DR. GERALD J. MEYER COMMUNITY ACTIVIST SCHOLARSHIP

ESTABLISHED IN 2023
Edited: Monday, July 20, 2026

The Gerald Meyer Community Activist Scholarship is awarded to students completing their college degrees to help defray the cost of their education. The CN committee will select applicants on a competitive basis. 
To be eligible for the award, students must:

1. Complete the CN scholarship form
2. Answer all supplemental questions
3. Have a GPA of 2.0 or higher
4. Submit 2 letters of recommendation from a faculty member,
academic advisor, success coach or staff member at the College 
5. Submit a copy of an acceptance letter from a college and/or
university

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Please note that your general application will be considered and evaluated in order to qualify for this scholarship. Applications and all required materials must be submitted before the set deadline.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About Dr. Gerald J. Meyer:

Gerald Meyer was a founding member of the faculty at Hostos Community College (CUNY). Meyer found an outlet for his organizing energies when he arrived at Hostos in 1972, following four years teaching as an adjunct within the CUNY system. Hostos had
just opened in 1970, just after CUNY’s move to open admissions, and was primarily intended to serve New York’s growing Puerto Rican community. It was founded as the system’s only bilingual college, Spanish and English, and much of the faculty and
student body were politically conscious and socially active. “I really had the sense I was home,” Meyer said. “I felt very welcome there from the administration on down. They were very interested in building something that worked, and I was eager and willing to
participate in that from the very beginning.” 

At the time, the entire college was housed in a refurbished tire factory. The five-story building was crammed with students and faculty and lacked an auditorium, a bookstore, a daycare center, or adequate lab space. During the “heroic years” of 1973 to 1978 (as
Meyer refers to them), the campus community repeatedly mobilized to procure the
resources it needed and to defend its gains.

During the fiscal crisis of the mid-1970s, he served as the chair of the Save Hostos Committee that succeeded in keeping the college open. He helped establish many college-wide entities, including the Gay and Lesbian Club and the Hostos Solidarity
Coalition. After retiring, he co-founded The Circle of 100 Scholarship and Emergency Fund. For his advocacy and generosity to Hostos, Community College, Room B-115 was renamed the  'Vito Marcantonio Conference Room" in honor of Dr. Meyer on
February of 2012. 

Dr. Meyer authored Vito Marcantonio: Radical Politician, 1902-1954, which is in its fourth printing, and with Philip Cannistraro co-edited The Lost World of Italian American Radicalism. Dr. Meyer published over ninety articles and reviews on a wide range of
subjects, including: Italian-American educator Leonard Covello; the intersections of radicalism and immigrants; and culture and the Left. Dr. Meyer served on the editorial boards of Socialism and Democracy and Science Society. He co-chaired the Vito Marcantonio Forum, which is dedicated to advancing the life and work of that great Italian-American fighter for the working class. 
References:

Tarleton, John, “Gerald Meyer and Hostos Across the Decades: ‘Hero’ Prof Honored at HCC”.
https://psc-cuny.org/clarion/2012/august/gerald-meyer-and-hostos-across-decades-hero-prof-
honored-hcc/#.