Part of the City University of New York system, Queens College occupies an 80-acre (32 ha) campus primarily located in Flushing.

Before Queens College was established in 1937, the site of the campus was home to the Jamaica Academy, a one-room schoolhouse built in the early 19th century, where Walt Whitman once worked as a teacher.

[4] In 1909, the New York Parental School, a home for troubled boys, opened on the land surrounding the future site of Queens College and incorporated Jamaica Academy on its campus.

The city planned to house 500 mental patients from Randall's Island Hospital, who were temporarily displaced by the construction of the Triborough Bridge.

[7] Meanwhile, County Judge Charles S. Colden appointed and chaired a committee to assess the feasibility of opening a free college in Queens.

[10] The college opened in October 1937—later than anticipated due to a painters' strike—with 21 members on its teaching staff and 400 students in its inaugural freshmen class.

With public service for the common good on his mind, Queens College president Paul Klapper created the motto in 1937 to inspire the first class of students and the following generations.

[17] The New York Times reported in December 1976 that "Queens College, considered the jewel in the university's crown, has been particularly hard hit by the cuts, which have gone to the heart of the faculty.

[21] Under President Allen Lee Sessoms, the college underwent some growth but also some missteps, including the highly publicized inability to fund the planned AIDS research center that Montagnier had been hired to lead.

[22] Queens College students were active participants in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, including the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963.

The most well-known student activist was Andrew Goodman, who was slain in Mississippi in 1964 with two other young men, James Chaney, and Michael Schwerner; all three were trying to register African Americans to vote in the South.

After being brought into the sheriff's department and released, the three young men were stopped by two carloads of Ku Klux Klan members on a remote rural road.

The murders received national attention, and six conspirators were brought to trial and convicted by federal prosecutors for civil rights violations.

A special program on February 17, 2011, included a presentation by the Honorable Julian Bond for Black History Month, as well as a formal announcement of the acquisition.

The outdoor plaza in front of the museum hosts a site-specific installation by Vito Acconci titled, "More Balls For Klapper Hall" (or "Untitled").

The CUNY Board of Trustees approved plans for the Law School to be relocated to 2 Court Square in Long Island City, with the first semester of classes held in 2012.

The Kupferberg Center for the Arts is home to Colden Auditorium, Goldstein Theatre, and the Ethel & Samuel Lefrak Concert Hall.

Trevor Noah, Jerry Seinfeld, David Bowie, Patti LaBelle and Johnny Mathis, The Byrds, Victor Manuelle, Cesar Millan, and El Gran Combo have performed at Colden.

The library's Chaney-Schwerner-Goodman Clocktower was named after the three civil rights workers who were murdered in 1964, including Andrew Goodman, a Queens College student.

[40] Former museum director, Amy Winter spent 16 years from the early 1990s on, introducing an active exhibition program and an expansion of collections related care and management.

[41] Today, co-directors Louise Weinberg and Maria Pio, manage the museum with its encyclopedic collections along with an ambitious agenda of workshops, school visits, gallery talks, zoom events, and a vigorous online presence.

The museum, located in Klapper Hall, maintains a fine collection of 7,000 pieces of art, as well as artifacts from all cultures dating from ancient times to the modern day.

These include works by Rembrandt, Louise Nevelson, Pablo Picasso, Claudia DeMonte, Henri Matisse, Andy Warhol, Margot Lovejoy, Hale Aspacio Woodruff, and George Braque.

[43] Queens College's residence hall offers study lounges on each floor, wireless internet, laundry services, and a state of the art fitness center.

The Summit Apartments also includes kitchens with full-size appliances, as well as dining areas, microwaves, couches, entertainment stands, and music practice rooms.

The college's Professional & Continuing Studies program offers non-credit courses in such fields as health care, real estate, and risk management.

The department's curriculum was originally established by Edwin Stringham, and a later emphasis on the analytical system of Heinrich Schenker was initiated by Saul Novack.

The college is home to many centers which focus their research on various pressing social issues facing the local communities, students, faculty and the many ethnic and religious groups of the Queens area.