Brooklyn College collection

Founded in 1930, Brooklyn College was New York City's first public coeducational liberal arts college. The school was envisioned as a stepping stone for the children of immigrants and working-class people toward a better life through a free college education.

The first campus was in Downtown Brooklyn. Within two years, the college had spread to another building, and the idea of constructing a formal campus soon took hold. Several sites throughout the borough were considered, and the first president, William A. Boylan, embraced a large track in the Midwood neighborhood proposed by a young architect, Randolph Evans. Even before the site was chosen, Evans had drafted a design for a Georgian-style campus facing a central quadrangle and anchored by a library building with a tall tower. Conveniently, the land was owned by his employers and, at the time, was being used as a golf course, a football field, and the staging area for Barnum & Bailey Circus.

Despite the United States being in the throes of the Great Depression, progress was made quickly. On December 21, 1934, the city's Board of Estimate approved the purchase of the Midwood lot for $1,625,528. In January, the Public Works Administration of the federal government allocated $5 million for the buildings' construction. And on October 2, 1935, Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, in the presence of Boylan and Borough President Raymond V. Ingersoll, took a silver-plated shovel and symbolically broke ground for the official beginning of Brooklyn College's new campus. Workers enlisted in the Works Progress Administration (WPA) completed most of the buildings and landscaping within two years.

The college's reputation grew throughout the following decades, driven in part by a prominent faculty across the disciplines. Students were expected to be among the city's best as well, and were required to pass a stringent entrance exam and keep up with the rigorous course work.

In 1961, Brooklyn College became a member of the City University of New York just as the college was entering one of its most tumultuous periods. The Vietnam War, combined with the demands of emerging ethnic and racial empowerment movements, led to almost weekly protests. Both the student body and the faculty engaged in vigorous debates on and off campus, while the college became known for hosting controversial figures, including Abbie Hoffman and Bob Dylan.

In 1970 CUNY instituted an open-admissions policy that granted any New York City resident, regardless of academic credentials or ability, the right to attend a CUNY school. As a result, enrollment at Brooklyn College swelled to more than 30,000 students in only a few years. This led to severe overcrowding in classrooms, depletion of services and budget concerns that resulted in an acute fiscal emergency in 1975. The college closed its downtown campus and began "retrenchment," cutting back tenured faculty, administration and many services.

In 1981 the college created a nationally recognized Core Curriculum designed to give students a strong foundation in the liberal arts. In addition to strengthening the curriculum, the college began to hire new faculty again.

The improvement of the curriculum was mirrored by an increased effort to improve facilities. A renovation and expansion of the library began in the late 1990s. The West Quad Center — the first new building to be added to the campus in decades — followed. Next came the Leonard & Claire Tow Center for the Performing Arts. The most recent project is the Roosevelt Science Teaching Commons. The complex will be dedicated to promoting an increased public understanding of science and to engaging the community.

The college's ninth president, Karen L. Gould, created four new schools in Fall 2011. The existing School of Education was joined by the School of Business, the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, the School of Natural and Behavioral Sciences, and the School of Visual, Media and Performing Arts.