Petition from the Students for Gordon Tower and Social Justice Medicine

PETITION TO NAME DR. EDMUND W. GORDON TOWER

July 23rd, 2020

The Students for Gordon Tower and Social Justice Medicine hereby call upon Columbia University’s Graduate School of Education, Health, and Psychology administration and the board of trustees of Teachers College, Columbia University to rename the building formerly known as Thorndike Hall to Dr. Edmund W. Gordon Tower.

Dr. Gordon, a prominent African American Clinical and Educational Psychologist, has been described as "the premier black psychologist" and "the architect of the federal Head Start program." His research furthers the idea that children from disadvantaged backgrounds need a scaffolding of community as support. Dr. Gordon was part of a cadre of social scientists that brought about a paradigmatic shift in the field of human development away from some of the ideas advanced by Thorndike.

Both students and faculty are aligned with the proposed building name of Dr. Edmund W. Gordon Tower, as evidenced by Professor Barbara Wallace’s “A Poem Screaming Colored Pain – and Hope," which echoes the Students for Gordon Tower and Social Justice Medicine’s call to inaugurate the Dr. Edmund W. Gordon Tower in 2020.

Therefore, we hereby call upon:

the Teachers College, Columbia University Board of Trustees:
William D. Rueckert, Chair,
Leslie Morse Nelson, Vice-Chair,
Thomas Bailey, Teachers College President,
Lee C. Bollinger, Columbia University President, and
Stephanie J. Rowley, Teachers College Provost and Dean

to rename the building to Dr. Edmund W. Gordon Tower for the following reasons:

1)  Teachers College’s own Professor Edmund W. Gordon - in collaboration with a small group of psychologists, brought about a fundamental change in educational psychology by recognizing that all cultural groups are capable of excellence, and that their expressions are as varied as our human family is diverse. (Dr. Gordon speaks specifically to this in his 2019 book, “Human Variance and Assessment for Learning”). 

2) Professor Gordon - a disciple and student of W.E.B. Dubois - has been appointed the Teachers College, Columbia University Richard March Hoe Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Education and is also the Founding Director Emeritus of the Institute for Urban and Minority Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. During President Susan Fuhrman's inauguration, she lauded Professor Gordon as "the architect of the federal Head Start program” and acknowledged that his Institute for Urban and Minority Education “became the nucleus of the College’s engagement with schools and community organizations in Harlem” (TC Today, 2007, p. 17). President Fuhrman emphasized that Professor Gordon advanced the concept of supplementary education—the idea that children from deprived backgrounds must be supported by an extensive scaffolding of caring community that includes after-school programs, counseling services, education for parents and much more” (TC Today, 2007, p. 17; POC, 2010, para. 10). Teachers College established its Edmund W. Gordon Campus, located in the former Hotel Theresa on 125th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard (POC, 2010) in Harlem, NYC in December 2005 (Campus, 2006; Dedication, 2005).

3) According to a January 2003 New York Times article, Professor Gordon "could reasonably be called one of the leading psychologists of our era and the premier black psychologist" (Gross, 2003). During Professor Gordon’s many decades of teaching at Teachers College, he served on the faculty of the College's program in Clinical and Counseling Psychology, as the Vice President of Academic Affairs, and as Interim Dean of Faculty.

4) Dr. Edmund W. Gordon has held appointments as Professor of Psychology and African and African-American Studies and Professor of Pediatric Psychology (1979-1991) at Yale University. He maintains the distinction of being the John M. Musser Professor of Psychology, Emeritus, Yale University, while simultaneously serving there in Social Policy Studies, Child Psychology, the Child Study Center, and in Epidemiology and Public Health, as well as the Yale University School of Medicine (1987-1991).

5) Among his most recent honors, one of the nation’s most prestigious honorary societies—the American Academy of Arts and Sciences—elected Professor Gordon as a Fellow in recognition of his distinguished achievements (Fellows, 2017, p. 173). Another historic honor is the "Edmund W. Gordon Chair for Policy Evaluation and Research," created by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) to recognize his lasting contributions to developments in education, including the Head Start program, compensatory education, school desegregation, and supplementary education. The ETS Board of Trustees resolution reads: "As ETS moves forward in our goal of advancing quality and equity in education, we can think of no greater scholar to honor and emulate than Edmund W. Gordon. A chair in his name will give added stature to our Policy Evaluation and Research Center and to the person chosen to fill that position. Furthermore, it will signal ETS's commitment to the values of equity and social justice in education that Dr. Gordon has long espoused" (ETS, 2004; ETS Policy Notes, 2004). Eleanor Horne, Vice President and Corporate Secretary at ETS, said "Dr. Gordon has been a tireless champion for equity and social justice in education during his distinguished career." Accordingly, renaming the building that houses Columbia University’s Graduate School of Education, Health & Psychology, Teachers College Office of Admission, to Dr. Edmund W. Gordon Tower is especially appropriate because his "work on issues of affirmative development and minority student achievement is world-renowned and has changed the face of education in the United States" (ETS, 2004; ETS Policy Notes, 2004).

6) Professor Gordon’s distinguished career spans professional practice, scholarly life as a minister, clinical and counseling psychologist, research scientist, author, editor, and professor. He has three degrees (zoology, divinity and social psychology). Professor Gordon’s education allowed him to rise to the heights of his profession, spanning his receipt of training at Howard University ,with a B.S. in Zoology in 1942 and a B.D. in Social Ethics in 1945, American University with an M.A. in Social Psychology from the Graduate School of Social Science and Public Administration in 1950, the Jefferson School of Social Sciences (an Institute for Marxist Studies in New York) in 1952, New York Medical College (supervised training in psychotherapy) in 1955, Teachers College, Columbia University with an Ed.D. in Child Development and Guidance in 1957, and Stanford University as a Fellow in Learning and the Educational Process in 1964.

7) The fruits of Professor Gordon’s academic labor comprise over 200 publications, including articles, chapters, briefs, reports, and 19 books. For this corpus of work, Professor Gordon has received far too many awards and honors to mention. However, indicative of the very highest levels of distinction he has attained, Professor Gordon has received Honorary Degrees from Yale University (1979), Yeshiva University (1986), Brown University (1989), Bank Street College (1992), Teachers College, Columbia University (1993), Mount Holyoke College (1994), and Howard University (1998).

8) Professor Gordon has attained the esteemed status of Fellow within numerous prestigious organizations and associations, including the American Psychological Association, the American Society of Psychological Science, the American Association for Orthopsychiatry, as well as Fellow and Life Member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 1968, he was elected member of the National Academy of Education.

9) Professor Gordon served as a visiting professor at several of the nation's leading universities, including Columbia University, City University of New York, Howard, Yale, and Yeshiva. Within universities, Professor Gordon’s service in varied academic positions has brought him to Howard University (1946-1950), New York Medical College (1954-1959), Long Island University (1959-1961), Albert Einstein College of Medicine (1961-1968), Yeshiva University (1965-1968), Harvard University (1966), and Teachers College, Columbia University (TC). His work at Teachers College includes serving as Professor and Chairman of the Department of Guidance (1968-1973), Professor and Director of the Division of Health Services Science and Education (1970-1978), and the Richard March Hoe Professor of Psychology and Education (1978-1979), while also serving as the Columbia University Professor of Pediatric Psychology (1978-1979). Professor Gordon also served as a Visiting Fellow at the University of Pittsburgh in the Learning Research and Development Center (1982-1983), a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the City University of New York City College (1983-1985), as Advisor to the President of City College (1984-1986), and as Distinguished Professor of Education and Psychology (1992-1996).

10) Professor Gordon’s incredibly rich professional life is complemented by his tireless work in community-based settings as the Senior Scholar in Residence at SUNY Rockland Community College (2006-present), Co-Founder and Director of the Harriet Tubman Clinic for Children in the Harlem Community, New York (1952-1959), Staff Psychologist to the Senior Psychologist in the Department of Pediatric Psychiatry at The Jewish Hospital of Brooklyn, and Director of the Division of Research and Evaluation for Project Head Start through the Office of Economic Opportunity in Washington, D.C. He also held positions with varied institutions such as the Presbyterian Church as a Field Missionary (1945-1946) and the Morningside Community Center and Church of the Master as an Assistant Director and Assistant Minister (1951-1952).

Ever humble, Dr. Edmund W. Gordon Jr. would be quick to note that at least half the credit for all of his accomplishments rightfully belongs to his late and beloved wife, Dr. Susan G. Gordon, a medical doctor and Professor Emerita of Pediatrics at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, who he married in 1948. Together, they raised four children.

Citing all of the accolades above, the Students for Gordon Tower and Social Justice Medicine hereby call upon the Teachers College Board of Trustees, President, and Provost to rename the building formerly known as Thorndike Hall to Dr. Edmund W. Gordon Tower.

We commend the Teachers College Board of Trustees for its unanimous historic vote to remove the name of Thorndike from the Teachers College campus on July 15, 2020. We ask that the Board honor the activism of students and faculty who have for years appealed for the Thorndike not only to be removed, but replaced with that of Dr. Gordon.

Join us in recognizing the paradigmatic shift brought about in part by Teachers College's own Dr. Edmund W. Gordon, away from some of the ideas advanced by Edward Thorndike and toward greater recognition of human excellence in all of its expressions.

THE CALL TO ACTION: 

This petition details the necessity of this change as well as action items we can all take to hasten the naming of the building formerly known as Thorndike Hall to Dr. Edmund W. Gordon Tower.

Please share this petition among your friends and associates, and open spaces for dialogue about it by incorporating this hashtag:

#GordonTower

As President Bollinger indicated in his Juneteenth Briefing on June 19th, 2020: “Columbia University is not innocent of the structures of racism that have afflicted America. Yet we also have a history of confronting invidious discrimination and anti-Black racism. There is still much more to do.”

The Students for Gordon Tower and Social Justice Medicine invite you and your respective constituencies - and especially those residing in Morningside Heights, Manhattanville, and Harlem - to sign the petition to voice your support for renaming the building formerly known as Thorndike Hall as Dr. Edmund W. Gordon Tower, and to use social media to spread the word as follows:

• Take action! Contact Senator Brian A. Benjamin @NYSenBenjamin so Teachers College renames building built with taxpayer funds to Dr. Edmund W. Gordon Tower! #GordonTower
• Take action! Contact Council Member Helen Rosenthal @HelenRosenthal so Teachers College renames building built with taxpayer funds to Dr. Edmund W. Gordon Tower! #GordonTower
• Take action! Contact First Lady Chirlane McCrzy @nycfirstlady so Teachers College renames building built with taxpayer funds to Dr. Edmund W. Gordon Tower! #GordonTower
• Take action! Contact Reverend Al Sharpton @TheRevAl so Teachers College renames building built with taxpayer funds to Dr. Edmund W. Gordon Tower! #GordonTower
• Take action! Contact Congressman Jerry Nadler @JerryNadler so Teachers College renames building built with taxpayer funds to Dr. Edmund W. Gordon Tower! #GordonTower
• Take action! Contact Congressman Adriano Espaillat @RepEspaillat so Teachers College renames building built with taxpayer funds to Dr. Edmund W. Gordon Tower! #GordonTower
• Take action! Contact City Councilman Mark Levine @MarkLevineNYC so Teachers College renames building built with taxpayer funds to Dr. Edmund W. Gordon Tower! #GordonTower
• Take action! Contact Gov. Cuomo @NYGovCuomo so Teachers College renames building built with taxpayer funds to Dr. Edmund W. Gordon Tower! #GordonTower
• Take action! Contact Mayor de Blasio @NYCMayor so Teachers College renames building built with taxpayer funds to Dr. Edmund W. Gordon Tower! #GordonTower 

Connect! Tag your social media posts and other publicly accessible communications with this hashtag:

#GordonTower

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References:

TC Today (2007). A Celebration of Values: Susan H. Fuhrman is inaugurated as TC's 10th President. TC Today: The Magazine of Teachers College, Columbia University, Spring 2007 Issue, 11-17. Retrieved from: https://www.tc.columbia.edu/i/media/208_SPRING07.PDF

POC (2010). May 19, 2010: Points of Contact. Retrieved from: http://www.tc.columbia.edu/articles/2010/may/points-of-contact

Gross, J. (2003). Studying race, privilege and intellectual levels. The New York Times. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/08/nyregion/studying-race-privilege-and-intellectual-levels.html

Fellows (2017). American Academy of Arts and Sciences: View all Active Members (as of October 31, 2017) Retrieved from: https://www.amacad.org/multimedia/pdfs/classlist2017.pdf

ETS (2004). September 13, 2004: ETS Creates Edmund W. Gordon Chair for Policy Evaluation and Research. Retrieved from: http://www.tc.columbia.edu/articles/2004/march/ets-creates-edmund-w-gordon-chair-for-policy-evaluation-and/

ETS Policy Notes (2004). Affirmative Student Development: Closing the Achievement Gap by Developing Human Capital, Policy Notes: News from the ETS Policy Information Center, Vol 12, Spring Issue Number 2. Retrieved from: https://www.ets.org/Media/Research/pdf/PICPNV12N2.pdf

Campus (2006). February 23, 2006: Walking the Talk in Harlem. Retrieved from: http://www.tc.columbia.edu/articles/2006/february/walking-the-talk-in-harlem

Dedication (2005). December 2, 2005: TC to Dedicate the Edmund W. Gordon Campus. Retrieved from: http://www.tc.columbia.edu/articles/2005/november/tc-to-dedicate-the-edmund-w-gordon-campus