.. The
r Scarlet

& Black

Black personnel
problems plague
Grinnell

Tom Arcnberg

Assistant Professor of History
and American Studies Marilyn
Leonard and Administrative
Assistant M0 Hunt will not return
to Grinnell next year. Ron Mit-
chell. a former assistant professor
ot physical education, did not
return this semester and there is

,some doubt that Assistant
1rofessoi' of Economics Clifford
Reid will teach at Grinnell after his
leave. These are four indicators
that Grinnell has trouble keeping
black faculty members, a problem

‘ ihat has the administration con
cerned.

Presently, there are only six
black faculty members and that
number has been declining in
recent years. Though the College
has affirmed its commitment to
hiring blacks on the tacultyand in
the administration, the number
may go even lower. “it appears to
me to be becoming an even bigger
problem,” said Executive Vice-
President and Dean of the College
Valdo Walker.

The College hopes to receive
applications from black candidates
to fill positions in American

, studies, Sociology, Psychology and
banish next year. Walker said.

' But the College is not allowed by
law to advertise for blacks
speciﬁcally. “All we can say is
that we are an equal opportunity,
attirmative action employer,”
Walker noted. Additionally, race is
often not specified on a candidate’s
application,

Walker said that he could not
positively identity any black
candidates from about 480 resumes

tat he has read recently while
.ooking for a sociology teacher.
The same situation existed last

, car when Walker was trying to till

psychology position.

There are difficulties in at-

-tracting qualified blacks to
Grinnell. The College faces tough
competition trom schools in the
more urban locations and with
more black students. Walker
said, “Some of them (black
faculty) feel a commitment to go
into a mixed community and teach
to help establish and proliierate
the culture of the black person in
American education, but a good
many oi them feel an obligation to

to a black institution. There are

, number of black institutions that
need black faculty just as we do
and a good many people opttu go to
black institutions to teach, so we

_are not competing on even

ﬂoating,”

) The absence of a large black
community in Grinnell is another
problem in attracting qualified
blacks. There are only ten black
families in the town and as In-
structor of Music Steve Martin,
who is black, pointed out, there is
no black church. Martin also said
faculty change and student
graduation allow for little stability
in the black community.

 

The situations that make at
tracting black faculty hard also
make keeping these teachers
difficult. Though blacks such as
Hunt, Leonard and Mitchell often
leave mainly because of academic
or career considerations, the lack
oi a sizeable black population does
not help Grinnell hold on to its
black teachers. “Although I think
many of the blacks who have come
here have enjoyed it,” Walker
said, “you can’t tell a guy who's
coming out of urban Washington,
D C. that this is the life for him.”

Solutions to the problem are hard
to find. Some people, such as Hunt,
think the College has not searched
hard enough. “You cannot tell me
that there was not a black PhD,
candidate who was near coma
pietion in the sociology field or any
other field that has Vacancies. i
just don't think that we searched
far and wide enough." Others, such
as Walker, are not sure what else
the College can do when looking,
Hunt said Grinnell could have held
on to some of the black faculty that
has leit in recent years had it
really tried. The Dean said the
College did attempt to kepp most of
them, but suggested that dil‘terenl
people have different ideas of how
far Grinnell should and could go to
retain a faculty member.

Athletic Director John Pfitsch,
who encouraged the hiring or three
blacks in his department in recent
years, said establishment oi a
larger black community was
probably not teasible since
Grinnell is mostly rural. angi
saxon and wealthy. He charac—
terized the community as "racially
slow” and said it did not “un-
derstand blacks very well." Martin
said he thinks development of the
community is a possibility. Though
he admitted the Setting is a
problem, he cited Grinnell’s high
salaries and outstanding
reputation as positive aspects.

Considering the difficulties of the
problem, the question arise or why
Grinnell should try to find an an-
swer. Basically, there are two
considerations on which the
college's commitment to hiring
black [acuity rests. First, such
hiring is consistent with the
college’s pledge oi providing a
diversified education within a
heterogeneous community.

Second. and more indirectly, the
presence of more black faculty will
probably attract more
black students. Admissions
Counselor Bob Winters Said that
in his experience although black
prospective students are more
concerned with the number of
black students at Grinnell, an
increase in black teachers would
certainly make the College more
attractive to prospectives. Black
student enrollment has decreased
steadily in recent years, with a
slight increase this semester.

SW

Grinnell College

Grinnell, Iowa
9/17/76 Vol. 85 No. 2 ‘

Meetings held to
discuss “White Paper”

Tuesday night, an estimated 16
per cent oi the student body at
tended discussions concerning the
issues set forth in President
Turner’s “White Paper.” Mean-
while, the remaining 34 per cent
dabbled in other activities.

Many crowded the library poring
over Shakespeare and organic
chemistry. Others provided the
Forum Grill with a better than
average evening of busmess.
Televismn lounges around campus
swelled with Dylan and Baez fans
listening intently to the ”Hard
Rain" coming down, A com-
paratively small number attended
an anthropology lecture while even
iewer took part in a Christian
Fellowship meeting, The
remainder was engaged in
countless varied interests

“No, I didn't go to any of the
‘White Paper' discussions, I'm a
freshman and I don't know what
they have in the first place and
what they want to change, I don‘t
consider myself a vital part of the
community yet. Besides that, i
don‘t have time to think about
those issues."

“i didn’t attend any of the
discussions because I was busy
studying. Anyway, i was turned
off, i didn’t really understand what
Turner Wanted."

“I just didn'tpay any attention to
anything that was put out about it,
lguess I was just disinterested."

“I didn’t attend the meetings
because I wasn’t all that well in-
formed about them or well set!
enough in the issues to discuss
them intelligently.”

These comments were received
in a random survey and reﬂected
the more apathetic and negative
reactions to the discussions held
Tuesday night in Main, Loose,
Younkers, and Cowles Halls.
Although the majority oi students
polled reported that they hadn't
been in attendance at the
meetings, many said they were
present and offered their thoughts.

One inhabitant of Main said,
“The meeting passed up the whole
point. The issue oi whether the
administration should be involved
in the growth of the students was
completely avoided,”

”At the Loose discussion. people

Dean Walker enjoys the proceedings at the Main lounge discussion.

 

White paper discussion in

were interested, Most everybody
agreed with the general theories
but didn't like Turner’s specifics. It
was a proiitable evening. People
are now Willing to think about the
issues,” reported one satisfied
student,

An unhappy participant in the
Main discussion complained that
the whole thing was
”disorganized” and that students
hadn’t had enough time to think
about it. Still another of the Main
crowd accused everyone of
“spending more time bandying
criticisms about than anything
else ”

Li : by an. Sue Wittpenn, and
Prolessors James Kissane, Wayne
Moyer, and Charlie Duke, the
discussion in Younkers was
dominated by the notion oi person
centered learning. Mr. Duke
agreed with curriculum flexibility
and praised Grinnell for the fact
that one can pursue courses out
side a major.

Moyer feared a loss ot emphasis
on thought in any new courses that
might replace present ones. He
also was worried about larger
classes thus taking still more away
from person centered learning.
Mayer added further that intro
courses shouldn’t try to cover too
much ground but rather deal with
the essential questions.

One student felt the need for
greater student—teacher ac-
cessibility while another was
disturbed about the implication of
personal development versus

Loose onolo by Chic lower

considered person centered
learning as something daring and
experimental. Kissane added his
belief that only 92 credits allowed
tor a major was “absolutely
cuckoo”.

Other questions brought up
included Whether excellence was
directed toward major programs
or in a general area, whether
education was pursuit oi a major
or something else, and even how a
major should be defined.

When Professors Wubbles,
Kintner, Danlorth and Wellborn
gathered with nearly thirty
students in Cowles lounge for
discussion of the “White Paper.” a
hurry ot questions erupted.

The discussion began with views
on taculty advising, The general
feeling expressed seemed to tind
fault in the fact that those
professors who wish to advise, and
have the time and ability to
counsel a student Socially and
scholastically, are few and far
between. One student saw the
advising system becoming a
“vicious circle if only those
teachers with all the abilities to
advise do so. It would make
tutorials and advisories much
larger, thereiore deteating their
purpose or creating close
relationships between Students and
teachers."

The latter part of the discussion
concerned such issues as the
“person centered" education, the
importance or change and the

 

quality education. Still another

college as it relates to a global
(continued on page 7) '*

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