CUNY Chancellor James Milliken visited QC on Aug. 5 to speak with members of the community.
Milliken spoke in The Summit Flex Space with people about their background, particularly what QC meant to them and their suggestions for improving Queens and CUNY in general.
Three different groups met with Milliken separately to chat with him. He first met with administration, followed by faculty and finally with alumni and students.
His visit to QC is a part of a tour to all CUNY colleges before the academic year begins.
“He wanted to reach out to as many people across the university as he possibly could from the moment he took the job. He’s been working all summer long doing just that,” Michael Arena, university director for Communications and Marketing, said.
Milliken was appointed by the CUNY board of trustees on Jan. 15 with his first official day as Chancellor on June 1 after succeeding former Interim Chancellor William Kelly. He was chosen among a pool of other potential nominees after a unanimous vote by the board of trustees.
Benno Schmidt, the chair of the board, stated Milliken was “a highly regarded national leader in higher education.”
James Milliken was the President of the University of Nebraska system since 2004 and left earlier this year. In fact, before speaking to students, Milliken told the group of how he was reminded of his time there when he arrived to the campus.
“This is a beautiful place. You have such a wonderful place and it reminds of me Nebraska,” Milliken said.
Xingcan Li, a QC alumnus, stated he enjoyed the structure of the meetings as it gave students, current and former, a chance to speak on important issues.
“I really like this environment because the students, faculty and administrators are separated,” Li said.
In addition, Li cited how important the visits by the Chancellor were considering the amount of colleges he’s visited.
“CUNY is a huge system with 21 campuses and each campus must have its own appeal and issues to deal with,” Li said. “We have a chance to speak out on issues of our campus.”
In addition to speaking with Milliken on their background, students were able to take group photos with him.
Student Association President Raj Maheshwari stated the event provided students an “ability to connect” with the Chancellor in a unique setting.
“It promotes the whole idea of being transparent. It gives the Chancellor an opportunity to connect with each campus individually,” Maheshwari said.
Overall, Milliken told the group of students the meetings throughout the CUNY system were a “terrific experience.”
Maheshwari said such experiences are valuable for students.
“I feel that the university offers endless opportunities to students all across the city. While it is important to know of these events, it is more important to take advantage of them,” Maheshwari said. “Certain opportunities like these don’t come often; but when they do, we just have to go grab them.”
