CUNY in the News
An analysis of reporting on the humanities at the people’s university, from its founding to today.
This project is a timeline that tracks local media reporting on CUNY, specifically related to liberal arts education and the humanities. It explores the evolution of both rhetoric and aesthetics in the news from different time periods, looking through how local publications have responded to changes at the City University of New York.
The archival research of this project explores four distinct eras, grouped around major events in the history of the university: 1961-1971, for the founding of the university and open admissions struggle; 1980-1990, for the response to the ‘70s fiscal crisis and introduction of the Board of Trustees; 2000-2010 for the post-open admissions era and the centralization of CUNY; and 2020-present, for COVID and a new fight for racial equity.
Examining these “snapshots” of reporting will provide insights into how major events such as protests, financial struggle, and various other crises corresponded with shifting representations of the place of the humanities at the university. The aim of this project is to use the archive to better understand how the work of the humanities at the university has been perceived and presented historically, so that it may be used to advocate for the humanities at CUNY today, during an era of extreme cutbacks in higher education and general hostility towards public schools.
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“City U. Profiles Its ’81 Graduates a Year Later”
This piece suggests that the University is doing well at meeting its goals in terms of serving unrepresented students who normally would not have access to a college education. It also reflects a growing concern for the financial state of humanities graduates. Read more.
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“See ray of hope for Evers College”
This article details the rise of a new president at Medgar Evers, who is described as the first president of the college “whose academic qualification and experience there could be no question.” He promises to set up a Division of African and Caribbean Studies and the Humanities. He promises to raise the prestige of the…
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“CUNY Tech Student Theatre Works Productions”
Very consistent reporting from the Amsterdam News about arts events and happenings at CUNY in the middle of the decade. The article also mentions that while the college focuses on technical education, it is also working on expanding the robustness of its liberal arts programs. Read more.
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Ad: “Scholars Against the Escalating Danger of the Far Right”
This ad, placed days before Regan’s second presidential election, is included because of the presence of CUNY professors that have signed on, which account for about half of the list of “initiators.” They decry the fact that funding for the humanities and social sciences had been “cut to the bone” in the first four years…
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“Medgar Evers College regains four year status”
This article revisits the charge of the college, which is to provide professionalization while not neglecting liberal arts education for those in the Brooklyn community where the campus resides. The campus had previously lost four-year status during the fiscal crisis, only 7 years after opening. Read more.
