Striving to Stay Public

Abstract

In the winter 2001 issue of CUNY Matters , the internal newspaper of the City University of New York (CUNY), an article titled “A Picture Worth Almost 1,000 Credits” chronicled the journey of a married couple through the CUNY system in the 1970s. The husband was born in the United States, and the wife, in Jamaica; both grew up on the Caribbean island and moved to the United States permanently in their thirties. The photo accompanying the article was taken in 1951 and showed that couple, along with their five children—two older girls and a set of triplets (two girls and a boy). The parents, Lillieth and Hubert, were able to go to CUNY and obtain degrees in nursing and accounting, respectively, only because CUNY was free at the time. This couple started their family in the Al Smith Projects on the Lower East Side and was forced to spend a short period on welfare when Hubert, who worked two jobs and went to Baruch at night, was fired because of a brief absence due to illness; yet, they were able to send all five of their children to college, also at CUNY. Hubert went on to become the 33rd black Certified Public Accountant in the United States, and one of the first in New York State, and Lillieth became a head nurse at Queens General Hospital. Their children became lawyers, professors, judges, deputy commissioners, and CEOs in their first or second careers.