Lu
lOwENSE61S Vol. LXVIII
rNtioi LAY TON SCARLET &BLACK
"The mssuse of language is not only di:UO(00 in itself, if is even injurious to the soul." — Plato
Grinnell, Iowa, Friday, May 15, 1970 No. 15
mat%
GRINNELL COLLEGE
The Minority Speaks Out
Letter From Faculty Head On Closing
President's President's Statement 1 Statement 2
To Faculty and Students
normal and traditional functions in the next two weeks. I recognize the desire and the need of in- dividual members of the com-
administration, there were no representatives of the trustees, the parents, or the alumni.
represent a majority of those unprecedented and, in our view, year on 13 May, sixteen days
On Tuesday, May 5th, 1970, at a special faculty meeting, a majority of the faculty passed a resolution condemning what it termed "official repression" in the disaster at Kent State and linking this with the military actioninCambodiaandthe policies of the present national administration. The motion was substantially the same as that brought to the faculty by some
2. The claim by one part of
the institution to represent the
whole institution necessarily
involves those who dissent; and
suchaclaimisespeciallyunfair Tosummon,toorder,to when many members of the in-
stitution had no voice at all in
the proceedings.
To Parents
you have probably heard,
3. The majority resolution is
students,whoclaimedto highlypoliticalinnature—an 8Maytoterminateitsacademic
attending a meeting in South Lounge. The number of students was, we were told, somewhere between 300 and 400.
Despite these figures, the resolution claimed to represent "the majority of the faculty and students." Furthermore, the faculty extended this claim to represent "Grinnell College as an institution."
The joint faculty-student resolution, then, claims to be representative in two ways, and both ways are, in the judgment of the undersigned, ill founded. But it is the second claim — to being representative of "Grinnell College as an institution" — that merits censure, and we are ap- pealing to you, the trustees, to make that censure. We argue as follows :
1. Although the meeting was well attended by faculty and
an improper kind of resolution for a college to make.
4. By suspending classes as a part of the resolution, the faculty placed those who wished to dissent in an impossible position morally and, perhaps, legally.
5. By linking together diverse issues, and by failing to revise the extreme language of the resolution, the majority. prevented a rational conclusion from being reached.
We would further point out that the temper of the meeting was highly emotional, so much so that the majority openly violated a long-standing tradition of the College; to respect the rights of the individual conscience.
We therefore wish to dissociate Ourselves from the resolution, and we request that the trustees make a similar statement available to public notice.
before its scheduled Commence-
ment, would be a lengthy and de-
manding task. Many and varied
and complex were the events, the
factors, the motives, the states in a separate meeting. At a of mind which fed, or con-
political activities, and by sus- pending normal activity for the remainder of the current academic year we allow indi- vidual members of the com- munity to engage in such ac- tivities.
After consultation with the Chairman of the Board of Trustees and other members of the Board, I am therefore recom- mending to the Faculty that classes be suspended for the re- mainder of the academic year and that the campus be officially closed at 6:00 p.m. on Wed- nesday, May 13.
This means that: 1) there will be no final examination period this year 2) there will be no Commencement activities this year 3) that by the period be- tween now and May 13th students will have the opportunity to meet with their instructors to work out arrangements for the conclusion of their academic responsibilities under conditions which Dean
Wall will discuss 4) that individu- al Grinnell students will have the opportunity to engage in educational and informational activities of their own choosing until the date of closing.
Regrettably, the College cannot manage it without using a means of pressure or enforcement that it neither can use nor coun- tenance using.
In the five days between the suspension of classes (that is, from Friday, May 8, through Wednesday, May 13), our major efforts are being directed toward interviews with faculty and students about academic decisions involving individual students. As the enclosed statement indicates, we intend to do everything possible to see that equitable arrangements in- volving all aspects of student welfare, academic and other- wise, are campleted.
Iaskforyourunderstanding in this time of great distress for the College and its con- stituencies.
Sincerely, Glenn Leggett President
rctlocp"-p.x.c..x.p.IccyrOx0.•
Three out of four people killed in highway accidents in 1969 were on dry roads in clear weather, according to annual figures com- piled by The Travelers Insurance Companies.
A symbolic Commencement was held on Central Cam- pus May 13. Five students — Susan Fowler, Jonathan Jenkins, Helen Lindblom, Arthur Searle, and Sharon Vander Jagt — and four faculty members — H. G. Apostle, John Crossett, Edwin Ku!awiec, and Ralph Luebben — attended. Several other students and facul-
ty asked to participate in spirit.
SGA President's Statement
the top as I approached the meet- ing of the Faculty on 8 May was that which I there articulated:
" . . . The College cannot permit itself as a college to be so politicized, nor indeed appear in the public eye to be so politicized, that its abiding 'purposes are nullified and its effective func- tioning as a locus of free inquiry is precluded or impaired. The College cannot today convert itself into a political ground, be it a real political battleground or a mere political playground, and expect tomorrow to resume its stance of disinterested search, of measured deliberation, of hospitality to the widest range of ideas and opinions and to their written and spoken expression.
' "I have come, over the last two days, slowly and reluctantly to the conclusion that circum- stances without and within the College, the events of the last few days here, and the present temper and temperature of the student body, as I assess them, so seriously limit our freedom of maneuver and action that the College must close its doors to protect the very existence of its educational house. True, in so doing it cannot continue to fulfill completely its contract with students for instruction and in- quiry under conditions congenial to instruction and learning (and this . . . I deplore and profoundly regret), but in not so doing, I fear that the College forecloses, or may foreclose, the possibility of writing any future contracts it can perform with honor and effectiveness.
"I support the recom- mendation of the President and the Trustees and I urge upon the Faculty its acceptance."
Today, 7 days later, I remain convinced that the action of 8 May was the proper one. As I see it, the move may well have saved the College; in any event, it saved the chance to save the College.
John R. Kleinschmidt Chairman of the Faculty 15May 1970
unanimous.
The reasoning behind my
statement is essentially as follows: No matter how one may regard the attitude of students both here and throughout this nation, toward the Cambodian affair and the Kent State in- cident, it is a fact that almost all students, from doctrinaire radicals to conservatives, have suddenly become so politically involved that they are no longer able to give proper concentration to their academic studies. On this campus, as on many others, their attention over the past two weeks has been almost completely diverted into discussions and activities about the political crisis. In some educational in- stitutions, as you know, this activity has taken violent forms. Though there have been some threats of such violent activity
here, it has not yet happened; demonstrations here have been disruptive in only a minor way. But the important fact, as I say in the statement I enclose, is that the existing atmosphere and temper make it impossible to continue the normal and traditional functions of the educational institution. Ac- cordingly, I believe it is best to close the school and permit students to carry on their political activity elsewhere than on this campus, not under what might be interpreted as the authority, formal or informal, of the College itself.
If I were talking here about something less than the great majorityofGrinnellstudents,I would have recommended to the faculty and students that alternative ways be initiated of approaching the problem of completing the school year, so that those students who wished to complete their school year in a regular fashion could do so. But I think that the present en- vironment does not allow for such an option, rational and proper as the case for . it may appear to those who believe the College ought to be able to manage it.
Because of my role as chair- man in the various meetings that have taken place recently I have not been in a position to state myviewsontheissuesbefore us. However, in my role as S.G. A. Presiaent I feel it my respon- sibility to state those views.
We have reached a critical point in our history. Decisions are being made and will continue to be made in the near future which will determine what path our nation will follow — self-deter- mination or intervention abroad, liberty or authority at home, indeed, freedom or repression in all our actions. These are the choices.
In light of these events it is necessary now that Grinnell Col- lege leave the ivory tower of academia and engage itself in the struggleathand.Thisdeparture from formal academic endeavor will necessitate sacrifice by all members of this institution. But these sacrifices pale when com- pared with the sacrifices exacted by our nation of the young, the dissident, and people of color all over the world.
For these reasons I whole- heartedly support the Thomas proposal.
Andy Loewi President, Grinnell College Student Gov't Ass'n.
To the President:
Recognizing the grave political and educational crisis which this nation and this college presently face, I believe that the college
elucidate the events, the factors, the elements which led, over a period of five days, to the decision of Grinnell College on
Wednesday, May 13. This is two
days before the formal ending of
classes, as previously scheduled,
so that only the period of final
examinationsandcom- munitytoparticipateinnon- mencement activities could have violent and informational
ditioned, or informed the act.
But in my own case, the con-
general faculty and student assembly held Friday afternoon, the student vote to support the
cern which rose, so to speak, to statement was virtually
As
either directly from your son or
daughter or indirectly through
news reports, we are closing the
Collegeofficiallyat6:00P.M.on cannotcontinuetocarryonits
remained. The copy of my formal statement to faculty and students on this matter is enclosed. The faculty voted 91-4 to support it