Student and Faculty Feelings and Opinions - 1973
Memorandum from NYU President James M. Hester to Members of the NYU Community Concerning Sale of the University Heights Campus
When the idea of combining several engineering schools around New York City came about to create a mega-institution to compete with the likes of MIT, all eyes were on NYU and the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, or PIB (with its name later changed to Polytechnic University). The engineering school at NYU was struggling, and a merger with PIB seemed like an optimal way to create the sort of engineering school that the state of New York wanted. In the case of this merger as compared to the 2008 formal affiliation and 2014 merger of the 2 schools, faculty and student reservations on the project weren’t as much about the schools and programs themselves, but rather what was going to be done to the University Heights campus in The Bronx.
It is no secret that the campus was sold to the City University of New York system, and that it’s now The Bronx Community College. But it was more secretive behind the scenes with letters and exchanges that fought quite hard against the sale of the campus. Many NYU faculty and alumni felt very strongly that The Heights campus was a valuable and symbolic part of NYU. Scanning through some of the letters written to and from President James M. Hester, president of NYU at the time, shows some harsh realities and emotional opinions on the sale. In February of 1972, President Hester sent out a memorandum to the NYU community on the status of the University Heights campus. There were several ideas floating around at the time, with the main one being the sale and transfer of the University Heights campus of NYU being transferred to the state of New York to become an engineering and technology campus. NYU would then consolidate its resources around Washington Square to try and solve some of its financial issues while bolstering the math and science programs at that campus (Thorsen, 1972). In essence, this is part of what ended up happening, with the added edition of the Merger with PIB and the engineering programs of NYU moving to Downtown Brooklyn rather than Washington Square.
Thorsen does acknowledge that the transfer of The Heights campus would be painful for many members of the NYU community and that “The suggested action cannot be contemplated except under circumstances that provide extraordinary possibilities for the future of engineering education and of the entire University” (Thorsen, 1972). He also blames the issue partially on the financial situation of the University. With the financial difficulties of the institution, he felt that the University needed to concentrate its resources on faculty, staff, and students, even if that meant consolidation.
Dr. Richard Thorsen Interview
He exclaimed that many people felt sad when they learned that the campus was set to close and be sold; many students and faculty liked the campus setting and its impressive facilities. There has been a consideration by NYU to move the engineering school to the Washington Square campus post sale, but Polytechnic was strongly opposed, as they saw no value to having 2 comparable engineering schools competing in such close proximity. In addition, while the faculty and students could voice their opinions, Polytechnic was in a much stronger political position, making it easier to get what they wanted. As Dr. Throrson said, “[Poly] was in the district of Stanley Steingut, the speaker of the New York State Assembly. Poly enlisted him as an ally to block the transaction of NYU selling the Heights campus if they were going to move the engineering school to Washington Square, and that’s when the political hardball began” (NYU Stories, 2013).
There was a sense of hopelessness among the faculty and students, as Polytechnic had a sort of stronghold over the decisions that NYU made with its engineering school. Dr. Thorson does admit that despite this, he believed there was a lot of thought that went into the merger. He says that in addition, “There was absolutely no rivalry, bitterness, or jealousy among the faculty” (NYU Stories, 2013).
Student and Faculty Thoughts and Opinions
While it was difficult to find archives directly from the student point of view, there were many letters sent among the alumni of NYU that expressed opinions most likely comparable to those of the students at the time. There were varying levels of emotions when it came to responses to that memorandum. Alumnus Dr. Jessie L. Fleming felt that the Heights campus was possibly even a more identifying feature of NYU than Washington Square. He felt it would be too bad for the Campus to get turned over, but would be acceptable if it helped the financial situation of NYU (Fleming, 1972). On the other hand, some alumni were very upset. Alumnus Murray R. Fisher writes, “If you have the audacity to move the University College to Washington Square, you may remove my name from the alumni roster of New York University for all time. I shall want no further contact with the University in any shape or form” (Fisher, 1972).
As can be seen, feelings ranged widely among those who voiced their opinions. Some empathized with the school and president, realizing that if the only way to save their alma mater financially was to sell the University Heights campus, then that is what had to be done. On the other end of the spectrum were those who believed it should be saved at all costs. It was more important to preserve the Campus that was incredibly important and symbolic to them, no matter what the cost. Deducting the information from this suggests that students most likely had similar opinions. They most likely did not want to move anywhere else; they took pride in their campus. They probably resided more on Dr. Fleming’s side however. To them, it was most likely more important to save their education through balancing finances than saving that Campus, no matter how much they liked it. One thing is clear among everyone however: the University Heights Campus was of utmost importance to the NYU community. While a merger with another school wasn’t a big holdup, the sale of the University Heights campus was a very contentious conversation to have. Many people’s worst fears of the sale - being that the campus would be forgotten in the past - did come true. If you ask a majority of NYU students today if they know that NYU used to have a campus in The Bronx, the sad reality is that a great majority most likely wouldn’t know. The sale of the Campus seems to be worth the benefits it brought for the time being, but some of the fears of the sale were also legitimate and hold true today.