By Nathan Duke
Queensborough Community College will host several major events at its Bayside campus within the next week, including a huge gala at event hall Terrace on the Park, as part of its 50th anniversary.
The school, which was founded in 1959 at 222-05 56th Ave. in Bayside, will hold its 50th Anniversary Partners Gala April 29 at Terrace on the Park in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. The gala is the largest of the numerous events Queensborough has been hosting throughout the year to commemorate its inception.
“It’s the major fund-raiser of the year,” college spokeswoman Alice Doyle said. “Instead of having one or two honorees, the entire Queensborough community is the honoree this year.”
The event will kick off at 6 p.m. with cocktails and dinner will be served at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $250 per person and can be purchased online on the college’s Web site. Elected officials representing northeast Queens are expected to attend the gala.
Queensborough will also hold Earth Day events this Thursday as part of its anniversary. Activities, which will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and take place all across campus, include demonstrations about reducing carbon footprints or planting gardens on rooftops while neighborhood children will be able to handle marine creatures during another event.
The school will plant flowers at Bayside’s PS 46 early in the day.
On Friday, the school will host an honors conference during which students will present undergraduate research presentations in various departments. The conference will run from 12:50 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the school’s medical arts building and feature research from students in departments as varied as theater, science, foreign languages and English.
Queensborough is the only community college in the tri-state area to offer students an honors program that culminates in a conference at which they can showcase their research to their peers and faculty, Doyle said.
The college will operate its annual job fair at its student union from noon to 3 p.m. April 28. Tables will be set up where students can apply for jobs with a number of companies, such as Con Edison, Verizon and a variety of banks.
Queensborough has celebrated its anniversary amid a huge spike in attendance. President Eduardo Marti said last fall that the college was experiencing a 20 percent increase in new full-time students.
A total 97 percent of its new freshmen had enrolled full-time.
Reach reporter Nathan Duke by e-mail at nduke@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.
