Presidential Search Negotiation Team June 6, 1968, Memo to the Bedford-Stuyvesant Coalition on Educational Needs and Services
Item
MEMORANDUM
June 11, 1968
Steering Committee of Bedford-Stuyvesant Coalition
-On Educational Needs and Services
The Negotiating Team
Meeting of the Presidential Search Committee
| The first meeting of the Presidential Search Committee took place
on June 6, 1968. The following statements summarize the night's
discussion:
I.
il,
a)
b)
c)
d)
A Community Governing Board will be the policy making
body for the proposed college.
This Governing Board will have as much autonomy as is
possible under the university system.
The President, once selected, will be accountable to the
Governing Board.
The Board of Higher Education will have representatives
on this Governing Board.
a)
b)
a)
The community has the option of accepting the two year
college appropriation and working to extend it, or
rejecting the two year and beginning from "scratch" for
a four-year appropriation.
If we accept the two-year, it can he upgraded to give
bachelor degrees in certain specific areas (to be
determined by need and existing programs in other
City University colleges),
1. Education and Nursing were specifically mentioned.
A second possibility is if we accept and complete a
two-year "thing,'' a specialized upper (senior) 2-year
unit could then be established.
June 11, 1968
Steering Committee of Bedford-Stuyvesant Coalition
-On Educational Needs and Services
The Negotiating Team
Meeting of the Presidential Search Committee
| The first meeting of the Presidential Search Committee took place
on June 6, 1968. The following statements summarize the night's
discussion:
I.
il,
a)
b)
c)
d)
A Community Governing Board will be the policy making
body for the proposed college.
This Governing Board will have as much autonomy as is
possible under the university system.
The President, once selected, will be accountable to the
Governing Board.
The Board of Higher Education will have representatives
on this Governing Board.
a)
b)
a)
The community has the option of accepting the two year
college appropriation and working to extend it, or
rejecting the two year and beginning from "scratch" for
a four-year appropriation.
If we accept the two-year, it can he upgraded to give
bachelor degrees in certain specific areas (to be
determined by need and existing programs in other
City University colleges),
1. Education and Nursing were specifically mentioned.
A second possibility is if we accept and complete a
two-year "thing,'' a specialized upper (senior) 2-year
unit could then be established.
Title
Presidential Search Negotiation Team June 6, 1968, Memo to the Bedford-Stuyvesant Coalition on Educational Needs and Services
Description
On June 6, 1968, a Presidential Search Committee comprised of five representatives from Bedford-Stuyvesant and five officials of the City University of New York (CUNY) met to discuss how they would collaborate to plan and lead a new public college in Central Brooklyn. In this memo, the Negotiation Team appointed by the Bedford-Stuyvesant Coalition on Educational Needs and Services (B-SCENS), a network of education advocacy groups and community-based organizations, outlined agreements reached with CUNY officials with respect to how the community would be represented in planning and leading the new college. Also discussed at this meeting was the key question of whether Community College 7 would be a “junior,” two-year degree granting college )as originally proposed by CUNY officials) or a “senior,” four-year degree granting college as demanded by the B-SCENS.
In February 1968, the City University of New York (CUNY) announced plans to establish a new “Community College 7 in or near Bedford-Stuyvesant. . . oriented to the Bedford-Stuyvesant Community and operated in consultation with the community.” Representatives of a broad network of Central Brooklyn community organizations engaged in an 18 months-long negotiation with CUNY Board of Higher Education officials over CUNY’s plans for its newly announced “Community College 7,” including discussions about the proposed school’s curriculum, who would lead it, and what role the community would play in the school’s governance. The role of the Bedford-Stuyvesant community in planning and determining the leadership of the college remained a central point of controversy between Central Brooklyn’s educational and civil society leaders and CUNY officials in the negotiations that followed.
Contributor
Woodsworth, Michael
Creator
The Negotiating Team: Bedford-Stuyvesant Coalition on Educational Needs and Services
Date
June 11, 1968
Language
English
Source
Donald Watkins Collection (Brooklyn Public Library)
Original Format
Memorandum/Press Release / Statement
The Negotiating Team: Bedford-Stuyvesant Coalition on Educational Needs and Services. Letter. “Presidential Search Negotiation Team June 6, 1968, Memo to the Bedford-Stuyvesant Coalition on Educational Needs and Services.”, CUNY DIGITAL HISTORY ARCHIVE, accessed March 10, 2026, https://stephenz.tailc22a4b.ts.net/s/cdha/item/2013