3-11. College and Career: Time at Lehman, Part 3
Title
3-11. College and Career: Time at Lehman, Part 3
Subject
Description
In this recording, part of a larger video memoir project, lifetime activist and educator Suzanne Ross speaks about her time teaching at Lehman College in the late 1960s and early 1970s, part 3 of 4.
From Suzanne: "After the Columbia experience, I began teaching at Lehman College, and spent the next five years completely immersed in radicalizing the students I worked with, and disrupting regular activities at the college. The focus was on demanding that attention be paid to the racism on campus in hiring, firing, and curriculum, and on opposing the war in Vietnam, insisting that the college take an active role in addressing the horrors of that war. I left Lehman, having been rejected for tenure, the simplest way to fire faculty. After a long battle by the students, along with many prestigious supporters such the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), Congresswoman Bella Abzug, Professor Martin Duberman and many college teachers across New York City, we lost the battle to reinstate me. I did not want to continue the union appeal and the NYCLU appeal as they both involved considerable bureaucratic effort and I was more interested in street and movement action. I, therefore, instead, went underground with Weather."
From Suzanne: "After the Columbia experience, I began teaching at Lehman College, and spent the next five years completely immersed in radicalizing the students I worked with, and disrupting regular activities at the college. The focus was on demanding that attention be paid to the racism on campus in hiring, firing, and curriculum, and on opposing the war in Vietnam, insisting that the college take an active role in addressing the horrors of that war. I left Lehman, having been rejected for tenure, the simplest way to fire faculty. After a long battle by the students, along with many prestigious supporters such the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), Congresswoman Bella Abzug, Professor Martin Duberman and many college teachers across New York City, we lost the battle to reinstate me. I did not want to continue the union appeal and the NYCLU appeal as they both involved considerable bureaucratic effort and I was more interested in street and movement action. I, therefore, instead, went underground with Weather."
Creator
Date
2022
Contributor
Rights
You can, without permission, copy, modify, distribute, display, or perform the Item, for non-commercial uses. For any other permissible uses, please review the terms and conditions with the organization that has made the Item available.
Format
MP4
Language
English
Type
Video memoir
Identifier
AV-ROSS.028
Original Format
MP4
Duration
01:21:17
Media
Collection
Citation
Ross, Suzanne, “3-11. College and Career: Time at Lehman, Part 3,” Bronx History Online, accessed May 17, 2025, https://digital.bronxhistoricalsociety.org/AV-ROSS/AV-ROSS.028.
Position: 129 (8 views)