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Two Bills for CUNY Signed by Governor

Early in August Governor George Pataki came to the rescue of approximately 2,800 undocumented aliens studying on CUNY campuses, signing legislation allowing them to pay the same tuition as State residents. CUNY had allowed them pay this rate rather the more than double out-of-state tuition rate since 1989, but in 2001 the policy changed to be consistent with a 1996 Federal law.

City College student Folassayo Fadahunsi, of NYPIRG, accepts a pen from Governor Pataki at the signing ceremony in CCNY’s Great Hall; center, Assemblyman Peter Rivera.

Pataki, seen here signing the bill in the Great Hall at City College, said, “This legislation reinforces New York’s proud legacy as a bastion of hope and opportunity by ensuring access to…higher education for hard-working immigrants.” Chancellor Matthew Goldstein hailed the Governor and legislative leaders for “exemplary leadership” and Trustees Vice Chairman Benno Schmidt Jr. called the quick legislative response to the situation “an invaluable service in support of the education of newcomers to our great city and state.”

President Fred Beaufait won’t mind if you still use the nickname City Tech, but he is delighted that, with the signing of special legislation by Governor Pataki on July 12, he is now officially the leader of New York City College of Technology.

Beaufait explained the name change, “While the term ‘technical college’ had broader implications in times past, in today’s educational marketplace technical colleges are generally two-year schools offering vocational programs.” The College, Beaufait adds, “will benefit from this new name, which clearly defines its mission, programs, and the sophistication of the technological instruction it offers.” The New York City College of Technology currently offers 50 career-specific baccalaureate, associate, and specialized certificate programs in 21st-century technologies, several of them regionally or nationally unique.

Name change is nothing new for the College. In 1881 the Technical Schools of the Metropolitan Museum of Art became the N.Y. Trade School; in 1961 this became the Voorhees Technical Institute, honoring a prominent industrialist. Another City Tech constituent, the N.Y. State Institute of Applied Arts and Sciences, was founded in 1946, becoming in 1953 N.Y. Community College (the city's first); it was combined with Voorhees in 1971.