Please see below for Senior Vice Chancellor Jay Hershenson’s response to a terribly inaccurate article about CUNY in The Atlantic. This is posted on the CUNY web site. Sincerely, Adam Rockman [Description: Queens College]<http://www.qc.cuny.edu/> Adam L. Rockman, Ed.D. | Vice President for Student Affairs Queens College, CUNY<http://www.qc.cuny.edu/> | 6530 Kissena Blvd, Queens NY 11367-1597 718-997-5500 | Fax: 718-997-5640 | adam.rockman@qc.cuny.edu<mailto:adam.rockman@qc.cuny.edu> http://www1.cuny.edu/mu/forum/2015/01/14/response-to-the-story-in-the-atlant... RESPONSE TO THE STORY IN THE ATLANTIC January 14, 2015 Dear Editor In Chief Bennet: Following a sleepless night, I read this morning the on-line revisions you made. You eliminated the erroneous headline, “When High Achievers Have No Place to Go” and replaced it with another untrue headline “When Being A Valedictorian Isn’t Enough”. Especially when the valedictorian is admitted to his first, second, third and fourth choice colleges. You eliminated the untrue sub- headline about students “locked out of The City University of New York” and substituted a misleading sub headline about increased emphasis on SAT scores. You now say, “An increasing emphasis on SAT scores is making it harder for students from immigrant and minority families to get into New York City’s best public colleges.” The SAT is one of several factors considered in determining a student’s admission, as I indicated in my letter to you last night (see below). I also sent you last night the data showing increased enrollment of minority students at CUNY’s highly selective colleges. On immigrants and immigrant families, the percentage of immigrant students at the highly selective CUNY colleges is 40%, slightly higher than the percentage of immigrants at CUNY community colleges , which is 39%. It is nothing short of astonishing, much less inaccurate, that The Atlantic would substitute a sub headline slandering the most immigrant friendly public university in the nation. CUNY’s Citizenship Now program is the largest service provider to students and the community of its kind in the country. False headlines and false sub headlines have no place in The Atlantic. And the overall article is still riddled with errors. Your story continues to lead with ten paragraphs and two photographs about Mr. Kenneth Rosario, stressing early on his interest in “the top math and business college” at CUNY. In fact, the authors refer to Mr. Rosario by name no less than 21 times in your article. This is without counting personal pronouns like “he” or “his” or “him”. So the story is based upon the alleged plight of an individual with a panoply of fallacious assumptions. Here is the indisputable proof: The prior version you put on line yesterday only cited his rejection from Hunter College and Baruch College. You neglected to mention that his first choice was the venerable City College of New York and the fact that he was accepted into the prestigious CCNY Andrew Grove School of Engineering. Today, you still did not mention that CCNY was his first choice—he was accepted and declined. Please explain. You mentioned that he was accepted at New York City College of Technology—but you did not mention that it was his second choice. You mention that he was accepted to Brooklyn College ( he declined) but you omit the fact that this was his third choice. You mention he was accepted to Lehman College (he declined) but you omit the fact that this was his fourth choice. And inexplicably, you omit the fact that Mr. Rosario listed Hunter College and Baruch College as his fifth and sixth choices. The authors claim ,“After being rejected from CUNY’s top business college, Rosario decided to give up on business and pursue electrical engineering.” Your “correction” at the end of the article is also not correct. Here is why: First, he applied to CUNY, including CCNY and the Andrew Grove School of Engineering, in November, 2012, before he received any communication from Baruch College. He chose electrical engineering on his original application and was accepted to CCNY. In fact, he completed a supplemental application specifically required by applicants to the Grove School of Engineering at CCNY. Second, in his application to Baruch College, he specifically listed his preferred major as “Computer Information Systems”—not business, as the authors and the correction claim. So he did not list business as his intended major. He also did not list business as his preferred major on his application for Brooklyn College and Lehman College where there are substantial business programs. He did not list business on any application to any CUNY college he applied to. Please explain. So the article is still riddled with falsehoods, including the correction. Each falsehood leads to another. For example, the article quotes the vice principal of Rosario’s high school without that individual knowing the aforementioned facts about the choices Rosario made and the acceptances he received. The authors created a profile of a student applicant that is untrue and obtained quotes from others about this fiction. There is no acknowledgement that the other three students profiled in the article were admitted to CUNY colleges, including one of those three students to a four year college. We are puzzled that the corrections you made did not include the following facts , which were sent to you last night: The article paints an inaccurate picture of declining minority enrollments at CUNY highly selective colleges. The authors of the piece received enrollment data from CUNY in October, 2014 indicating that new Black student enrollment increased by 1 percent over the period from 2008-2009 to 2013-14. Hispanic new student enrollment increased by 5% over the same period. In addition, since the fall of 2013, the upward trend has continued. The number of Black students admitted to CUNY’s highly selective senior colleges has increased by 15% and the number of Hispanic students has increased by 23%. The representation of both groups has also risen as a percentage of all new students: The article states that “overcrowded two-year community colleges have filled up with more black and Latino students”. Over the last decade the percentage of Black students at the CUNY community colleges has decreased by 4 percentage points while Asian students has increased by 2 percentage points. In fact, there are no references in the article to Asian students existing at CUNY community colleges, even though during the last decade, Asian freshman enrollments increased there by 69%. The article gives the false impression that the highly selective colleges of CUNY rely solely on the SAT for admission decisions. In fact, the admission process takes into account multiple factors, including the amount of college preparatory coursework a student has completed; the student grades in those courses, and the student’s scores on the New York State Regents exams, if available. There are other facts that would have provided a more complete picture, but the errors cited above stand out for their gravity. Here is yet another error: The authors assert that” only about half those transfer students come in from CUNY’s second-tier colleges or community colleges. The rest come from outside the system, including private schools from around the country and the world.” It is true that CUNY is attracting more transfer students than ever, although the authors do not make this explicit point about the system’s attractiveness. Nevertheless, 84% of all transfers, external and internal, were previously enrolled at a CUNY college or lived in New York City. So the vast majority of transfer students into CUNY are local. Finally, let me make the point that over the last several decades, the State and City of New York have invested mightily in new and modern campuses within the CUNY system, from its community colleges and senior colleges to graduate and professional schools of great stature and standing. From La Guardia Community College winning a “First in the Nation” award to Hostos Community College tying last year for third place in the Aspen Foundation competition, and again competing this year as one of ten finalists nationwide; to Brooklyn College, Queens College, and Baruch College ranking first, second, and third in the Washington Monthly rankings of Best Value. If you visited Lehman College in the Bronx, whose campus is the site of the first United Nation Security Council, you would meet award winning faculty like former U.S. Poet Billy Collins and Academy Award Winner John Corigliano. You could visit the new science facilities throughout the system or residence halls at the College of Staten Island, CCNY, Hunter College, Queens College or stop by the new CUNY Public School of Health in East Harlem. You could read the National Jurist, which ranked the CUNY Law School second in the nation for diversity. There are numerous such examples of opportunity and achievement at every CUNY college. The President of the United States singled out CUNY’s ASAP in his free tuition plan last week, which is producing more and more associate degree graduates at record rates, many of whom are going on to study at CUNY senior colleges. The CUNY system is a vertical university, where students gain access through multiple doors, and, through their academic achievement, can advance from an associate degree to new careers or all the way to the doctorate. Instead, you published an article replete with errors, wrapped around a student profile that was and is chock full of falsehoods. Our students and your readers deserve better. We appeal to your fairness. I reiterate my request that the article be withdrawn and corrected. Jay Hershenson Senior Vice Chancellor for University Relations and Secretary of the Board of Trustees The City University of New York January 13, 2015 Dear Editor in Chief Bennet: This is a request for the withdrawal and review for corrections of “When High Achievers Have No Place to Go”, which was published today on The Atlantic website, replete with major factual errors and mischaracterizations. First and foremost, the headline and secondary headline are untrue. The CUNY system guarantees admission to all high school graduates in one of 20 undergraduate colleges. None of the students profiled in the piece were “locked out of the City University of New York.” All four were admitted to a CUNY college. Two of the four were admitted to multiple four year colleges. So both the headline and the secondary headline are factually wrong. Particularly inaccurate is the fact that the piece leads with the story of an individual, Mr. Kenneth Rosario, with two photographs of him, and with ten lead paragraphs in a row describing in great detail his alleged plight, with quotes like,”I killed myself, for what? If I couldn’t even get into the top CUNY schools, what was it for?” This is inaccurate for the following reasons: Mr. Rosario was admitted to his first choice CUNY College, The City College of New York, to the prestigious Andrew Grove School of Engineering at City College. CUNY records indicate that his acceptance email was viewed. He declined the offer. He was also admitted to his second choice, the New York City College of Technology, and to his third choice, Brooklyn College, and to his fourth choice, Lehman College. He declined those offers as well. He was not accepted, as the piece indicates by his fifth choice, Hunter College, and Baruch College, his last choice. However, the article never mentions that Hunter and Baruch were his two last choices and instead pretends that “he was locked out of The City University of New York”. In addition, within the ten paragraphs, Mr. Rosario’s interest in electrical engineering is referenced. Neither Hunter nor Baruch offer engineering programs; City College does and that four year college was his first choice—never mentioned in the article. Mr. Bennet, permit me to suggest that when the first ten paragraphs of an article in a respected publication like The Atlantic are in error, that alone should serve as sufficient grounds for the withdrawal and correction of the piece. Nevertheless, please read on. The article paints an inaccurate picture of declining minority enrollments at CUNY highly selective colleges. The authors of the piece received enrollment data from CUNY in October, 2014 indicating that new Black student enrollment increased by 1 percent over the period from 2008-2009 to 2013-14. Hispanic new student enrollment increased by 5% over the same period. In addition, since the fall of 2013, the upward trend has continued. The number of Black students admitted to CUNY’s highly selective senior colleges has increased by 15% and the number of Hispanic students has increased by 23%. The representation of both groups has also risen as a percentage of all new students: The article states that “overcrowded two-year community colleges have filled up with more black and Latino students”. Over the last decade the percentage of Black students at the CUNY community colleges has decreased by 4 percentage points while Asian students has increased by 2 percentage points. In fact, there are no references in the article to Asian students existing at CUNY community colleges, even though during the last decade, Asian freshman enrollments increased there by 69%. The article gives the false impression that the highly selective colleges of CUNY rely solely on the SAT for admission decisions. In fact, the admission process takes into account multiple factors, including the amount of college preparatory coursework a student has completed; the student grades in those courses, and the student’s scores on the New York State Regents exams, if available. There are other facts that would have provided a more complete picture, but the errors cited above stand out for their gravity. CUNY is a unified and integrated system of senior and community colleges and graduate and professional schools. It is a travesty to falsely describe the system as locking out immigrant and minority students when CUNY is experiencing record student enrollments: 274,000 degree credit students now attend CUNY, hailing from over 200 countries. And CUNY serves another 240,000 adult and continuing education students annually. There is no system in the country more diverse and more accessible. In the interests of fairness, please consider our request. Jay Hershenson Senior Vice Chancellor for University Relations and Secretary of the Board of Trustees The City University of New York