By: Jasmin Shirley and Rashidah Fowler
Dr. Robert Parmet, a founding member of CUNY York College, is set to retire after the Spring 2025 semester. A proud historian, Parmet has dedicated his career to specializing in the ethnic, immigration, and labor histories of the United States and fervently sharing his knowledge with students for more than 60 years. His career as an educator began at City University of New York, where he previously attended as a student. Switching majors from engineering to history, Parmet credits the history department for “ushering me” along. “I am forever indebted to people in the history department, especially Professor Joseph Wisan, Chairman of the History department over there,” said Parmet.
He then spent a few years teaching at Columbia University before becoming one of the first faculty members at CUNY York College in 1966. “I was the first chair of the department,” he said of his beginnings at York. “I designed the program. And I’m very proud of that.”
Originally, the Department of History and Philosophy, Parmet said, the program design he drafted is still used today with minor changes. During his tenure he assisted in creating the “now defunct” Black American Heritage Foundation Music History archive, was interim chair during the pandemic, and even wrote a few books including “American Nativism, 1830-1860 and Labor and Immigration in Industrial America” and “Town and Gown: The Fight for Social Justice, Urban Rebirth, and Higher Education.” The latter book details the hurdles that York College faced in its early years due to its being placed in a minority neighborhood for minorities seeking higher education. “We fought bitterly for the state and the city to build this campus,” he recalled. “We won the battle, but it was difficult. It took 20 years for us from the time of our founding to get into this building.”
Having made history as the longest employed faculty member of York College, Parmet has touched the lives of many students and even maintains communication with some of them still. “There’s one who’s working a few blocks from here. Edwin Osario, who’s working for Social Security. Another student, Mike Wrangler, retired English teacher and he’s in Florida. Then I’ve been in touch with somebody from our first class, Mark Brand. And, also, of course, Judge George Grasso. Class of ‘79. I met with him a few weeks ago, actually, and his wife. They’re lovely people.” The latter student that Parmet refers to is York Alumni George Grasso, who rose through the ranks during a 30-year career in the NYPD to become first deputy commissioner and retired in 2022 as the Administrative Judge for the Queens County Supreme Court for Criminal Matters.
Although he’s preparing for retirement, Parmet continues to show concern and care for students, having a lot to say about the college experience on York’s campus and what he’s witnessed in recent years. “I’m not happy when I see that the building is not full. Classes are empty,” he said. “I understand why students take classes online, but they’re missing something that’s very, very important. The college life.” Although Parmet understands the different circumstances in which students opt to grab “credits at home,” he also believes that it is up to the college to bring students back to the campus. “I think they’re being deprived. Our students deserve a cafeteria. Our students should have that little area at Union Hall Street, which was originally supposed to be our main entrance, which is used as a storage place for heavy equipment.”
The Union Hall Street entrance was also home to a railroad station that York had access to but was demolished, according to Parmet, before they were able to get into the building in the mid-80s. “I know some of the college presidents have lobbied for it,” he said. “But the LIRR did not want to. They didn’t want to spend the money.” Additionally, Parmet believes that York should provide access to the parking lots and develop dormitories. “We were supposed to have an academic village [that] never materialized.”
His strong opinions about the possibilities of what the York College campus could be are rooted in the time he’s invested alongside his colleagues and the community of Black families that supported them in achieving what we get to experience today. His hope for the future of York, to take its place among the likes of City College, Queens College, and Hunter College. “I want to see the college take its place as it was destined to back in 1966, ‘67, ‘68. Stand up with the other schools and the community. Be treated by CUNY on an equal basis. This has been a problem we felt from the very beginning. That we haven’t received that kind of consideration.”
In his retirement—this pet parent of cats Meow-Meow, Midnight, and Mickey—wants to spend more time with his son in Los Angeles and plans to take a lot more photos than the ones that adorn his office featuring faces of friends and family, as well as places he and his wife have traveled. “My wife and I have been to something like 93 different countries,” he said. And even though he’s retiring from York College, he intends to continue writing book reviews for the New York Labor History Association. “That sort of perks me up,” he said.
His final advice for students? “Don’t just look for a job after college. Look for a career. Look for the future.”
