CUNY DIGITAL HISTORY ARCHIVE

Jose Martinez wrote this open letter in both English and Spanish to the Hostos Community College community on behalf of the Dominican Students Association to state that the vulnerability of the college had become so dire that massive collective action had become necessary. Under threat of closure, student and community groups needed to join forces to prevent the City University of New York from closing the only bilingual college available for people in the South Bronx and the only such college in the eastern United States.

In 1975, the New York City fiscal crisis led to efforts by city officials and the CUNY administration to close or merge multiple campuses in order to pay debts that were owed to major banks. Hostos Community College was slated to merge with Bronx Community College in order to dramatically cut spending. It was this threat that led to the second iteration of organizing to save Hostos. Determined to preserve Hostos for the South Bronx as a place for students to pursue a bilingual higher education, students, faculty, staff, and community groups joined forces to keep Hostos open.