SCARLET» AND ILNCK

Individuality Bowen '5 SUI Theme

From the Inaugural address of
Dr. Howard R. Bowen upon his
invutiture as president of the
University of lawn, lowa City;

"We live today in a world of
teeming population and vast urban
conglomeration. The individual is
part of immense organizations such
as corporations, labor unions, farm
organizations and government bu-

reaus. The individual becomes a
number, a cog in complex ma-
chinery, an object to be manipulat-
Id, a standardized unit that is ex-
pected to adjust to a norm. In this
atmosphere, his sense of responsi-
bility and his concern for his lei-
low man tend to be dulled. Mass
society bears down with special
force on young people.

“A university is perhaps our
most effective instrument for coun-
teracting the conformity and
anonymity that society tends to
impose. A major purpose of the
university is to draw out each per-
sonality, to, encourage expression
of particular interests, to seek out
genius, to discover and test new
ideas, to engage differing points of
view in free and fruitful discussion,
in short, to preserve and promote
individuality. The only conformity
the university requires is loyalty
to the search for truth.

"quortunately, as the university
becomes larger, it too may take on
the characteristics of the huge ore
ganiz ion. It may become bureau-
cratic, its regulations may be pon-
demos and inflexible, its educa»
tional program may be mechani-
cal, it may describe people and
their performances only in terms
of numbers that can be cranked
into computers.

As the university grows, it' may
lose its capacity to confront stu-
dents and faculty members as in»
dividuals, or to be concerned about
Iuch human qualities as integrity,
courage, social sensitivity, aesthe«
tic appreciation, imagination, con-
cern for fellow men, and religious
commitment. I think many of our
larger universities are in danger
of losing touch with the individual,
of emulating the factory, rather
than the alma mater.

"Our academic program should
give students ample exposure to
personal teaching. By personal
teaching I refer to discussion and

 

direct exchange of views between
a faculty member and one or more
students. Personal teaching may
take the form of small classes and
seminars, it may occur in laborav
tories or studios. or it may take
the form of informal conversations.
Personal teaching means interac-
tion and discussion. The teacher
appears as a human being whom
the students can know, and teaches
by virtue of the kind of person he
is, not merely through one-way
communication of his subject,

“We should increase emphasis
on independent study and student
writing..All our students should
write frequently, and their writing
should be criticized. We should re-
duce the number of courses stu-
dents take at any one time, and
thus encourage depth and thought-
fulness and promote independence.
By reducing the number of courses
taken and the number taught, we
could find the time for more per-
sonal teaching as well as more re-
search. . .

"The extracurricular life of the
university offers another oppor-
tunity for encouraging individuali-
ty. Through extracurricular activi-
ties, the individual student can ex-
press himself, broaden his horizons,
acquire new insights, gain experi-
encc in human relations, as well
as achieve needed recreation.

“Distinquished visiting scholars
from all parts of the world should
be brought to the campus for vary-
ing periods from a week to a year
and should be in face to face con-
tact with students. Since we are
living in a revolutionary era with
new nations and new cultures are
emerging and when the ageless
struggle for the rights of man has
intensified both at home and
abroad, our discussion should en-
compass non-Western, urban prob-
lems, and Civil rights.

“These areas inevitably intro-
duce the vital moral dimension into
our discussions. Since we are liv-
ing in an age when the ground of
existence is being questioned, our
discussion must encompass reli-
gion.

"I want no luxury and no waste.
l want the economy and beauty of
simplicity. I also want the economy
of investing wisely in our greatest
resource. namely, our young peo-
ple. There is no long-run economy

 

TASTE WHAT’S HAPPENED TO LEMON AND LIME!

 

in providing inferior education for
them.

“Finally, I should Iii-re to say a
word about prestige. A university
must be concerned about its repu-
tation. Reputation is linked with
the ability to attract students and
faculty, the power to raise money,
the morale of students and staff,
and the worth of degrees. Never-
theless, I am inclined to think that
the academic world today is over-
ly preoccupied with prestige. Too
many policies and actions are de-
signed to impress, to gain a favor-
able “image." The glamorous pro-
grams universities undertake, the
famous professors they try to lure
away from each other, the grants
they seek, the equipment and
buildings they acquire, are all de-
signed with one eye on prestige
and one eye on true education and
research. The effect of this search
for prestige has been to create lm»
balance between research and
teaching, between graduate study
and undergraduate study, between
devotion to the outside profession
and devotion to one’s university.
There is a great deal of academic
keeping up with the Joneses, lead
ing to conformity as each institu-
tion tries to emulate the next one
above in the scale of prestige.
There is need for the courage of
individuality among universities as
well as among persons.

”Now l am for prestige. i am
glad the University of lowa has a
great deal of it, and I want Iowa
to have even more. But I believe
that prestige is one of those things
—- ' like friendship, respect, and
love — which one does not get by
seeking them directly. I believe,
therefore, that our actions should
be guided toward what is right for
us, in light of our traditions and
our objectives, rather than guided
toward what University X or Y is
doing.

“I hope we shall be the kind of
university that is willing to try out
new ideas. ! also hope we shall be
the kind of university that can say
“no" to insistent social pressures
that would divert us from our true
course. I hope we shall seek in-
dividuality for the university it»
self, as well as lor the persons who
are part of it. if we are true to
ourselves, we need never worry
about our prestige.”

 

Mrs. Noun Named
To Planning Body

Mrs. Maurice H. Noun, Des
Moines, has been elected to a
three-year term on the Grin-
nell College Board of Over-
seers, by action of the Board
of Trustees. The Overseers
function as a planning, consult-
ing, and evaluating body, sup~
plementing the Trustees as the
official governing body of the
college.

Mrs. Noun, the former Louise
Rosenfield, is a 1929 graduate,
who later received an M. A.
in art history and museum
administration from Radcliffe
College. She was a member of
the Grinneil Advisory Council
prior to her election to the
Board of Overseers.

Currently chairman of the
Iowa Civil Liberties Union and
a member of the Iowa Capitol
Planning Commission and of
the Governor‘s Commission
on State and Local Government.
Mrs. Noun is a former presi-
dent of the League of Women
Voters of Des Moines, trustee
of the Des Moines Art Center,
and member of the National
Municipal League council. She
received a distinguished. Citi-
zen’s award from the National
Municipal League in 1956 and a
Grinnell alumni award in 1964.

At present she is working on
a book on the emergence of
the woman’s rights movement
in Iowa, a field in which she has
done extensive research the
past few years.

Editorial and staff positions
on the 1965 Scarlet and Black
are now open. Please contact
John Wolf at extension 130 for
further Information.

 

Editor Suspended ‘
By Roosevelt U.

The entire editorial board 0‘
bhe Roosevelt Torch, was re-
cently_ suspended by file Stu;
dant ACtivity Board. The Torch
is the student newspaper at
Roosevelt University. in Obie
cago, Ill.

The suspension resulted from
an early-December issue of the
Torch, which carried an article
alleging that Robert Pitchell
President of the university, he
been asked to resign by the
school's board of trustees. Uni-
versity officials confiscated the
issue, and later released it with
a four-page supplement deny-
ing the story.

Pitchell then suspended tho
fivestudent editorial staff and
the paper's editor, Judy Hal-
prin from their position: and
barred them from participation
in any student activities, The
board upheld the suspension.
but withdrew the activity ban.

Publication of the Toroh‘ha-
been temporarily halted, at
the students involved in tho'
suspension were the only mem-
bers of the staff with the tech;
nical ability to put out th
newspaper. A new editor wil
be chosen by the Student Ao-
tivity Board.

The six students involved are
now planning to publish a com-
peting newspaper, probably
mimeographed, which will be
entitled the Roosevelt Free
Press.

In spite of the administra-
tive denials at. the time of the
Torch‘s story, the Associated
Press Wire service carried a
story two weeks later which
stated that Pitchell had “asked
to be relieved of his duties
when his term of office empire!
Aug. 31, 1965."

 

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