Three Decades of Resurgence

In the 1980s, under new president Robert Hess, Brooklyn College returned to its tradition of high standards with the adoption in 1981 of the core curriculum—a rigorous, 10-course requirement that gives students an excellent foundation in the liberal arts. In 1989 the core curriculum was cited in a report by the National Endowment for the Humanities for having led to "the revitalization of Brooklyn College and drawn much public attention and praise."

In 1992, Hess died in office and Vernon Lattin, an English professor from the University of New Mexico, became president. His eight-year term was marked by an accelerated building campaign, including a major renovation and expansion of the library, a project that was completed under the watch of his successor, Christoph M. Kimmich, a history professor and interim chancellor of CUNY. Under Kimmich’s decade-long presidency, the college revamped and strengthened the core curriculum, hired 273 new faculty members, and constructed a new building—the West Quad Center—that centralizes student services and contains state-of-the-art physical fitness and athletic resources.