SCARLET AND BLACK

Friday, May 8. mo

 

The Scarlet & Black

A wtikly ncwwupcr published
1-H." I-riday ol on- college yzar
hv the council cummincc on
Moduli ruliiicdnuns Represtnlcd
lnr nuliunul ndvtnlslng by Na-
[lanai Educational Adeersll‘g
\crviccs. .IED Lexinuton Ave.
\‘cw Vork. New rpm mow, SccA

(lass nostixgt and at Orin
n , Iowa sunscrimion mic
i500 pcr school you moo paid
.hhsuipuons

Student Newspaper of
Grinnell College

Grinnell. Iowa

5
E
x"

’wriu M

7/ u I0»[\5E 0“
unions
nusnvcss MANAGER
unuwcmc LuiTok
I:\\’0Ul IDH‘UR

Harry Fulton. Lloyd Celsml
John nmdy

Sieve Grow

Greg Butcher

John pepper

Tum orucniicla, are; Butcher,

Mark sauicmdn, Mlke slum. Pn|l Mpnlzs.
J. c. Lubuwlrz. Kpihryn llelnzc. m mister,
Jon 5min. Nm M-mKlalcul. ml snslch

shoals mm»:
l(|,PUlll’l us

“When Logic and Proportion
Have Fallen Softly Dead”

Tuesday at noon the faculty of this college con-
vened in a special meeting to pass a resolution. That
is just what they did. They did not meet to consi-
der the possibility of passing a resolution, and those
of them who thought so were quickly corrected by
Andy Loewi when he told them that unless they
passed the resolution as the student senate had
drafted it, the students would not endorse it, but
would have their own separate resolution.

At no time was the idea of individual con-
science, so loftily vaunted during the decision not to
meet classes for the duration of the moratorium and
the B & G strike, seriously considered, except in a
single speech by John Crossett, Classical Languages.
He was quickly dismissed as a coward by a small
herd of individuals relying heavily on each others
support.

Dean Wall informed the faculty, after they
succeeded with long arguments in retaining their
commitment to the word ”morality” in their resolu-
tion, that it would be a moral obligation for every
faculty member to obey this directive from his col-
leagues. The question of the legality of the action
was raised, but also quickly shoved aside in the
hurry to appease the student senate. After the reso-
lution carried on a vote of 71-6 with strong urging

DANISH MAID BAKERY

El 8 Fourth Avenue

The foolproof cure for
the blind munchies

ANNOUNCING
THE T970 FIAT

Come In And See
Our Complete Line

and

Find Out The Advantages
Of A Factory-Backed Guarantee

SALES-SERVICE -PARTS

CONTINENTAL IMPORTS

77? N. 2nd Ave. West
Newton, Iowa
792-1855

from Dean Walker, who informed the faculty that
they had no right to defeat a resolution on which
the students had so grcatly compromised them-
selves, a simple phone call to the college lawyer
confirmed that the action, indeed, was quite prob-
ably illegall We are aware, of course, that any indi-
vidual who rises up alone to sue the college will be
a coward.

Shortly after the faculty gave the student sen-
ate what it demanded, there began a meeting on
central campus to discuss the issues involved. After
a couple of hours it developed that these issues were
not the real ones, or at least not important enough to
involve action, so everyone sauntered over to the
ROTC building for that sportiest of sports, a building
takeover.

After the building had been stuffed with smug
revolutionaries, and Mr. Ayers, Grinnell’s first poli-
tical refugee, had been driven out by fear of arson,
mayhem, or worse involving his home, which hap~
pened to be in back of the building, students gath-
ered on the front porch and lawn to smile warmly
and chant “We shall not be moved." The festival
atmosphere received a real shot in the arm when
Chief Peters came by and lent his car, which he
conveniently parked in front of the building, to the
students as a stool, and then cracked a few jokes
with students. When President Leggett and the
Deans showed up, the party was complete, and the
remainder of the afternoon was a protest so power-
ful as to put a smile on the face of anyone. Except a
thinker.

Earlier that morning, several budding young
fascists had decided that something had to be done
in response to the deaths of the five students at Kent
State. After rejecting mourning or an appeal to the
sentiments of their classmates, they decided not to
give their classmates a chance to express their feel-
ings at all or even to think, but rather to sit down
in front of the library to keep everyone from enter-
ing. This upset quite a few students and faculty, and
it is only due to the tendency to non-action on the
part of all Grinnellians that these young guardians
of our basic freedoms were not unceremoniously
dumped over the rail of the library. Possibly also
because they chose to leave the side entrance gra~
ciously unguarded, there was a little traffic in and
out of the library in the morning. As soon as the fa-
culty decision to appease the student body by shut-
ting the college down came into effect, that stopped
too.

In the past Grinnell has been a place where
little thought or reason was devoted to the process of
making decisions. There have, however, been few
days noted for the wholesale abandonment of reason
as last Tuesday.

__
The barbarians have occupied the AFROTC
building. The administration has gone to Washing-
ton to assuage its collective conscience. And nothing
is being done.

There exists a regular procedure to deal with
takeovers of College buildings, The procedure in-
cludes obtaining a court injunction to evict the stu-
dents from the building, The procedure does not in-

)clude the administration’s running away from the
' problem.

As long as the barbarians occupy the building
and go unpunished, and as long as a cowardly ad-
ministration acquiesces in this behavior, Grinnell
College remains an affront to the idea of a free aca-
demic institution. We deserve better.

To express our thanks for your
patronage throughout the year

EMPHASIS

905 Main
will give you 20% a” on apparel and IOZ off on
other regularly priced merchandise when you bring

this ad
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE
GRADUATING SENIORS

Letters

To The Editor:

This is the first time that [have
felt constrained to write a letter
to the editor to express my deep
concern over an issue in my nine
years at Grinnell College. I feel
that the action of the “majority at
the faculty and students" of
Grinnell College sets a most
dangerous precedent, As I un-
derstand this action it in effect
puts any minority constituency ot
the institution in the position of
supporting views with which they
might disagree. This is a blatant
abridgement of the foundational
principle of an academic in-
stitution as expressed in the
concept of “academic freedom"
which holds that each person is
entitled to his own opinions and
has the right to express them.

Let it be clearly understood
that I abhore war wherever it is
fought and T likewise am
sickened by violence of any kind.
1 am not speaking for or against
the issues raised in the resolution
adopted by the faculty at the
special meeting of May 5, but
rather to the deliberate and
conscious intention to speak as an
institution rather than as a
majority of that institution. This
action was most surprising in
view of similar actions recently
taken by a majority of the faculty
such as the various resolutions
concerning moratorium days. in
these resolutions great care was
taken to preserve the right of the
individual dissenter who found
himself in the minority to do his
own thing and not to be labeled
with the majority with which he
disagreed. This careful action to
respect the indmdual’s con
science and freedom made me
proud to be a part of such an
institution.

However, it seemed to me that
emotions were allowed to
overcome reason in the debate of
May 5. This is a most dangerous
situation since we often regret
later what has been done under
the pressures of a difficult
emotional situation, The most
alarming feature of this action is
that it took place not in some mob
street scene, but in the
deliberative halls of the faculty of
an academic institution
dedicated to academic freedom,
ii the strongholds of our freedom
such as our colleges and
universities are prone to
the suppression of indivi-
dual freedom then what
of individual freedom then what
hope is there for the country at
large. It seems in me that the
same tactics of domination by the
majority which are being
deplored in the actions of our
government which claims to
speak for the “silent majority”
are being employed by the
majority of the faculty and
students at Grinnell College. Two
wrongs never make a right.
Domination of the majority
whether silent or vocal over [he
minority is not right or humane.

Jack S. Swenson

Associate Professor of Chemistry
——

HELP ME, I have lost a black
wallet with driver's license,
money, and photographs of some
very wholesome looking girls I
knew In High School. ii you find

it, please iind me, Tom
Greenfield Box 331. 23677256.

 

