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THE HAVERFORD NEWS - THE COLLEGE NEWS

Friday, May 6, Lh

 

Less Administration for More Cooperation

Martin Oppenheimer has taught at both Bryn
Mawr and Haverford. He argues for the estab-
lishment of a democratic education beginning
in the operation of the classroom itself. His
ideas include radical changes in ‘“‘elite
women’s colleges.’ )

Beyond the trite and the obvious comes the contro-
versial; so that ifI say Ihave had two great years at Hav~
erford and Bryn Mawr and have the warmest respect and
regard for the students at both institutions, that is trite,
though true, And if I add that students at both institutions
are being cheated to some extent in their education, that
is obvious -- for where is it-not so? —

For me there has always been a contradiction between
declarations of. the value of democratic education on the
one hand, and the autocracy of most classroom situations
on the other. My classroom isa contradiction as much as
any (note: I say MY, not OUR, which would be more
proper). Last summer, in an Institute for public school
teachers of ‘‘culturally disadvantaged children’’ which I
helped to staff, I was exposed for the first time to some
ideas which go under the heading of ‘‘student-centered
teaching.’’? This is a relatively non-directed system in
which the teacher acts primarily as a resource, and in
which students have to become fully involved in planning
the direction and content of the course. For the first time
I sensed that the contradiction wasn’t necessary. For the

- pu of teaching across cultural lines such a system

is ind sable, as those with experience in the Southern
Freedom Schools know; it is participatory democracy in

* the classroom. I believe this system to be just promis-

ing at the college level, though I can’t go into this in the
space provided here,

Open-Ended Education
But such a system assumes a certain kind of goal for
education: not primarily the learning of techniques or
skills with which to earn a living (including earning the
grades to get to graduate school), which canbest be done

in a barracks; nor the acquisition of what Veblen once
called ‘‘substantially useless information’’ serving as an
index to conspicuous consumption and hence status among
our elites, but rather learning about one’s self, one’s
relationships to others, and to the world around, and
what (if anything) to do aboutit, Itassumes that education
is open-ended, which is what I mean by eae
education. \

This brings me to another point, the unfortunately con-
tinuing inferior status of women in our society. The
women’s colleges were set up originally for reasons not
very different from Negro colleges: since women coyld
not enter the men’s schools, it was thought that separ-
ation might lean eventually to equality. In different ways,
neither the Negro colleges nor the women’s colleges have
succeeded in attaining equality, for separation is in-
herently unequal, as was pointed out by the Supreme Court
in 1954,

Matria rchial Bureaucracy

The women’s colleges, precisely because of their
separation, suffer from a culture lag which finds them
continuing to train young ladies to be indices of their fu-
ture husband’s status, a practice fostered by their cloist-
ered, classics-bound existences, Thus the paradox which
finas . matriarchies founded on the proposition of

equal rights for women blocking real equality of educa-

tion by refusing to integrate--understandable, alas, for .

matriarchs tend consciously or unconsciously to per-
ceive males intruding into their domain as threatening
in various ways. The matriarchal bureaucracy and its
relationship~ to. the inferiority complex is a social-
psychologically neglected subject to date, but it can per-
haps be suggested that true equality can be attained only
by true integration.

The elite colleges generally continue a segregated

existence. Not only are many segregated sexually,
absurd in trying to educate for the reality of today, but

Theatre, Music Group Interaction
Aims for Enrichment in the Arts

Lynne Meadow, President of the Bryn Mawr Arts
Council, reviews the current extent of coordination
in artistic endeavors, which aim for cultural en-
richment.

The artistic activities that occur on the Bryn Mawr
and Haverford campuses have become increasingly more
coordinated in the past years. Progressing from a
core of groups that were established as bi-college
activities, we now enjoy combined participation in cultural
traditions: formerly restricted to one campus, The joint
efforts that have produced more successful events in-
dicates the growing desire to expand and combine artistic
opportunities, There would seem to be two major reasons
for this increased coordination, Bi-college cultural
activities provide a healthy way of meeting members of
each campus, Instead of limiting social events to mixers,
students can now feel free to meet people on a basis
of mutual interest, The atmosphere of working, for
instance, on a College Theater production is certainly
conducive to mixing and is much less tense than being
shipped over to Haverford for a mixer.

The Bryn Mawr-Haverford College Theatre, Orchestra
and Renaissance Choir were among the groups originally
established as co-ed activities, Stemming from these
are events such as Haverford Class Night, Bryn Mawr
Arts Night, and Dance Concert, all of which, were not
originally designated bi-college activities, Casting Bryn
Mawr girls in this year’s Class Night not only made
rehearsals more enjoyable but also seemed to eliminate
much of the off-color humor often characteristic of
these plays, Bryn Mawr has made equal use of Haverford
talent for its traditional activities, Not only did Haver-
ford students play in the band for Junior Show but many
‘¢male’’ technicians were on hand to help the freshmen

with their show in February.
The Bryn Mawr Dance Concert now includes a sub-
stantial and talented number of Haverford dancers,

 

en Ps

This coordination incrgases attendance to a worth-
while presentation and also provides a fine outlet for
Haverford students who have no formal dance club of
their own, The Bryn Mawr Arts Night is also combined
with the creativity of both schools and encourages ex-
perimental presentations in an unlimited realm.

Arts Night, Class Night, Dance Club, and WHRC are
activities officially belonging to one or the other school,
Yet there is a reciprocal agreement that seems to invite
bi-college participation and attendance. Each school
retains its individual clubs and still interaction is com-
fortable and welcome, The combined College Calendar
certainly indicates the interest in knowing about the
other campus’ events, and why not? We each have artistic
facilities and we should feel free to take advantage
of all available opportunities, Perhaps a more coordinated
Art Series is next on a list of possible improvements,

Lynne Meadow

President of Arts Council
Bryn Mawr College

 

“*The women's colleges, precisely because of their
separation, suffer from a culture lag which finds
them continuing to train young ladies to be indices
of their future husbands’ status, a practice fostered

by their cloistered, classics-bound existences.”

they are segregated from their surrounding communities
(the ‘‘real world’’), also contributing to an artificial
existence which impedes understanding. This often in-
cludes an appalling unawareness of the lives andfortunes
of even those members of the community who work on
campus. They continue as well to be segregated racially
and class-wise (though less so than formerly), for the
occasional summer institutes and ‘‘prep’”? programs
undertaken for their Southern brethren are tokenism only
and are entirely inadequate to the needs. of. both the
‘¢other’? populations, and students who presently fill the
elite schools.
‘Community of Scholars’

I think we must come to grips with the fact that if the
liberal arts college has a special job todo educationally,
this job cannot be done while competing with the multi-
versity for laurels that go. to the American Celebration,
Our job is presumably the pursuit of truth, and not the
sale of it--the challenge of our society, not its accept-
ance. That kind of job requires the creation of what Paul
Goodman calls ‘‘The Community of Scholars,”? which
means in part the extension of decision-making to all the
members thereof--one person, one vote, as in Neill’s
SUMMERHILL, (For such a community, Haverford’s
smaller size and Quaker tradition in decision-making
processes are: advantages which could be built upon.)
It means (partly to save money) more cooperation (in-
cluding co-ops) and less administration, more use of
the neighboring community as a classroom (especially
in the social sciences) and less building. It means having
all the staff and students really involved with each other
and with life, and fewer teachers whose only life ex-
perience has been cloistered academe. It means experi-
mentation and getting away from doing things in a par-
ticular way just because they work administratively
(including - class ‘‘periods,’”” grades, and taking exams
for a grade). Above all it means if you believe in demo-
cratic education you start behaving that way, starting
right in the classroom with decisions about how that
classroom is going to operate.

Martin Oppenheimer
Lecturer in Sociology
Bryn Mawr College

Wanted: More Coeducation

Joan Cavallaro, President of the Curriculum
Committee at Bryn Mawr, points out differ-
ences in orientation between departments at
Bryn Mawr and Haverford, and views the
possibility of Bryn Mawr students’ being
permitted to major at Haverford.

Haverford and Bryn Mawr have been working towards
more and better academic coordination over the past
years. An increasing number of students from each
college are taking courses at the other school each
year, Our Economics Departments are coordinated; the
Political Science course offerings of the two colleges
are in many instances complementary; alternating
courses in the Humanities are often arranged with the
other college in mind, so that a course not offered one
year at one school may be supplemented by a course
given that year at the other. The mess-up of this year’s
college calanders showed the importance of bi-college
cooperation. i

In short, it is becoming more and more obvious

that both colleges have only to gain by coordinating
their facilities more closely and by working towards
mutual academic goals. How else, one is often asked,
can small colleges keep up with the larger and co-ed
universities. Indeed, as early as 1904 M.Carey Thomas,
the first Dean and second President of Bryn Mawr,
‘foresaw a time when the need for them (women’s
colleges) would pass, when women would gain more
than they would lose by entering the more fully endowed
great universities ...’? (CAREY THOMAS OF BRYN
MAWR, by Edith Finch, p. 280.)
. The topic of bi-college coordination being fully upon
us, then, the two questions which must be raised and
thoroughly discussed this year and in the coming years
are: in what areas and by what methodscan the Curricu-
lum representatives of both schools enhance the bi-
college intellectual community? Just how much academic
coordination is desirable?

 

 

The first question, which has already been broached
in get-togethers of the Haverford student representa-
tives to the Educational Policy Committee and the
Academic Flexibility Committee with members of the
Bryn Mawr Curriculum Committee, begins with the
cliche problem of ‘‘communication.”? Better communi-
cation on all fronts: Committee-student, student-
committee, committee-committee, committee-faculty,
faculty-committee, historical-comical-pastoral. Both
groups acknowledged that students could take more
initiative in making known to all undergraduates the
possibilities for petitioning for a change in academic
requirements, the course offerings at the siblingcollege, .
and so forth. With better understanding of the particular
emphasis of corresponding departments and content and
arrangement of courses, students could make a more
educated guess in choosing their coursework.

More important, bi-college rather than separate dis-
cussion of such ripening topics as pass-fail courses
can help set the stage for the development of mutual
academic goals and attitudes towards education. The
most promising field for cooperation in intellectual
outlook lies in the possible changes of the future, and
henceforth any major innovations contemplated by one
sphool should be considered in the light of both colleges,

As to the second question, both colleges should address
the larger. question of how much the educational facil-
ities of the colleges should be combined in order to best
serve the interests of students and faculty, M. Carey
Thomas challenged in 1920: “‘The very first step (that "|
university women should now take) seems to me to be
the demand for unqualified, true, out and out co-education,
Only by having the schools and universities co-educational
can we ensure the girls S the world necekying thoroughly

“good eqaestens’

a9 jute Cavaliers ais
President of Curriculum Committee
Bryn Mawr Co llege