It’s clear to anybody who walks the Queens College quad that Delany Hall is under renovation. It may be less obvious that the mismanagement of the renovation has created significant upheaval to the program.
July 2026 marks the 60th anniversary of the Percy E. Sutton SEEK program, a CUNY-wide program funded by New York State that offers academic resources and financial assistance to eligible students. According to the college website, SEEK “is designed to reach qualified equity-deserving high school graduates,” supporting the success of these students through a variety of services, including a summer “intensive college prep experience,” counseling, supplemental instruction as well as tutoring and peer-mentoring programs.
SEEK faculty anticipated maintaining business as usual in the building, including SEEK faculty working from their offices, student services operating as usual, and courses held in its classrooms.
The Delany Hall Envelope Project began on Friday, May 30th, 2025. “The ongoing Delany Hall Envelope Restoration Project will enhance the building’s overall condition, energy efficiency, and long-term performance. The project is subdivided in multiple phases focusing on the facade windows and stucco,” reads an announcement from the Office of Campus Planning, Design and Construction on July 17th, 2025. “Access to the building will not be impacted.”
Most of Delany Hall’s space is taken up by SEEK including staff and faculty offices, student services and classrooms. Along with SEEK, Delany houses the Africana Studies program and the Department of Research Compliance.
“The project involves replacing the entire exterior of the building with new walls made of energy-sustainable and environmentally friendly bricks. This is expected to significantly improve our heating and cooling issues, and the end result is supposed to be visually beautiful. Following this, the windows will also be replaced,” said SEEK Director Norka Blackman-Richards in an email sent to Campus Planning, Design & Construction manager Lilian Romero on July 29th, 2025.
In addition, Asbestos Abatement began in July, performed by ATCO Contracting Group, Inc., according to a notice taped to the entrance of Delany Hall.
At the start of the fall semester, SEEK Director Norka Blackman-Richards became concerned about the health and safety of students, staff, and faculty in the building. On August 28th, 2025, she reached out to Romero and Interim Assistant Vice President of Facilities Planning & Operation at Queens College, Denese Gordon, about an ongoing health concern impacting occupants in Delany Hall.
“We are experiencing various respiratory issues, including itchy throats, ears, and stuffed noses, with some team members also suffering from headaches,” her email reads. “Everyday, we come into our offices and have to clean thick layers of dust from chairs, desks and window sills, even some of our doors. When there is drilling during work hours, cloud-like dust rises up, seeping through the second floor windows.”Blackman-Richards requested air purifiers be placed in all offices and student areas in Delany Hall.
On September 8th, Dr. Blackman-Richards announced on Navigate 360 that SEEK offices and student services would be relocated to other buildings across the campus due to the unsafe conditions caused by the excess dust, finishing off with a warning: “DO NOT ENTER DELANY HALL WITHOUT WEARING A MASK.”
On September 16th, the world premiere of Queens College’s episode of The College Tour aired at the Lefrak Concert Hall on campus. The episode featured Theodore Mitchell, a student in the SEEK program and the President of SEEK’s student club Generation Leaders. On the screen, the College celebrated the success of SEEK students, while in reality putting them in jeopardy through a lack of response to Blackman-Richards’s concerns. The Knight News reached out to Blackman-Richards for an interview shortly after the event closed.
“The outside layering that they put to supposedly stop the dust from coming in was open [and] cracked. So, dust was coming into the places. [The windows] were not covered properly,” Blackman-Richards said in the interview.
Regarding the request for air purifiers, she commented: “I reached out again and I said ‘you think I’m exaggerating but I’m not. These are some serious concerns we have. Could you please bring us air purifiers for every one of the rooms where there are staff members?’ No response.”
Due to the noise from the ongoing construction, faculty members working within Delany Hall were unable to work. “In my email [to B&G] I said ‘you told me the work was going to [end] at 9:30 A.M. [It] is 11:30 A.M. and there is loud drilling. These people cannot do their work under these conditions. No response.”
“I asked for the air purifiers again. I need air purifiers and I need these carpets to be washed. These carpets are 30 years old, and with this layering of dust, these carpets need to be addressed. No response.”
Recently, the Professional Staff Congress (PSC) came out with an announcement urging its members to sign a petition in relation to the conditions in Delany Hall.
“Since June 2025, substantial construction — including asbestos abatement — has been under way at Delany Hall. Despite the inherent health risks that arise from any construction project, especially one involving the disruption of asbestos, the Queens College administration has failed to ensure that proper protocols are being followed to protect those in and around the building,” reads the petition.
Jennifer Jarvis, Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, reached out to Blackman-Richards offering space in the Student Union for faculty and staff. However, most faculty were already accommodated with offices within Rosenthal Library.
A majority of SEEK’s resources were relocated to Rosenthal Library, including counseling, supplemental instruction, tutors, wellness, English Second Language (ESL) support, and more. Students in the program who must access these resources must have their student ID on them to access Rosenthal Library. Other departments on campus were asked to find office space for faculty and staff.
“One of [our] faculty members said ‘I feel that SEEK is treated as an afterthought. If, as a Director, I was not emailing people demanding that something be done, we could have stayed in that building to eat dust, and no one would have cared,” said Blackman-Richards.
Operations in Delany Hall are expected to return in July 2026. The Knight News plans to continue reporting on any updates.
