MAKING OF A PRESIDENT
The new President with his family ( from left ) Ricardo , Daniel , Amanda , his wife , Patricia , David , and José ( in front ) in October 1991 .
ethnicity , language acquisition , ESL , and bilingual education . “ What integrated my two-decades-long , seemingly disparate set of experiences that make up my professional background is a desire to create and expand opportunities on behalf of those for whom a public institution is the only meaningful option to a college degree ,” he said . It was that experience and motivation that would earn him the right to become a finalist , and ultimately , the second President of Lehman College in 1990 .
“ It Was a Very Intense Year ”
Fernández and his family moved to New York City at a time when both the city at large and the Bronx were struggling . The late 1980s saw a series of high-profile crimes that made national — and international — headlines , such as the Central Park jogger attack and the murder of Yusef Hawkins . Racial tensions were roiling , and the AIDS and crack epidemics had destroyed thousands of lives . The Bronx , in particular , had been suffering from high crime and political neglect for decades . “ It seemed to me that New York was a city out of control at the time ,” said Fernández .
His first year on the job offered no respite ; instead , it was a baptism by fire . In March 1991 , there was the unspeakable tragedy of Paula Soto — an undergraduate student who was killed by a stray bullet fired from a passing No . 4 train as she practiced with the Lehman ’ s women ’ s softball team on the South Field . Then there was a budget cut and tuition hikes that sparked University-wide turmoil across numerous CUNY campuses , including Lehman . In April 1991 , a month after Soto ’ s death , students occupied Shuster Hall , Carman Hall , and Gillet Hall . To insure classes could go on , Fernández had the doors to the Music Building and Davis Hall removed preventing the strikers from locking other students out . But , however tense the situation became , he kept the line of communication open with the protestors . “ I always had a way to speak to the students ,” he recalled , “ and that made a big difference .”
The unrest went on for two weeks . CUNY officials got a court order requiring the students to vacate all public buildings . While most left , a dozen Lehman students refused . Fernández reluctantly called the police and the twelve were arrested by 300 police officers clad in riot gear in the early morning hours . Some public officials and even a few CUNY administrators demanded that students be suspended or expelled . President Fernández however , had other ideas . During his conversations with the students , they had discussed nonviolence and civil disobedience as a method of protest . “ They told me they had studied Martin Luther King , so I asked them about Saul Alinsky ”— the author of Rulebook for Radicals and a pioneer in community organizing — and “ they looked at me and asked ‘ Who ’ s that ?’”
Seizing the opportunity to turn the crisis into a teaching experience , President Fernández negotiated with the Bronx D . A . and suggested that instead of doing time , the arrested students do their homework : each one had to write a 15- page research paper on civil disobedience and were given
The President ( above ) at the opening of the APEX in 1994 ; Lehman College patrons Monroe and Rose Lovinger with President Fernández , and Edwin Claudio , the then Executive Director of the Lehman College Foundation in the 1993 . The Lovinger Theatre is named in their honor .
a reading list of books and articles by Martin Luther King , Gandhi , and Alinsky . In one fell swoop , President Fernández managed to keep the peace , save the students from having a police record , and enforce the educational principles at the heart of Lehman College ’ s mission .
Throughout the 1990s the crises would keep coming . In 1995 there was another budget cut from Albany that created a fiscal emergency , resulting in forced layoffs of faculty and staff across the University . But rather than follow the conventional wisdom of “ last hired , first fired ,” Fernández opted to close two departments : Physical Education and Academic Skills , the College ’ s remediation unit . “ I didn ’ t want to lose the younger and talented recent hires ,” he explained . “ To do so would have resulted in losing an entire generation of faculty .” While these moves were controversial at the
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