ABSTRACT

Equal educational opportunities became a volatile issue in the student unrest of the 1960s. City University of New York (CUNY) responded to the needs of its New York City population by endorsing the establishment of a number of new colleges that would accommodate the increasing numbers of students who wished to enter college and by responding to the particular needs of various student groups. In spite of the centralization of administrative governance, the CUNY colleges were left to themselves to function as independent units with only general guidelines for the development of programs to help underprepared students. Medgar Evers College, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and Hostos Community College, however, constructed programs that most directly reflected the needs of their populations. The John Jay College of Criminal Justice, located in midtown Manhattan, is another of the new CUNY colleges whose character has been shaped by its role in the community and by its student constituency.