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 five demands that sought to reorient the college towards the largely overlooked black and Puerto Rican communities in the college's Harlem neighborhood.
Steadfast in their demands, the protesting students occupied various CCNY buildings and organized marches and strikes from April 22nd through the end of the semester. Violence between pro-strike and anti-strike students and the police eventually led to the resignation of CCNY president Buell Gallagher on May 12th. Nevertheless, the protestors persistence forced the administration to negotiate and make some agreements related to the students' demands. This series of events was one of several that helped to pave the way for the policy of Open Admissions that began in fall 1970.
Steadfast in their demands, the protesting students occupied various CCNY buildings and organized marches and strikes from April 22nd through the end of the semester. Violence between pro-strike and anti-strike students and the police eventually led to the resignation of CCNY president Buell Gallagher on May 12th. Nevertheless, the protestors persistence forced the administration to negotiate and make some agreements related to the students' demands. This series of events was one of several that helped to pave the way for the policy of Open Admissions that began in fall 1970.
