The First Days:
York’s New Man On Campus Speaks Out

By Shams Tarek

When the lights went out across the northeast United States on the afternoon of Aug. 14, Dr. Robert Hampton — the new president of Jamaica’s York College — was only three weeks into the job.

Already on campus, Hampton went immediately into crisis mode, coordinating the efforts of several departments ensuring safety and backup power on campus.

After spending the night at the college, Hampton woke up and found himself having to make a critical decision.  Out of touch with CUNY officials, the unshaven president went ahead and declared the school closed for the day.

He said recently that he wished he could’ve made the decision a more collaborative one, but that with communications down he “made it my decision.”

He called it a “no-brainer,” but it may have more lasting value for the thousands of students, faculty and staff now under his wing.  Hampton’s choice to take the matter into his own hands has revealed his style of leadership: He’s a hands-on collaborator who’s polite but will take charge and make things happen on his own if the need arises.

“I always believe that in a crisis a leader needs to be on board,” Hampton told the PRESS this week.  “Sometimes it’s better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission.”

The new president of Southeast Queens’ only college is basically a laid-back, humorous dad who’s also a practical leader and an accomplished scholar — he’s edited six books on violence in African-American families and was most recently the provost of the University of Maryland after a long teaching career.

Only three weeks into the job, Dr. Robert Hampton has handled the school’s first crisis and is getting settled into the post of York College’s president. PRESS Photos By  Ira Cohen

Asked to describe his “simple background,” as the self-proclaimed “simple folk” calls it, the 55-year-old Hampton only said, “A lot of corn, a lot of beans.  I like to keep it real.”

 And then Hampton was unapologetic about his persistent wise-cracking. He said he is a serious person who doesn’t take himself too seriously, noting that “If you can’t laugh at yourself, you’re in deep doo-doo.”

Hampton ended the exchange by observing, “My socks match this morning.” York’s top executive said while looking down and lifting his trousers, “I did that right.”

But Hampton the nerd (his word) and Hampton the jester is also Hampton the tough guy: He spent 24 years in the Army Reserve and was on call for the 1991 Gulf War.

“I’m a nerd,” Hampton said.  “But in my other life, I’m a tank commander.  My education had to prepare me to read Shakespeare, read Scientific American and perform on the battlefield.”

Hampton’s renaissance man status seeps into his academic philosophy, which may be a little different from where York has been going.

While York seems to be on a linear trajectory towards more and more vocational and technical training — University officials constantly tout the school’s partnerships with the Food and Drug Administration, the Port Authority and other agencies that include job training and placement — Hampton wants to mix job readiness with critical thinking skills more associated with the liberal arts.

“I think ultimately you have to prepare students for lifelong learning,” Hampton said.  “We want to provide students with the opportunity to learn how to ask questions, how to find answers.  It’s that capacity to continue learning that’s important.”        

Hampton noted, though, that “what’s equally important is that we don’t create a false dichotomy so it’s either-or . . . .York is not… [an] institute,” Hampton said.  “We’re meant to do more than that.”

Hampton sat in his large, airy corner office overlooking Guy R. Brewer Boulevard, trying to get settled into the room that’s bigger than the hotel room he’s staying in while CUNY’s Douglas Manor residence is prepared for him. On his desk was a small two-sided placard that says “Relax” on one side and “Keep Calm” on the other.  He said the messages are for his visitors, not him.

Next to a leather desk set from Egypt and a couple of classic R&B CDs was a heavy six-inch binder full of papers from the New President’s Academy called “The First 500 Days.”  He got it during a week-long conference in Colorado designed for new college presidents.

While Hampton spent his third week as president at the academy, he spent the first two weeks —and plans to continue to spend every next one in the future — just listening.

His first day, July 21, was characterized by a stream of visitors; the next day there was a big reception with a jazz band; on the 30th, Congressman Gregory Meeks sponsored a breakfast between the new president and local elected officials.

With every introduction, Hampton said, he was met with a wide variety of agendas ranging from “well-wishers with advice” to “well-wishers with pent-up demands.”

The advice ranged from “York needs someone like you” to “This is a tough job; a lot of people have come and gone,” Hampton reported.

The demands were mostly about staff reductions and the need for more and updated computer equipment, Hampton said.

Hampton is being careful not to make any promises he can’t keep, and right now is just focusing on listening.

He’s not just listening to demands, but listening to learn about York and its people.

Despite his reluctance to say anything concrete about upcoming changes — he claims to have made not a single one since starting last month — Hampton is starting to talk about some things he’d like to accomplish at York sooner than later.

Right now, Hampton’s business at York is about learning about the college and making sure that the beginning of the fall semester, scheduled for Aug. 30, goes smoothly.

But already, he’s thinking about enrollment, on a general decline for the last decade.  He anticipates a small increase this fall over last year and has ideas to continue that trend. One way to do so, Hampton said, is to improve the school’s academics.

“If enrollments continue to decline we’ll be the next Ames department store,” Hampton said.  “I think if we do a good job of providing a quality educational experience, then there should be no reason for a long-term enrollment decline.”

Another major priority for Hampton is to improve the image of York, long characterized by dysfunctional and inefficient management by education insiders and as part of a run-down, dangerous neighborhood by students and faculty.

“One of the things we have to do is change the perception of York College,” Hampton said.  “If people think we’re the same old place doing the same old thing, we’re not going to inspire confidence.”

That confidence Hampton wants to inspire has as much to do with enrollment as it does with fundraising.

As president of the college, getting alumni and other people outside the school to give it money is going to be one of Hampton’s most important — and difficult — tasks.

Noting he wants “clearly to capitalize on some of the resources in the downtown Jamaica area,” Hampton is excited about the prospect of selling York to the outside world.

He’s already identified the strong need for the college to have its own development officer in charge of fundraising efforts — the chair is empty now — and for York to start thinking about upcoming anniversaries.  The college will be 40 years old in 2006, and will celebrate its golden anniversary in 2016.

But Hampton is aware of the challenges he faces.  He’s fighting the stigma of instability from the school having six different presidents in 13 years.

“I feel like I’m the Little Engine That Could,” Hampton said.  “I have to demonstrate that this isn’t business as usual.”

He even acknowledges that he may be in a bit of a sibling rivalry: “I don’t know if York has been the favorite child in the CUNY system,” Hampton said.

He made sure not to make it seem like he’s criticizing the system, though, noting that he’s not sure whether York’s lack of attention from CUNY administration is because of the school itself or because other schools are performing better.

As the only CUNY college in the mostly-black southeast corner of the borough, and a school that at one time wasn’t even supposed to open in the area, there’s a lot of history and symbolism carrying York as the borough’s “black college.”

Hampton, as the black leader of that college, isn’t trying to deny the fact that his race will influence, and perhaps has influenced, people’s perception of him. “Race is always an issue,” the Indiana native said.  “We’re not color-blind.”

But while Hampton recognizes he can’t disassociate himself from his race, he’d like to be judged on “what I do, not who I am.”

To illustrate his point, he recounted a time at the University of Maryland when he had to bar two students — one white, and one black — from graduating in two unrelated incidents. In both cases, the parents played the race card, Hampton said, saying if their respective children weren’t the race they were, then they would’ve been allowed to graduate.

Hampton was flummoxed.  He made his decisions, he said, based on the students’ actions.

“We have to talk about whether I’m a black president or a president who’s black,” Hampton said.  “There are some people who care if you’re black, white, green or purple.  That’s their hang-up.”