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(516)~ Pe b- 7598

Dr. DAVE BERKMAN

(self. —type as plea 90 EIGHTH AVENUE ~ G0 zs oI ol
excuse apne: ey BROOKLYN, N.Y. 11215
(212) STERLING 3-0833
At the second meeting between the Steering Committee of the Bedford~Stuyvesant Coalition,
f the Board of Higher Education, the latter (together with

and representative member
their essentialy” agreement with us in our contention that the

fot}

Spe-

the Chancellor), expresse
sontrolled Senior College.

dee

Brooklyn is entitled to a community~c

Black Community of Br
s tovard

|/ cifically, they made explicit statement of their intent to work in concert with

if

achievement of this end.

might, charitably, describe as a 'tone! character

Unfortunately, there has arisen what we
3 us to have some concern over whether or not the

t S, which leads t
Tard.

zing subsequent meetings,
initially led us to believe it was, Pr working to

fant, as dedicated as

a
a

achieve this goal.

aceg, forces us to xeaffirn

bility that such a change in attitude is’ taking pl
community at its first, open meeting, last Winter:

by this
BR WHICH ENDS

the original position taken
AS INHERENTLY INPERIOR, AND ANY OFPE

Wii RETSCT A TWO-YEAR COMMUNITY COLLAGE

ONLY IN THAT, AS GROSSLY INSULTING.

£4
which hes 33 available to this communi ty

‘
terized by the

The pre-college education
stigma of inferiority. We vow, therefore, that

has, for years, been charac
Sedon with

we will not tolerate a repetition of the tyoe of situation in higher educt

which we have been saddled at the secondary level, whereby the inferior vocational and

general curricula are all that has been open to 90% of our youngsters, Yet, the analagous
n higher eductpion would be to limit its presence in our area to the equally

n
fe
cf
oC
is)
ct
pe
5
bt

Lor community college,
ae

the probable objections to this

nous enough to anticipate

llow us to be presumptr


eaike fa
<
te-urfireg off fat J Tos-Tjpte os lrtdige,
contention: First, we would ask each Board member as an indivadusl, same he would wist

s

to send tits own children? We would then remind the Board that they have officially given
implicit admission of this inferiority by establishing lower admission standards to the

junior units; and, most significantly, by paying es faculty members of equal ranic

fret
lower salaries at the two-year schools than they do,in their senior institutions,

We would also cite as merely one specific index of this inferiority-—~- but a single

index of such grossness, that it should suffice-- the following: At Kingsbordugh where,
despite the rationale with which it was established, the student body it serves is
anything but "disadvantaged," its attrition rate (using the strict definition of the
term, "attr Coes in its third year, was in excess of 90 oof This, we would remind

bara
the Boards BE

: om a figure true of a school where the population, at the time, was

only 10% ae and "disadvantaged!"

If the Board insists that if an institution is to open here | on schedule, &
Fey

ns

open as a Community College (if only because its first year or two of operation has

been been predicated upon en assumption of the availability of the additional,

support from the State which goes to institutions bearing that designation), we will
foetat-

accept the legitimacy of

ieee this contention,

providing that the BOARD AS A WHOLE FORMALLY COMMITS ITSELF to replacing the communit

college after its second year of operation, with a fow-vear senior institution, with

an explicit understanding that the four-year, senior institution wiil operate under
CAN
the same comaunity-controlled governing och as the initiel two-year unit. This
SS A TCL Ce Oe ien

will allow the Board a more than ample two years in which to starythe machinery which
will result in establishment of the four year wi t~- esp Maclay since it has not seemed

to require more than a year to establish senior colleges serving white communities,

If the Board is unwilling to- establish the four year, ofeior college-— we refuse to

grent thet it is Manabe to!"—— let it be understood that this commmity will not allow
ag A
he omeatenrg apt Blew teary Clb rp
itself to permit a repetition of th fein ic whereby it = oh ies saddled with an
: Sgt
ed

inferior eduofbion program, because of a mistaken belief that second rate schooling, 8



—

~ iano

€& better than none. Let is be clearly understood that if the Board of Higher Education
insists, out of a misguided, and anachronistic sense of noblesse oblige, to impose the
gratuitous insult of a permanent junior college in our midst, we will do everything

pos sible to discourage that effort.

Frankly, we cannot understand why the Board would do this, At the aforementioned meeting,
its President, and the Chancellor both, each persory: Uy adaitted the past) guilt
albeit a 'guilt' by omission— of the Board in failing to provide equitable, public

higher eductaion to the 40% of this city which is classed as non-Cancasian, It has

it to establish 10 institutions of higher learning offering baccalaureate deerees

by its own figures, serve full-time, matriculated enrollments Siggy

“yf we Care 13 : ’
sez from 90 to SV white. indeed, when one: notes that the tradition of which public

igher eductaion in New York City is most proud to boast, is the tradition of providing

. . t
the means of upw to this City s "new populations," a refusal to give its

& ae
dargest bl Lack Game

ead

tion’ only holds true where such a 'new population! is white. (It does not escape

LA ta lar tla
notice in this community, though it Se with a somewhat bemised irony, that even the

'comaumity' of 35,000 uniformed law enforcement officers-~ less than 10% of the

population of just this one ghetto-- has been deemed worthy of meriting its ow

ps

senior City Universi oy institution in the John Jay Colleg ze!)

Our et ode senior college carrieg with it.an acceptance of the reality theta
. - i EERE

senior institution-~- and especially a new one-—- cannot possibly offer a total spectrum
of degree DYOETENS. Therefore, we include a second, and co~equal demand: that the Board
nandate that credits earned in the temporary community college, and later during the

two years of the senior institution, must be accepted as fully transferable
throughout the City University system. This will enable those of owr youngsters who wut,

—
a

attend their freshman and sophomore years S hers, yey in order to remedy the

A eagle

————
eh
&

ie

deficiencies imposed upon them in their elementary and secondary school = sia
wish to enter major programs of study which this new school. does net off e eee nsfe

.


Ew a

without any fear that the lack of articulation resulting from inter—institutional ~

jealousies, or other causes, which TV conse frequently results in-gross credit

losses when transferring between constituent CUNY units, will affect them in such

a senseless and time~vasting way.

AS Ry Sa

rahe

(1) a community-controlled senior college. We will accept a two-year postponement in
its establishment, during which time a temporary, commmnity-—controlled, Community
College will operate, providng it is clearly understood thet this junior college
will be replaced by the senior institutions) Le

2) a Board of Higher Education ruling which imposes upon, ssmery_ senior colleget 7a am

& oO Dis Ay 6

i 2 ' ; i A i
fe} the requirement of granting full, parity acceptance to all credits
be:

earned by any student in the temporarary two-year college, and in the lower two
years of the senior institution, who transfers to another CUNY unite

e