by Don Dagenais

"People have been hearing the libs
eral arts colleges for years. You
read the literature of titty years
ago, and the small residential libe
eral—arts college is on the way out,
But it never gives up. It’s a corpse
that keeps getting up and walking
around.”

President Glenn Leggett must feel,
at times, like the man in the midr
dle of a giant whirlpool. The eds
ucational and social revolutions take
ing place on today’s campuses would
be enough to make most educators,
it would seem, avoid the job of
college president like the plague,

and the ﬁnancial duress under which
small colleges are going the past
few years would seem unlikely to
lighten the burden. Leggett, how-
ever, keeps his attitude cautiously
optimistic and has lost no confi»
dence in the value of the type of
education his school offers. He
thinks it is the best.

”We can’t say that we have the
very best professors, because ob-
viously there are good people at
the State University of lawn, the Uni-
versity of Northern Iowa, the Uni-
versity of Michigan, and other in-
stitutions which have spectacular
faculties. We can't say that we‘ve
got a better faculty. What we can
say is that at a liberal arts college
like this the regular faculty teaches.
Our hill professors teach everyone
from freshmen to seniors.

”On top of that the whole out-

from page l

Faculty

cently obtained her doctorate from
the University of lllinois and has
taught at that university, besides
doing research work for the Chilr
dren's Cancer Research in Boston
and at the Rochester School of Me—
dicine.

The Department of Music announc-
ed last Spring that Cecil W, Lytle,
jazz and classical pianist who re
ceived a warm response when he
presented a concert at Grinnell
last winter, has been appointed as
an Asistant Professor of Music.
He has taught previously at West-
ern Michigan University, and won
first prize in the Franz Liszt lnr
terh'ational Competition in 1969.

Members of the college’s new Qu-
artetrinrResldence, the Manhattan
Quarter, will hold the title of Leos
turer in Music. Eric Lewis and John
D. McLeod are the violinists of the
group; Andrew Berdahl plays the
viola; Judith Glyde is the cellist.
All are from the Manhattan School
of Music and have had previous ex-
perience as the Quarter-ln-Resi-
dence at Cornell University.

Ira N, Rosenholtz has been appoint—
ed to the Mathematics department
to take the place of Eugene Herman,
Associate Professor, who will be on
leave for the year. Ms Rosenholtz
recently received her PhD. from the
University of Wisconsin and has te—
aching experience there as well.

Carolyn Reid Wallace will be
Assistant Professor of American
Studies and English. She has ure—

ofrclass educational life is just (life
ferent here than it is at a big met-
ropolitan university. It’s a small
community, Most people know each
other, live close together. Some.
times the intimacy of the place is
so great that it gets steamy around
here lBut I think there is a cataly-
tic agent somewhere here that gives
students another dimension to their

education.”
Such optimism about a liberal arts

education is certainly notuniversal,
In recent years the small schools
have come under increasing lire,
both from those who advocate the
value of a more speciallzed trains

PRESIDENT GLENN LEGGETT

ing and also those who question the
small college’s financial ability to
survive.

”I would say that four years ago
the liberal arts colleges were really
in serious trouble, but right now the
educational institutions which are in
trouble are the big state universi-
ties. Their dormitories are empty,
they have evidently been overbuilt,
they are not getting the enrollment,
and they are getting all kinds of
criticism from legislatures about
the way they spend their money.

"Anumber of small liberal arts
colleges are going under as well. I
myself think that the only small
liberal arts colleges that are going
to survive are those which, first of
all, have a sufficient endowment to
carry them through periods of fine
ancial crisis. Economists will give
you different figures as to what that

endowment should be, but there is
a kind of general acceptance that the
endowment should be at least seven
or eight times the annual budget.
odor annual budget is about six
million dollars, which means that
I believe we ought to be between
forty-five and fifty million in enr
dowment. instead of that we’re Just
below twenty.

”Unless you can depend every year
on a certain amount of income from
your endowment portfolio,you’re
forced into a position where you’re
just scrambling for money year after
year after year. This is not only
frustrating, but the desperation bee

I .

photo by Bell 2 Drum
comes almost self-defeating. But
our endowment is going up; the level
of our gifts has been increasing
every year. on top of that, we have
managed to keep the operating bud»
get in the black. -

”While a number of other colleges
have had trouble maintaining their
enrollment, ours has been going up.
My guess is that part of it Is due
to the fact that we have a very efr
ficient admissions staff. The truth
is, our real problem is finding
enough space for the students to
live.”

Financially and admissions-wise,
therefore, Grinnell has not fallen
prey to the same problems which
have put similar institutions out of
busmess. We can, Leggett feels,
survive. But survival is not the
only concern, for if Grinnell is to
provide the kind of education which

Elle §>wrlet anti 35inch AUGUST25.l972 3

leggett Is Optimistic About Grinnell, liberal Arts

the country’s outstanding stu-
dents desire, It must also consider
questions of its educational quality
as well. ,

”We will survive," Leggett be-
lieves. ”if we can come throughwlth
a definition of liberal arts under»
graduate education that attracts good
students. And i think that unless we
do that during the next three or
four or live years, we’ll be in
trouble. While the tee we charge
students and parents really isn’t
equal to the cost of the education
we give them, it is still around
$4000 per year. And if you can‘t
Show that you can give a better ed»
ucation for that amount of money,
the students are going to go to
the state universities or the com-
munity colleges or somewhere else.

”l am also worried about our at-
trition rate, the fact that students
who are at the end of their soph»
omore year and who are in good
academic standing are leavmg, going
to other places where there appear
to be more options, or taking off
for a year or two and not going
to college at all. We're accepting
about four hundred and thirty new
freshmen this year; out of that we
ought to graduate about three hunr
dred. But we can’t do that unless
we make the place interesting
enough, academically, to keep good
students here.”

A further concern, at least to
Grinnell, is the process by which the
educational and social upheavals
everpresent in the school's atmos-
phere are handled. In past years
the campus has tended to operate
on a’ schedule of crises, where the
confrontation was always between
students and faculty or students
and the administration, and
dialogues have been filled with po-
litical overtones.

Leggett entertains no false hopes
that the fiery debates will cease.
In fact, he feels that the political,
atmosphere of Grinnell is one ofthe
major things which give the school
its particular ﬂavor. ”It is,” he
understates, "never dull here, I’ve
been in institutions where it is just
dull, where apathy is a real problem,
where students just go to classes
and professors just teach and out-
side nf a few hljinks now and then
during the year there is no prob-
lem, But that's just not Grinnell.

”Grinnell has just traditionally
been very attractive to students and
faculty who are concerned with
social welfare. Ever since the days
of President Gibbs back in the late
,Isoo’s it has always attracted
people who have developed a sense
of public responsibility, who worry

about what is going on in the out-
side world.

”We don't want to lose that, be-
cause it is one of the marks of‘
Grinnell. But I wish it would be
quiet enough around here so that we -
can begin to discuss rationally some ,
of the very important educational .
questions facing us "

The recent action by the Board of
Trustees concerning the debate over ,
discrimination and black studies at
Grinnell is a case in point The
Trustees, says Leggett, are make .
ing it clear that they will support,
the establishment ofa multirraclal
environment at Grinnell. ”Tlle'
whole country has had five or six
years of revolution in this area,”
he observes, ”and there is nothing‘
unique about Grinnell.” The change, '
however, msut not come ln a series ,
of crisis confrontations but rather in ‘
an orderly manner in an environment
conducive to rational discussion and ‘
action.

"We’ve got all kinds of things we
have to do to improve the situation
The Trustees don’t regard this as ‘
that our attempts to find a solu-,
tion to the problems have been suf— '
tlcient. All they are saying is that
if we are going to improve, and we‘
are going to do so, that we have
got to have a stable environment
in order to do it.“ '

The "student power" movement
of recent years has greatly ins
creased the numbers of students on
policy-making committees of the
colleges and has, Leggett feels, "in
volved students in a systematic way
in the policyrmaking decisions which
affect them. They know that they are
involved, and that their voices are
being heard."

The debates now are not so harsh,
the words are not as sharp. "You
always have the feeling that the ar-
gument is constructive, that there is
no longer this constant confrontation
between students and faculty. We i_
will have scrimmages before the:
year is oven—there E nodoubt about
that-vbut I think that what we’ve es—
tablished is that when students HDW‘
feel that somehing is wrong and
needs to be improved, that both the
faculty and the administration are
willing to listen to them, For the
past two years,” Leggett says, ”I
haven't felt the hostility inthe whole’
arrangement that i used to feel.” '

l-le mashes out his cigarette, looks
out the window over the campus, and
flashes a smile. ”It should beagood
year," he says. One suspects that

President Leggett has probably said
that every fail since he has been at
Grinnell. And meant it, too.

 

viously taught at Adelphi Uiverslty,
Talladego College, Howard Univer-
sity, Bowie state College, and Geo-
rge Washington University. Pro~
lessor Alan Jones of the History and
American Studies departments is on
leave for the year.

Two new instructors have been
added to the Sociology department:
J. Richard Woodworth will be Assis-
mnt Professor and Anne R. Abler
will bean Instructor. Woodworth

received a doctorate in 1970 from
the University of California at Her-

keley and has taught there and at
the University of Iowa as well. Ms.
Abler has taught at the American
University and at Georgetown Univ-
ersity in the Washington, D c ares
Benny Nelzger of the Sociology de-
_partment is on leave for the year.
Thomas D. Davis of the University
of Michigan has been hired as an
Instructor of philosophy to occupy
the position vacated by the resigna—
tion of Alan Nasser last June. Davis
has had previous teaching experr
ience at the Universitv of‘ Michigan
and has a PhD, in process there.
Clarence E, Hughes and Laura
0kumu have been added to the Ed»
ucation departments. Ms. 0kumu
is the wife of John Joseph 0kumu
(see article elsewhere in this issue).
Hughes has had teaching experience
at the University of Missouri in
Kansas City and at Westport High
School in Kansas City, and has held
positions with the Missouri State
Division of Welfare and Emplo‘yi
merit.
Harold Kasimow has been added
to the expanding Religious Studies

Department, as announce last Sp—
ring. Kasimow has degrees from
the Jewish Theological Seminary and
Temple University, and has taught
at Temple and at the Rodeph Sha-
lon Synagogue.

Patricia L. Kent will be an In~
structor of Communications, in the
area of journalism. Her degrees are
from the University of Nebraska
(Lincoln) and the University ofNebe
raska (Omaha). She has also taught
at the University of lowa. William
S .Vanderpool, Professor of Com-
munications, will be on leave for
the second semester of the current
year, and Professor Herbert L.
Prescott has taken an extended le~
ave of absence.

Prescott was on a sabbatical leave
for the second semester of last
year, and plans to continue work
on a book in progress and other
writing.

Dick R, Murphy has been appoints
ed to a position in the Department
of Economics, to fill the vacancy
created by the departure of James
Hamilton, who will become the As
sociate Dan of Administration (see
story elsewhere in this issue). Mur-
phy has a PhD. in process at Iowa
State University and has had teach

ing experience both at Iowa State.

and at Drake University.

Many of these new appointments
have been for the duration of only
one year, with the understanding
that when the departments begin the
process of selecting permanent lac-
ulty members, the present instrucv
tors will automatically be included
as candidates for the positions,

Several faculty members besides
those mentioned will be taking lea-
ves of absence this year. F. An—
drew Brown, a Professor of Ger—
man, will be on leave for both se—
mesters. Richard E. Howe, Profess-
or of Music, is on leave to be the
Director ot the Arts of London and
Florence program. Dennis w. Haas,
college chaplain, will be on leave for
the first semester only, as will
M. M. Liberman, professor of Eng:
lish. H. George Apostle of the Ph-t
ilosophy and Mathematics depart-
ments will be on leave for the sec-
and semester, joined by Neal w.
Klausner, Miller Professor Phil-

osophy, Mrs. Klausner, Archives
librarian, and Helen p7 . ronseti,
of the Spanish department. .

’1 .Philip Bays and Joseph D Danr'
forth of the Chemistry departmentl
are both returning from leaves of,
absence. Wayne )3. Denny of the.
thsics department, James D. Kis-'
sane of English, and Anna Mae Wackl
of Physical Education are also re-,
turning from leaves. Joseph F. wall,
Dean of the college and parker‘
Professor of History, is also re-i
turning. Wall has also assumed the,
title of Strong distinguished prev
fessor.

F0?

The following members of the lac»
ulty have been chosen as Chairmen
of the divisions and of the Depart-
ments of the college .

Humanities -- Edward M Moore;
E P C . Chairmaneelohn R Klein-
schmidt; Arteelzichard Cervene;
ClassicsuGeraid V Lalonde; Com-
munications--William S .Vander»
pool, Jr, English-Edward E .
roster; FrencheeMorrls Parslow;
German--William Roecker; Music
-—James Wyly; Russianr~Dennis
Whelan; Spanish-Dennis R Perri;
Theatre-~Alexander S Mleett.

Science W Arnold Adelberg;
E P C .Chairman--.lohn P Morris;
Biology--lrving Y Fishman; Cheme

istry--Luther E Erickson; General
Sciencennrnold Adelberg; Mathee'
matiCSrrCharles H Jepsen; Physics

Charles L .Duke; Psychology".
Thomas J Brozoski.

Social Studies W Robert)? Voert—
man; I: PC . Chairman--Gregory
Guroff; American StudieSeravid W
Jordan; Anthropologye Ralph A.
Luebben; Economics»J0hn C
Dawson; History-Din A .Smit
Philosophyntlohn H .Worley; Pol
tlcal Science--Robert D , Grey;
SociologyreGeorge M Furniss; Re-
ligious Studies-Howard R Burkle.
Special Programs r— John/i Pfl e
sch; Education--Beryl Wellborn;
Physical EducationeeSandras Hotn.

w

 

