Bernard Warren Harleston (born January 22, 1930) is a former college administrator who was selected in 1981 as the first African-American president of

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...

. Harleston was born in New York City and raised in Hempstead. He received his bachelor's degree at

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

in 1951 and his psychology doctorate at

University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...

in 1955. A year after receiving his doctorate, he was appointed as an assistant professor of psychology at

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy p ...

, working there for the next 35 years and rising to the position of dean in 1970. From 1968 to 1970, he briefly served as provost and acting president of Lincoln University. In 1981, Harleston was selected as president of City College of New York, beating out finalists

Shirley Chisholm Shirley Anita Chisholm ( ; ; November 30, 1924 – January 1, 2005) was an American politician who, in 1968, became the first black woman to be elected to the United States Congress. Chisholm represented New York's 12th congressional dist ...

and Homer Neal. During his administration of the college, the policy of

open admissions Open admissions, or open enrollment, is a type of unselective and noncompetitive college admissions process in the United States in which the only criterion for entrance is a high school diploma or a certificate of attendance or General Educati ...

resulted in its status as having an engineering school with the largest number of black and Hispanic students. At the same time, the reputation of the college declined in this period. The school was also disrupted by student takeovers of facilities in 1989 and 1991, an incident where nine students were crushed to death in the gymnasium stairwell outside a celebrity basketball game, and racially divisive statements issued by professors Leonard Jeffries against white people and Michael Levin against black people, homosexuals and feminists. Amid the uproar of such controversies, Harleston resigned, seeking a more tranquil campus scene.Berger, Joseph "City college Chief Resigns Amid Wave of Staff Changes" ''New York Times'' June 23, 1992

References

1930 births Presidents of City College of New York City College of New York faculty Tufts University faculty University of Rochester alumni 21st-century African-American academics 21st-century American academics Living people Academics from New York (state) 20th-century African-American academics 20th-century American academics {{US-academic-administrator-1930s-stub