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Page Four

COLLEGE NEWS

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April 9, 1965



Students Protesting Vietnam War
Attend Teach-In at Swarthmore

by Edna Perkins

About fifty Bryn Mawr students
who attended a teach-in atSwarth-
more heard American policy in
Vietnam attacked as ‘‘outlawry’’
and ‘‘a failure,’’ and defended
as a ‘cautious’? policy leading
to ‘‘the independence of South Viet-
nam.”

The teach-in, an all night meet-
ing to consider the Vietnam war,
was conducted simultaneously at
Swarthmore, Temple, and Penn,
About 2500 students attended.

The first speaker, Helen Lamb,
a writer on Vietnam who has spent
two years in that country, called

our policy ‘‘a total failure’’ be-
cause it has intervened in a civil
war and attempted to ‘‘create a
country out of nothing.’’ She stated
that most of the Vietnamese people
still ‘want to reunite the north and
south. The present leader of the
north, Ho. Chi Minh, was a
nationalist leader with support
from Communists and non-Com-
munists alike. If Viet Nam were
reunited under Ho, she added,
nationalism would keep it in-
dependent of Red China. She added
that our present policy antagonizes
most Asians, including our allies.

After Mrs, Lamb’s address, the
assembly listened to the broad-

Ire Arises Over Eyer:

A Fable for Our Time

by Margery. Aronson

Once upon a time there was a

. men’s college on the Main Line,

Among the students at this college

was an individual who thought that

he could do things for his college

if he were elected president of
its governing body.

Yet, soon after the election of
this student, who proposed some
very idealistic concepts when he
campaigned, the realities and the
responsibilities of the officeholder
to his electorate became pain-
fully obvious, One’s .ideals had to
be compromised in many cases,
and forced moderation was not a
pleasant prospect. Moreover, the
constituency no longer seemed as
concerned with the issues as they
had seemed at the time of the
election,

Because the college’s traditidn

SAC to Evalute
Student. Opinions

In Questionnaire

As a result of the Social Ac-
tion Committee’s seminar series
on *tthe meaning of a liberal arts
education,’? members of the com-
mittee are preparing a question-
naire to assess student opinion
on problems facing the college
community,

One of the cabin of the ques-
‘tionnaire will be the academic
calendar. The committee is in-
terested in gathering suggestions
for changing the schedule. _ It
also hopes to find out the con-
sensus on.the possibility of in-
stituting a° reading period and
improving coordination with . the
Haverford calendar.

The questionnaire will also be
concerned with examination pro-
cedures and student -faculty re-
lations.

The Curriculum Committee has
submitted several specific ques-
tions on the future role of that
committee, and these quéstions
will be included in the SAC ques-
tionnaire. :

An important set of questions
will ask for opinions on the struc-
ture of the student government,

* and the possibility of changing

its system of representation or
making it more centralized. Un-
dergrad has considered creating
a committee similar to Haver-
ford’s Committee of Thirty-six,
which was initiated to gather stu-
dent opinion and suggest reforms.

Other topics on the question-
naire will include the possibilities

of meal exchanges and bus trans-

portation with Haverford. The
Social Action Committee also
hopes to gather opinion on student
employment on campus and sug-
gestions for reconstituting the food

advocated the student’s right to
speak before his colleagues in
open meeting, one day this pres-
ident stood up and began to dis-
cuss the college and. its faults,
After an oration of considerable
length, he announced his resigna-
tion and ceased to be the titular
leader of the college community,
This unexpected event shocked the
citizens of the men’s college, for
it created a situation hitherto
unprecedented, And everafter? Did
the former leader succeed in
stimulating the controversy which
he felt could and would produce
that which he had conceived? Or,
did he merely create a chaotic
situation from which nothing pos-
itive could result?

Although this ‘account reads as
fiction, it is factual, The names:
Haverford College’s Joe Eyer, re-
cently elected Students’ Council
President. The facts: at meeting,
Tuesday, April 6, 1965, Joe Eyer
spoke and concluded his talk with
his resignation, The results: a
mass meeting of the Haverford stu-

* dent body, at which the formal let-
ter of Eyer’s resignation was read
and an announcement was made
of procedure for a new election,
In addition to these two pronounce-
ments, members of the Council
presented three plans which Eyer
had spearheaded: a. plan for a
council of 36, a group composed
of volunteers to represent dorm
segments with .the purpose of ob-
taining a campus wide consensus
on any given issue; It was suggested
that Bryn Mawr establish a similar
organization; secondly, they pre-
sented a plan for a course system
of 5-5-4-4, based on the concept
that advanced courses necessarily
required more preparation than
lower level courses, providing for
more intensive work in the last
two years; thirdly, there was a
proposition for the elimination of
grades calling for. individual writ-
ten evaluations by professors and
incorporating each student’s self
evaluation,

Discussion by faculty and stu-
dents followed this presentation,
No decisions were reached, nor
was it clear, whether or not this
was a meeting of the council or
of the committee of 36.

This committee had been
presented as a suggestion and at
that time was without by-laws
or representation from all dorm
areas, Ex-Council president Har-
rison Spenser asked if the speakers
represented Council, The reply
alluded to the importance of the
issues presented and the relative
unimportance of who presented
the material,

«= The “blitzkrieg’’ nature of the
question and all its ramifications
has produced an emotion charged
issue. Its import is far-reaching,
affecting Bryn Mawr students as
well as those from Haverford.
Each fable must have a moral,
and this deliberate slighting at-
tack on an important ‘student posi-
tion merits much reconsideration



~ of candidates, platforms, cam-
‘ ~~ patens and the validity of mandate, eraduate. school,” hopefully at 2

“pem,?*

cast of President Johnson’s policy
speech.- He stated that. ‘*North
Vietnam has attacked the in-
dependent nation of South Viet-
and we must keep our
pledges to the southern govern-
ment, He also said American pol-
icy would *‘strengthen world
order’’ by stopping agression, ‘‘We
will not be defeated,’’ he added.
Then he offered to enter ‘“un-
conditional discussions’’ for
peace, and to give economic aid
to all of Southeast Asia.

The assembly at Swarthmore
listened in grim silence as the
President justified his policies.
They laughed when he spoke of his
boyhood in Texas, and applauded
his general statements about
peace. But there was sarcasm
in the applause, as if they were
‘acknowledging an irony, not prais-
ing a policy.

The next speaker was Franz
Gross, Chairman of the Political
Science Department at Pennsyl-
vania Military College. He said
the -realities of politics forbid a
withdrawal now because of our
commitment.

Claire Wilcox, Chairman of the
Economics Department at Swarth-
more, said that a military victory
for us is unlikely, since we lack
the support of the peasants in
the south, Of the alternatives open
to us, he said, the policy just
set forth by the Presidentwas best
by being a combination of. ‘‘the
carrot and the stick,’? instead
of complete reliance on force.
He predicted that Vietnam will
have an independent Communist
government, and ‘‘we will ac-
cept. it.’’ President Johnson’s
speech ‘‘marked a great step for-
ward,’’ he said.

In answer to his contention that
the United States has to remain
in Vietnam to save face, Mr.
Davidon of Haverford suggested
that preserving our image does
not justify killing. and bombing.

Maureen Arthur, Ronnie Welsh,





Jeff DeBanning and Suzanne

Menke, four of the leading players in the Pulitzer Prize winning
musical ‘‘How to Succeed in Business me a
at the Shubert Theatre. (see story below.)



Students Visit

Tougaloo, Clark |

As Part of Exchange Program

by Mary Thom, '66

Bryn Mawr and Haverford stu-
dents visited Tougaloo College near
Jackson, Mississippi and Clark
College in Atlanta, Georgia during
Spring Vacation as part of this
year’s exchange program. Partici-
pating in the Tougaloo exchange
from March 31 to April 5 were
Mary Lou Kjeldsen and Mary Thom
of Bryn Mawr and Bob Hillier and
Dave Watts of Haverford. The trip
to Clark College lasted the week
of March 27, and the students in-
volved were Taddy Gresham, Kitty
Taylor, Clark DeSchwWeinitz and
Glen Nixon, The second half of the
exchange program will take place

Clark College Exchanges Find

Complacency on Rights Issue

by Tatty Gresham, '66
and Kitty Taylor, '67

During Spring Vacation we at-
tended Clark College, a small Ne-

gro liberal arts school in Atlanta, ©

Our purpose was to learn some-
thing about higher education for
Negroes in the South, and about
the reactions of the students to
their situation. The academic qual-
ity of Clark seemed to us only
average. Surprisingly, the general
atmosphere was primarily col-
legiate and was not overshadowed
by the civil rights issue. .

The classes we attended were

‘for the most part large and infor-

mal, Oral reports, student ques-
tions, and discussions played a far
greater part than at Bryn Mawr,
where the lecture reigns supreme.
Students did not hesitate to express
their opinions or confusion, Rather
than diversified supplementary
reading, most courses employed a
textbook, Quite often the lectures
were based entirely upon the text.
Numerous quizzes were given,
often composed of picayune mul-
tiple choice or identification ques-
tions again based upon the text.
Although there was a heavy em-
phasis upon grades, academic
pressure seemed far less than at
Bryn Mawr,

We found that a great majority
of the students were sociology,
education, or psychology majors.
A lesser number elected science
and the traditional liberal arts


large northern university.
The students at Clark have very
little freedom both academically

‘and socially, There is no honor

system, and hours are strict. The
administration controls most stu-
dent activities, When we discussed
the latitude allowed at Bryn Mawr,
the students were amazed.

We. had expected to find much
participation by the student body in
the Negro movement, and so were
greatly surprised by the lack of
militancy. in the student body on
this subject. This attitude can par-
tially be explained by the location
of the college. Atlanta is the most
progressive city in the South,
There is now no problem about
voting. There are few public facil-
ities which Negroes cannot use.
Job opportunities are excellent.
Although naturally in deep sympa-
thy with what is going on around
them, the students do not seem too
willing t6 involve themselves di-
rectly in the Negro struggle in
other areas of the South. For ex-
ample, none of them went toSelma,
although most participated in sym-
pathy demonstrations in Atlanta,

In sum, the students seem com-
placent. Although the situati8h in
Atlanta is far from perfect, the pri-
mary goals of the Negroes have
been for the most part fulfilled. /
Revolutionary change is no longer
needed, Thus, for the future stu-
dents do not anticipate working
directly in the Negro movement in
the South. Most intend to work in
Atlanta or in the large northern
cities where va a for ad-.




from April 16 to 23 when Clark and
Tougaloo will send students to the
Bryn Mawr and Haverford
campuses.

Arrangements for the exchanges
were made by Eileen Ferrin and
Mary Thom working with a Haver-
ford committee. The program had
been in planning stages since fall,
but it was not until the week be-
fore vacation that final prepara-
tions could be completed. Under-
grad funds were supplemented by
the individual students infinancing
the trips.

The Tougaloo exchange is a
continuation of a program begun
last year when six Bryn Mawr and
Haverford students visited the
Mississippi campus. Tougaloo isa
pioneer in northern and southern |
school exchanges that have become

“increasingly popular in recent
years. Clark College is part of a
trio of predominantly Negro in-
stitutions including Clark, More-
house, and Spelman colleges. Hav-
erford also has an exchange with
Morehouse College this year.

Such an exchange program allows
the individual to spend a week in
a radically different college com-
munity thus gaining a perspective
on nationwide higher education.
The students live in dormitories
and attend classes taking part in
the normal college routine to in-
volve the campus as a whole inthe
program. Tougaloo has an expanded
program which includes semester
exchanges this year with Riplan
and Oberlin colleges. The Bryn
Mawr committee has also been
investigating the possibility of ar-
ranging a longer exchange,

Swimmers Elect
Vultaggio Captain,
Ahwesh Manager

The varsity swimming team met
for tea Wednesday March 24 to
celebrate the end of the swimming
season, At the meeting Candi Vul-
taggio ’68 was elected next year’s
captain, and Lynn Ahwesh ’68 was
elected manager.

/ Varsity high scorers for the past
season were Candi Vultaggio, first,
and Susan Orbetan ’67, second.
Donna Cross ’68 was high scorer
on the junior varsity with Diane
Seavey in second place. Captain
Allie McDowell ’66 presented
coach Miss Yeager with seventeen
red roses representing the team’s
“seventeen members,» -.

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