QUEENS COLLEGE–A once vibrant hub for cross-cultural dialogue at Queens College, the Center for Ethnic, Racial and Religious Understanding has gone quiet since its last event in spring 2024.
CERRU was founded in 2009 by History Professors Sophia McGee and Mark Rosenblum with a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, according to the Queens College Library Archives. CERRU was designed to bridge societal divides on campus and within the surrounding community by offering conflict resolution training, student leadership development, mutual aid initiatives, and workshops. The center provided students and faculty from diverse backgrounds with a platform to address social issues, develop dialogue and build mediation skills to promote awareness and understanding.
In an email from President Frank Wu on November 29, 2023, QC announced a partnership with CERRU to create resources aimed at “combating anti-semitism and Islamophobia, as well as racism and sexism and other discriminatory behavior.” However, since April 17, 2024, there have been no public updates or event announcements from CERRU. The last event promoted by the Office of Communications and Marketing was the Social Identity Fashion Show, held on April 17, 2024.
The Knight News reached out to the college for a status update:
