Four Stories from Central Brooklyn
The placement of Kingsborough and Medgar Evers in very different parts of Brooklyn has created unique experiences for young people in Central Brooklyn. Whether based in environment or convenience, location has an impact on their decision of where to attend college. I asked participants in Brooklyn Lifelink of Good Shepherd Services, of which I am the Program Director, to record their experiences in order to give context the impact of planning and organizing efforts over fifty years ago.
Click on the picture below to explore their experiences at both Kingsborough Community College and Medgar Evers College
“It’s right there….like three stops on the train from my house and it’s a good college. Like home.”
GS Medgar Evers College
“I like the fact that it was on a beach. You know, being close to water is just…, it’s kind of like a nice place to relax in between classes, so I really like that about Kingsborough… just the environment in general seemed like a good place. ”
VV Kingsborough
“I chose Kingsborough primarily because I really like the location and how it looks. When I went to visit BMCC it felt way too much like my high school and I wanted to start over. I felt like Kingsborough, you know, given the way it looks and the way it feels, it felt like college. ”
MJ Kingsborough
“I kind of go back to BMCC because it’s in the city and other schools like FIT or BMCC. I feel like the issue with that is that yeah, it’s convenient because there’s a lot of stores. There’s a lot of restaurants around it, but it never felt relaxing. It’s always just noise. There’s nothing to escape noise.”
MJ Kingsborough
“It’s like a really nice view. Once you stop with class and you get a break you can go outside, take a little breath of air and you could really relax a little bit, you know. And then you just, you know .. get more out of it…to keep going.”
KC Kingsborough
“Like Home” or “Like College”
The reflections of the four students above highlight the continued debate over the location of these two colleges that plays out in homes and offices of guidance counselors across the city. The choice of where students from Central Brooklyn choose to attend college has a clear geographical component. Kingsborough is often selected for reasons that are similar to what brought visitors to Manhattan Beach’s historic hotels: the beach, the quiet, the view. Others chose Medgar Evers because its convenience and importance as an institution for students of color. Either way the experiences included in the map above show the importance of the location of both colleges and how they uniquely impact the college experience for young people.
For the final question of each interview I asked, “If you were creating a community college in Brooklyn, where would you put it and why?”. Although all three of those who attending Kingsborough enjoyed their experience on campus, none of them said it should be on Manhattan Beach. Interestingly, the answers echoed the suggestions of William Ballard and the Bedford-Stuyvesant Coalition. Of the four responses, two suggested that the college be located near Prospect Park at Grand Army Plaza (very near where Medgar Evers is located), one suggested Downtown Brooklyn and the last suggested Coney Island. Central in each of their explanations were their proximity to transportation and overall environment. By choosing the location they again point out the lack of consideration of the needs of students which choosing the location of Kingsborough, but also point out why student continue to be drawn to the campus.
