Dear Commons Community,
Rudy Crew, the current president of Medgar Evers College, is interested in being chancellor of the City University of New York. Crew, a former New York City public schools chancellor, isn’t ruling out the possibility of taking over the top job at the City University of New York. Chancellor James N. Milliken announced last week that he will be departing at the end of the academic year. According to an article in the New York Daily News:
“…it would be an honor to be considered for one of the greatest jobs in the world,” Crew said in a statement addressing the speculation. “By the same token, I have not had time to even really think about the position, given that Milliken’s announcement is quite recent.”
Crew, 67, said he was mainly focused on his current gig — leading the Brooklyn college named for the slain civil-rights leader.
“My primary focus for five years has been Medgar Evers College and its upward trajectory,” he said. “Medgar Evers College will remain my focus as we continue to rise and gain attention for our innovative approaches to the most pressing issues in urban education.”
Crew’s got a lengthy resume in education — he helmed the city’s massive K-12 public school system from 1995 to 1999, under Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. He is credited with creating the “chancellor’s district” concept that allowed his office to sink money and resources into struggling schools, but was eventually pushed out amid disagreements with Giuliani.
Crew has also led the Miami-Dade public school system in Florida, and spent a year atop the education system in Oregon before returning to New York for the Medgar Evers position.
Experience navigating the city’s rough-and-tumble politics while running a school system could come in handy at CUNY. Gov. Cuomo, who appoints the majority of the board’s trustees, has previously sparred with Mayor de Blasio, who appoints a third of them, in an effort to get the city to pick up more of the cost of running the system.”
If appointed, Crew would not be the first CUNY college president to become chancellor. Former chancellors, Joe Murphy and Matt Goldstein, had been presidents of Queens College and Baruch College respectively. However, both Murphy and Goldstein had left their CUNY positions prior to assuming the chancellorship and were presidents of other non-CUNY institutions. Crew would be the first sitting CUNY president to assume the position.
Tony
