarly presentations across the academic disciplines including Biological Sciences and Geology, English, Foreign Languages and Literatures, Engineering Technology, Service Learning, Business, and Mathematics and Computer Science.
Special recognition was given to the members of Queensborough’s supportive administration and dedicated faculty mentors who helped make the occasion possible: Dr. Diane B. Call, President; Dr. Karen Steele, Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs; Michele Cuomo, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs; and Dr. Paris Svoronos, Professor, Chemistry and Chair of the Honors Committee.
Dr. Svoronos said, “This is an academic feast that once more proves our jobs are priceless.”