CUNY DIGITAL HISTORY ARCHIVE

On January 10, 1969, Justice Thomas Jones wrote to Bishop R.B. Martin, of the Long Island Episcopal Diocese, stating that he would no longer be able to participate in the activities of the five-member Negotiation Team appointed by the Bedford-Stuyvesant Coalition on Educational Needs and Services (B-SCENS) to represent their community in planning Community College 7 with City University of New York (CUNY) officials. Explaining that his “responsibilities as justice of the Supreme Court of New York will not permit me to continue the present intensive level of activity” in plans and negotiations, Jones proposed to appoint George Meares, Director of the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, as his proxy on the Negotiation Team. Jones also expressed concerns that CUNY officials involved in the planning process “do not yet comprehend what community control and participation must be to overcome the ravages of educational deprivation suffered by the youth of Bedford-Stuyvesant." In the coming weeks, Jones would publicly split from prominent leaders of the Negotiation Team and their allies over key planning decisions for the new college.