FOR YOUR INTEREST AND_INFORMATION : ve

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The City University of NewYork Office of the Chancellor tH A | TAS NC; a :
535 East 80 Street, New York, N, Y. 10021 NF babes a a0

212/360-2121 ed oe ieee /

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May 22, 1969

Mr. Albert Vann, Chairman

Bedford-Stuyvesant Coalition for
Educational Needs and Services

Hotel Granada, Room 602

268 Ashland Place

Brooklyn, New York

Dear Al:

| write to you fn your capacity as Chairman of the Coalition rather than
of the Negotiating Team. 1! hope that you will] be willing to read or otherwise
convey the contents of this letter to the Coalition organizations, and to the
community, generally, along with your report,

| am addressing this letter to you on the basis of reports | received
ebout that latter portion of last night's meeting at the Greduate Center, at which
| could not remain, However, this letter really flows from all our recent meetings
with the Negotiating Team, Since | was associated with this undertaking before the
Board Committee was appointed, | feel a special responsibility for this proposed
college as well es a deep attachment to its goals and purposes. Moreover, I wish
to assume my share of the responsibility for the decision which has been arrived at
by the Committee of the Board by directly associating myself with it.

| very much regret that we have come to an impassee -- a deadlock -- with
the Negotiating Team, From the beginning | heave been a principal sponsor, advocate
and proposer of a community-oriented, community-involved Community College, aimed
at providing innovative but high quality education to the young people of Bedford-"
Stuyvesant and central Brooklyn, This was proposed as an experimental undertaking,
|t was accepted by the Board as such, The Board is eware of, end is sensitive to
the great interest in this enterprise shown by the people of Bedford-Stuyvesant., |
have been personally pleased and gratified by this development, The City University
is thus made all the more aware of its responsibilities to establish in Bedford-
Stuyvesant a branch of City University of which all the people of Brooklyn and the
City University can be proud,

)


Mr. Albert Vann, Chairman Page = 2 May 22, 1969

_ It has been fifteen months since | came to Brooklyn's Borough Hall,
along with many Brooklyn citizens, and announced our readiness to proceed with
plans for Community College #7. Our goal == | believe our common goal == at
that time, as it is today, has been to establish an institution which would not
only train and educate young peopie for useful and fruitful careers, but would
contribute to the community and to the quality of life within it, for the benefit
of all citizens, Quality is the key word, Both the easiest and the worst thing
we could do is to create an institution, without quality or the aspiration to
quality, a second-class institution,

It was a keynote of my announcement at that time, fifteen months ago,
that this undertaking would be a joint undertaking between the Board of Higher
Education and those in the local community concerned with educational opportunity
for the young people of the involved neighborhoods,

Since that meeting in Borough Hall fifteen months ago, there have been
many, many other meetings devoted to the same subject. One of the results of one
of the early meetings was a decision, made in Bedford-Stuyvesant, to form a
coalition of neighborhood organizations, and for that coalition to select a
Negotiating Team to meet with a committee of the Board of Higher Education to select
a President. Those meetings have been going on for almost a year. Numberless.hours
of meeting time and of staff time have gone into these meetings, both in Bedford~
Stuyvesant and at the headquarters of the City University. There have been points
of friction and points of agreement.

it is my impression that there were more points of agreement than there
were points of friction, for instance on ways and means of providing support and
facilities, and for receiving the views of interested individuals and groups on the
subject, From the beginning the Board Committee agreed that the voices of the
community representatives would be given full and equal weight in the decision,
i said equal weight. The Board of Higher Education could not, by law or policy,
divest itself of its responsibility to establish and operate a college in central
Brooklyn == a college belonging to all the people of Brooklyn and of New York City,
but devoted to the special interests and service of the Bedford=Stuyvesant and
adjoining communities.

Now the Board Committee has come to an impasse with the Negotiating Team
over the first major step toward the establishment of a college, namely the selection
of a President. The Board == the Burkhardt Committee «= pledged that it would not
recommend to the Board the election of any person for President who is not acceptable
to the Bedford-Stuyvesant community, as represented by the Negotiating Team, That
pledge has been implemented, to the letter.

On the other hand, the Board Committee never pledged, suggested or implied
that the Negotiating Team could ever be given the power to name the President,
regardless of the views of the Board Committee and of the Board, There is also to
be considered the views of the Board of Trustees of the State University which also
has legal power over the selection of a President for this college,


¥

Mr. Albert Vann, Chatrman Page = 3 | May 22, 1969

! emphas!ze that there !s no legal way In which the cholce of a President
of a college of the CIty University can be delegated to an unoffictal group, howe
ever well intentloned and however deeply devoted its members feel to the Interest
of the nelghboring community.

!f it were a question of a private college, private sponsors could
delegate a private responsibility. A public InstIitutlon cannot do this, The
most fundamental responsibility of the Board of Higher Education fs to appotnt
the chief officers of the University Including the Presidents of the colleges,
The Board may, if ft wishes, share that responsibility, but fit cannot give it away,

The Insfstence by the sbokesmen for the Negotiating Team at last night's
meeting that the community, through the Negotiating Team, could Insfst on a parti-
cular candidate, regardless of the contrary views of the Board Committee, came as a

. surprise, It was a complete rejection of the basis of al] our previous deliberations

and considerations,

It has always been agreed == {Implicitly and explicitly == that the Board
members would respect the veto power of the representatives of the community and
of course the community would recognize the veto power and Inherent legal
responsib!ility of the Board Committee and, of course, of the Board, This reversal
of position on the part of the Negotiating Team made last night's ftmpasse a real
deadlock,

Now let me get to the specific polnt of the crisis, the InsIstence by the
Negotiating Team that Mr. Rhody McCoy be named President of the College.

The Board Committee is unanftmously opposed to Mr. McCoy's appofntment and
wll] not agree to it, There is clear evidence from ftnformal discussions which have
gone on among the Board, as a whole, that even if Mr. McCoy's name were brought before
the Board, it would be overwhelmingly rejected,

As the chlef educational and administrative officer of the City University,
1 would recommend against his appointment, on educational and academic grounds, In
my judgment, he would not be a successful president of this college. ! know
Mr. McCoy. 1! have the highest personal and professfonal esteem for him, fn the
capacities for which he fs qualified, !t pains me greatly to be forced, under these
circumstances, to make any public statement prejudicial to him, However, there seems
to be no alternative,

On the plus stde, Mr. McCoy obviously Its deeply sensitive to and closely
related to the aspirations of the Bedford=Stuyvesant community, and enjoys the
affection and confidence of a large proportion of the people of the Bedford=Stuyvesant
and of other parts of the clty as well, That doesn't make him a good college prestdent.
Thus, he may get high marks on his community Identification and understanding, He
cannot be given the same high marks on his administrative experfence in higher education,
To succeed as college president, he must have good relations with the academic community
in higher education, In order to attract the faculty required to equip the students

‘with the necessary academic tools and skills.



Mr. Albert Vann, Chat rman Page = 4 May 22, 1969 |

‘

1 do not hes!tate to say that he has other qualifications, as well as
other disqualifications, It Is unnecessary to go into either category. HIs
disqualifications constitute so severe a handicap that | could not, In good
consclence, recommend him to the Committee or to the Board,

It has always been the ironclad rule and practice never to disclose the
names of those being considered for the Presidency of any college, to save the
individuals being considered from consequent personal embarrassment, This rule
and practice have been totally disregarded and abrogated In this case, I regret
very much that this is so, I suppose that I, myself, am contributing to this
breaking of precedent by this letter. 1 do it out of deep concern that the members
of the Bedford=Stuyvesant community should know all the facts,

It is asserted that the presence of Mr. Rhody McCoy's name on a certaln
list Implles a measure of approval of his qualifications by the Board Committee.
This is utterly without basis in fact, We did agree that Mr. McCoy's name be
placed on a list which constituted an agenda of names that would be considered,
The Board committee agreed to the inclusion of Mr. McCoy's name because we thought.
that the Negotiating Team deserved the right to have an equal voice in making up
the agenda of names to be considered, The list was an agenda, and nothing more,
When we reached Mr. McCoy's name, his qualifications were discussed at length,
and the Board members == and | == gave our reasons for our negative position on
Mr. McCoy. As far as we were concerned, Mr, McCoy's candidacy was disposed of,

To sum up on this point, the presence of Mr. Rhody McCoy's name on the
particular list of names did not mean, imply or suggest approval, It was a list
of names to be considered, It was an agenda, It had no other force or value,
When the name of Mr, McCoy came up for consideration, | expressed my views and
recommendations, So did other members of the Board Committee, As far as the
Board Committee was concerned, Mr. McCoy was ruled out, for the reasons already
cited, and for others.

The Board members clearly wanted to pursue the search for a president of
this college by interviewing and discussing other and alternative candidates, The
Negotiating Team, on the other hand, insisted on Mr, Rhody McCoy, Consequently,
we are at a point today at which the machinery established more than a year ago has
broken down, because the agreements underlying that machinery have broken down.
Under these circumstances | do not see how the discussion can continue.

Nor can plans for the college be pursued, unless and until new arrangements ©
for community participation in the discussion and in the planning can be arrived at,

The hour is late, Unless some new lfght can be shed on the situation
through an appropriate reply to this communication, | will be at a loss as to how
to advise the Board, on ways and means of proceeding with college #7, The decision
on proceeding with that college must be made within the next days,


'

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Mr. Albert Vann, Chatrman Pagan 5. May 22, 1969

! do hope that the Coalition and the community will see fit to engage
with us agatn, through whatever means are anpropriate, In constructive discussion,
avolding the errors of the past == some of which were doubtless made by us == towards
the creation and development of a college fn Bedford-Stuyvesant to serve the needs
of the areas in question and most of all, of the young people fn those areas,

Speaking for myself, for Board Chafrman Porter Chandler, and Dr, Burkhardt
we have profited from the many hours we spent In discussfon and deliberation with
the Negotlating Team, We grew to respect and esteem them. Most of the work of the
Committee has been valuable and will not be wasted if we can now move forward to
to the selection of a President and the detailed planning of the college. We
therefore regard with the utmost regret the breakdown of the negotiations, We had
hoped the outcome would be otherwise,

{ am a proponent of major community Input Into the life of this new

college, 1 hope the dream will become a reallty, for the sake of all of those
who will serve and be served in the new college.

Stncerely,

Albert H. Bowker