John Jay was founded as the only liberal arts college with a criminal justice and forensic focus in the United States.

[4][5] In 1964, a committee convened by the Board of Higher Education recommended the establishment of an independent, degree-granting school of police science.

The College of Police Science (COPS) of the City University of New York was subsequently founded and admitted its first class in September 1965.

In the spring of 1970, after President Nixon announced that the Cambodian Campaign would be extended, the college held two "heated" teach-ins about the conflict.

[8] In the summer of 1970, Professor Abe Blumberg made some criticisms of the FBI and the Director J. Edgar Hoover in a graduate course on the sociology of law.

One of his students, an FBI agent named Jack Shaw, examined the agency's role in American society in his master's thesis, granting that some of Blumberg's criticisms may have been valid.

His paper found its way to Hoover's hands, who ordered that Shaw resign and told President Riddle that as long as Blumberg (a tenured professor) remained on the faculty, no FBI agents would attend John Jay.

Adopting the Open Admissions policy meant that the university would now provide a place for any high school graduate who desired to attend.

As the school grew, its space constraints were felt, despite having acquired the Miles Shoe Building on West 59th Street (North Hall) in 1969.

Throughout the campaign to "save John Jay," the faculty and administration united to advocate the sentiment voiced by President Lynch in a memo: "John Jay can contribute to the city as a unique resource to help solve the problems of crime, public productivity, manpower needs, and budget management.

In the next two decades of Lynch's presidency, enrollment and the faculty grew, the school's external activities expanded, and its curriculum continued to evolve.

In 1995, CUNY suffered another fiscal crisis when Governor George Pataki announced a $162 million cut in state financing for the university.

(In May 1996, a State Supreme Court justice ruled that CUNY misused their emergency financial authority to lay off professors, close departments, and cut remedial aid.

The school resumed class on September 13, providing additional counseling for students, many of whom saw their studies and career aspirations in a new light.

The "New Building", a 13-story tower connected to Haaren Hall's west side, opened in 2011, dramatically increasing the college's square footage and adding green space to the campus.

[29] In 2016, Washington Monthly ranked John Jay #72 in its Master's Universities Ranking, which rated universities on their contribution to the public good in three broad categories: social mobility (recruiting and graduating low-income students), research (producing cutting-edge scholarship and PhDs), and service (encouraging students to give something back to their country).

[38] The college houses multiple research centers and institutes focused on crime and justice: John Jay awards bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees, as well as certificates.

Over 75% of the student body identify as a minority (39% Hispanic, 28% White, 21% Black, 12% Asian), while over 130 nationalities are represented among those enrolled at the college.

[53] The college's diversity is highlighted even further by the fact that 47% of the student body are first-generation Americans, about half speak a language other than English at home, and 33% are foreign-born.

It is located in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan close to Central Park, Columbus Circle, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center.

Originally designed by Charles B. J. Snyder to house De Witt Clinton High School, the building was erected in 1903.

[57] In 1988, Haaren Hall was acquired by John Jay and now contains the Lloyd Sealy Library, the Gerald W. Lynch Theater, a gymnasium, and a swimming pool.

It was also the location of the John Jay branch of Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, until the summer of 2014, in which the bookstore was closed as the campus switched to a digital service.

The tower is directly connected to the western side of Haaren Hall and includes classrooms, conference rooms, a black box theater, a mock court, a 9/11 memorial, and an exterior roof quad called the "Jay Walk."