Inside the Current Issue

A Tribute: Julius Edelstein, fighter for an accessible and equitable CUNY

Dan Skinner

Julius C. C. Edelstein, one of the architects of open admissions at CUNY, died from complications of pneumonia on November 18 at age 93. A former senior vice chancellor, he spent over 40 years fighting for quality education for disadvantaged, minority and working class students.

Open admissions was simultaneously a celebrated and controversial policy that resulted in an increase in enrollment from 100,000 to 250,000 students while prompting charges that CUNY had undermined itself by decreasing its standards. Edelstein's resolve bucked the neo-liberal market fetishism of the Boards of Trustees past and present by affirming that "CUNY is the social engine of the city" and that the city's future depended upon making CUNY increasingly accessible.

Edelstein was a staunch New Deal democrat. He was an aide in the F.D.R. and Truman White Houses and held a range of diplomatic and civil service posts. He served as deputy mayor to Robert F. Wagner before coming to CUNY to work for Chancellor Albert Bowker. He also served as dean for urban policy at the Graduate Center.

Edelstein remained a vocal member of the CUNY community until his death. At his 90th birthday, CUNY honored him with a Doctor of Humane Letters Honoris Causa (due to medical problems, Edelstein himself never graduated from a university). At the event, former GC President Francis Degen Horowitz read this proclamation:

"You have been indefatigable in your pursuit of enhanced access to educational opportunities for minorities and disadvantaged students and a committed champion of the university as a major research and public service, as well as educational, resource for the city... The people of our city, state, and country owe you a debt of gratitude for your tireless efforts on their behalf."

Indeed, CUNY owes enormous gratitude to Edelstein for his intensity, focus and dedication, and for pushing and provoking the system to do what is right for its students. As this issue of The Advocate indicates, CUNY needs a Julius C. C. Edelstein more than ever. But CUNY is now at a new crossroads: will we challenge the neo-liberal imperatives of the current system? Does CUNY produce thinkers or workers? Will we sign up for a rehashing of the policies of privilege that originally inspired Edelstein to fight for an equitable CUNY? As we confront the challenges of public education in this City - from contracts to tuition increases to what it means to have an "Honors College" - Edelstein's legacy should remain front and center to remind us what CUNY is - and what it should and could be.