Steering Committee of the Bedford-Stuyvesant Coalition on Educational Needs and Services Minutes: Proposed Selection Criteria for the President of Community College 7
Item
BEDFORD STUYVESANT COALITION ON EDUCATIONAL NEEDS AND SERVICES
268 Ashland Place - Room 602 Brooklyn, N. Y. 11217
212/855-6731,32,33 | :
MINUTES: NEGOTIATING TEAM - Tuesday, September or eh, 1968 ~ h: :00 p.m.
eres REA ie Re RAC Na
Present: Albert Vann, chairman, presiding;
Dr. Herman Patterson, Jack L. Faunnigan, Mrs. Ella Sease
CRITERIA FOR FRESIDENT
On working list change age to maximum = 55 years; indicate willing to
reside in community, i.e., intent to do so if candidate accepts the
position.
EXTERTENCE
Not all college level; must have had public school experience (provides
knowledge of lower school system deficiencies); experience with college -
age youth.
Look for someone with national stature and image for his position on the
‘Black community; is an asset in attracting the kind of faculty needed.
Or we should seek someone very familiar with public schools, CUNY system,
Brooklyn and New York problems, and identification with Black struggle.
TIMETABLE FOR SELECTION OF PRESIDENT
Mid - October (after 15th) -
Complete the categorization/evaluation of all resumes
After October 15th -
Begin interviews with those designated as possibilities, narrow list
to four (4). :
November -
Notify chosen candidate of Negotiating Team decision
FRESIDENTIAL SEARCH COMMITTER
October 16th meeting -
Negotiating Team will report on selection process and progress, having
narrowed possibilities to a small group.
November meeting -
Announce the choice of the Coalition Teeottetine Team
268 Ashland Place - Room 602 Brooklyn, N. Y. 11217
212/855-6731,32,33 | :
MINUTES: NEGOTIATING TEAM - Tuesday, September or eh, 1968 ~ h: :00 p.m.
eres REA ie Re RAC Na
Present: Albert Vann, chairman, presiding;
Dr. Herman Patterson, Jack L. Faunnigan, Mrs. Ella Sease
CRITERIA FOR FRESIDENT
On working list change age to maximum = 55 years; indicate willing to
reside in community, i.e., intent to do so if candidate accepts the
position.
EXTERTENCE
Not all college level; must have had public school experience (provides
knowledge of lower school system deficiencies); experience with college -
age youth.
Look for someone with national stature and image for his position on the
‘Black community; is an asset in attracting the kind of faculty needed.
Or we should seek someone very familiar with public schools, CUNY system,
Brooklyn and New York problems, and identification with Black struggle.
TIMETABLE FOR SELECTION OF PRESIDENT
Mid - October (after 15th) -
Complete the categorization/evaluation of all resumes
After October 15th -
Begin interviews with those designated as possibilities, narrow list
to four (4). :
November -
Notify chosen candidate of Negotiating Team decision
FRESIDENTIAL SEARCH COMMITTER
October 16th meeting -
Negotiating Team will report on selection process and progress, having
narrowed possibilities to a small group.
November meeting -
Announce the choice of the Coalition Teeottetine Team
Title
Steering Committee of the Bedford-Stuyvesant Coalition on Educational Needs and Services Minutes: Proposed Selection Criteria for the President of Community College 7
Description
On September 24, 1968, the Steering Committee of the Bedford-Stuyvesant Coalition on Educational Needs and Services (B-SCENS) met to discuss the criteria they hoped to use in the selection of a president for a new, public college in Central Brooklyn. A broad network of local educational advocacy and community-based organizations had formed the B-SCENS as a network to gather and formalize the community’s demands for the new college, and appointed the five-member Negotiating Team to meet with an equal number of CUNY officials as a “Presidential Search Committee.” Of special note in these minutes from the Steering Committee’s meeting is the suggestion that the selected candidate’s experience would “not [be] all college level,” and would include “public school experience (provides knowledge of lower school system deficiencies; [and] experience with college-age youth.” The question of whether the new college president wouid be required to have university-level experience would emerge as a flashpoint in the months to come.
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
Woodswork, Michael
Creator
Bedford-Stuyvesant Coalition on Educational Needs and Services
Date
September 24, 1968
Language
English
Source
Donald Watkins Collection (Brooklyn Public Library)
Original Format
Notes / Minutes
Bedford-Stuyvesant Coalition on Educational Needs and Services. Letter. “Steering Committee of the Bedford-Stuyvesant Coalition on Educational Needs and Services Minutes: Proposed Selection Criteria for the President of Community College 7.”, CUNY DIGITAL HISTORY ARCHIVE, accessed March 10, 2026, https://stephenz.tailc22a4b.ts.net/s/cdha/item/2020