September 24, 1969 Letter from Al Vann to Porter Chandler
Item
NEGotianon ee al
THE DCPEDFORD Vi
STUY VESANT
| COALITION on :
ie EDUCATIONALLIZ'S
| NEEDS & SERVICES |
268 ASHLAND PLACE / Room 602 / BROOKLYN, N.Y. 11217
_ Mr. A. Vann, Chairman 5
Mr. J. Pannigan, Vice Chairman
' Judge T. Jones
Mrs. E. Sease
Mr R. Carson ©! as
Prof. H. Patterson, Alternate ; . September 24, 1969 ©
_ Mr, Isaure Santiago, Alternate i! : ; : Pa we
{
Porter R.: SEGRE Esq.
Chairman |
Board of igner Education
°535 East 80th Street Ge pte!
New York, New York 10021
Dear Chairman SECC
I erg hel a letter, dated September hy 1969, from
Vice Chancellor Edelstein. I am assuming the letter and the
attached resolution was either authorized”by you or communicated
with your approval. This correspondence was addressed to the res
Coalition,: in care of the Education Affiliate. As you may know, ©
--the-Education Affiliate has been out of existence for over a
year now; nonetheless, the only relationship between the two is ~~
' that I have been OOS ESS to work with both groups.
: With reference to my letter of September 2nd to yi
Dr. Burkhardt, I requested then that the community's preference -...
-be presented to the total Board of Higher Education for their..’; |
consideration. I question the validity of the Executive ; ;
‘Committee's attempt to dissolve the Presidential Search Committee ;
and, then, appoint themselves as the group which will establish *
Community College Number Seven. It would seem to me that this.
vital and far-reaching Bedford-Stuyvesant College issue would
require the deliberation of all the members of your Board of
Higher Education. That would, in the least, evidence some
respect for the concerns of the Coalition, whose members you have
' been meeting with over the last 17 months. /
As to the resolution engineered by the Executive
Committee of the Board of Higher Education, dated September 16,
1969, it seems to exceed the authority of the Committee; for,.
‘ ‘pie ay ‘ ;
Porter R. Chandler, Esq.’ eta uee.
September 24, 1969 é ' ‘
~ Page 2 : 1
it is unrealistic to think that you can engage and’ involve:
community representatives in a substantial effort, only to
eliminate them with the stroke of a pen. The Coalition is a
creation of the Bedford-Stuyvesant community and can only be
dissolved by the Bedford-Stuyvesant community. Furthermore,
this Bedford-Stuyvesant community emphatically declares that:
only with the involvement, support, and endorsement of the
Bedford-Stuyvesant Coalition on Educational Needs and Services «
will a college be established in our community.
Peace. and Unit
Albert Vann, Chairman
?
AV: jc
cc: Messrs. Albert H. Bowker
. Jules C.C. Edelstein
POAT ak) ua ‘4 ! a pe. Ria rahgay ee
THE DCPEDFORD Vi
STUY VESANT
| COALITION on :
ie EDUCATIONALLIZ'S
| NEEDS & SERVICES |
268 ASHLAND PLACE / Room 602 / BROOKLYN, N.Y. 11217
_ Mr. A. Vann, Chairman 5
Mr. J. Pannigan, Vice Chairman
' Judge T. Jones
Mrs. E. Sease
Mr R. Carson ©! as
Prof. H. Patterson, Alternate ; . September 24, 1969 ©
_ Mr, Isaure Santiago, Alternate i! : ; : Pa we
{
Porter R.: SEGRE Esq.
Chairman |
Board of igner Education
°535 East 80th Street Ge pte!
New York, New York 10021
Dear Chairman SECC
I erg hel a letter, dated September hy 1969, from
Vice Chancellor Edelstein. I am assuming the letter and the
attached resolution was either authorized”by you or communicated
with your approval. This correspondence was addressed to the res
Coalition,: in care of the Education Affiliate. As you may know, ©
--the-Education Affiliate has been out of existence for over a
year now; nonetheless, the only relationship between the two is ~~
' that I have been OOS ESS to work with both groups.
: With reference to my letter of September 2nd to yi
Dr. Burkhardt, I requested then that the community's preference -...
-be presented to the total Board of Higher Education for their..’; |
consideration. I question the validity of the Executive ; ;
‘Committee's attempt to dissolve the Presidential Search Committee ;
and, then, appoint themselves as the group which will establish *
Community College Number Seven. It would seem to me that this.
vital and far-reaching Bedford-Stuyvesant College issue would
require the deliberation of all the members of your Board of
Higher Education. That would, in the least, evidence some
respect for the concerns of the Coalition, whose members you have
' been meeting with over the last 17 months. /
As to the resolution engineered by the Executive
Committee of the Board of Higher Education, dated September 16,
1969, it seems to exceed the authority of the Committee; for,.
‘ ‘pie ay ‘ ;
Porter R. Chandler, Esq.’ eta uee.
September 24, 1969 é ' ‘
~ Page 2 : 1
it is unrealistic to think that you can engage and’ involve:
community representatives in a substantial effort, only to
eliminate them with the stroke of a pen. The Coalition is a
creation of the Bedford-Stuyvesant community and can only be
dissolved by the Bedford-Stuyvesant community. Furthermore,
this Bedford-Stuyvesant community emphatically declares that:
only with the involvement, support, and endorsement of the
Bedford-Stuyvesant Coalition on Educational Needs and Services «
will a college be established in our community.
Peace. and Unit
Albert Vann, Chairman
?
AV: jc
cc: Messrs. Albert H. Bowker
. Jules C.C. Edelstein
POAT ak) ua ‘4 ! a pe. Ria rahgay ee
Title
September 24, 1969 Letter from Al Vann to Porter Chandler
Description
On September 24, 1969, Al Vann, Chairman of the Bedford-Stuyvesant Coalition on Educational Needs and Services (B-SCENS) wrote a letter to Porter Chandler, Chairman of the Board of Higher Education, responding to a recent Resolution of the Executive Committee of the Board of Higher Education to disband the Presidential Search and Planning Committee for Community College 7, of which Vann had been a community-appointed member. In his letter, Vann denies the authority of the Board of Higher Education and its Executive Committee to disband the committee and, as they had also announced, to proceed in planning a college in and for Bedford-Stuyvesant without the “involvement, support and endorsement” of the B-SCENS and its members.
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.
Creator
Vann, Al
Date
September 24, 1969
Relation
[Link to BoHE Resolution of Sept. 16, 1969]
Language
English
Source
Donald Watkins Collection (Brooklyn Public Library)
Contributor
Woodsworth, Michael
Vann, Al. “September 24, 1969 Letter from Al Vann to Porter Chandler”. [Link to BoHE Resolution of Sept. 16, 1969], CUNY DIGITAL HISTORY ARCHIVE, accessed March 10, 2026, https://stephenz.tailc22a4b.ts.net/s/cdha/item/2045