Withers makes the point that if Counter hadbeen more familiar with that history, he mighthave thought twice about sending a message to theschools in his final statement on the matter.

"While he may have good intentions, he didn'treally have, in my estimation, an intimateunderstanding. If he did, he would have couchedhis words a little more carefully," said Withers.

In March of 1969, Medgar Evers came intoexistence as Staten Island Community College,President William M. Birenbaum's proposal for anew experimental college within CUNY. The schoolwas slated to take up several blocks of theBedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn.

The New York Times reported then thatBirenbaum had "denounced the traditional types ofuniversities and colleges as bastions of an elitedetermined to defend its interests andprivileges."

In its first September, the school had onlytemporary quarters and was designated to awardboth two and four-year degrees. The first classeswere taught in the fall of 1971.

In March of 1976, the city's lack of fundingforced CUNY to slash its budget, and Medgar Everswas one of CUNY's 19 schools selected to be eitherdowngraded, merged or eliminated. Medgar Everssurvived the fiscal crisis, but was reduced to acommunity college.

Professors are still smarting from the movethat has since put the school on a shoestringbudget. Medgar Evers enrolled more than 5000students last year, most of whom were Black women.The college now awards both two- and four-yeardegrees, but it is funded as a community college.Some veterans of the school blame the statuschange on New York politics.

"My own feeling is that that was a politicaldecision motivated by other than the educationalinterests of this institution. I think we got theshaft," Loney said. "I think that, to a greatextent, it seems that the problems of thisinstitution are inherent in the racist thinking inour society."

Loney added that if funds were the sole reasonfor the downgrading, "one would think that thestatus would be restored--that has not happenedand it's not about to happen as far as I cantell."

CUNY officials say they have an ongoingpetition with the state to restore senior collegestatus, which would mean a dramatic increase infunding. Nonetheless, some professors still feelthat their parent school has lost track of them.

"We do feel that the central office is lackingin support of the college," Withers said.

Though they may have criticized Counter for theway he handled the announcement, no one claimsthat he turned down an easy or inviting job.

"I think it would be difficult for a president[at Medgar Evers] to function. The president atthe institution needs the support of the system inorder to be effective. I'm not so sure how muchsupport they get," Loney said.

One outside scholar said that Counter'sdecision was not an unusual one.

"It's clear that the school has been subject toa variety of problems. What you often get ispeople want to come into a presidency feelingthere's strong support for the institution. Veryfew people want to be the undertaker," David R.Merkowitz, director of public affairs for theAmerican Council on Education.