A Place For “Firsts” and “Onlys”
LaGuardia Community College was founded in 1971 in response to the City
University of New York’s (CUNY) query: “What if we made CUNY’s founding
principle - opening the doors of higher education to all - a reality?”
The burgeoning Civil Rights movement of the 1960s drove nationwide
protests that spilled from college campuses to the streets, as
disenfranchised groups demanded social and economic equality. CUNY
instituted an open admissions policy for all graduates of New York City
high schools in 1970 and saw that year’s freshman enrollment nearly
double.
Dubbed Community College Number Nine in the early stages of planning,
LaGuardia, the ultimate test case in higher education, began to take
shape. CUNY’s 1968 Master Plan called for a new kind of community
college; this institution would serve the population in one of the
city’s 11 poorest areas, in New York’s fastest growing and most rapidly
diversifying borough: Queens.
From the very start, before there was a name or even a physical campus,
there was the drive to experiment and to innovate. In the Proposal for
Community College Number Nine, the new college was charged with “the
study of urban problems,” and providing “innovative educational features
offering new alternatives within the University.” A work-study program
called Cooperative Education, the first of its kind in the nation to be
required curriculum, would equip students with bona fide workplace
experience by placing students at local businesses. In addition,
Community College Number Nine would be “committed to supplementing
traditional forms of teaching by experimentation in instructional
methods and organization,” its innovations would include “the use of
‘learning centers’” and “learning by the use of individualized
instruction and multi-media aids.”
When the name was unveiled, it too departed from convention. Named after
one of New York’s most courageous and idealistic leaders, beloved New
York City Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia, aka “The Little Flower,” a
champion of the underdog, LaGuardia Community College stood out from
its fellow two-year CUNY institutions that were required to be named
after their geographic locations.
Today, LaGuardia continues the same bold tradition of experimentation
and innovation, constantly adapting to the needs of its students. The
College helps students transition into college life with its First Year
Experience and learning communities; is a national leader in using
ePortfolio for learning and assessment; and supplements classroom
learning with tutoring provided by “learning centers” in Math, Reading
& Communication, English as a Second Language, Anatomy &
Physiology, Speech, Writing and more.
At LaGuardia, we believe in the transformative power of education; we
transformed the old factory buildings of Long Island City’s then
declining industrial economy so that we could become the agent of change
in the lives of a multitude of students, from not only New York, but
the world over. Over 160 countries are represented among LaGuardia’s
full-time students, with 124 languages spoken natively. And our results
speak for themselves: family income for LaGuardia students climbs 17%
upon graduation, and we enable transfer to four-year colleges at three
times the rate of community colleges nationwide.
Every day since we opened the doors on September 22, 1971 to the first
freshman class of 537 students, LaGuardia faculty, students and staff
push beyond their limits; it’s part of who we are and what we do. The
courage to question, the drive to experiment and the will to change are
in our blood. implements classroom learning with tutoring provided by
“learning centers” in Math, Reading & Communication, English as a
Second Language, Anatomy & Physiology, Speech, Writing and more.