Newspaper Page Text
2
OCTOBER, 1966
The Panther
The Clark
Panther
PURPOSE
A journal of college life published from September to June
by students.
To fill the vacuum of lack and effective communication be-
tween students and administration; students and students.
An instrument for fostering
ties pertaining to college life.
constructive criticism of activi-
Reporters
Gail Jordan, Carlos Shaw, Jonathan
Painter, Hugh Farmer, Millicent
Bethea, Teresa Thomas, Rosemay
Clark
Carrel! Smith
Editor in-Chicf
William Hammond
Assistant Editor
Robert Allen
News Editor
Jerry Allen
Copy Editor
William Hammond
Feature Editor
Clarence Carter
Sports Editor
Cartoon Editor
Rozelle Poignard
Staff Editorial Writers
Harold Craig, Bernice Little, James
Widemon and Larry Mattix
Photographer
Secretaries:
Charles Smith
Lorraine Neal
Marie Banks
Social Editor
Marie Banks
Exchange Editor
Eddie Embry
Fashion Editor
Proofreaders:
Jerrilyn McGhee
Millicent Bethea
Betty Stembridge
Joethel Cooper
Jimmye Vaughn
Typists
Sonja Collins, Bettye Carter
Advisors
...Mr. George McMillan, Mr. Pat
Watters, Miss Ellen Maby, Mr.
Black, Miss D'Souza
Black Power . . .
WHAT IS CLARK S RESPONSE?
As college students, we should be aware of changing concepts
and tactics in the civil rights struggle in America. Negroes are be
coming disenchanted with the theory of equality through non-vio
lence and court action as witnessed in Chicago, Cleveland, Atlanta
and elsewhere. Fortunately, this disenchantment is not prevalent
among the greater majority of the U. S. Negro population. But it
does appear that the seeds of violence have been planted in areas
where economic and educational deprivation is rampant. It is also
becoming clear that forces which encourage violence, mob action
and often open sedition are gaining strength in lower class income
neighborhoods for two reason: (1) government refuses or is unable
to understand and eliminate the economic, educational and social
problems present and its effect on the communities’ anxieties and
tensions. These factors encourage and too often make good citizens
embrace violent action as a means to lessen their frustrations; (2)
middle and upper income Negroes too often refuse to share their
economic resources or their educated minds to the task of elimi
nating Negro slum and ghetto conditions.
Soon we will join the ranks of Negroes who have been college
trained but with our degrees secured we too often forget that for
every one of us that finish college there are ten of us who will
never complete high school due to broken homes, economic de
ficiencies, sub-standard housing and educational deprivations.
Amid this growing middle-class unconcern has emerged the
concept “Black Power’’ which has threatened to divide the civil
rights forces in our country. It unfortunately has been used to
spread black supremacy by the use of violent and unlawful con
duct instead of pronouncing the need for Negroes to mass their
economic, intellectual and political strength to defeat the forces
which continue to let Negro slums exist which oppose open-hous
ing practices, which beat children as they attempt to enter school,
which allow police to harass and intimidate Negro citizens. And,
may 1 add, to aid in exposing those who pretend to be supporters
of freedom for all people like the Republican Senator from Illinois,
Everett Dirkson.
College students must also ascert their “power” to assist in the
civil rights struggle within the confines of the law. Students need
to be an influencing power within organized civil rights groups.
Students should however be wary of organizaztions which refer to
themselves or as a student organization.
Unfortunately, SNCC which is or was once a student group
has been the cause of recent violence in our cities. Mr. Carmichael
is correct in that his group did not provide the ingredients for vio
lent action. The ingredients were present for they include a history
of police brutality, sub-standard living conditions and complete
governmental unconcern. What SNCC did do was to grasp inci
dents which were deplorable to all Negroes and use them as fuel
to incite violence and disorder in areas where tensions were high.
The blame, however, should not be leveled entirely at SNCC. For
the mayor and police were in a position to eliminate unwanted con
ditions in Negro areas and they did nothing. It is well that our city
officials remember “Judge not least ye be judged.”
It cannot be denied that as radical as SNCC is, it has a place
in the civil rights struggle. It has been the “shock troops” of the
struggle under the leadership of Mr. John Lewis but has since
failed to really include responsible students in its planning and
organizational structure. The Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee no longer represents students, no longer is nonviolent,
no longer coordinates anything and they cease to be a committee
but instead have become a mob.
Students at Clark must let themselves be heard by joining the
movement and bringing back a responsible but yet a dynamic,
driving, hardnose vitality to the student place in the civil rights
struggle.
Harold Craid
Wellesley Versus Clark
During and since my Junior year at Wellesley College, the most
recurring question asked of me is “how do Wellesley and Clark
compare?” Of course, this is a very broad question, and in order
to answer it intelligently, it has been broken down into several
aspects: (1) academic life, (2) social life, (3) students’ attitude,
(4) administration’s attitude.
Before I proceed, however, I must warn that this article is not
intended to be merely factual; it is a plea
for reform which, in my estimation, is
our (Negro Colleges) only hope for sur
vival. The time has passed when the dual
standard recognized a good Negro Col
lege and a good White College; now there
are good colleges or poor colleges. The
irony in this is that we demanded the
abolition of the dual standard, and now
that it has disappeared, we still cling
to outmoded ideas and beliefs on the
grounds that our students arc “different,”
and have to be treated in a certain man
ner. People with this view are the Ku
Klux Klan’s and other extremist groups
I do not propose that we emulate Wellesley because I do not
think that Wellesley is the ultimate in educational development.
In fact, in many ways it is too superficial and tradition bound, but
I do think that we can profit by re-evaluating ourselves in light of
some aspects of Wellesley College.
Returning to my comparison of Wellesley and Clark, I would
like to begin with the academic life at the two colleges. Wellesley
is on the honor system which entails unproctored examinations
and sealed, take-home examinations. By taking a sealed exam, a
student is allowed to take the exam to her own room and is trusted
to adhere to the time limit and, of course, she is on her honor not
to use outside help.
The examinations at Wellesley, unlike most exams at Clark,
are essay type. The emphasis is placed on analysis, not mere facts
and memorization. There are only two exams per year; the mid
term and the final. Most courses require from one to three pa
pers each term. Sometimes this emphasis on paper writing causes
neglect of class reading assignments and less interesting class
discussions.
Because the reading requirement in most courses is so heavy,
it is necessary to read constantly in order to keep a reasonable
pace with the lectures. Whereas Clark usually requires one basic
textbook, most courses at Wellesley assign several paperbacks in
order to give divergent views. These books are placed on library
reserve for those students who are unable to purchase them.
Classes meet, except for a few lab courses, only twice a week
for seventy minutes. Wednesdays and Saturdays are used mostly
for studying, catching-up, paper-writing or personal endeavors.
Class roll is never checked. It is left to the student's discretion as
to how many cuts she can afford.
I was most impressed with the academic freedom of both
professors and students at Wellesley. It is a common occurrence
for a professor to contradict an author and assert his own opinion.
By the same token, a student feels no qualms about voicing her
disagreement with a professor. A student's grade might suffer if
he voices disagreement with certain professors at Clark.
Wellesley’s reputation as an educational institution par excel
lence has perhaps contributed to the bourgeois snobbery in some
of the girls. Being admitted to Wellesley is an end in itself, and
some of these very intelligent young ladies are surprisingly un
aware and apathetic about conditions outside of their narrow
worlds. Too many of them strive to make everything they say
reverberate with profundity, while often overlooking the obvious
and fundamental — and sometimes the best answer.
On the other hand, Clark students have a tendency to do just
the reverse. They too often accept the most readily available
answer without exploring for a deeper meaning.
Concerning the social life of the two colleges, there is not very
much to compare. At Wellesley there are numerous lectures, con
certs, mixers, etc. offered during the year which are attended on
a voluntary basis. The Wellesley girl’s social life is her private
concern. If she desires, she may take a weekend in Cambridge
(home of Harvard and M.I.T.), drive down to Yale, go skiing,
take an over-night, or entertain her date in the dormitory, coffee
house, society house without prior consent from officials.
The curfew is one A.M. during the week and two A.M. on
Saturdays. A young lady may be out until eleven P.M. every night
without signing out. There are no restrictions about riding in cars.
Most court cases are handled by students.
Clark seems to be moving slowly in the direction of more
freedom for students. However, I do not think that this slow pace
is entirely the fault of the administration. Student apathy will never
foster progress. As long as you are content with a second rate
professor because that is an easy “A,” or as long as you would
rather break a rule than try to get it changed, who can you blame?
This brings in the attitudes of the students and administration
of the two colleges. The Wellesley student is serious about her
work. The girl who studies hard is admired by her fellow students.
This is not the case at Clark, where a studious person is often the
butt of jokes and a social outcast. With this type of attitude it is
(Continued on Page 3)
Audrey Thomas
best propaganda agents!
Operation
Crossroads
Jessie Baskerville
Last spring I was selected by
the school to be their partici
pant in cooperation with Oper
ation Crossroads Africa. After
many injections and the ex
change of essential documents
with O.C.A. headquarters, I was
finally ready to become one of
326 students and leaders who
would journey to Africa to work
on over 26 different projects in
over 18 different countries. Al
though each group was hun
dreds of miles apart, we all had
the same ultimate purpose, and
that was to build bridges of
friendship throughout the con
tinent of Africa.
I was located in Liberia in
a small town called Succromu
which had a population of ap
proximately 600 people. Our
project was to complete the con
struction of a maternity clinic
that was started by an O.C.A.
group in 1963. When we arrived
we found the shell of the build
ing completed, so we decided
that plumbing, electricity and
commodities should be installed
in the building. You might think
that this was an easy task, but
if you would consider the fact
that there was no plumbing or
electricity in the entire town
then you would withdraw these
thoughts. This project was not
completed because of many
handicaps that we had to cope
with.
The division of labor in this
country was quite different from
that of the U.S.A. The women
did the majority of the chores
and the kids followed close be
hind. The men or the heads of
the households did the least
work of all.
I would like to share with
you a sight that I saw when I
visited a rice field situated in
the village where we were living.
There was an elderly gentleman
beating a drum with ryhthmic
beats. There were from 15 to
20 women scratching the ground
with hoes that were about 1.5
ft. in length. There was a leader
among these women who wore
bells around her waist and on
her ankles. She is what we
would call the secondary space
setter. The drummer was the
primary space setter since they
all worked at the tempo of the
beats. Aside from this the wom
en carried water, gathered fire
wood, did the majority of the
work when homes were being
built and of course the cooking
and other household duties.
There were eight other peo
ple in this group and they were
called the Liberia I Group, and
I think you might be interested
in knowing how we lived. Our
house had six small rooms. Wc
(Continued on Page 3)