The , Grinnell

Scarlet 8 Black

Turner to resign from presid

by Bob Mitchell

A. Richard Turner, Grinnell’s
ninth president, told a meeting of
Grinnell faculty Monday he will
step down from the presidency of
the college no later than Dec 31,
1979.

Turner cited poisonal reasons
for his resignation, and said no
single incident prompted his
deusioit, HE; said he decided to
resign after consulting his family

"IN FACT, I don't think it would
lie going too far to say it has a
family deelston." he said,

Turner first revealed his
(IeCision to the Board of Trustees
during their winter meeting in
Scottsdale. Ariz The announcer
incni of his resignation caught
Grillnell's trustees of! guard, said
Fl‘ltt Maytag. chairman oi the
Grinnell Board.

l‘llE TRL‘STEEs "were mine
pieieiy 'irprised by President
'I‘iirnci' decision and have no
copi with the greatest regret."
Maytag said.

Turner told his staff of his
decision at 3:45 p in, Monday. a
half hour before the faculty
meeting. iIc said his staff "seemed
very surprised" by his anr
nouncement.

IN AN ANNOUNCEMENT
released to the campus Tuesday,
Maytag said Turner's “remaining
time at Grinnell will not he an
interim presidency.

“He will be moving ahead
without any lapse of initiative and
effort and with the full support and

approval oi the Board," Maytag
said. ‘

TURNER SAID he would not
remain as a professor at Grinnell
after he resigned and would not be
involved in selecting a new
president.

“I would be totally in the back-
ground," he Said. “and make no
substantive comment on the
candidates."

A COUPLE of schools have

 

1/26/79
Grinnell College
,Gl'innell. Iowa
Vol. 87, No. 15

 

expressed interest in hiring Turner
otter he steps down, but Turner
said he has no definite plans as of
yet, The two schools are located
east of the Mississippi, Turner
said, adding their location is not an
indication oiwhere he would like to
go aiicr he leaves Grinnell “I kind
of have to see What's around," he
said

Turner said he does not expect to
work as an administrator iii his
new yob and would like to con-
: itratc on writing and leaching
‘ ve got two books in progress,
and Ircnlly want to do them Andi

wrantto continue teaching." Turner

said

IIIS FA lllA’ has en" veil living
in Iowa. Irnei' said. and has not
ruled out rcloc' ’ng in any section
or the country \i'c‘rc pretty open
about that Wt re ii, tiling to look at
anything." he said.

Turner came to the college in
1973, sii ceding Glenn chgctt,

TURNEI II) ”E \iould advise
the new pic dent to pay close
attention to the management of the
school's linaiicial affz ‘5 And, In a
lighter v‘em. he said the new
president should adhere to the
“Iiiollo” of ihe British Foreign
Service -

"Never lie, Never tell the whole
man. And avail yourself of every
opportunity to go to the bath
room." he said,

Grinnell resident and college
trustee Al Eisenman said he was
surprised when he heard Turner's
announcement at the trustee
meeting, but Eisenman indicated
college policy would undergo no
“radical Change" in the near
future.

Eisenmann gave no assurance a
successor would be chosen before
next fall and remarked the search
which resulted in the selection of
Turner lasted over a year. He said
Grinnell may be competing ior
candidates With Simpson, Lawn
rence and William Penn. All three

 

Schools are also seeking new ad
ministrative chiefs.

Social studies division Chairman
Bob Vocrtn-ian said he sees no
major changes in store for the
college, although he noted the
possibility oi some personnel
changes in positions close to the
preSident. He said he was sur-
prised by the suddenness of the
announcement hut fully un
derstood Turner's reasons [or
leaving

Marian Cubbage, presideni of
the alumni association, said she
was somewhat. shocked by the sudr
denness of the announcement, She
had expected Turner to stay
longer. and she said, “things were
looking very good , i’m very
sorry to see him depart "

PRIOR TO BRING named
president, Turner served as dean
of the faculty at hlldillchury
College, \ihorc he had taught Since
1968, He also was director of the
Vermont Schools Johnson Gallery

An art historian iho specializes
in ltahan lienai ance painting,
Turner has Ml‘lthn one book, Thi-
\‘ision nf iiiiniiscnpc in

ant-c ltaly, and scieral
_ articles iie ha_ ptudié‘d
in ice in Italy. once as a l~ uihright
Fellow in Rome and once under the
auspices of the American Council
of Learned Societies and the
Harvard Center for Italian

(continued on page 6)

In

Turner’s

by Dan Flynn

A. Richard Turner’s recent anr
nouncement of his intention to
reSign came at a time when many
felt that he had overcome the bad
reaction that greeted some of his
early initiatives as president.

Ron Kurtz, Chairman of the
iaculty, ieels that Turners
relations with the Iaculty have
improved since the early
disagreements over tenure policy
and the administrative
reorganization.

Kurtz said, “Lately, Turner has
overcome some of the mistakes of
the administrative reorganization
and faculty tenure conﬂict and
become a good president. . .ihe
faculty and administration has
developed a good working
relationship. . .i was looking for

cus

ward to working with him in the'

next year or so."

AND PROFESSOR Al Jones
said, “I’m sorry to see him go. He
had a bad start, but that has tem—
pered somewhat. I regret the in-
completeness in his term. . .I

thought he would continue to im- i

prove.”

Looking back on his brief tenure,
Turner Said he had “absolutely no
regrets, .it was a highly
educational and worthwhile ex»
perience, full of great joys and
some sadness—but that goes with
anything you do.” .

llE FRANKLY ADMITS several
of his early moves resulted in
Shaky relations with the faculty
Most particularly, he admits the

- handling of the 1976 administrative

reorganization “was a
misjudgment—no question about

it. it was the right thing to do on

career reviewed

paper, but we were insensitive to
the feminist movement.” »

He feels the reaction to the
reorganization hurt his eitorts ior
at least six to eight months

One of the things that Turner
feels was hurt by the backlash
from the reorganization was his
White Paper on the future of the

Paper was “never really given a
fair shake,”

IIE CONCEDES THAT some of
the points in the paper, such as
the call for more students from
inwa, were unrealistic. Also, he
admits that the way he presented
the paper, drafting it and then
presenting it to the iaculty for
consideration and discussion, does
not work at Grinnell,

“My idea in presenting the White

perculaie up. The faculty saw in
, the paper a look oi finalityieven
i though it said eight times that it
was intended for discussion,"
, KURTZ AGREES many iaculty
members looked on
1 suggestions osiinal. “Turner came
wj-up with the plans in consultation
‘ with some of the trustees. and the
i thing seemed to many inevitable.
Some were also offended because
they saw the trustees and president
i interfering in areas that they
i thought they should control."
Turner concedes that if he had
the White Paper to do over, he
would have handled it differently.
[He says, ”I should have ap-
, pointed faculty committees to look
‘ into the various areas. . .that would
have brought more people into
. discussion of the ideas.”

 

 

college. Turner thinks the White ‘

Paper was a hope for instant in- l
volvement. But here ideas have to ,

the: better financial position that the

. other two colleges.

JONES SAID some of the idws
in the White Paper were dropped
too quickly, After the bad reaction
in the paper, Turner “pulled
back—maybe a little too far”
‘ Jones said.

Another area Turnertfeels
caused friction between himself
and the faculty was the question of
faculty tenure Turner still
stresses the importance of uiis
area, saying one day a dwindling
enrollment and reduced faculty
,size may be a reality at Grinnell.
IIE SAYS THE outcome of his
'actions have been positive, in that
ithere is an increased awareness
and discussion of the problem,

Both Jones and Kurtz feel
however, Turner overstressed this
concern. “It was not an ap
:propriate issue to raise to such a
high anxiety leve ,” Jones said.

He points out that schools like
i Carleton and Oberlin do have real
i tenure problems, but adds the
percentage of tenured faculty is

.‘ much lower at Grinnell. Also, he

says that Grinnell is in a much

THAT'S ONE POINT almost
everyone agrees wim. Grinnell's
financial position, partly because
of a fund drive started last year by
Turner, is looking very good.
Turner is happy he is able to leave
the college in such good financial
shape and is pleased with the in-
creased enrollement

GRINNELL COLLEGE, he Says,
“is enormously strong—it's really
in a good position. I really feel good

i about the future OI Grinnell,"

 

 

 

 

 

 

