The U.S. Supreme Court recently struck down racial and ethnic preferences in college admissions. As admission policies change shape in America, a documentary feature called The Five Demands is showing at festivals and recently premiere-screened at New York City’s Firehouse Cinema at DCTV.
Its timely topic is the fairness of college admissions, as per the history of CCNY’s 1969 shutdown by black and Latino students. That, plus the remarkable track record of the film’s producer/directors Greta Schiller and Andrea Weiss bodes for a successful release schedule. Their documentary achievements include Before Stonewall, The Land of Azaba, Bones of Contention, The Man Who drove with Mandela, Paris Was a Woman, and International Sweethearts of Rhythm.
The Five Demands relates the history of a forgotten shutdown at the prestigeous City College of New York in April 1969. The campus of CCNY, located in the heart of Harlem, was an elite public college formed to attract the high-achieving sons and daughters of New York City’s white immigrant populations. White students mainly of Jewish, Italian, and Irish descent made up about 97% of the student population in the sixties..
At that time, the SEEK Program helped black and Puerto Rican students whose high school averages otherwise would have left them out. It became more apparent that youngsters of color, no matter their intelligence, were not achieving high grades. It also was becoming evident that New York City’s elementary- through-high school programs offered to black and brown students were poor. Books were old. Teachers often were raw recruits or inferior candidates. Quality was well below the education offered white youngsters.
Through archival photos and news footage, plus newly shot interviews with those who participated in the 1969 shutdown, The Five Demands tells a story that seems to have been buried for decades. At first a small group of black and Hispanic students took over a building and made public a list of demands they felt would result in fair racial conditions. Eventually, a larger group including white supporter students took over and closed down the campus.
Throughout, CCNY President Buell Gallagher would not allow the New York City Police onto the campus. His approach kept the situation nonviolent. Eventually, he resigned due to a decrease in funding to the college, and a new President, Joseph Copeland, took a tougher stance with the students. Police arrived. Things got heated. When the situation finally cooled, a new concept in college admissions was put into place. It was a new concept of Open Admissions that eventually spread to other campuses. Any person with a high school diploma could be enrolled. Open admissions reigned at CCNY from 1970-1995.
The Five Demands lays out the dramatic events in well-sourced pictures and news footage. However, it was in the lively interviews with aging charismatic actual participants that I most connected. It’s a fast-paced documentary. It avoids unnecessary, dry details and emphasizes the student actions.
In what direction will admissions policies on U.S. campuses go now that the Supreme Court has had its say? The Five Demands supplies a powerful look back to see just how unfair practices were before admissions reforms. Watch for an opportunity to see this timely and talented documentary.
Audrey Kupferberg is a film and video archivist and retired appraiser. She is lecturer emeritus and the former director of Film Studies at the University at Albany and co-authored several entertainment biographies with her late husband and creative partner, Rob Edelman.
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