El' #5 lslti 'Q a 2‘ S g lOWENSE G“ GRINNELL COLlEGE SCARLET & BLACK "The mum: of lunguogl ii not only dimsiuvi in inelt. it it even iniurioui to the will." _ Plato FNflOl EAYTON Volt LXVIII Grinnell. lows, Friday, May l5. The Minority Speaks Out Le++er From On Tuesday, May 5th. 1970, at a special iaculty 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 action in Cambodia and the policies ot the present national administration. The motion was substantially the same as that brought to the taculty by some Students, who claimed to represent a majority oi those 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 iaculty extended this claim to represent ”Grinnell College as an institution.” The joint iacultystudent 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” 7 that merits censure, and we are ape ‘pealing to you. the trustees, to make that censure We argue as follows: 1. Although the meeting was well attended by faculty and s: administration, there were no representatives of the trustees, the parents, or the alumni. 2. The claim by one part oi the institution to represent the whole institution necessarily involves those who dissent; and such a claim is especially unfai'i when many members of the ins stitution had no voice at all in the proceedings 3. The majority resolution is highly political in nature 7 an unprecedented and, in our view, an improper kind oi resolution for a college to make. 4. By suspending classes as a part or the resolution, the iaculty 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 die extreme language oi the resolution, the majority prevented a rational conclusion irom being reached. We would iurther point out that the temper oi the meeting was highly emotional, so much so that the majority openly violated a long-standing tradition oi 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. .7 j- A symbolic Commencement was held on Central Cum- pus May 13. Five students — Susan Fowler. Jonathan ‘Jenltins. Helen Lindblom, Arthur Searie, and Sharon Vander Jug! — and (our faculty members — H. G. Apostle. John Crossen. Edwin Kulawiec. and Ralph Luehhen — attended. Several other students and facul- ty asked to participate In spirit. SGA President’s Statement Because oi my role as chair man in the various meetings that have taken place recently I have not been in a position to state my views on the issues before us. However, in my role as 5.0. a. President 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 oi academia and engage itseli in the struggle at hand. This departure from formal academic endeavor will necessitate sacrifice by all members of this institution. But diese sacriiices pale when com. pared with the sacrifices exacted by our nation oi the young, the dissident. and people oi color all overtheworld, For these reasons I whole- heartedly support the Thomas proposal. Andy boewi President. Grinncll College Student Gov 't Ass'n. Facul’ry Head On Closing To tiic President: To summon, to order, to elucidate the events, the factors, the elements which led, over a period oi iivc days, to the decision of Grinnell College on 8 May to terminate its academic year on 13 May, sixteen days before its scheduled Commencer ment, would be a lengthy and de- manding task. Many and varied and complex were the events, the factors, the motives, the states or mind which ted, or con» ditioned, or informed the act. But in my own Case, the con- cern which rose, so to speak, to the top as l 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 or tree 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 alld opinions and to their written and spoken expression. “1 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 oi the student body, as l assess them. so seriously limit our freedom oi maneuver and action that the College must close its doors to protect the very existence or 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, 1 fear that the College forecloses, or may ioreclose, the possibility oi writing any future contracts it can pcriorm 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 a 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 or the Faculty 15May lino I970 President's Statement 1 To Parents As you have probably heard, either directly from your son or daughter or indirectly through news reports, we are closing the College oliicially at 5-00 PM. on Wednesday, May 13, This is two days beiore the formal ending of classes, as previously scheduled, so that only the period ot iinal examinations and com mencement activities could have remained. The copy of my iormal statement to iaculty and students on this matter is enclosed. The faculty voted 91-4 to support it in a separate meeting. At a general faculty and student assembly held Friday aiteriioon, the student vote to support the statement was virtually unanimous. The reasoning behind my statement is essentially as follows: No matter hoiv one may regard the attitude oi students both here and throughout this nation, toward the Cambodian affair and the Kent State in cidcnt, it is a fact that almost all students, irom dcctrinaire 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. Aer cordingly, I believe it is best to close fl'le 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. it 1 were talking here about something less than the great majority of Grinnell students, I would have recommended to the faculty and students that alternative ways be initiated oi 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. No. IS President's Statement 2 To Faculty and Students Recognizing the grave political and educational crisis which this nation and this college presently face. I believe that the College cannot continue to carry on its llormal and traditional functions in the next two weeks. I recognize the desire and the need of inv dividual members of the Come munity to participate in non- violent and informational political activities, and by sus» pending normal activity {or the remainder of the current academic year we allow indi- vidual members of the come munity to engage in such ac- tlvitics, After consultation with the Chairman of the Board of Tmstees and other members of the Board, I am therefore recom» mending to the Faculty that classes be suspended for the re mainder oi 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 individur al Grinnell students will have the opportunity to engage in educational and informational activities of their own choosing until the date oi 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 iive days between the suspension of classes (that is, from Friday, May a, through Wednesday, May is), our major etiorts 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 completed. I ask for your understanding in this time of great distress for the College and its Con- stituencies. sincerely. Glenn chgett President WWW Three out oi four people killed in highway accidents in 1969 were on dry roads in clear weather, according to annual iigures com- piled by The Travelers insurance Companies