Browse Exhibits (3 total)
Bronx Community College
Bronx Community College was established in 1957 after a decade of effort by civic-minded groups in Bronx County to meet the growing need for increased higher education facilities in the “Borough of Universities and Progress.” Classes began with 125 students on February 2, 1959, at the former site of the Bronx High School of Science at Creston Avenue and 184th Street.
With Dr. Morris Meister as its first president, the College soon developed into a much-acclaimed comprehensive community college offering a broad range of academic programs. Dr. James A. Colston became the second president of Bronx Community College on August 1, 1966, following Dr. Meister’s retirement. For the next decade, the College grew dramatically, spurred in 1970 by the introduction of open admissions.
By 1972, the College was occupying seven additional centers within walking distance of the main building and serving approximately 14,000 matriculated students. In 1973, the New York State Dormitory Authority acquired the New York University Heights Campus for the use of Bronx Community College. Beginning with the fall 1973 semester, operations were moved to the present 43-acre site overlooking the Harlem River.
Hostos Community College
Save Hostos
In the fall of 1975, New York City had run out of money and was on the verge of defaulting on its debts. Many measures were taken to control spending, including increasing subway fares and cutting the budget of the City University of New York (CUNY). One proposal to reduce spending at CUNY was to merge several smaller campuses with larger ones: John Jay with Baruch and Hostos with Bronx Community College. Hostos was the newest campus in the system, founded only seven years earlier to meet the workforce and educational needs of the economically struggling, largely Puerto Rican population of the South Bronx. In this short time Hostos had become, and remains to this day, a symbol of the vitality and potential of the community. In response to the proposed merger, the South Bronx and campus community launched an ultimately successful campaign to save Hostos as an independent campus within the City University system. The newsletters, images, reports, and articles from the press describe and document the Save Hostos movement. They attest to the determination and dedication of various groups from campus administration to students and community organizations—as they successfully worked in the winter of 1975 through the spring of 1976 to keep Hostos alive. The Gerald J. Meyer Collection at Hostos contains the Save Hostos material and is available to researchers.
Lehman College
Lehman College became an independent unit of The City University of New York, CUNY, in 1968 and took over the 37-acre campus that had served since 1931 as the Bronx branch of Hunter College for women completing their first two years of college. Lehman is the now the only public, comprehensive, senior college in the Bronx.
Prior to its separation from Hunter College, the Lehman campus had served as from 1943-1946 and the training station for the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service). The United Nations then used the campus from March - August 1946 and held its first American meetings of the Security Council in the campus Gymnasium Building.
With the resumption of normal collegiate activities in 1947, the Bronx campus began accepting former servicemen, who studied in separate classes. In 1951 the campus became fully co-educational and introduced a four-year curriculum. When the Bronx campus separated from Hunter College on July 1, 1968 Lehman College began an independent existence with Dr. Lief as president.
The new college was named for Herbert H. Lehman--four-time governor of New York State; U.S. Senator from New York; and the first director-general of UNRRA (the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration). The College was formally dedicated March 28, 1969.
Dr. Ricardo R. Fernández succeeded founding president Leonard Lief on September 1, 1990. The College today offers 50 undergraduate majors and programs, almost 40 graduate degree programs, and 15 advanced certificates in such areas as botany, arts and sciences, health, business, teacher education, and nursing.