This paper investigates the writings of educational thought leaders with regard to college access in conjunction with the larger struggle to move from a more selective process to open admissions at the City University of New York (CUNY); additionally, the higher education theories of democracy and meritocracy are explored through various frameworks. The discussion about CUNY’s shift and the underlying values it reflected is presented alongside a discussion of the philosophies that called for the higher education system to reinvent itself for the sake of students.There is a strong call for making higher education accessible and appropriate for addressing the need for excellence and democracy for able and willing students (regardless of race). The CUNY struggle was a formidable event in academia’s history for minority students, which serendipitously outlined and employed the mirrored strategies developed by Frederick G. Zook, John W. Gardner and Jerome Karabel. These scholars had foresight and understanding in viewing education as democracy realized in CUNY’s open admission policies. Their percipient visions and mastery of meritocracy called for a democratic approach to access, without losing sight of excellence. Within the facade of this framework, this article reviews their timelines while exploring important questions that remain today.