Organization:City University of New York

Short description: Public university system in New York City

For the list of higher education institutions in the City, see List of colleges and universities in New York City.

The City University of New York

Motto	Latin: Eruditio populi liberi spes gentium
Motto in English	The education of free people is the hope of Mankind
Type	Public university system
Established	1961 (1961)
Budget	$3.6 billion
Chancellor	Félix V. Matos Rodríguez
Academic staff	19,568
Administrative staff	33,099
Students	243,000
Location	New York City , New York, U.S.
Campus	25 campuses
Website	www.cuny.edu

The City University of New York (CUNY, spoken /ˈkjuːni/, KYOO-nee) is the public university system of New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven senior colleges, seven community colleges, and seven professional institutions. In 1960, John R. Everett became the first chancellor of the Municipal College System of New York City, later known as the City University of New York (CUNY). CUNY, established by New York State legislation in 1961 and signed into law by Governor Nelson Rockefeller, was an amalgamation of existing institutions and a new graduate school.

The system was governed by the Board of Higher Education of the City of New York, created in 1926, and later renamed the Board of Trustees of the CUNY in 1979. The institutions merged into CUNY included the Free Academy (later City College of New York), the Female Normal and High School (later Hunter College), Brooklyn College, and Queens College. CUNY has historically provided accessible education, especially to those excluded or unable to afford private universities. The first community college in New York City was established in 1955 with shared funding between the state and the city, but unlike the senior colleges, community college students had to pay tuition.

The integration of CUNY's colleges into a single university system took place in 1961, under a chancellor and with state funding. The Graduate Center, serving as the principal doctorate-granting institution, was also established that year. In 1964, Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. extended the senior colleges' free tuition policy to community colleges.The 1960s saw student protests demanding more racial diversity and academic representation in CUNY, leading to the establishment of Medgar Evers College and the implementation of the Open Admissions policy in 1970. This policy dramatically increased student diversity but also introduced challenges like low retention rates. The 1976 fiscal crisis ended the free tuition policy, leading to the introduction of tuition fees for all CUNY colleges. The university enrolls more than 275,000 students and counts thirteen Nobel Prize winners and twenty-four MacArthur Fellows among its alumni.

History

Founding

In 1960, John R. Everett became the first chancellor of the Municipal College System of the City of New York, later renamed CUNY, for a salary of $25,000 ($216,000 in current dollar terms). CUNY was created in 1961, by New York State legislation, signed into law by Governor Nelson Rockefeller. The legislation integrated existing institutions and a new graduate school into a coordinated system of higher education for the city, under the control of the "Board of Higher Education of the City of New York", which had been created by New York State legislation in 1926. By 1979, the Board of Higher Education had become the "Board of Trustees of the CUNY".

The institutions that were merged to create CUNY were:

• The Free Academy – Founded in 1847 by Townsend Harris, it was fashioned as "a Free Academy for the purpose of extending the benefits of education gratuitously to persons who have been pupils in the common schools of the city and county of New York." The Free Academy later became the City College of New York.
• The Female Normal and High School – Founded in 1870, and later renamed the Normal College. It would be renamed again in 1914 to Hunter College. During the early 20th century, Hunter College expanded into the Bronx, with what became Herbert Lehman College.
• Brooklyn College – Founded in 1930.
• Queens College – Founded in 1937.

Accessible education

CUNY has served a diverse student body, especially those excluded from or unable to afford private universities. Its four-year colleges offered a high-quality, tuition-free education to the poor, the working class, and the immigrants of New York City who met the grade requirements for matriculated status. During the post-World War I era, when some Ivy League universities, such as Yale University, discriminated against Jews, many Jewish academics and intellectuals studied and taught at CUNY. The City College of New York developed a reputation of being "the Harvard of the proletariat."

As New York City's population and public college enrollment grew during the early 20th century and the city struggled for resources, the municipal colleges slowly began adopting selective tuition, also known as instructional fees, for a handful of courses and programs. During the Great Depression, with funding for public colleges severely constrained, limits were imposed on the size of the colleges' free Day Sessions, and tuition was imposed upon students deemed "competent" but not academically qualified for the day program. Most of these "limited matriculation" students enrolled in the Evening Sessions, and paid tuition. Additionally, as the population of New York grew, CUNY was not able to accommodate the demand for higher education. Higher and higher requirements for admission were imposed; in 1965, a student seeking admission to CUNY needed an average of 92 or A−. This helped to ensure that the student population of CUNY remained largely white and middle-class.

Demand in the United States for higher education rapidly grew after World War II, and during the mid-1940s a movement began to create community colleges to provide accessible education and training. In New York City, however, the community college movement was constrained by many factors including "financial problems, narrow perceptions of responsibility, organizational weaknesses, adverse political factors, and other competing priorities."

Community colleges would have drawn from the same city coffers that were funding the senior colleges, and city higher education officials were of the view that the state should finance them. It was not until 1955, under a shared-funding arrangement with New York State, that New York City established its first community college, on Staten Island. Unlike the day college students attending the city's public baccalaureate colleges for free, community college students had to pay tuition fees under the state-city funding formula. Community college students paid tuition fees for approximately 10 years.

Over time, tuition fees for limited-matriculated students became an important source of system revenues. In fall 1957, for example, nearly 36,000 attended Hunter, Brooklyn, Queens and City Colleges for free, but another 24,000 paid tuition fees of up to $300 a year ($2,700 in current dollar terms). Undergraduate tuition and other student fees in 1957 comprised 17 percent of the colleges' $46.8 million in revenues, about $7.74 million ($70,460,000 in current dollar terms).

Three community colleges had been established by early 1961 when New York City's public colleges were codified by the state as a single university with a chancellor at the helm and an infusion of state funds. But the city's slowness in creating the community colleges as demand for college seats was intensifying and had resulted in mounting frustration, particularly on the part of minorities, that college opportunities were not available to them.

In 1964, as New York City's Board of Higher Education moved to take full responsibility for the community colleges, city officials extended the senior colleges' free tuition policy to them, a change that was included by Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. in his budget plans and took effect with the 1964–65 academic year.

Calls for greater access to public higher education from the black and Puerto Rican communities in New York, especially in Brooklyn, led to the founding of "Community College Number 7," later Medgar Evers College, in 1966–1967. In 1969, a group of black and Puerto Rican students occupied City College and demanded the racial integration of CUNY, which at the time had an overwhelmingly white student body.

Student protests

Students at some campuses became increasingly frustrated with the university's and Board of Higher Education's handling of university administration. At Baruch College in 1967, over a thousand students protested the plan to make the college an upper-division school limited to junior, senior, and graduate students. At Brooklyn College in 1968, students attempted a sit-in to demand the admission of more black and Puerto Rican students and additional black studies curriculum. Students at Hunter College also demanded a Black studies program. Members of the SEEK program, which provided academic support for underprepared and underprivileged students, staged a building takeover at Queens College in 1969 to protest the decisions of the program's director, who would later be replaced by a black professor. Puerto Rican students at Bronx Community College filed a report with the New York State Division of Human Rights in 1970, contending that the intellectual level of the college was inferior and discriminatory. Hunter College was crippled for several days by a protest of 2,000 students who had a list of demands focusing on more student representation in college administration. Across CUNY, students boycotted their campuses in 1970 to protest a rise in student fees and other issues, including the proposed (and later implemented) open admissions plan.

Like many college campuses in 1970, CUNY faced a number of protests and demonstrations after the Kent State massacre and Cambodian Campaign. The Administrative Council of the City University of New York sent U.S. president Richard Nixon a telegram in 1970 stating, "No nation can long endure the alienation of the best of its young people." Some colleges, including John Jay College of Criminal Justice, historically the "college for cops," held teach-ins in addition to student and faculty protests.

Open admissions

Under pressure from community activists and CUNY Chancellor Albert Bowker, the Board of Higher Education (BHE) approved an Open Admissions plan in 1966, but it was not scheduled to be fully implemented until 1975. However, in 1969, students and faculty across CUNY participated in rallies, student strikes, and class boycotts demanding an end to CUNY's restrictive admissions policies. CUNY administrators and Mayor John Lindsay expressed support for these demands, and the BHE voted to implement the plan immediately in the fall of 1970.

The doors to CUNY were opened wide to all those demanding entrance, assuring all high school graduates entrance to the university without having to fulfill traditional requirements such as exams or grades. This policy was known as open admissions and nearly doubled the number of students enrolling in the CUNY system to 35,000 (compared to 20,000 the year before). With greater numbers came more diversity: Black and Hispanic student enrollment increased threefold. Remedial education, to supplement the training of under-prepared students, became a significant part of CUNY's offerings.

Additionally, ethnic and Black Studies programs and centers were instituted on many CUNY campuses, contributing to the growth of similar programs nationwide.

However, retention of students in CUNY during this period was low, with two-thirds of students enrolled in the early 1970s leaving within four years without graduating. Robert Kibbee was chancellor of the City University of New York, the third-largest university in the United States, from 1971 to 1982.

Financial crisis of 1976

In fall 1976, during New York City's fiscal crisis, the free tuition policy was discontinued under pressure from the federal government, the financial community that had a role in rescuing the city from bankruptcy, and New York State, which would take over the funding of CUNY's senior colleges. Tuition, which had been in place in the State University of New York system since 1963, was instituted at all CUNY colleges.

Meanwhile, CUNY students were added to the state's need-based Tuition Assistance Program (TAP), which had been created to help private colleges. Full-time students who met the income eligibility criteria were permitted to receive TAP, ensuring for the first time that financial hardship would deprive no CUNY student of a college education. Within a few years, the federal government would create its own need-based program, known as Pell Grants, providing the neediest students with a tuition-free college education. Joseph S. Murphy was Chancellor of the City University of New York from 1982 to 1990, when he resigned. CUNY at the time was the third-largest university in the United States, with over 180,000 students.

By 2011, nearly six of ten full-time undergraduates qualified for a tuition-free education at CUNY due in large measure to state, federal and CUNY financial aid programs. CUNY's enrollment dipped after tuition was re-established, and there were further enrollment declines through the 1980s and into the 1990s.

Financial crisis of 1995

In 1995, CUNY suffered another fiscal crisis when Governor George Pataki proposed a drastic cut in state financing. Faculty cancelled classes and students staged protests. By May, CUNY adopted deep cuts to college budgets and class offerings. By June, to save money spent on remedial programs, CUNY adopted a stricter admissions policy for its senior colleges: students deemed unprepared for college would not be admitted, this a departure from the 1970 Open Admissions program. That year's final state budget cut funding by $102 million, which CUNY absorbed by increasing tuition by $750 and offering a retirement incentive plan for faculty.

In 1999, a task force appointed by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani issued a report that described CUNY as "an institution adrift" and called for an improved, more cohesive university structure and management, as well as more consistent academic standards. Following the report, Matthew Goldstein, a mathematician and City College graduate who had led CUNY's Baruch College and briefly, Adelphi University, was appointed chancellor. CUNY ended its policy of open admissions to its four-year colleges, raised its admissions standards at its most selective four-year colleges (Baruch, Brooklyn, City, Hunter and Queens), and required new enrollees who needed remediation, to begin their studies at a CUNY open-admissions community college.

2010 onwards

CUNY's enrollment of degree-credit students reached 220,727 in 2005 and 262,321 in 2010 as the university broadened its academic offerings. The university added more than 2,000 full-time faculty positions, opened new schools and programs, and expanded the university's fundraising efforts to help pay for them. Fundraising increased from $35 million in 2000 to more than $200 million in 2012.

As of Autumn 2013, all CUNY undergraduates are required to take an administration-dictated common core of courses which have been claimed to meet specific "learning outcomes" or standards. Since the courses are accepted university-wide, the administration claims it will be easier for students to transfer course credits between CUNY colleges. It also reduced the number of core courses some CUNY colleges had required, to a level below national norms, particularly in the sciences. The program is the target of several lawsuits by students and faculty, and was the subject of a "no confidence" vote by the faculty, who rejected it by an overwhelming 92% margin.

Chancellor Goldstein retired on July 1, 2013, and was replaced on June 1, 2014, by James Milliken, president of the University of Nebraska, and a graduate of the University of Nebraska and New York University School of Law. Milliken retired at the end of the 2018 academic year and moved on to become the chancellor for the University of Texas system.

In 2018, CUNY opened its 25th campus, the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies, named after former president Joseph S. Murphy and combining some forms and functions of the Murphy Institute that were housed at the CUNY School of Professional Studies.

On February 13, 2019, the board of trustees voted to appoint Queens College president Felix V. Matos Rodriguez as the chancellor of the City University of New York. Matos became both the first Latino and minority educator to head the university. He assumed the post May 1.

Enrollment and demographics

CUNY is the fourth-largest university system in the United States by enrollment, behind the California State University system, the State University of New York (SUNY) system, and the University of California system. More than 271,000-degree-credit students, continuing, and professional education students are enrolled at campuses located in all five New York City boroughs.

The university has one of the most diverse student bodies in the United States, with students hailing from around the world, but mostly from New York City. The black, white and Hispanic undergraduate populations each comprise more than a quarter of the student body, and Asian undergraduates make up 18 percent. Fifty-eight percent are female, and 28 percent are 25 or older. In the 2017–2018 award year, 144,380 CUNY students received the Federal Pell Grant.

CUNY Citizenship Now!

Founded in 1997 by immigration lawyer Allan Wernick, CUNY Citizenship Now! is an immigration assistance organization that provides free and confidential immigration law services to help individuals and families on their path to U.S. citizenship. In 2021, CUNY launched a College Immigrant Ambassador Program in partnership with the New York City Department of Education.

Academics

University rankings
Global
QS	701-750

Component institutions

Grad Center

Law

Journalism

Public Health

Med School

BMCC

Bronx

Guttman

Hostos

Kingsborough

LaGuardia

Queensborough

City College

Hunter

Brooklyn

Baruch

City Tech

John Jay

Lehman College

Macaulay

Medgar Evers

Queens College

College of Staten Island

York College

class=notpageimage|

Location of CUNY campuses within New York City.
Black: Senior Colleges; 8px Red: Graduate and Professional Schools; Yellow: Community Colleges.

CUNY component institutions

Est.	Type	Name
1847	Senior College	City College
1870	Senior College	Hunter College
1919	Senior College	Baruch College
1930	Senior College	Brooklyn College
1937	Senior College	Queens College
1946	Senior College	New York City College of Technology
1964	Senior College	John Jay College of Criminal Justice
1966	Senior College	York College
1968	Senior College	Lehman College
1970	Senior College	Medgar Evers College
1976	Senior College	College of Staten Island
2001	Honors College	William E. Macaulay Honors College
1957	Community College	Bronx Community College
1958	Community College	Queensborough Community College
1963	Community College	Borough of Manhattan Community College
1963	Community College	Kingsborough Community College
1968	Community College	LaGuardia Community College
1970	Community College	Hostos Community College
2011	Community College	Guttman Community College
1961	Graduate / professional	CUNY Graduate Center
1973	Graduate / professional	CUNY School of Medicine
1983	Graduate / professional	CUNY School of Law
2006	Graduate / professional	CUNY Graduate School of Journalism
2006	Graduate / professional	CUNY School of Professional Studies
2008	Graduate / professional	CUNY School of Public Health
2018	Graduate / professional	CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies

Management structure

Seal of the CUNY Board of Trustees

The forerunner of today's City University of New York was governed by the Board of Education of New York City. Members of the Board of Education, chaired by the president of the board, served as ex officio trustees. For the next four decades, the board members continued to serve as ex officio trustees of the College of the City of New York and the city's other municipal college, the Normal College of the City of New York.

In 1900, the New York State Legislature created separate boards of trustees for the College of the City of New York and the Normal College, which became Hunter College in 1914. In 1926, the legislature established the Board of Higher Education of the City of New York, which assumed supervision of both municipal colleges.

In 1961, the New York State Legislature established the City University of New York, uniting what had become seven municipal colleges at the time: the City College of New York, Hunter College, Brooklyn College, Queens College, Staten Island Community College, Bronx Community College and Queensborough Community College. In 1979, the CUNY Financing and Governance Act was adopted by the State and the Board of Higher Education became the City University of New York Board of Trustees.

Today, the City University is governed by the board of trustees composed of 17 members, ten of whom are appointed by the governor of New York "with the advice and consent of the senate," and five by the mayor of New York City "with the advice and consent of the senate." The final two trustees are ex officio members. One is the chair of the university's student senate, and the other is non-voting and is the chair of the university's faculty senate. Both the mayoral and gubernatorial appointments to the CUNY Board are required to include at least one resident of each of New York City's five boroughs. Trustees serve seven-year terms, which are renewable for another seven years. The chancellor is elected by the board of trustees, and is the "chief educational and administrative officer" of the City University.

The administrative offices are in Midtown Manhattan.

Faculty

CUNY employs 6,700 full-time faculty members and over 10,000 adjunct faculty members. Faculty and staff are represented by the Professional Staff Congress (PSC), a labor union and chapter of the American Federation of Teachers.

Notable faculty

F. Murray Abraham

Hannah Arendt

John Ashbery

Michael Cunningham

Allen Ginsberg

Itzhak Perlman

Mark Rothko

Dr. Ruth

Elie Wiesel

• André Aciman, writer, Graduate Center
• Ali Jimale Ahmed, poet and professor of Comparative Literature, Queens College and Graduate Center
• F. Murray Abraham, actor of stage and screen; professor of theater, winner of the Academy Award for Best Actor, Brooklyn College
• Chantal Akerman, film director, City College of New York
• Meena Alexander, poet and writer, Graduate Center and Hunter College
• Hannah Arendt, philosopher and political theorist; author of The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951) and The Human Condition (1958), Brooklyn College
• Talal Asad, anthropologist, Graduate Center
• John Ashbery, poet, Pulitzer Prize for Poetry winner, Brooklyn College
• William Bialek, biophysicist, Graduate Center
• Edwin G. Burrows, historian and writer, Pulitzer Prize for History winner for co-writing Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 with Mike Wallace, Brooklyn College
• Ron Carter, jazz bassist, City College
• Joe Chambers, jazz drummer, City College
• Dee L. Clayman, classicist, Graduate Center
• Margaret Clapp, scholar, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography, president of Wellesley College, Brooklyn College
• Ta-Nehisi Coates, writer, journalist, and activist, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism
• Billy Collins, poet, U.S. Poet Laureate, Lehman College (retired)
• Blanche Wiesen Cook, historian, John Jay College of Criminal Justice and Graduate Center
• John Corigliano, composer, Graduate Center
• Michael Cunningham, writer, winner of Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and PEN/Faulkner Award for The Hours, Brooklyn College
• Roy DeCarava, artist and photographer, Hunter College
• Carolyn Eisele, mathematician, Hunter College
• Nancy Fraser, philosopher and political scientist, Graduate Center
• Ruth Wilson Gilmore, geographer, Graduate Center
• Allen Ginsberg, beat poet, Brooklyn College
• Aaron Goodelman, sculptor
• Joel Glucksman, Olympic saber fencer, Brooklyn College
• Ralph Goldstein, Olympic épée fencer, Brooklyn College
• Michael Grossman, economist, Graduate Center
• Kimiko Hahn, poet, winner of PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry, Queens College
• David Harvey, geographer, Graduate Center
• Jimmy Heath, jazz saxophonist, City College
• Bell Hooks, educator, writer and critic, City College of New York
• Karen Brooks Hopkins, president of the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn College
• John Hospers, first presidential candidate of the US Libertarian Party, Brooklyn College
• Tyehimba Jess, poet, winner of Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, College of Staten Island
• KC Johnson born (1967), Brooklyn College and Graduate Center
• Sheila Jordan, jazz vocalist, City College
• Michio Kaku, physicist, City College
• Jane Katz, Olympian swimmer, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
• Alfred Kazin, writer and critic, Hunter College and Graduate Center
• Saul Kripke, philosopher, Graduate Center
• Irving Kristol, journalist, City College
• Paul Krugman, economist, Graduate Center
• Peter Kwong, journalist, filmmaker, activist, Hunter College and Graduate Center
• Nathan H. Lents, scientist, author, and science communicator, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
• Ben Lerner, writer, MacArthur Fellow, Brooklyn College
• Audre Lorde, poet and activist, City College, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
• Cate Marvin, poet, Guggenheim Fellowship winner, College of Staten Island
• Abraham Maslow, psychologist in the school of humanistic psychology, best known for his theory of human motivation which led to a therapeutic technique known as self-actualization, Brooklyn College
• John Matteson, historian and writer, Pulitzer Prize winner, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
• Maeve Kennedy McKean, attorney and public health official
• Stanley Milgram, social psychologist, Graduate Center
• Charles W. Mills, philosopher, Graduate Center
• June Nash, anthropologist, Graduate Center
• Ruth O'Brien, political scientist and disability studies writer, Graduate Center
• Denise O'Connor, Olympic foil fencer, Brooklyn College
• John Patitucci, jazz bassist, City College
• Itzhak Perlman, violinist, Brooklyn College
• Frances Fox Piven, political scientist, activist, and educator, Graduate Center
• Roman Popadiuk, US Ambassador to Ukraine, Brooklyn College
• Graham Priest, philosopher, Graduate Center
• Inez Smith Reid, Senior Judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, Brooklyn College
• Adrienne Rich, poet and activist, City College of New York
• David M. Rosenthal, philosopher, Graduate Center
• Mark Rothko (born Markus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz), influential abstract expressionist painter, Brooklyn College
• Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., historian and social critic, Graduate Center
• Flora Rheta Schreiber, journalist, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
• Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, literary critic, Graduate Center
• Betty Shabazz, educator and activist, Medgar Evers College
• Mark Strand, United States Poet Laureate, Pulitzer Prize for Poetry-winning poet, essayist, and translator, Brooklyn College
• Dennis Sullivan, mathematician, Graduate Center
• Harold Syrett (1913–1984), president of Brooklyn College
• Katherine Verdery, anthropologist, Graduate Center
• Michele Wallace, women's studies and film studies, City College and Graduate Center
• Mike Wallace, historian and writer, John Jay College of Criminal Justice and Graduate Center
• Ruth Westheimer (better known as Dr. Ruth; born Karola Ruth Siegel), sex therapist, media personality, author, radio, television talk show host, and Holocaust survivor, Brooklyn College
• Elie Wiesel, novelist, political activist, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Presidential Medal of Freedom, and Congressional Gold Medal, City College
• C. K. Williams, poet, won Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, Brooklyn College
• Andrea Alu, engineer and physicist, Graduate Center
• Robert Alfano, physicist, discovered the supercontinuum, City College
• Branko Milanović, economist most known for his work on income distribution and inequality; a visiting presidential professor at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, an affiliated senior scholar at the Luxembourg Income Study and former lead economist in the World Bank's research department.
• Simi Linton, arts consultant, author, filmmaker, and activist. Focuses on disability in the arts, disability studies, and ways that disability rights and disability justice perspectives can be brought to bear on the arts.

Public Safety Department

Patch of the CUNY Public Safety Department

CUNY has a unified public safety department, the City University of New York Public Safety Department, with branches at each of the 26 CUNY campuses. The New York City Police Department is the primary policing and investigation agency within the New York City as per the NYC Charter, which includes all CUNY campuses and facilities.

The Public Safety Department came under heavy criticism from student groups, after several students protesting tuition increases tried to occupy the lobby of the Baruch College. The occupiers were forcibly removed from the area and several were arrested on November 21, 2011.

Antisemitism at CUNY

Antisemitism has been a problem on CUNY campuses for many years. In recent years, there have been a number of antisemitic incidents on CUNY campuses, including:

• In March 2014, Brooklyn College settled the Title VI complaint that the Zionist Organization of America ("ZOA") had filed against its antisemitic discrimination
• In 2017, a CUNY admin was recorded saying that there were too many Jews on campus.
• In 2020, a CUNY student was arrested for spray-painting antisemitic graffiti on a campus building.
• In 2021, a survey found that nearly one in four CUNY students had experienced antisemitism on campus. The survey also found that Jewish students were more likely to report feeling unsafe on campus than students of other faiths.
• In May 2021, a student at John Jay posted a picture of Adolf Hitler on Instagram with a message saying "We need another Hitler today." A group of Jewish students met with Karol Mason, the President of the college, who refused to condemn the action publicly.
• The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission cited CUNY in 2021 for failing to protect a Jewish professor after the PSC discriminated against him and subjected him to a hostile work environment on the basis of his Jewish faith.

CUNY has taken steps to address antisemitism on its campuses. In 2020, the university created a task force to combat antisemitism. The task force has developed a number of initiatives, including training for faculty and staff on how to identify and address antisemitism.

City University Television (CUNY TV)

CUNY also has a broadcast TV service, CUNY TV (channel 75 on Spectrum, digital HD broadcast channel 25.3), which airs telecourses, classic and foreign films, magazine shows, and panel discussions in foreign languages.

City University Film Festival (CUNYFF)

The City University Film Festival is CUNY's official film festival. The festival was founded in 2009.

Notable alumni

See also sections in each college's article

CUNY graduates include 13 Nobel laureates, 2 Fields Medalists, 2 U.S. Secretaries of State, a Supreme Court Justice, several New York City mayors, members of Congress, state legislators, scientists, artists, and Olympians.

CUNY notable alumni

Name	Grad.	College	Notable for
Kenneth Arrow	1940	City	economist and joint winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics
Robert Aumann	1950	City	mathematician and winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics
Albert Axelrod		City	Olympic foil fencer
Herman Badillo	1951	City	civil rights activist and first Puerto Rican elected to the U.S. Congress
Daniel Bukantz		City	Olympic foil fencer
Abram Cohen		City	Olympic foil, épée, and sabre fencer
Arlene Davila	1996	City	author and Anthropology and American Studies professor at New York University
Rubén Díaz Jr.	2005	Lehman	Bronx Borough President
Rubén Díaz Sr.	1976	Lehman	NYC Council Member, Pastor
Jeffrey Dinowitz	1975	Lehman	NYS Assembly Member
Jesse Douglas	1916	City	mathematician and winner of one of the first two Fields Medals
Eliot Engel	1969	Lehman	Member of the US House of Representatives, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee
Abraham Foxman		City	national director, Anti-Defamation League
Felix Frankfurter	1902	City	U.S. Supreme Court Justice
Denise Galloway	1975	City	Cancer researcher and medical academic
Harold Goldsmith	1952	City	Olympic foil and épée fencer
Andy Grove	1960	City	Chairman and CEO, Intel Corporation
Herbert A. Hauptman	1937	City	mathematician and winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Letitia James	1982	Lehman	NYS Attorney General
Jane Katz	1963	City	Olympic swimmer
Henry Kissinger		City	U.S. Secretary of State and National Security Advisor
Leonard Kleinrock	1957	City	computer scientist, Internet pioneer
Guillermo Linares	1975	City	New York City Council member, first Dominican-American City Council member and Commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs
Nathaniel Lubell	1936	City	Olympic foil, saber, and épée fencer
Samuel Lubell		City	pollster, journalist, and National Book Award for Nonfiction finalist
Lisa Nakamura	1993 1996	City	Director and Professor of the Asian American Studies Program at the Institute of Communication Research at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Charles Neider		City	Author, Scholar
Barnett Newman	1927	City	abstract expressionist artist
John O'Keefe		City	2014 Nobel laureate in Medicine
Colin Powell	1958	City	Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Secretary of State
Mario Puzo		City	novelist, Oscar-winning screenwriter for Best Adapted Screenplay (1972, 1974).
Faith Ringgold	1955	City	feminist, writer and artist
Saul Rogovin		City BMCC	Professional baseball player
A. M. Rosenthal	1949	City	executive editor of The New York Times who championed the publication of the Pentagon Papers; Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist expelled from Poland in 1959 for his reporting on the nation's government and society
Rochelle Saidel		City	author, founder of the Remember the Women Institute
Jonas Salk	1934	City	developed the first polio vaccine
Daniel Schorr	1939	City	Emmy award winning broadcast journalist for CBS-TV and National Public Radio
Elliott Fitch Shepard	1855	City	lawyer, banker, and a founder of the New York State Bar Association
James Strauch		City	Olympic épée fencer
Bernard Weinraub		City	journalist and playwright
Henry Wittenberg		City	Olympic champion wrestler
Egemen Bağış		Baruch	Turkish politician, government minister
Abraham Beame	1928	Baruch	born Abraham Birnbaum; mayor of New York City
Robin Byrd		Baruch	host of public access program The Robin Byrd Show (dropped out)
Barbara A. Cornblatt	1977	Baruch	professor of psychiatry and molecular medicine at Hofstra University School of Medicine
Fernando Ferrer		Baruch	New York City mayoral candidate in 2001 and 2005
Sidney Harman	1939	Baruch	founder and executive chairman of Harman Kardon
Marcia A. Karrow		Baruch	member of New Jersey General Assembly
James Lam	1983	Baruch	author, risk management consultant
Ralph Lauren		Baruch	born Ralph Lifshitz; chairman and CEO of Polo Ralph Lauren (dropped out)
Dolly Lenz		Baruch	New York City real estate agent
Dennis Levine		Baruch	prominent player in the Wall Street insider trading scandals of the mid-1980s
Jennifer Lopez		Baruch	actress, singer, dancer (dropped out)
Craig A. Stanley		Baruch	member of New Jersey General Assembly since 1996.
Tarkan		Baruch	Turkish language singer
Bella Abzug	1942	Hunter	born Bella Savitzky; feminist; political activist; U.S. Representative, 1971–1977
Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick	1963	Hunter	first Hispanic woman named to the New York State Court of Appeals
Robert R. Davila	1965	Hunter	president of Gallaudet University and advocate for the rights of the hearing impaired
Ruby Dee	1945	Hunter	Emmy-nominated actress and civil rights activist
Martin Garbus	1955	Hunter	First amendment attorney
Florence Howe	1950	Hunter	founder of women's studies and founder/publisher of the Feminist Press/CUNY
Audre Lorde	1959	Hunter	African-American lesbian poet, essayist, educator and activist
Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Mohamedou	1991	Hunter	Foreign Minister of Mauritania and professor of international history at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva
Soia Mentschikoff	1934	Hunter	first woman partner of a major law firm; first woman elected president of the Association of American Law Schools
Thomas J. Murphy Jr.	1973	Hunter	three-term mayor of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1994–2006
Pauli Murray	1933	Hunter	first African-American woman named an Episcopal priest; human rights activist; lawyer and co-founder of N.O.W
Edward Thomas Brady		John Jay	(MA), trial attorney and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina
Jennings Michael Burch		John Jay	author of the 1984 best-selling memoir They Cage the Animals at Night
Marcos Crespo		John Jay	(BA), New York State Assemblyman representing district 85
Edward A. Flynn		John Jay	Chief of the Milwaukee Police Department
Petri Hawkins-Byrd	1989	John Jay	Judge Judy bailiff
Henry Lee	1972	John Jay	forensic scientist and founder of the Henry C. Lee Institute of Forensic Science
Miguel Martinez		John Jay	(BS), member of the New York City Council representing the 10th District in upper Manhattan's Washington Heights, Inwood, and Marble Hill areas until his resignation on July 14, 2009
Eva Norvind		John Jay	(MA), actor and director
Pauley Perrette		John Jay	actor best known for her role as Abby Scuito on NCIS
Ronald Rice		John Jay	New Jersey State Senator
Ariel Rios		John Jay	undercover special agent for the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), killed in the line of duty
Imette St. Guillen		John Jay	criminal justice graduate student murdered in February 2006. A scholarship was created in her name
Scott Stringer		John Jay	Comptroller, Borough president of Manhattan, and member of the New York State Assembly
Dorothy Uhnak		John Jay	(BA), novelist and detective for the New York City Transit Police Department
Bill Baird	1955	Brooklyn	reproductive rights activist and co-director of the Pro Choice League
Barbara Aronstein Black	1953	Brooklyn	Dean of Columbia Law School
Barbara Levy Boxer	1962	Brooklyn	anti-war activist, environmentalist, U.S. representative, 1982–1993, and U.S. senator
Mel Brooks	1956	Brooklyn	born Melvin Kaminsky; Academy, Emmy, and Tony Award-winning director, writer, and actor
Shirley Chisholm	1946	Brooklyn	first African-American U.S. Congresswoman, 1968–1982. Candidate for U.S. president, 1972
Bruce Chizen	1978	Brooklyn	president & CEO, Adobe Systems
Manuel F. Cohen	1933	Brooklyn	Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman
Paul Cohen	1953	Brooklyn	Fields Medal-winning mathematician
Stanley Cohen	1943	Brooklyn	biochemist and Nobel laureate (Physiology or Medicine), 1986
Robert A. Daly		Brooklyn	CEO of Warner Bros. and Los Angeles Dodgers
Alan M. Dershowitz	1959	Brooklyn	Harvard Law School professor and author
Jerry Della Femina	1957	Brooklyn	Chairman & CEO, Della Femina, Jeary and Partners
Dan DiDio	1983	Brooklyn	comic book editor and executive for DC Comics
Benjamin Eisenstadt	1954	Brooklyn	creator of Sweet'N Low and founder of Cumberland Packing Corporation
Sandra Feldman	1960	Brooklyn	president, American Federation of Teachers
James Franco		Brooklyn	Golden Globe Award-winning actor
Nikki Franke	1972	Brooklyn	Olympic foil fencer
Ralph Goldstein		Brooklyn	Olympic épée fencer
Sterling Johnson Jr.	1963	Brooklyn	Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
Gata Kamsky	1999	Brooklyn	chess grandmaster and five-time US chess champion
Saul Katz	1960	Brooklyn	president of the New York Mets
Edward R. Korman	1963	Brooklyn	Senior United States District Judge on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
Marvin Kratter	1937	Brooklyn	owner of the Boston Celtics
Don Lemon	1996	Brooklyn	reporter, CNN
Leonard Lopate	1967	Brooklyn	host of the public radio talk show The Leonard Lopate Show, broadcast on WNYC
Michael Lynne	1961	Brooklyn	CEO of New Line Cinema
Marjorie Magner	1969	Brooklyn	Chairman of Gannett
Marty Markowitz	1970	Brooklyn	New York State Senator; Brooklyn Borough President
Paul Mazursky	1951	Brooklyn	film director, writer, producer; actor
Frank McCourt	1967	Brooklyn	Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Angela's Ashes and 'Tis
Stanley Milgram	1954	Brooklyn	social psychologist
Jerry Moss	1957	Brooklyn	co-founder of A&M Records
Barry Munitz	1963	Brooklyn	Chancellor of California State University
Gloria Naylor	1981	Brooklyn	novelist; Winner National Book Award
Peter Nero	1956	Brooklyn	born Bernard Nierow; pianist and pops conductor; Grammy Award winner
Harvey Pitt	1965	Brooklyn	Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission
Rosemary S. Pooler	1959	Brooklyn	United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Jason K. Pulliam	1995; 1997	Brooklyn	United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas
Barry Salzberg	1974	Brooklyn	CEO of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
Bernie Sanders		Brooklyn	US senator representing Vermont
Steve Schirripa	1980	Brooklyn	actor known for his role as Bobby Baccalieri on the HBO TV series The Sopranos
Irwin Shaw	1934	Brooklyn	born Irwin Shamforoff; O. Henry Award-winning author
Timothy Shortell	1992	Brooklyn	Writer, critic of religion
Joel Harvey Slomsky	1967	Brooklyn	Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Jimmy Smits	1980	Brooklyn	Emmy Award-winning actor; NYPD Blue and L.A. Law
Maynard Solomon	1950	Brooklyn	co-founder of Vanguard Records
Lisa Staiano-Coico	1976	Brooklyn	president of City College of New York
Frank Tarloff		Brooklyn	Academy Award-winning screenwriter
Benjamin Ward	1960	Brooklyn	first black New York City Police Commissioner, 1983–1989
Iris Weinshall	1975	Brooklyn	Vice Chancellor at the City University of New York and Commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation
Jack B. Weinstein	1943	Brooklyn	Senior Judge, United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
Walter Yetnikoff	1953	Brooklyn	CEO of CBS Records
Philip Zimbardo	1954	Brooklyn	social psychologist
Joy Behar	1964	Queens	comedian, television personality
Jerry Colonna		Queens	venture capitalist and entrepreneur coach
Joseph Crowley		Queens	member of the U.S. House of Representatives, 1999–2019
Alan Hevesi		Queens	New York State Comptroller, New York State Assemblyman, Queens College professor
Cheryl Lehman	1975	Queens	Professor of Accounting, Hofstra University
Helen Marshall		Queens	Queens Borough President
Donna Orender		Queens	WNBA president
Jerry Seinfeld	1976	Queens	actor and comedian
Charles Wang		Queens	founder of Computer Associates, owner of the New York Islanders
Carl Andrews		Medgar Evers	New York state senator
Yvette Clarke		Medgar Evers	Congresswoman, member of the United States House of Representatives from New York's 11th and 9th congressional districts
Richard Carmona	1973	Bronx	Surgeon General of the United States
Kid Chaos	1991	Bronx	British rock Bassist and Guitarist who played in incarnations of hard rock bands such as The Cult
The Kid Mero		Bronx	Co-host of Desus & Mero
Annabel Palma	1991	Bronx	NYC Council member, 2004–2017
Cardi B		BMCC	Rapper
Queen Latifah		BMCC	Singer-songwriter, rapper, actress, and producer
Adam Saleh		BMCC	YouTuber and boxer
Mirko Savone		BMCC	Italian voiceover actor
Assata Shakur		BMCC	Former member of Black Liberation Army, 1970-1981
Gabourey Sidibe		BMCC	American actress
Michael K. Williams		BMCC	American actor
Riddick Bowe		Kingsborough	Professional boxer, 1989-2008
Mauriel Carty		Kingsborough	Anguillan sprinter
Andrew Dice Clay		Kingsborough	Stand-up comedian, actor, musician and producer
Pete Falcone		Kingsborough	Professional baseball pitcher
Jeff Koinange	1989	Kingsborough	Journalist and host of Jeff Koinange Live
Phillipe Nover		Kingsborough	Mixed martial artist
Larry Seabrook	1972	Kingsborough	NYC Council member, 2002-2012
Aesha Waks		Kingsborough	Actress
Khandi Alexander		Queensborough	Dancer, choreographer, and actress
Sandra "Pepa" Denton		Queensborough	Rapper and songwriter, member of Salt-N-Pepa
Cheryl "Salt" James		Queensborough	Rapper and songwriter, member of Salt-N-Pepa
Nayan Padrai		Queensborough	Screenwriter, producer and director
Joe Santagato		Queensborough	YouTuber, comedian and podcaster
Elly Gross	1993	LaGuardia	A holocaust survivor and author of several Holocaust related books of poetry and prose
DJ JP		LaGuardia	The official DJ to Pop Smoke
Reby Sky		LaGuardia	Professional wrestler and model
Elliot Wilson		LaGuardia	Journalist, television producer, and magazine editor

See also

• City University of New York Athletic Conference
• CUNY Academic Commons
• Education in New York City
• Guide Association
• State University of New York (SUNY) system.
• The William E. Macaualay Honors College

Further reading

• Dunham, E. Alden. Colleges of the Forgotten Americans. A Profile of State Colleges and Regional Universities (McGraw Hill, 1969).
• Freedman, Morris. "CCNY Days." The American Scholar (1980) 49#2 pp. 193–207. online
• Gettleman, Marvin E. "John H. Finley at CCNY—1903–1913." History of Education Quarterly 10.4 (1970): 423–439; on his presidency. online
• Gumport, Patricia J., and Michael N. Bastedo. "Academic stratification and endemic conflict: Remedial education policy at CUNY." Review of Higher Education 24.4 (2001): 333–349. online
• Nelson, Adam R. "Higher Education and Human Capital and in the 'New York Bay Area': Historical Lessons from the City University of New York (CUNY)." in Higher education, innovation and entrepreneurship from comparative perspectives (Springer Nature Singapore, 2022) pp. 17–58. online
• Rudy, S. Willis. The College of the City of New York: A History, 1847–1947 (The City College Press, 1949),
• Van Nort, Sydney C. The City College of New York (Arcadia Publishing, 2007) online.

External links

• City University of New York in Open NY (data.ny.gov)
•  "New York, College of the City of". Collier's New Encyclopedia. 1921. 
•  "New York, College of the City of". New International Encyclopedia. 1905.