Kaufman 0n Identity

by Sherry Mayrent

R. J, Kaufman, n Grinnell graduate
(class of 1947), professor of English
and associate dean of the College or
Humanities at the University ofTexs
as, announced at the beginning ol his
talk last Monday evening that he had
come back to Grinnell to speak not
as an English teacher or historian,
but as u humanist. His approach to
his topic, The Burdens of Identity,
Was Indeed humanistic, for he spoke
on a number of related questions,
concerning individual survival in
today‘s world from literary, hist ‘
cal, and sociological points of view,

His lecture, more of a tale of set/7
erai personal vignettes than a highly
organized, tightly-woven speech,
drew from such diverse sources as
Shakespeare, Jacques Prevelt,
Marx, Sartre, Brecht, Kant, and
Yeats. Mr. Kaufman is an entertains
ing speaker, and interspersed what
he calls his “presumptious state-
ments" with explanations of his
terms and examples oi his ideas
taken from the writers mentioned
above.

The main thrust of Mr, Kaufman’s
presentation conceived the ways in
which an individual maintains his
identity in contemporary society. He
suggested that society is perhaps a
worse state than we currently
acknowledge because oi its (and our)
inability to examine the relation—
ships ol things, The individual is
faced constantly with the very hard
task of trying to link together in

some vital way his inwardness and
external organized issues. in order
to maintain any connection of this
sort, the individual must try to stay
as honest as possible, not merely to
be sincere, for sincerity is the pro—
duct of a mood and by definition
cannot last

Mr. Kaufman next postulated that
one way to stay honest lies in the
Proper “nurture" of the soul, if
one makes his soul strong enough,
his soul Will in turn reveal to him it
sort of table of relationships and
orders which will enable him to see
how he relates to the rest of the
universe

Another of Mr. Kaufman’s mayor
points was that in a world like ours,
it is hard to love little things that
Wordsworth called “spots oftime,”
moments when all idle forces ofima-
gination and perception are concens
trated on that experience. As Mr.
Kaufman put it, “Life is barren when
little, non-acquisitive acts ol idle
dissipation are bullied bylgeneral
truths." On a Campus Where there
is a great deal of tension between
politics and academics, Mr. Kauf—
man’s point needs to be seriously
considered.

in general, Monday evening’s pre-
sentation was a bit too informal to
be easily understood But Mr. Kaufs
man’s sensibilities are quite admir-
able, and the questions he raised
were crucial issues and, as he put it,
unique to this particular age,

POSITIONSfrom Page one

rificed. If it means telling the ad
ministration to get in the wind with
some of the jive that comes down,
then do it.

The students of EPC (Division
reps, student-at-large, and CBS
representative) should insure stud-
ent interest in all EPC matters
That is exactly what I wish to do as
EPC student-atelarge representas
tive.

ROBERT HUXTABLE

Nothing has bothered me more
about Grinnell recently tha how the
“powers that be” make deci ions at-
feeling our education withoutgetting
much, (if any), student input. l
strongly advocate that the proposed
agendas for both the Executive Coun-
cil and the E.P.C. be published a
week in advance. Such an action
would give concerned students a
chance to make their opinions known.
Our overriding concern must be to
get more student input into the des
clsian—making process here at Grins
nell. 0n specific issues, I advocate:
A. GRADES:

GRADES have absolutely no rela-
tiOnShip to what the student learns
in any particular class. We should
work for a mutual evaluation sys—
tem; wherein prolessors and slur
dents would write out comments on
each others work. We should also
keep a minimal grading system,
though, (such as A-B-CvEraSe) lor
those who feel it necessary for
graduate study.

B, FACULTY FIRING AND HIRING:

students should have a direct say,
through equal representation on se-
lection committees, as to who their
professors will be, We have lost too
many good professors recently to
not be concerned with this matter,

c. the new independent
study restrictions;

My position on this topic can be

iound in my Letter to the Editor.
These are just a few of the issues
1 will be concerned with next year.
i will work for change regardless of
whether or not I get elected to the
EPC, However, my ellorts will be
more effectlve ill am elected tothe
EPC. i will make sure that the
student voice is heard.

KAY SOPHAR

Realizing that a school this size
cannot possibly offer enough within
its formalized structure to satisfy
the interests of every student, I
will strongly work to see that as
many academic options as possible
are ielt open. Specilically, loppose
the present restrictions on inde»
pendents and independent majors,

Furthermore, I will work for

l, Restructuring of the EPC’S to
insure Student voice at all levels
and to include representation for
non-declared and independent mas
jors.

Z. A breaking down of rigid des
partmental structure to prevent the
the school irom loosing good pro-
fessors because they don’t fit into
a neat category, and to increase
opportunities for study in problem
oriented, interdisciplinary areas.

3, Inclusion of a credit—erase
option in the new grading system,
plus a written or form type spes
citlc evaluation of the student's
work for the student's eyes only,

4, More Women Studies and other
problem oriented courses.

These are only some ideas lorways
i think the college should go. lam
always open for other ideas 1
take the responsibility of represent
ing student interests seriously and
I want to insure that the school
be responsive to the academic needs
of as many students as possible

938 MAIN

THREE LEVELS OF SHOPS

Use

The Scarlet and Black

Another in a continuing 5&3 photographic series of interesting Grinnell

personalities. Photo by Elwood Dowd.

April 28, ‘1972

Milner, Magee

Abdicate In
Poli Sci Coup

Neal Milner and James Magee have
recently announced their resignar
lions irom the Department or Poli-
tical Science,

Mr. Milner, who has been with the
department since 1957 and holds
the rank of associate prolessor,
has accepted a position at the Unis
versity of Hawaii. He has been on
leave this year

Mr. Magee has been here since
1962. He has not announced where
he plans to go next year. Magee
was recently promoted to full pros
lessor, effective next September I.

At this time there are about seven
openings on next yeal‘s faculty.

The Political Science department
has lost three faculty members this
year so only three of this year's
laculty will return next year, They
are Robert Grey, Juiiies liottois,
and C Edwin Gilmour,

Mr Magee announced his resigs
nation to the department last week.

Speakers, Dance, Movies This Weekend

Jewish Cultural
Weekend

by Danny Moss

It is an indisputable fact that a
large segment or Grinnell College
is composed of Jewish students
Where they are, remains an enigma
pointing to a disturbing reality.

Imputing t0 the environment the
responsibility lor the dormancy of
Jewish students as a social force,
several students have coordinated a
program during which Grinnell Cole
lege will undergo an at least tempo-
rary transformation, This Weekend,
as a major step is taken to respond
to the needs, be they latent, of the
Jew at Grinnell, the Jewish Cultural
Program will transpire.

The Program, in its attempt to be
diversified. has no Central theme
Initially, it is designed to awaken
the conciousness of the Jewish
community at Grinnell and to bring
to the fore, issues which should be
important to Jewish youth in Ameris
ca Its purpose IS not to isolate the
Jewish faction or to alienate the
non—Jewish population at Grinnell.
Rather, the Program should prove
appealing to the entire community.
i-‘riday atternoon, Andre Lacocque
will deliver a lecture entitled “The
Relationship of Judaism and Chris-
tianity." Mr, Lacocque is a Profess
sor of the Old Testament at the
Chicago Theological Seminary.
Friday evening will provide the
entertainment segment of the Jewish
Cultural Program, Israeli folk dune
plug will take place in Darby gym-
ndsium, This will be followed by a
two-part program in South Lounge
Felix Fiblch, a dancer and choreo-
grapher, wil explain and demon~
strate Jewish dance, The Show will
be highlighted by a performance by
Tova Ronni, an exciting lsraeli folk
singer, who will be accompanied on
the piano by Nathan Schwartz
Saturday afternoon, Judah Gi‘aubart
will discuss ”Jewish Identity in
America Today.” Mr Graubart is
an interesting personality, involved
in organizations committed to Soviet
Jewry and also an elected delegate
to the 1972 Democratic National
Convention
Sunday evening, Steven Scllwal'zss
Child, Professor of Judaic Studies
and Philosophy at Washington Uni-
versity, St, Louis will culminate
the Program’s activilles with a lecs
tui‘e, “The Logic DfJewiSh Ethics,”
His sophisticated approach to the
”Jewish problem” should prove
provocative
During the weekend, two films will
be shown in conninction with the
Jewish Cultural Program. The Fixer
deals with a Jew in Search for ideilr
tity who is confronted witll the anti-
semitisin cl Czal‘lst Russia Let My

People Go is a sensitive lilm which
vividly ticats the issues of the Halos
caust in Western Europe and the
British mandate in Palestine

The success oi the Jewish Cultural
program, the prospects for the
emergence cl a vital Jewish com—
munity at Grllinell, and the begin—
ning ol the understanding ol the
“Jewish problem" are dependent
upon the active participation at all
assocmted with our institution of
"learning.”

Black Martyrs
Weekend

by Gwen Moore

This weekend the lourth annual
Black Martyrs Weekend Program
will be held. The program will ins
clllde an iniormal lecture u rap
session with poetessswriter Gwens
dolyn Brooks, iournalist Lutrelie
Palmer, Revolutionary Workers Uns
ion spokesman James boggs, and Dr.
James Cone irom the Union Theolog-
ical seminary.

There will also be a dance in North
Lounge ieaturing a Chicago band,
Rasputan Stash

Black Martyrs Weekend was lirst
established, like Cultural Weekend,
to ihloi-m blacks about themselves
as well as to enlighten the college
community in general about the
black culture in commemoration of
the many iallen black leaders dur-

ing the present struggle lor racial
equality.

Miss Brooks has 13 honorary Ph.
D,'s and ll major writing awards.
She is a graduate lrom Wilson Jun-
ior College and has 9 published
novels and anthologies to her credit.
She is currently the editor ofa maga-
zine, The Black Position, and has
judged many national contests.

Mr. Palmer is a former instructor
at Elmhurst College in IlliHOis and
has held such positions as reporter,
director of public information ofa
news bureau and assistant editor of
the World Book Encyclopedia. At
present he holds positions as a,
radio commentator and news aha:
lyst and reporterrcolummst for the
Chicago Daily News. He has a B.A.
degree in Sociology, M.A. degree in
Journalism and has completed the
residence requirements for Ph. D.
in Mass Communications at the
University oi iowa.

Dr. Cone is Associate Professor
Theology at Union Theological Semi-
nary in New York City. He holds a
BA, degree from Philander Smith
College, a B.D, degree from Garrett
Theological Seminary and a Ph. D.
degree from Northwestern Univer-
sity, He has lectured at colleges and
universities throughout the United
States and has received 8 lecture-
ships. He has written numerous ad-
dresses and has made contributions
to many magazines and journals He
has written 3 books Black Theology
and Black Power, A Black Theology
of Liberation, and The Spirituals and
the Blues: An interpretation

 

