Chapter 1 presents what I would consider a very detailed account of the series of events which led to the establishment of public higher education in New York City.  This is a great example of a play-by-play of social change in which a critical mass of minority groups begin mobilizing, with the support of some white groups. In addition, the leadership of the time was either forced through the political process (upcoming elections) or genuinely committed to making this type of change. There were several turning points with one being the joining of the majority white groups to the dialogue around access to higher education for all through the leadership of the labor unions and a second, much later, being a fire on campus which seemed to have precipitated a final decision on the matter after weeks of conflict; almost as a metaphor for what things were coming down to. I’m sure others may identify other moments as signifiant turning points but these are ones that stood out to me.  After it was all said and done I was left wonder- where did the money to finance public higher education come from ultimately? were other social programs cut?

It was particularly interesting to read about the divisions amongst the student body at the time based on which area of study they were part of – social sciences vs hard sciences. I think it is sometimes easy to forget that in these times of student activism there were students who actually opposed what I may view as the “right thing to do” and that these are likely individuals who now hold leadership positions themselves. From the perspective of a student of history- I wonder what types of attempts there may have been to engage those groups of students (“engineers”) in dialogue around the benefits of public higher education. This seems to be a challenge we as a society still struggle with today. Another level of division that was apparent was the one between Jewish people and Black/ Puerto Rican groups- would this time period be considered within the historical process by which Jewish people transitioned into whiteness? This reminded me of the dynamic around admissions testing for high schools in NY, which became particularly visible over the past year with the seemingly adversarial position between Asian families and black and brown communities.

Lastly, the idea that once open access was established the vision was for the university to be held responsible for student success as much as the student through various mechanisms of support for incoming students and focused on retention. I wonder if this concept attached consequences to the university similar to the current trend to cut funding to “underperforming” schools as I don’t imagine negative outcomes in student retention would instead result in more funding for more support services to better meet student needs.

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