Admissions:
A Sensible
Approach

The statement on admissions issued Wednesday byPresident Leg»
gett and the board of trustees represents a practical look at a
major, ongoing problem at Grinnell.

President Leggett said recently that small colleges have been
concerned for the past ten years that they were ”pricing themr
selves out of the market”. Until now, no real problems have
developed.

However, admissions is becoming a more difficult job daily,
as the rising cost is coupled with the end of the draft and a general
disenchantment in some quarters with the liberal arts idea to
produce a dwindling pool of applicants. In addition, the birth rate
has declined steadily over the last decade, furthercutting the number
of potential Grinnellians.

But the admissions picture is far from hopeless. Wednesday’s
statement provides a pragmatic and workable program for main-
taining both the size and quality of the Grinnellstudent body.

We have examined it carefully, point by point It calls for recog-
nizing the diverse talents of potential students as important fac-
tors in the admissions process. No one, it would seem to us, could
argue with this policy.

It calls for placing some additional stress on athletic programs.
While it has become fashionable in some quarters in recent
years to minimize the value of athletics, especially in the liberal
arts format, the point is well taken that Grlnnell has produced
a number of fine scholar—athletes. As long as athletics do not
become the dominant factor in campus life this suggestion, too,
has considerable merit.

One of the simplest, and perhaps the single most important
ideas put forth in the admissions policy statement is that of
direct faculty Contact with potential students. In an institution
that prides itself on the personal relationships developed bet
ween students and faculty, it would seem vital that prospective
students be given a chance to know at least one faculty member as
a person, whether by mail or lace to face. Certainly, such contact
could be a major factor in a student’s final college choice.

Finally, three groups of prospective students are singled out
as having a special status in the admissions process: Iowans,
alumni offspring, and minority candidates.

There is little argument about the latter group. Grinnell has come
\far in the admission of minority students, but there is still a con—
siderable distance to travel.

As the policy statement notes, preferential treatment for sons
and daughters of Grinnell alumni is already an informal part of
the admissions policy. It seems logical and reasonable that memr
bers of families which have contributed to Grinnell in so many
ways should be given some form of preference

Finally, Iowa students provide, for the most part, the rural and
small town background which is often in short supply at Grlnnell.
Grinnell prides itself on diversity, and this type of background is
a must for a complete campus community.

The President and the trustees have examined a major problem
at Grinnell, and have produced a set of workable, long range
guidelines to deal with it.

It is a procedure we hope to see more often.

Improving
Communications

In a recent intervxew, President Glenn Leggett and Dean Waldo
Walker strongly defended'the actions taken last spring which
disestablished the department of communications as a separately
administered departmental entity.

In one of the clearest exchanges to come out of the entire com-
munications struggle, both affirmed their strong interest in com-
munications as a valid academic subject.

Their basic contention is that, by disestablishing the depart-
ment, the college removed a compartmentalized barrier which
was actually inhibiting the growth of the communications program.

However, the program will continue to be offered and improved
through several departments, each providing a different facet of
the communications art.

It the plans Leggett and Walker outlined this week are carried
through .. if the curriculum is analyzed by a professional, With
a view towards initiating the best program possible within the
College framework, then we must applaud the trustees’ action
last April as both prudent and forward looking

An ambitious program has been outlined Leggett has said he
would bet that within a year, Grinnell Will have a better commune
ications program than it has ever had before -

It is a comforting promise. We hope it can be fulfilled,

THE GlilNNELL SCARLET AND BLACK

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REGISTRATION —— ”THE 5AM BLUES ”
SGA letter lo Student Body Reprinted

Ed. note--The following letter, seni
in early August to ill new and returnr
ing students by the SGA Cabinet,
is~ reprinted here in full at the re—
quest of its authors. Because of
problems in the 11.5, Postal Service,
many students never received their
copies of the letter.

Dear Grinnellian;

We would like to take this Upper
rtunity to welcome back returning
students and to greet those of you
who are coming toﬂrinnell for
the first time.

We are writing at this moment,
two Weeks before our return to
campus, out of a deep concern over
the nature of our collective educar
tion at this College. The 1972-

1973 Grinnell College catalogue affr
irms the importance Df educational

experiment at Grinnell.

It should be emphasized in this

introductory statement that Grin-

hell is small enough and has a

student body of such quality that

the College is able to experiment
in educational policies, It em-
ploys flexibility in the organizar
tion of its curriculum and diver
sity in the methods ofinstruction,
with frequent innovative revisions

in its educational program. (p. ll)

Within the last five years, the Grins
nell College Community has witnes-
sad the dilllgent and at times lm-
aginative work which faculty, studr
ents, and administrators have de-
voted to solving the major academic
and institutional inadequacies Ofour
education. However, it IS our Oplnr
inn that during the past year chanr
gas have occurred which have serr
iously undercut the traditionally ops
an and creative atmosphere ofGrinr
nell, jeopardizing the possibilities
of innovation and flexibility. The
last two semesters have seen the
following policies ratified:

l The abolition of divisional level
student/faculty educational
policy committees, reducing
student input in decisionrmak-
mg;

2. Restrictions on the number of
independent study projects a
faculty member may sponsor:

3. A severe cutback ln allowable
“practica” hours which pro»
vide College credit for such
nonstraditlonally credited aCr
tivities as music and theatre
productions, museum and field
work, special physical oduca~
tion actiVities, social hndpoli-
tlcal scientific internships,

4. The abolition of a credit/
fail grading option;

We interpret these Shifts in aca-
demic policy to be emblematic of a
trend which is at odds with inno-

vative and progressive education.
While it is true that previous Stu-
dent Government officials participas
ted, on an ad hoc basis, in the mak-
ing of some of these changes, the
faculty and administration were re-
sponsihle for the aggressive initia-
tive and pressure which resulted in
these changes. These decisions saw
only the most perficial attempts to
ascertain student opinion on the
particular issues. In some cases,
faculty members acted, in ouropin-
ion, ,without Sufficient information
toriustify their decisions. Regard-
ing the abolition of divisional-lei
vel educational policy committees,
it seemed to us that an attitude
close to indifference to student parl
ticipation in community governance
had manifest itself, particularly
among several faculty members,

It is our intention to reopen the
debate on all of these issues in
the beginning of the school year.
However, until student participation
in academic governance is elevated
from its current ad hoc, adVisory
status to an official and perman-
ent posture within the College, the
rule of the Student Government As—
sociation will remain relegated to
,that of a continual struggle to pre-
serve the gains of our previous
years' achievements,

We have therefore asked the Pre-
sident of the College to establish
a Commission on Governance which
will hopefully submit a new struc-
ture of internal governance to the
community or students, faculty, ad»

. campus.

ministrators and trustees for rat
lflcatlun. It is our hope that this
new structure will grant students
full and equal participation in camr
pus governance, both academic and
social. We realize, however, that
our goal will not be achieved un-
less we all exercise a great deal
of vigilance in representing and pro-
tecting student interests.

As many non-student members of
the campus community will want
to point to you, a letter of this
irrature has never been written to
students, either new or returning,
before they had arrived on cams
pus. Had we received such letters
before coming to Grinnell, there
might have been no need for us to
write to you at this time. But the
{act is that we do need to inform
you of the state of academic govera
nance on campus.

While the issue of academic gOVr
ernance is of paramount concern,
we feel it imperative to inform you
of other areas in which we plan
to work. One of the most impor-
tnat is the initiation and adminis—
tration of social policies on the
This is done primarily
through student and student/faculty
committees. Our intent is to Strr
engthen and broaden the student par-
ticipation on these committees. The
descriptions and atrlarge openings
for these committes will be pub
lished in the fall and applications
will be accepted during the first
weeks of school.

Continued on page 'I

Ouint: Support Farm Workers.

To the Editors.

Before every one of you Grinnell
”students” quietly settles into your
textbook existence Iwznted to quickr
ly remind you of the lifestyle and
living conditions of farmworkers »
the people who pick your food so
that you can all stuff your faces.

Presently as some of you may be
aware, the' larmworkers are en-
gaged in a struggle to preserve the
union of their choice, the United
Farmworkers Union, AFL-CIO Th-
ese workers are some of the most
underpaid workers in this country.
The average family income fnr a
farmworker’s family hovers around
$2,500 per year,

Over onevfourth of the working
force consists of children under the
age of is. Today,‘ there are nine
year old kids picking your food.
Today, women are being brutally
oppressed under the pimpish la-
bor contracting system. But also
today these farmworkers are strugr
gling to regain just a little bit of
the dignity and respect that they
deserve,

These workers are putting their
lives on the line in the fields of
California where “la huelga", the
strike continues. In all major ur-
ban centers people contribute their
support through the boycott of
grapes, lettuce. and Gallo wine,

This part of the struggle is ex—
tremely important! It is fairly easy
to do, and every one can help if
they want to help.

Often it isdifficult to activatethose
who have not actually tasted “the
grapes of wrath." Sometimes stur
dents cannot react to affairs out
side the ”normal” boundaries of
student activity. But it is impor-
tant to remember that there is
a hell of a lot to be done if we want
to become involved.

As someone who has lived through
this past summer of nightmares
with the farmworkers perhaps] have
become myopic in my perspective.
But nonethelessn only write this
letter to you’because I know that
some of you are actually interest-
ed and concerned.

Students have been active before.
Students have helped to slow down
the monster of US. nearcolonial-
ism. You really did help in end a
lot of the suffering in Indochina.
So it is for these reasons that I
believe that once again Students
will be able to rise up in anger
and opposition to the inequities that
are so prevalent in our capitalist
system. Solidarity with the United
Farmworkers Union is a beginning.

Si se puede,
Robert Quint
Crazy House

Q

 

