The triple crown for the City University of New York — whose students have now won Harry Truman, Barry Goldwater, and Thurgood Marshall scholarships — is an occasion not only for celebration by all New Yorkers but also for reflection on educational policy. The scholarships are among the most prestigious anywhere; the Marshall and Truman awards have long been dominated by the top-flight schools. Yet CUNY has begun to emerge as a major contender. With yesterday’s announcements of the scholarships named after our 33rd president, this is the third year in a row that a CUNY student has gained a Truman scholarship, as we report on page two today (it had an astounding five finalists). CUNY has had a winner among the Thurgood Marshall scholars for two out of the past three years. And its students won an amazing three of the new Goldwater Foundation scholarships.

CUNY isn’t the only New York City institute celebrating this morning. NYU and Columbia both had winners among the Truman scholars this year. We don’t wish to take anything away from them by noting that putting NYU and Columbia in as contenders is nothing new. What is news is that the emergence of CUNY in this exalted company results from a conscious change in educational policy here in New York. The decision to eliminate the role of remediation at the senior colleges was taken during the Giuliani administration, led at the boardroom level by Herman Badillo and Benno Schmidt, and implemented by a visionary chancellor, Matthew Goldstein, amid great criticism from doubters and naysayers.

Delegating remediation to other institutions, such as community colleges, was only part of the strategy for turning CUNY around. There was also the epiphany that a program of honors colleges would lift the sights of everyone involved, including students, taxpayers, counselors, professors, and parents — as well as private philanthropists. Especially in the aftermath of September 11, 2001, it was satisfying to have the option of access to education of the highest level right here. CUNY set its sights high, establishing the Macaulay Honors College, from whose ranks several of the recent laureates have come, including David Bauer, who also won the $100,000 Intel prize for science in 2005.

Building a great institution is not only about winning prizes, of course. But in order to build a great institution one has to show what is possible, and this is what has happened in recent years at CUNY. Coming in the wake of controversial policy decisions, it is an enormously welcome development and shows that change and reform bring rewards. CUNY has been touting its students in a series of advertisements in the subways and newspapers, has recently launched a campaign to make the public aware of its growing roster of star professors, and has undertaken a campaign to raise a private endowment. This is all part of why New Yorkers are so warmly congratulating Christine Curella, Mr. Bauer, Itamar Belisha, Miriam Ginzberg, and Louise Anderson. They are the pride of the city.