November 26, 1968 Minutes of the Presidential Search Committee for Community College 7
Item
PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH COMMITTEE MEETING
November 26, 1968 - 5:00 p.m.
The City University of New York
Graduate Center
Present: Messrs. Frederick H. Burkhardt, Chairman
Porter R. Chandler
Julius C, Edelstein
Thomas R, Jones
James 0, Lee
Jack L, Pannigan sie
Herman Patterson a ie
Joseph Shenker
Arleigh B. Williamson i *
Albert Vann By
Mmes Almira Coursey : tee
Isaura Santiago ay
Ella Sease aS
Discussion of past interviewees commenced the meeting. Firstly, ae
Mrs. Deborah Wolfe, Dr. Gilbert Morse, and Dr. James Holt Reeves. It was Na
decided that Mrs. Wolfe and Dr, Morse would be “put on the back burner",
and that Dr. Reeves would be asked to visit the Committee again in the
future. New recommendations to the Committee were Dr, Donald Cheek,
Vice President of Lincoln -University; Gilbert A. Bond, Esq., Assistant &
ey Professor of law at Pace College; and Mr. Preston Wilcox, Chief Consultant
at Intermediate Sckool 201 Complex.
In regard to Drs. Hamilton and Smythe, it was agreed that Dr. Smythe
fe? would be contacted, with utmost discretion, by Chancellor Bowker as to his
intentions concerning possible appointment to the Presidency; and that
Mr. Vann would continue his efforts to contact Dr. Hamilton, who is out of
the country at this time, in order to arrange for another interview.
De, Roscoe C. Brown, Jr.-was invited in and his interview was
‘begun, He was given @ general ides of College Number Seven by
“Dr. Burkhardt, who told him that this was to be @ very informal session
and that the Comittee would be glad to anawer any questions he would
Like to ask, At the termination of the interviewing session, the Committee
Bajourned to the Dining Boon and the meabers were consulted ss to their
Aiieeentoce of the candidate; consensus: very favorable. Accordingly,
ce dss need Seabee <adlaiGl tee dnkx eoaren ‘shone
Which Dr. Brown spoke at great length) to find out
4). whet the people he hes been working with think
ebout hin
b) what part he played in the program
ec) whet he has really done in the Bedgord-Styrosnst
and Harlem reas.
2. Chat the members of the Committeé get = Line on all
aR, duos Oilers, we dint cet das a nanen ee with
a. sc inca wd ice Maenticw ein & ea
Biers 04 $8 sna semneiate reasionehiy bo Row Sotings Matar Seve
Dr. Riley is to be contacted for further interview.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:50 p.m.
The next meeting of the Presidential Search Committee will be at 4
5:00 p.m. on Monday, Deleubar 9, 1968, at the Graduate Center.
ecretary
het
dfor d-| on
- on Educational Needs ae Services
COMMUNITY COLLEGE #7:
Adkins, Charles E.
Alder, Gurtis
Barlow, Daniel °L.
Barrell, Lawrence
Beivans, Isaac
Berraain
Birenbaum, William M.
Bond, Gilbert A.
Brown, Roscoe C.
Butler, Broadus N.
Cooke, Samuel
Draper, Edgar
Farmer, James
Feldman, Marvin J.
Fields, Carl’A.
Fox, Lawrence E.
Gragg, William
Granger, Shelton
Howard, Lawrence
Johnson, Paul
Jordan, Vernon
Joy, John L.
Lacey, Archie L.
Lifson, David S.
Lockwood, William
Loney, Roderick
Mancjum
COMMUNITY COLLEGE #7: List of Presidential Candidates, 1968-69
Martorana, Sebastian
Morse, Slider
Murray, Walter I.
McCoy, Rhody
Payton, Benjamin
Powell, Theodore
Proctor, Samuel
Ranhand, Samuel
Reeves, James H.
Riley
Russet uRoger).
Shaw, Thomas
Smith, Charles
Smoot, . James
Smythe, Hugh’ H.
Sullivan, Arthur
Tidwell, Fred
Treatman, Paul
Westerfield, Oe ruet
Wilcox, Preston
Willing, Stanley
Wolfe, Deborah
Wright, Leon
November 26, 1968 - 5:00 p.m.
The City University of New York
Graduate Center
Present: Messrs. Frederick H. Burkhardt, Chairman
Porter R. Chandler
Julius C, Edelstein
Thomas R, Jones
James 0, Lee
Jack L, Pannigan sie
Herman Patterson a ie
Joseph Shenker
Arleigh B. Williamson i *
Albert Vann By
Mmes Almira Coursey : tee
Isaura Santiago ay
Ella Sease aS
Discussion of past interviewees commenced the meeting. Firstly, ae
Mrs. Deborah Wolfe, Dr. Gilbert Morse, and Dr. James Holt Reeves. It was Na
decided that Mrs. Wolfe and Dr, Morse would be “put on the back burner",
and that Dr. Reeves would be asked to visit the Committee again in the
future. New recommendations to the Committee were Dr, Donald Cheek,
Vice President of Lincoln -University; Gilbert A. Bond, Esq., Assistant &
ey Professor of law at Pace College; and Mr. Preston Wilcox, Chief Consultant
at Intermediate Sckool 201 Complex.
In regard to Drs. Hamilton and Smythe, it was agreed that Dr. Smythe
fe? would be contacted, with utmost discretion, by Chancellor Bowker as to his
intentions concerning possible appointment to the Presidency; and that
Mr. Vann would continue his efforts to contact Dr. Hamilton, who is out of
the country at this time, in order to arrange for another interview.
De, Roscoe C. Brown, Jr.-was invited in and his interview was
‘begun, He was given @ general ides of College Number Seven by
“Dr. Burkhardt, who told him that this was to be @ very informal session
and that the Comittee would be glad to anawer any questions he would
Like to ask, At the termination of the interviewing session, the Committee
Bajourned to the Dining Boon and the meabers were consulted ss to their
Aiieeentoce of the candidate; consensus: very favorable. Accordingly,
ce dss need Seabee <adlaiGl tee dnkx eoaren ‘shone
Which Dr. Brown spoke at great length) to find out
4). whet the people he hes been working with think
ebout hin
b) what part he played in the program
ec) whet he has really done in the Bedgord-Styrosnst
and Harlem reas.
2. Chat the members of the Committeé get = Line on all
aR, duos Oilers, we dint cet das a nanen ee with
a. sc inca wd ice Maenticw ein & ea
Biers 04 $8 sna semneiate reasionehiy bo Row Sotings Matar Seve
Dr. Riley is to be contacted for further interview.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:50 p.m.
The next meeting of the Presidential Search Committee will be at 4
5:00 p.m. on Monday, Deleubar 9, 1968, at the Graduate Center.
ecretary
het
dfor d-| on
- on Educational Needs ae Services
COMMUNITY COLLEGE #7:
Adkins, Charles E.
Alder, Gurtis
Barlow, Daniel °L.
Barrell, Lawrence
Beivans, Isaac
Berraain
Birenbaum, William M.
Bond, Gilbert A.
Brown, Roscoe C.
Butler, Broadus N.
Cooke, Samuel
Draper, Edgar
Farmer, James
Feldman, Marvin J.
Fields, Carl’A.
Fox, Lawrence E.
Gragg, William
Granger, Shelton
Howard, Lawrence
Johnson, Paul
Jordan, Vernon
Joy, John L.
Lacey, Archie L.
Lifson, David S.
Lockwood, William
Loney, Roderick
Mancjum
COMMUNITY COLLEGE #7: List of Presidential Candidates, 1968-69
Martorana, Sebastian
Morse, Slider
Murray, Walter I.
McCoy, Rhody
Payton, Benjamin
Powell, Theodore
Proctor, Samuel
Ranhand, Samuel
Reeves, James H.
Riley
Russet uRoger).
Shaw, Thomas
Smith, Charles
Smoot, . James
Smythe, Hugh’ H.
Sullivan, Arthur
Tidwell, Fred
Treatman, Paul
Westerfield, Oe ruet
Wilcox, Preston
Willing, Stanley
Wolfe, Deborah
Wright, Leon
Title
November 26, 1968 Minutes of the Presidential Search Committee for Community College 7
Description
On November 26, 1968, the Presidential Search Committee for Community College 7, composed of five City University of New York (CUNY) officials and five appointed representatives of the Bedford-Stuyvesant community, met to discuss candidates for the presidency of the new college. In the meeting, the committee members discussed recent interviews with three candidates, and proposed new candidates they hoped to consult, including Hugh Smythe, then Ambassador to Malta. Also of note in this document is the appended list of approximately 50 additional candidates then under consideration for the presidency, including both Smythe and Rhody McCoy, a prominent leader in the Ocean Hill-Brownsville community control movement, who would later become the flashpoint of a pivotal controversy over the leadership of the new college.
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
Bedford Stuyvesant Coalition on Educational Needs and Services
Date
November 26, 1968
Language
English
Source
Donald Watkins Collection (Brooklyn Public Library)
Original Format
Notes / Minutes
Bedford Stuyvesant Coalition on Educational Needs and Services. Letter. “November 26, 1968 Minutes of the Presidential Search Committee for Community College 7.”, CUNY DIGITAL HISTORY ARCHIVE, accessed March 10, 2026, https://stephenz.tailc22a4b.ts.net/s/cdha/item/2024