By Alexander Dworkowitz
Some families came with roses in every color to present to the graduates, while others brought balloons of Tweety Bird and Spongebob Squarepants.
Some managed to get close to the stage where several of the state's most important politicians gathered, while others listened on loud speakers spotted across the campus.
But all appeared to have trouble containing their enthusiasm.
People from across the borough packed the main quad of Queens College last Thursday morning to see their friends and family graduate in the school's 79th commencement.
Nearly 1,300 undergraduates sporting black robes were awarded degrees, while 700 graduate students received degrees.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg was the first to address the massive crowd. He was booed when his name was first mentioned but later was given a round of applause as he departed.
Bloomberg told the crowd that many Queens College graduates had taken a job in his administration.
“You could probably start your own alumni chapter at City Hall,” he said. “And there's a reason for that: Queens College produces great people.”
After Bloomberg finished his speech, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) took the podium and said the graduates were probably receiving advice from older people that the best years of their lives were behind them.
“I'm sure that having recently crammed for finals and stayed up all night for that last paper, you're praying they're wrong,” the senator said.
Schumer said the advice from their elders was both right and wrong. He told the graduates it was hard to make as many good friends after college, but he said “the great adventures of your life are ahead of you.”
Reflecting the diversity of the borough, 40 percent of the graduates were born in another country, and the students speak an array of 67 languages.
For many, the event marked the first time a member of their family earned a degree in the United States, which was a point of pride.
U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Forest Hills) noted getting through school was a challenge for many of the students.
“A lot of people have to take out loans to go to school,” he said. “Some of you had to commute long distances to go to school. That isn't easy.”
Matthew Goldstein, chancellor of the CUNY system, reminded the graduates that the occasion also came with responsibility.
“Act with great passion and clarity of purpose to give back more than you have taken away today with your degrees,” he said.
The school's president, James Muyskens, who was named to the post a year ago, delivered his first address as head of the institution.
“I didn't have a chance to meet as many of you as I would like,” he said. “I want to thank you for being a terrific group of students.”
Muyskens noted many of the students had earned academic honors. But he said other students also deserved recognition. One student, he said, took only early morning classes so he could work a full-time job and study late into the night.
“He studied until his eyes could no longer stay open … In truth, you are all terrific students,” Muyskens said.
Before the graduates tossed their caps into the air, several were given a chance to speak.
Rebecca Feder, president of the Day Student Association and student activist, recalled watching the destruction of the World Trade Center from the very same quad with many of her classmates.
“On Sept. 11, many stood right here and watched as the New York skyline changed,” she said.
Learning to deal with Sept. 11 was part of the student body's maturation, Feder said.
“We are more prepared for the future than we ever imagined as freshmen,” she said.
Graziela Ionescu, a Romanian immigrant who graduated with a perfect average and is heading to Yale University's Ancient History Ph.D program, gave the commencement address.
Ionescu married fellow Queens College student, Vasili Basros, last weekend. Vasili, who also had a perfect average, is headed to Yale as well to earn a Ph.D in music.
In her speech, Ionescu said at Queens College she learned to view history “not only as a neatly wrapped package of facts, but something more.”
She concluded that “the Queens College graduating class of 2003, we are going to go up there and show the world what we are made of.”
Reach reporter Alexander Dworkowitz by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300 Ext. 141.
