You say tomato, I say tomate - bilingual controversy at City University of New York's Eugenio Maria de Hostos Community College in Bronx, NY

Black Issues in Higher Education, Sept 18, 1997 by Roberto Rodriguez

Bilingual Controversy at CUNY-Hostos Revolves Around Final Exam

BRONX, NY - A controversy that erupted this spring over bilingual education at Eugenio Maria de Hostos Community College, which is part of the City University of New York (CUNY), has languished in the courts and turned into a war of words in the media.

Critics of Hostos, primarily the board of trustees for CUNY. charge that the bilingual college, which was founded in 1968, is failing to produce bilingual students. They further charge that Hostos has replaced the standard CUNY exit exam with a "watered down" version.

Herman Badillo, one of the founders of the college and a trustee for CUNY, said. "First the CUNY Writing Assessment Test (CWAT) was an entrance exam, then an exit exam, and now, it has been dropped altogether."

Administrators and supporters of Hostos strongly disagree with the charges and say that attacks against the nation's only bilingual two-year college are politically motivated, part of the anti-bilingual education movement in the country, and most importantly, based on misinformation.

Hostos English professor Henry Lesnick said that Hostos is fully within its rights to discard CWAT. He also said that research conclusively shows that using multiple factors in language-proficiency assessment is better than a fifty-minute test. The week prior to the trustees' action, the Hostos College Senate endorsed multiple measures of assessment.

"The trustees disregarded the prevailing academic wisdom," he said.

Badillo said that charges that he and the trustees are anti-bilingual are simply false.

"I'm the founder of bilingual education. I was the founder of Hostos. I have been supporting bilingual education since before [student critics of CUNY's board of trustees] were born. No one has been in favor of bilingual education more than I," said Badillo.

He is also concerned that not producing bilingual students "can be used against us" by the enemies of bilingual education. Therefore, he believes that expecting students to write an error-free and coherent 350-word essay is not a lot to ask to show English proficiency.

"Bilingual means knowing two languages, not one," he said.

An "Arbitrary and Capricious" Action

This spring, Badillo first charged that students at Hostos were graduating without learning English. Consequently, the Board of Trustees passed a resolution in May, mandating that all students pass the CWAT as a requirement for graduation.

As a result, two students sued, alleging that the board had overstepped its authority and that, in any case, it was unfair to impose a graduation requirement four days before the end of school.

In July, in Mendez v. Reynolds, the Supreme Court of the State of New York ruled in favor of the students, stating that the action of the trustees was "arbitrary and capricious, and in the present case must be held to be undertaken in bad faith." The court found that the board acted in haste and directed its actions at Hostos, "and not the other community colleges in the CUNY system."

Judge Kenneth Thompson further commented, "The obvious unfairness in changing the degree requirements immediately before graduation is manifest."

However, as a result of New York State law, the decision was stayed, pending an appeal, said Ronald McGuire, the attorney representing the plaintiffs. This means that until the case is heard again, students wanting to graduate will be required to pass the CWAT, he said.

Hostos President Dr. Isaura Santiago said that most press accounts regarding the controversy are wrong and that the trustees made decisions without all the facts. Because they were prohibited from speaking during the earlier part of the litigation, Hostos did not comment on the controversy until very recently. Even now, because the issue is before the courts, Santiago said she is constrained in terms of what she can say.

Santiago did say, however, that certain perceptions need to be cleared up, such as the belief that the CWAT was ever an entrance exam. According to her, it was designed as an assessment and placement test.

Another misconception is that most classes at Hostos are taught in Spanish.

"It's not true. Only 16 to 17 percent of our classes are taught in Spanish," she said, adding that most of those courses are taught at the introductory level.

"The worst misconception," said Santiago, "is that the students don't want to learn English. That's nothing short of absurd. They know English is power and that it empowers them."

Hostos student Dagoberto Lopez said, "The notion that we don't want to learn English is a flat-out lie. We understand that to survive we need to know English. We're not that dumb. We need to know English to be able to serve our communities."

As a result of the court decision, all the students who had not passed the test were able to participate in the graduation ceremonies. However as a result of the stay, the students who did not pass have not received their diplomas.

"Lost in this story is that of 426 of the students in question, 312 had already passed the CWAT," said Santiago. "Of the remainder, only about fifty diplomas are being held."