Student activism
In 1969, a parallel wave of student activism took place at City University of New York (CUNY) south campus, spearheaded by the efforts of Puerto Rican and African American Students. These efforts culminated in the spring of 1969 when students staged the Open Admissions Strike. The students' central demand was the adoption of a non-competitive open admissions policy. The expanded admissions policy would, in effect, diversify the student body by guaranteeing placement at CUNY for all New York City high school graduates. In addition to demands for an open-admissions policy, student activists demanded academic programs in Black and Puerto Rican Studies. In response, CUNY created the Department of Urban and Ethnic Studies. With continuing student activism, the Department of Puerto Rican Studies was formed in 1971, followed by the establishment of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies as a university-based research institute in 1973. Student activism related to the demand for Puerto Rican Studies was not limited to CUNY, and effervesced across New York public campuses including Brooklyn, Lehman, Queens and Bronx Community Colleges.