Matters A Newsletter for The City University of New York • Summer 2000 At a Glance From Free Academy New Chancellor Levy Honored by University 1at Lotos Club Reception To City University Just a day after his formal appoint- ment as permanent public schools ay 7, 1997 marked the 150th an- book please contact Margaret Noo- Chancellor, Harold O. Levy was hon- niversary of the passage and sign- nan at Fordham University Press, ored by CUNY at a re- Ming of the legislation that made 718-817-4780.) ception at the Lotos the Free Academy of New York a reality. The book tells of the growth and Club. Leading the cel- To celebrate this landmark date, three development of municipal higher ebration were Board archivists from Baruch College, Brooklyn education in New York City with ex- Chairman Herman Badillo and Chancellor College, and City College—Sandra tensive text and many fully anno- Goldstein, who recited Shoiock Roff, Anthony M. Cucchiara, and tated illustrations, commencing a very apt poem on the Barbara Dunlap, respectively—agreed to with the tiny Free Academy and occasion (see page 3). pool their efforts and curate a traveling ex- its first class of 149 students, hibition that would highlight the people, and ending with an overview of Trustees Set to Vote on events, students, and times which led to the largest urban university in Distinguished Professors the creation of the present City University the country. Activities both in- 2at June Board Meeting of New York. side and outside the classroom Interest in the creation of this exhibit in the last 150 years are de- Among the four new Distinguished Pro- was great, and support came from the fined by the same subject areas fessors to arrive from outside CUNY this PSC-CUNY Research Foundation, the H.W. as the original exhibit. fall will be Francis Wilson Foundation, the presidents of all Each chapter could have been a book Acad- M. Deng, a the CUNY campuses, in itself, but the three emy to maintain order renowned Su- and the Baruch Col- authors have sought among students. Webster also instructed danese-born diplo- lege Fund. Initially to make their book an the senior class in moral philosophy. He mat and scholar opening at Baruch engaging, colorful had a humane side, however, and the stu- who has written ex- College on May 7, overview of how the dents affectionately referred to him as tensivelely on 1997, the array of municipal system of “Pop” Webster. famine relief. memorabilia traveled public education Since 1992 he has to several other emerged, developed, served as U.N. Sec- he first CUNY Ph.D. candidates re- CUNY campuses over and took its place in ceived their degrees in 1965 from Chan- retary General’s special representative the next two years. the life of New York T for internally displaced persons. For cellor Alfred H. Bowker (below, left) and Beginning with City as well as the na- Dean Minna Rees (far right). The following more on him and others in the June items documenting tion. Featured here 2000 class of D.P.s, see page 6. year the Graduate School and University the early history of are just a few of the Center occupied redesigned quarters at 33 the Free Academy, 120 historic pho- The Many Faces and West 42nd Street, a building erected on the the exhibit then ex- tographs included in site of the old Aeolian Hall. Rees provided Facets of the University’s panded on such cen- From the Free Acade- the leadership and vision that spurred the 3 Class of 2000 tral topics as the in- my to CUNY, along development of doctoral programs soon When she arrived from Japan in 1989 creasing higher edu- with captions adapted after the municipal and community colleges with about 50 words of English, cation of women, the from the book’s infor- were federated into the University. The City Kanuko Okuda’s expertise was in growth of the city, mative annotations. University became official when Governor modern dance. The Lehman College student life, student Nelson Rockefeller signed the establishing he Free Academy graduate is now publications, the mu- bill on April 11, 1961. nicipal colleges in has seldom been headed for a First President: Strong on Math T Like other CUNY colleges established in free from controversy Master’s at Co- wartime, athletics, the 1950s and 1960s, since Townsend Harris first proposed it in lumbia in social and the growth of the municipal college The Free Academy Building, above, lo- 1846, and as it grew into a series of cam- work. For more system in New York. The curators traveled cated on the corner of 23rd and Lexington puses and later a university, new issues sur- on her and to each of the CUNY campuses in search of Avenue, was designed by James Renwick faced due to changing economic, social and other outstand- artifacts, meeting with archivists, librari- Jr., a promising young architect about to political forces. “We hope,” says Sandra ing graduates, ans, and many administrators and urging be awarded the commission for St. Roff, “this volume will spur additional stud- see page 7. the importance of preserving documents Patrick’s Cathedral. He took Belgian and ies, using the published and unpublished revealing their institutional past. Dutch town halls as his prototypes, with sources available, as well as the rich array Biography of a Flemish the windows being derived from King’s Col- elieving the exhibit should leave a of archival resources available at many Master of Motion lege Chapel at Cambridge. more lasting memory, the three cu- CUNY campuses.” (and Devoted Husband) B Gaslights, a warm-air heating system, 4 rators eventually began to entertain the The Free Academy’s first president from Paul Oppenheimer is well known on idea of publication. This spring the idea 1849 to 1869, Vermonter Horace Webster Continued on page 8 the City College campus, where he ar- became a reality, with the appearance (1794-1871), pictured rived in 1967, as a teacher of English of From the Free Academy to CUNY: Il- above, brought with him and comparative literature. On page lustrating Public Higher Education in strong ideas about the 11 the Editor of CUNY Matters inter- New York City, 1847-1997 (Fordham centrality of mathematics views him about University Press). to higher education, his “other” life as Interim Chancellor Christoph Kimmich as well as a keen desire an art historian provided a challenge grant for the pro- to instill discipline—the and his recent bi- ject, and this was met by contributions latter no doubt a conse- ography of Peter from former Baruch Interim President quence of his having Paul Rubens, Lois Cronholm, former City College Pres- graduated at the head of Rubens, A Por- ident Yolanda Moses, and former Brook- his 1818 class at West trait: Beauty and lyn College President Vernon Lattin. The Point, where he taught the Angelic. PSC-CUNY Research Foundation also mathematics until 1826. contributed, as did the Baruch College He even established a Fund. (For more information about the demerit system at the Doctoral Pioneers Flanked by Bowker, Rees 1 LaGuardia Trustees Master Plan Approved by Trustees Prepares for Round Up t its May meeting, the Board of Trustees approved a comprehensive long- range Master Plan on the organization, development, and coordination of Texan for A the University, a multi-year blueprint to transform CUNY into the premier Mellow national model for urban higher education. Board Chairman Herman Badillo and Chancellor Matthew Goldstein said the Presidency Kingsborough Plan, which was submitted to the New York State Board of Regents for approval, builds upon the University’s renewed focus on high academic standards and ex- n April 24 the Board of Trustees prominent educator from San Anto- panded educational opportunities. appointed Dr. Gail O. Mellow, a nio with three degrees earned at The plan appeared one year after a mayoral task force led by Vice Chairman Oleading educator on the national Athe University of Texas at Austin Benno C. Schmidt, Jr. described the University as “an institution adrift.” Badillo community college scene, as president of was appointed by the Board of Trustees stated that CUNY is now “a University on the move.” Among the examples of re- Fiorello H. LaGuardia Community College, on April 24 as president of Kingsborough form and renewal at CUNY, Badillo cited the appointment of Dr. Goldstein as Chan- beginning on August 1. Community College, beginning on July 15. cellor, changes in remedial and admissions policies, a new exit test from remedia- Mellow, whose M.A. and Ph.D. in Social Dr. Byron N. McClenney, who succeeds tion, the expansion of “College Now” to the ninth grade in public high schools, and Psychology are both from George Wash- the College’s venerable, long-serving the recent naming of four new college presidents. leader, the late Leon M. Goldstein, will Chancellor Goldstein said, “We are committed to providing highly valued oppor- bring nearly 30 years of his own presiden- tunity throughout the University system. With the adoption of this Master Plan, tial experience at community colleges to CUNY is deliberately choosing a course that rests on raising and sustaining higher the Manhattan Beach campus. standards for all students.” Most recently, McClenney was president for 14 years at the Community College of he Master Plan calls for developing new academic programs, increasing the Denver, which has one of Colorado’s most T ranks of the full-time faculty, redefining core curricula, expanding the use of ethnically diverse student bodies. While the Internet and rebuilding the University’s physical plant.