CUNY DIGITAL HISTORY ARCHIVE

Carrying a sign that reads "Tenure Means Academic Freedom," Irwin Polishook, Vice President of the Professional Staff Congress (PSC), is joined by Carol Brandon, a union leader from the Borough of Manhattan Community College, at a rally against tenure quotas at CUNY.

Rallies were one tactic in the PSCs’ opposition to the 50% tenure quota for academic departments in CUNY. Proposed by Chancellor Robert Kibbee in 1973, the policy was instituted by the Board of Higher Education (BHE) on October 29, 1973. The PSC also asked the faculty and staff to shun Chancellor Kibbee and reached out to the general public through ads and public relations pieces. The union placed newspaper advertisements warning prospective faculty about the tenure quotas, and reached out to politicians at the state and city levels. This campaign was a success, and on April 22, 1974 the BHE rescinded the tenure quotas.