The City College of New York was alma mater to a galaxy of American

luminaries, including Sidney Hook, Ed Koch, and our guest Nathan Glazer--the sons of

poor families, often Jewish immigrants, who could not, in the 1930s and '40s, gain

admittance to Harvard, Yale, or Columbia. In 1969, however, in response to pressure

from student militants, the college instituted "open enrollment" (cf. Firing Lines #S277,

#S1171). As Mr. Traub puts it, "It was not only a laudable motive in some ways, it was

almost unavoidable ... But the fact is, once that was done, nobody could really admit

that the consequences were going to be disastrous for City's own standards." A moving

examination of a local tragedy.