CUNY DIGITAL HISTORY ARCHIVE

A participatory project to collect and preserve the histories of the City University of New York

We found 90 items that match your search.

A College in the City

This report, commissioned by Dr. William Birenbaum, then the president of the Educational Affiliate of the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation and later the first president of Staten Island Community College, argues that urban institutions of [...]

CUNY Forum - Future of Public Higher Education

Airing on May 6, 1998, this episode of CUNY Forum features an hour-long discussion on the future of public higher education in New York City. Moderated by Brooklyn College Professor Ed Rogowsky, the forum includes several participants including [...]

Draft of an Appeal to the City University Community

This draft of a 1970 appeal to the CUNY community was written by the United Federation of College Teachers (UFCT). It accused tCUNY of paying teachers "sweatshop wages" with the objective of obtaining cheap labor for the open enrollment program. The [...]

Vote for Unity: United Federation of College Teachers/Legislative Conference Merger Talks

This 1971 memo, written by the United Federation of College Teachers (UFCT), described the merger talks between the UFCT and the Legislative Conference (LC) and the obstacles to consolidation into what would become the Professional Staff Congress. [...]

Graduate Center Teach-in: A Speech calling for Action

“The struggle for the existence of CUNY is as old as the institution itself and. . .this struggle is political.” This speech, delivered by a CUNY Graduate Center student at a 1991 Graduate Center teach-in, sought to put the threat of a $92 [...]

Oral History Interview with Stuart Schaar

This interview with Stuart Schaar, Professor Emeritus of Middle East History at Brooklyn College, was conducted by Douglas Medina for his research on Open Admissions at CUNY. Stuart Schaar was raised in the Bronx and attended the City College of [...]

Song: "Hit the Road Matt: Good riddance to a reprehensible Chancellor!"

This version of the Ray Charles classic was written by members of the Graduate Center General Assembly and Adjunct Project on the occasion of CUNY Chancellor Matthew Goldstein's June 2013 retirement. The song references ongoing scandals over which [...]

Oral History Interview with Khadija DeLoache

Khadija DeLoache entered City College in the fall of 1966 with support from the CUNY Seek program. In this oral history, DeLoache discusses growing up in Harlem, her experience as a student activist, and the development of the Black Studies [...]

Oral History Interview with Anselma Rodriguez

In this oral history, Anselma Rodriguez discusses her experiences as a student at Brooklyn College from 1969-1973. She was a founding a member of Movimiento Estudiantil Dominicanos and active in Brooklyn College's Puerto Rican Studies Department. [...]

Oral History Interview with Henry Arce

In this interview conducted about CUNY’s Open Admissions program, Arce describes his journey from the NYC Public School system to graduating from college. He credits his mother, who raised him alone in a Puerto Rican, immigrant community, for [...]

Oral History Interview with Allen Ballard

This oral history interview was conducted on April 4, 2014 at SUNY Albany. Allen Ballard grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and arrived at the City College of New York in 1960 as an assistant professor of Political Science. He was one of the [...]

Oral History Interview with Blanche Wiesen Cook

Blanche Wiesen Cook, Eleanor Roosevelt biographer, grew up in the Bronx and Queens, and attended Hunter College as an undergraduate when it was an all female school. She treasured her time learning from Ruth Weintraub and Mina Rees, whom she [...]

Statement of Policy by the Board of Higher Education

This "statement of policy", attached to the minutes from a meeting of the Board of Higher Education on July 9, 1969, reflects the culmination of negotiations between college officials and protesting City College students. The students, most of whom [...]

Press Release from Black and Puerto Rican Student Community

This press release, written by protesting black and Puerto Rican students at City College on April 26, 1969, offers insight into the group's motivation behind their protests in the preceding months. Arguing for CCNY to better serve its surrounding [...]

Newton Hall Statement

“We as white students, can either be a part of the solution or a part of the problem. At Huey P. Newton Hall of Political Action we are attempting to become a part of the solution.” In solidarity with black and Puerto Rican students, a group of [...]

Five Demands

This handout, created by a group of protesting City College students, offers insight into the motivations behind a campus-wide strike in April/May 1969. Black and Puerto Rican students, as well as white supporters, demanded the college meet these [...]

Janet Mayes: An Oral History of the CCNY 1960’s SEEK Program

In this oral history interview, Janet Mayes, a City College SEEK writing teacher reflects on her experiences with the program. Mayes joined CCNY in the spring of 1967, making her one of the seven original SEEK writing lecturers. She co-taught a SEEK [...]

Joe Shenker, founding president of LaGuardia with the first group of students who were paraprofessionals

In 1970, Joseph Shenker was appointed president of what was then still called "Community College Number Nine," which would soon become LaGuardia Community College. Still in his twenties, Shenker brought a youthful optimism and a spirit of [...]

LaGuardia Community College - An Assessment of the Needs of the Western Queens Community, 1980

LaGuardia Community College opened in 1971 but in order to expand outreach and continuing education with the communities it served, this needs assessment of various communities in western Queens was undertaken in 1980. This study was initiated by [...]

Tiger Paper, April 1973

This issue of the Tiger Paper leads with a story describing student demonstrations against the "threatened" implementation of tuition across CUNY campuses. It also features articles centered around "International Women's Day" and the Vietnam [...]

Tiger Paper, January 1974

This edition of the Tiger Paper protests the impending firing of 1,700 adjunct faculty and the consequent reduction in the number of classes offered at BMCC. "Such a move spells disaster for Open Admissions," the paper's editors write.The [...]

Tiger Paper, May 1974

This issue of the Tiger Paper leads with a blistering rebuke of a New York Times investigation into mismanagement at BMCC, one which Tiger Paper editors claim paints a falsely damning picture of students at the college. [...]

Tiger Paper, November 1971

This inaugural issue of the Tiger Paper takes on the BMCC administration over mismangement of student fees and interference in student government. It also contains stories on BMCC's newly-inaugurated childcare center, a feature on the travails of [...]

Tiger Paper, October 1973

This issue of the Tiger Paper explores the effects of financial aid reductions alongside CUNY's "Open Admission" policy, details class registration troubles at BMCC, and advocates for the boycott of "scab products."The Tiger Paper, which [...]

"Wide Deficiencies Seen at Manhattan Community"

In May 1974 the New York Times published an investigation of alleged mismanagement at Borough of Manhattan Community College. The article was based on a confidential report compiled on the instructions of Chancellor Robert Kibbee. On the basis of [...]

Tiger Paper, February 1972

This issue of the Tiger Paper contains humorous takedowns of the college administration, a call for free subways, a critique of the state of nursing education, and an extended interview with radical poet Sonia Sanchez.The Tiger Paper, which [...]

STRIKE!, Prism, 1971

Prism was the Borough of Manhattan Community College's annual yearbook. This 35 page chapter from the 1971 edition details the student strike that, in May 1970, temporarily shut down the college and resulted in 58 arrests. Filled with photos, [...]

Open Admissions Fact Sheet

This trifold pamphlet created by SLAM! debunks myths about remedial classes at CUNY's senior colleges and puts forward arguments for keeping CUNY's open admissions program. It educated students about the history and importance of open admissions at [...]

SLAM! Programs Brochure

This 5-page brochure includes a brief overview of SLAM's history up to the 1999-2000 school year, SLAM!'s 10-point program, and details on three campaigns SLAM! was organizing that year: the High School Organizing Committee, which worked with high [...]

CUNY SEEK and Open Admissions Oral Histories

This is a website of oral histories by CUNY students and teachers telling stories about the founding and early years of SEEK at City College. It also contains stories about teaching writing in the first decade of Open Admissions across CUNY.

The Mayor's Advisory Task Force Report: The City University of New York: An Institution Adrift

The Mayor's Advisory Task Force on the City University of New York issued its report, The City University of New York: An Institution Adrift, to Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani on June 7, 1999. Over the course of their investigation, they reported that [...]

SEEK Matters, Spring 1969

SEEK Matters, a bilingual literary magazine produced by the SEEK University Center in 1969 published student essays, poems and illustrations that reflected their experiences. Short for "Search for Education, Elevation, and Knowledge," SEEK was [...]

A Proposal for the Establishment of Community College Number Seven

This proposal for the founding of Community College Number Seven (later named Medgar Evers College) was put forward by the Board of Higher Education in November 1967. In this excerpt (pages 11-15), the Board establishes their desire to place a new [...]

Minutes of Proceedings: Establishing Community College Number Seven

In these minutes of proceedings from a January 22, 1968 meeting of the Board of Higher Education, the Board resolves to create the "Committee to Seek Presidents for Community Colleges Seven and Eight." The committee is first tasked with filling the [...]

Press Release – A New Experimental College

In this press release, The City University of New York's Office of University Relations announces the creation of a new, experimental, two-year college to be "established on a community-oriented basis in central Brooklyn." The press release [...]

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