The Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith has condemned the proposals to establish a quota system for admissions to the City Collage of the City University of New York as an attempt “to turn back the clock of progress.” The ADL told the Board of Higher Education that it had fought “the pernicious practice of quota systems for college admittance” 25 years ago and had won the battle. Since then, it pointed out, “qualified students who previously would have been denied admission to colleges and universities on the basis of racial, religious and ethnic criteria have built a clear record of imposing contributions to their community and country.”
The human rights agency told the Board, which will have the determining voice on whether the quota plan is adopted. that it recognized the urgent need to provide higher educational facilities for socio-economically disadvantaged youth but it warned that “any attempt to introduce a quota system is not only short-sighted but self-defeating to the university, its students and those potential students who desire and would profit from higher education.” It expressed support of the City University’s master plan for “compensatory education leading toward successful college matriculation” and called for firm disapproval of quota system proposals.
The New York Department of the Jewish War Veterans also called on the Board of Higher Education to reject the quota system proposals warning that to accept such a system would be “to permit retrogression.” It asserted that quota systems had no place in the educational system. An agreement reached between the CCNY administration and black and Puerto Rican students would have admitted 50 percent of the next incoming class from disadvantaged areas without regard for academic achievement.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
