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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)