News from e
THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEV YORE

Office of University Relations, 535 East 80 Street, New York, N. Y. 212-360-2124
Call Lois MacFarland ips

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FOR RELEASE AT 11:00 A.M.
FEBRUARY 1, 1968 _

Mr. Porter R. Chandler, chairman of the Board of Higher Education, and
Dr. Albert H. Bowker, chancellor of the City University of New York, today (2/1)
announced that a new two-year experimental college, now designated as
Community College Number VII, will be located in ihe Bedford-Stuyvesant area
of Brooklyn, and will be opened in September 1969, if the necessary clearances
from city and state authorities can be promptly secured.

Mr. Chandler and Dr. Bowker, in making the announcement to public officials
and community leaders assembled at Borough Hall in the Civic Center of Brooklyn
at the invitation of Borough President Abe Stark, joined in expressing
appreciation to the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, to Borough President
Stark, to Mayor Lindsay, to Senators Kennedy and Javits, and to community
agencies and leaders for their concerned involvement in the discussions leading
to the decision to establish the new college in the Bedford-Stuyvesant area.

In eg: drametvaclee aet Chancellor Bowker said, "The Board of Higher Education
recently authorized the City University to take an adventurous and exciting
step forward in college-level education, with a new, experimental two-year
college, to be established on a_community-oriented bavie_in central Brooklyn.

We are today ‘announcing that the site of the new col legs will be in or near
Bedford-Stuyvesant.
"This proposed two-year college in Bedford-Stuyvesant is designed to be

a long step forward in community-oriented education for high school graduates.

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The focus of enrollment will be on the disadvantaged, but we hope to attract

the advantaged also.



Community College VII, bedford-Stuyvesant 2

"For the trail-blazing college, we are recommending -- and the board has

r. ras informally agreed _to take advantage Of ee une preliminary studies, planning,

RON C consultation, and organizational work done in and by various groups in the
:) i Bedford-Stuyvesant conmunity, notably the Redford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corpo-

7} vation, but also the Central Brooklyn Coordinating Council, and Youth in

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RC Action."

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The projected new college was approved in principle by the Board of
Higher Education on November 27, 1967, and approval has been requested of
the Board of Regents and the Trustees of the State University of New York.
Like all community colleges in the state, Community College Number VII
‘would be operated under the program of the State University of New York, the
state contributing one-third of the operating costs and sge-hale of the capital
costs. Dr. Bowker said that he expected that federal and private funds would
be available to underwrite a substantial portion of the operating and capital
costs. It is estimated that the cost of operating the college gd
will be $635,000, and in 1969-70, $850,000.
. The report blueprinting the college defines the new institution as "a
comprehensive community college offering eaparét university-transfer, and
* occupational education programs."' It is also to stress adult and’ continuing
education for residents of its community and to be located in or near a
poverty area and experimental in relating its services to that community.
The college is to open in 1969 with 500 peadeaks and to grow to 5,000 by
1980. -
The community college, while it is located in the Bedford-Stuyvesant area,

will serve other areas of Brooklyn, including the Williamsburg section, Green-

point, Bushwick, Fort Greenc, Brownsville, and East New York. Its location is

also readily accessible to Queens communities.



+: Community College VII, Bedford-Stuyvesant : 3

Dr. Bowker said that in addition to the board's long-time consideration of

the higher education needs of the Central Brooklyn area, impetus for this under-

taking has recently come from the Education Affiliate of the Bedford-Stuyvesant —

“Development Program sponsored by the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation
and the Bedford-Stuyvesant Development and Services Corporation. This
organization has developed plans and concepts paralleling the basic philosophy
underlying Community College Number Vil.
The new. college will differ from the present six City University community
colleges in four ways:
1. Students will be admitted to a common first seméster_and make a
choice of a specific career or transfer program after that semester's
guidance and experience. .
2. The college will be located in or on the fringes of a poverty area,
. its major orientation being to meet "the challenges of providing
vat disadvantaged students with post-high school training."
Xx 3. The college will assume a major responsibilit for community service
rel to the special needs of the area in which it is located.
That will include working with local businesses and government”
agencies in providing career-ladder training on or near job sites.
4. Admission will not be based solely on high school performance as
measured by grades and scholastic aptitude test. The college

will seek "wholly new admissions standards which do not penalize
students for poor choices or poor performance in high school."

REKREREKRERERER

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