The Queensborough Community College campus is full of diversity for its students to explore.

On a recent visit, students on one side of the campus were rehearsing a warrior dance for an upcoming Kwanza celebration. Across campus, students were drawing in an art class.


What You Need To Know

  • Queensborough Community College is located in Bayside, Queens

  • It was founded in 1959 and was originally a golf course

  • There are 10,000 students and 40 degree programs on campus

The college in Bayside, Queens opened on the site of a former golf course in 1959.

“This is actual college campus right considering you are in New York City and so many of the colleges are vertical buildings, or one buildings or two buildings on a city street, here you have 37 acres of land,” Christine Mangino, president of Queensborough Community College, said.

Inside the more-than-a-century-old building that was once the clubhouse for the old golf course is the QCC Art Gallery, featuring an extensive collection of African art.

It’s one of three cultural centers on campus, which also includes the Kupferberg Holocaust Center. It uses the lessons of the Holocaust to teach the ramifications of unbridled prejudice and racism.

“We collaborate with the faculty and different degree programs to have students in the center, whether they are helping create the actual exhibits or to learn the lessons of the exhibits,” Mangino said.

The college also has a 3D lab, where a replica of a lung was created on the 3D printer to help surgeons at a local hospital, and the food pantry, which helps students struggling with food insecurity.

Mangino, who began her college years at a community college, said the two-year college with 40 degree programs is a great place to start for students once they leave high school.

“It’s a place to really figure out what you want to do and you have all of the support systems so that if you stumble, we are here to help pick you up, connect you to the right services, and make sure that you succeed,” she said.

It’s one of the nation’s most diverse community colleges, with students from 120 different countries and located in the world’s borough.