On August 1, 1966, Dr. James A. Colston became the second president of Bronx Community College. Colston’s appointment represented the first time an African-American served as college president in New York City and State.

In 1957, activists, educators, and community builders founded BCC, committed to making higher education accessible and affordable in the borough. It was a largely white student body when Colston took office.

Colston was born in Quincy, Florida, the son of a dirt farmer and had worked in his youth as a farmhand in tobacco fields. By the time he came to BCC, Colston was a Morehouse College and NYU alumnus, and had led Knoxville College, Tennessee for 15 years.