He was named director of admissions in 1960, where he initiated a process to increase diversity on campus, deemphasizing the role of standardized tests.
leader Mark Rudd announced that Coleman would be their hostage of choice and that the nearly 700 protesters occupying Hamilton Hall would remain there until their demands were met.
He had been provided with food while being held and was able to leave 24 hours later, with The New York Times describing his departure from the siege as "showing no sign that he had been unsettled by the experience".
[4] When classes resumed in September, Coleman was back at his desk with his right arm still in a cast, after having been in the hospital for ten days for a lung punctured by a bullet and then spending two weeks recuperating at home before he returned to his duties on a part-time schedule.
[1] He was honored in 1996 with the college's John Jay Award for distinguished professional achievement, which recognized his status as a war veteran who "calmly refused to be bullied or coerced, and retained the respect of hawks and doves alike" in his actions during the 1968 student protests.