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THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK
535 East Eightieth Street
New York, New York 10021

Statement by Ay
! 4 Chancellor Albert H. Bowker

Announcing Establishment of "
New Community College in
Bedford=Stuyvesant — “oe

February 1, 1968 -- 11 pm - : 5
Borough Hall, Brooklyn, N.Y. E

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, =, “ila
“ = 70 BE” “ESTABLISHED ON A COMMUNITY-ORIENTED BASIS IN CENTRAL BROOKLYN, = fe” 1
WE ARE. FoAY ANNOUNCING THAT THE SITE OF THE NEW COLLEGE WILL BE IN i
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OR NEAR BEDFORD=STUYVESANT, AND THAT IT WILL BE ORIENTED TO THE
BEDFORD=STUYVESANT COMMUNITY AND WILL BE OPERATED IN CONSULTATION

_ WITH THE COMMUNITY.

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THIS PROPOSED TWO-YEAR COLLEGE IN BEDFORD=STUYVESANT 1S
DESIGNED TO BE A LONG STEP FORWARD IN COMMUNITY-ORIENTED EDUCATION
FOR HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES, THE FOCUS OF ENROLLMENT WILL BE ON THE
DISADVANTAGED, BUT WE HOPE TO ATTRACT THE ADVANTAGED ALSO, FOR THIS

PARTICULAR COLLEGE WE HAVE RECEIVED PLEDGES OF FEDERAL AND FOUNDATION

GRANTS TOWARD THE DEVELOPMENTAL OPERATING COSTS AMOUNTING TO ‘ABOUT
HALF THE COST FOR THE FIRST TWO YEARS.

THE PROPOSED NEW BEDFORD=STUYVESANT COLLEGE WILL BE ORIENTED
TOWARD THE NEIGHBORING COMMUNITY =~ THE TOTAL COMMUNITY. IT WILL
HAVE A COMMUNITY BOARD. IT WILL BE ROOTED IN THE GHETTO COMMUNITY,
BUT WILL EMBRACE AND HAVE ACCESS TO, THE TOTAL EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
OF THE CITY UNIVERSITY.

THE PRESIDENT AND THE FACULTY OF THIS NEW COLLEGE WILL KNOW
THAT THEY MUST RELATE TO THE COMMUNITY , Si. rere ,
AS WELL, OF COURSE, AS TO THE CITY UNIVERSITY AS A WHOLE, AND TO
THE BOARD OF HIGHER EDUCATION.

THE PRESIDENT,

» WiLL NEED ALSO TO RELATE 7O ~
THE STUDENT BODY, ABOVE ALL.

SOMETIMES, IN SOME EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS, THE STUDENTS ARE
THE FORGOTTEN FOLK, ALMOST LOST IN THE SYSTEM,

IN THIS INSTITUTION THEY ARE HOPEFULLY TO BE IN THE FOREFRONT
OF THE SYSTEM, IN THE FOREFRONT OF THE PLANNING, IN THE FOREFRONT
OF THE TEACHING, IN THE FOREFRONT OF THE GOALS, PURPOSES, AND
OPERATIONS OF THE COLLEGE,

THE BOARD OF REGENTS, AND THE TRUSTEES OF THE STATE UNIVERSITY,
AND THE BOARD OF HIGHER EDUCATION, AS WELL AS THE CENTRAL OFFICE OF
THE CITY UNIVERSITY, WILL NEED TO BE REASSURED, OF COURSE, THAT COLLEGE
LEVEL EDUCATION IS GOING ON AND THAT THE GRADUATES OF THE COLLEGE WILL
BE NOT SECOND CLASS, BUT FIRST CLASS GRADUATES OF A FIRST CLASS

INSTITUTION.


MR, FRANK THOMAS OF THE BEDFORD~STUYVESANT DEVELOPMENT
CORPORATION, ALONG WITH THE WELL-KNOWN EDUCATOR, DR, WILLIAM
BIRENBAUM, FORMERLY OF LONG ISLAND UNIVERSITY IN BROOKLYN,

HAVE PROVIDED GREAT STIMULUS AND WISE COUNSEL IN OUR PLANNING
WORK BASED ON THEIR OWN WORK,

SENATORS KENNEDY AND JAVITTS AND THEIR ASSOCIATES IN THE
BEDFORD=STUYVESANT DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, INCLUDING MR,
WILLIAM PALEY, AND MR, DOUGLAS DILLON, HAVE PLAYED IMPORTANT ae
ROLES IN OUR CONSIDERATION OF THIS UNDERTAKING.

MAYOR LINDSAY AND OTHER OFFICIALS IN THE CITY GOVERNMENT
HAVE ENDORSED AND SUPPORTED THE BASIC IDEA OF NEIGHBORHOOD
ORIENTED EXPERIMENTAL COMMUNITY COLLEGES EPITOMIZED BY THE
PROPOSED UNIT IN BEDFORD-STUYVESANT,

WE EXPECT TO BUILD UPON WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED FROM OUR SEEK

PROGRAM AND OUR COLLEGE DISCOVERY PROGRAM AND OTHER PROGRAMS a . roe

IN WHICH WE HAVE WORKED WITH THE DISADVANTAGED,

THE STUDENTS IN THIS NEW COLLEGE WILL BE ABLE TO LEARN
TECHNOLOGIES, VOCATIONS, AND PROFESSIONS,

THEY CAN ALSO FOLLOW THE COLLEGE TRACK INTO ONE OF OUR
SENIOR COLLEGES, ON APPROPRIATE GRADUATION FROM THIS COLLEGE,
THEY WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY TRANSFERRABLE AND ADMISSABLE INTO

ONE OF OUR SENIOR COLLEGES, AS MATRICULATED STUDENTS SEEKING

ONE OF THE REGULAR COLLEGE DEGREES,



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THAT INVOLVES HAVING A FIRST CLASS PRESIDENT, FIRST CLASS
DEANS, AND A FIRST CLASS FACULTY. 1 AM CONFIDENT THAT THIS WILL
MEAN A FIRST CLASS STUDENT BODY, AND A FIRST CLASS COLLEGE.

THIS WILL BE THE FIRST OF THESE NEW EXPERIMENTAL COMMUNITY
COLLEGES, THE BOARD HAS AUTHORIZED ADDITIONAL EXPERIMENTAL COLLEGES,
AND 1 SHALL RECOMMEND A SECOND SUCH COLLEGE SOMEWHERE IN THE
SOUTH BRONX,

FOR THE TRAIL-BLAZING BEDFORD-STUYVESANT COLLEGE WE ARE
RECOMMENDING, AND THE BOARD HAS INFORMALLY AGREED TO TAKE ee
ADVANTAGE OF THE PRELIMINARY STUDIES, PLANNING, CONSULTATION,
AND ORGANIZATIONAL WORK DONE IN AND BY VARIOUS GROUPS IN THE
BEDFORD-STUYVESANT COMMUNITY, NOTABLY THE BEDFORD-STUYVESANT
DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, BUT ALSO THE CENTRAL BROOKLYN
COORDINATING COUNCIL, AND YOUTH IN ACTION.

THERE ARE EDUCATIONAL AND POLICY AND BUDGETARY CLEARANCES TO BE
SECURED FROM THE STATE UNIVERSITY AND SITE CLEARANCES TO BE SECURED
FROH THE CITY GOVERNMENT, WE HOPE TO BE ABLE TO SECURE ALL THESE
CLEARANCES IN THE DAYS AHEAD, WE HOPE AND ARE PLANNING TO ENROLL
STUDENTS"AND START CLASSES IN A TEMPORARY LOCATION IN SEPTEMBER,
1969 IF WE GET THE NECESSARY APPROVALS TO GET INTO DEVELOPMENT
IN THE. VERY NEAR FUTURE,

‘MANY DIFFERENT INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS HAVE PLAYED PARTS AND ARE

A PART OF THIS NEW AND CHALLENGING UNDERTAKING,
BOROUGH PRESIDENT STARK HAS PLAYED A MAJOR ROLE IN PRESSING

US FOR, AND THEN FACILITATING OUR DECISION,



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OTHER PRINCIPLES AND GUIDELINES FOR THE NEW COLLEGE ARE
CONTAINED IN THE FACT SHEET WHICH WAS PREPARED AND MADE 7
AVAILABLE FOR DISTRIBUTION HERE TODAY, THAT FACT SHEET,
Cen TURN, WAS ABSTRACTED FROM AN OFFICIAL pocunENT. APPROVED ae Xs
ae BY THE BOARD “OF HIGHER EDUCATION CONTAINING THE PLANNING
; FOR ALL THE NEW EXPERIMENTAL COMMUNITY COLLEGES WHICH~ ' ;
: Cee HAVE AUTHORIZED, i: Na

eee, WE ARE AT THE THRESHOLD OF NEW ADVENTURES WITH THIS is
[ NEW EXPERIMENTAL COLLEGE.—WE HORE TO LEARN MUCH FROM a) eee

! THE ee THE COMMUNITY, evEn WHILE WE TEACH,