Friday. April 8, H766 SCARLET AND BLACK The Liberal Liberal Arts College and Its Students: Part | .A endemic life Stressed at Reed College ED. NOTE: In the first in a series on the “Liberal Arts College and its Students," junior philosophy major at Reed Rene Ballard writes about keed College’s liberal policies and the academic pressures which seem to keep students ironi enjoying them. A iairly reliable index of the charac- ter of any college, 1 think, is the kind of person it tries to make of its students. College administrators are not always candid in explaining the kind of College they direct — I am not at all certain even what Reed is supposed to be ~ but Reed possesses an appealing simplicity in the clarity and immediacy with which it becomes evident to the first year stu< dent that Reed is dedicated to producing academicians. what is not so appealing is the degree to which this dedication _ excludes nearly everything else. In a way this directed narrowness makes Reed a simple place to describe. There are no fraternities, ior instance. Nor are there intercollegiate athletics. Much of the extra-curricular activity common to other colleges does not exist at Reed. But in a way it gives Reed a certain complexity, ior the institution is generally far more dedicated to academ- ics than are the Students. Hence there is a perceptible divergence between the iomlal structure and the actual work- ings of the college. One of the paradoxical things about Reed is that the college iS as notable for the freedom it allows the Students as ior its academic rigor. There are low spe< cific rules; theoretically the student is tree to do as he wishes as long as he does not impair the rights of others. However the college seems to extend with one hand unparalleled social free- dom only to rescind with the other the opportunity to use it by imposlng an academic burden which if taken serious- ly leaves almost no time for anything but working. And at Reed the student who has had little introduction to the discipline re< qllired of the serious Academician is at- tracted by Reed's standards and Reed’s freedom. Once at Reed, however, he otten learns two things: one. that he is less inclined academically than he had imagined, or two, that he is more cre< arively inclined than Reed gives him room to be. Creative work at Reed is minuscule. Thus about on per cent of the entering students leave Reed. Many or those who stay do so with dislike or con- tempt ior Reed, many simply out of un- certainty. Not many are willing to sur- render the freedom at Reed (or the re strictlons common to other colleges; but not many remain at Reed for more sub- stantial or more positive reasons. Corl- sequently there is a lot of confusion among Reed students about themselves and about Reed. llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll Most ‘Eschew' Middle Class llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll it is much easier to describe what Reed students do than what they think. Most of them, for instance, eschew middle class avalues and deride the peaceful asininities of our society. And however dissatislied they might become with Reed, none are dissatisfied with the policy of excluding fraternities and ath- letics, etc., which seem to be lower level complements of much of the nonsense oi adult society. But if Reed students are revolutionary they are so in a quiet way. Most of them just look revolutionary: they are in the summers and quite utten during vacations temporarily and palm lessly reintegrated into society, and after Reed, usually permanently reintegrated. A lot of them might favor a modification of society's sexual mores and a lot of them like socialism. But if anything, they are ~ not subversive — just avantrgarde THE ACADEMIC up: is the most important at Reed but it often takes a very informal nature — at is the care above. Reed has generally attracted the more able and intellectually motivated high school students. Yet students of this category are also often times artistically motivated. I would venture this guess. even, that their interests tend to be more broad than that of the average student. which, l grant, is reheshing to someone like myselt who has endured the provin- ciallsm of the Midwest. At any rate, the important thing is tor all of their radicalism at Reed, not many have given much thought to the applica- tion of radical ideas once out of Reed. What relevance or importance there might be for society at large in the values of the Reed society is not clear to very many — perhaps to none. Never- theless most derive a Certain Satisfaction from Reed: reputation as a hotbed ni subversives and dupes and a certain primitive obligation to perpetuate it. In this case society is the dope — particu- larly Portland. Although there are Com< munists (of intellectual persuasion at least) at Reed, no one tinds it particular. ly noteworthy, not because everyone is in sympathy but because the existence at political diversity is taken for granted. Few Reed students would seriously hear an argument which took it for granted that Communism is prima facie unac- nearly 24 hours daily. Heretoiore there has been little attempt to adopt the use sumption that the average college stu- dent is so ltkely to make serious mis- takes, affecting himseli only or others as well, that his major decisions have to be made for him by those who possess the requisite knowledge and virtue. [illllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll Sanity Hangs 0n Stolen Leisure llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllltll Direction of most student life, lnsoiar us it needs directing, is the business at the senate, a joint body of students, ad- t CLASSES AT REED look much like those at Grinnell, It would seem they are more important than here. however. ceptable, although they are quite willing to hear arguments to this eiiect. Students here approach such questions academ- icaily, and this tolerance is oiten mis- taken ior acceptance. lillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll Not Much Time For Opposition Illlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll There is little political activity on cam— pus. Most students are opposed to the war in Viet Nam, but few spent much time in active opposition. For the most part the time for organized political work cannot be spared. With very few exceptions Reed stu- dents ore mature enough to meet the re~ sponsibility which accompanies the free- dom at Reed. Most of them are eager to assume the responsibility. Often in other colleges rules become. with the willing acceptance of students, defenses ior tut- tering personal values, substituting for- mal prescription for the lack of comic tion. Little of this exists at Reed. Stu- dents here consider one’s social life, panicularly one’s sexual liie, one’s own business. lntervisitationislliberal, and _ recent proposals move to extend it to ministration, and faculty. All of this is created by, and helps to perpetuate, a substantially mature student body. But Reed social life suiiers from the ener< vating work load. There is, to me at least, a pervasive fugitive quality in al- most all Reed social life. In fact, not much social life exists, So in a Sense do. bates about the direction of communlty aliairs are only so much sound and tut-y. In another sense. perhaps, they are not, for the Stolen moments of leisure are, to many, threads on which one’s sanity hangs. Probably the most certain thing that can be Said about the Reed student is that he is definite about What he does not like — middle class values, conlcrrnity for its own sake, political orthodoxy, muddled thinking in general, halfway approaches to education — but terribly uncertain about what he does like ‘ the values by which he shall live, his own interest in education. his own aims and designs vis—a-vis the ones he has con- demned as narrow, common, and un - teresting. And the most certain thing about Reed is that it is difficult if not imr possible here to discover the answers to these sorts of questions. To the student firmly resolved to pursue the academic liie Reed is one of the best places, But to the student still uncertain. Reed is one of the worst.