Newspaper Page Text
THE ORGAN OF STUDENT EXPRESSION
Number 2
Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia
November Edition, 1967
THE EDITORSPEAKS BIOGRAPHY OF HUGH MORRIS GLOSTER
The higher its
type, the more rare
ly a thing succeeds.
You higher men here,
have you not all fail
ed? Be of good cheer,
what does it matter?
How much is still pos
sible! Learn to laugh
at yourself as one
must laugh!
Nietzsche
Walter K. Dancy
Editor
In its striving towards excellence as an educa
tional enterprise Morehouse College needs to take
inventory and not be blinded by recent success—
there is unfinished business.
(1) There seems to be no sensible reason why
a senior slated to graduate in June has to wait the
day before to find, to his surprise, that he had too
many chapel cuts in his freshman year. That, gent
lemen, is absurd—but it happens. It needs to stop
happening. Here are a few suggestions for remedy.
When a Morehouse student applies for graduation
he should receive a "balance sheet", that is, a
letter signed by the Dean which explicitly states
what the student must do to meet graduation re
quirements. In this letter should be included the
number of hours lost from chapel cuts. If this is
done, there will be no confusion in a student's
mind as to whether he will graduate. It would also
save him and his parents needless anxiety and
money spent on graduation rituals and totems.
Speedy attention should be given to this unfinish
ed business.
(2) We need to boost the band. Again, there
seems to be no reason in the realm of sense why
the Morehouse Marching Tigers should sound like
pussycats in Herndon Stadium. The volume was so
low that even the Alphas and Kappas couldn't
dance. This is not the band's fault. The men in the
band do the best they can with the resources they
have. So if there are Morehouse men who have
musical talent, they should join the band.
HUGH MORRIS GLOSTER, who became the seventh president of More
house College on July 1, 1967, has been professionally active as administrator,
teacher, writer, USO wartime executive, and American representative in educa
tional and technical programs in foreign countries. Immediately prior to his
selection as administrative head of the Atlanta institution, he had served as
Dean of Faculty and Chairman of the Communications Center at Hampton In
stitute in Virginia.
Trained at LeMoyne College (A.A.), at Morehouse College (B.A.), at Atlan
ta University (M.A.), and at New York University (Ph.D.), Dr. Gloster is
known on both sides of the Atlantic. Apart from the recognition he has receiv
ed for his numerous scholarly articles on American life and literature and for
his two books, Dr. Gloster has held visiting professorships in English at Hirosh
ima University in Japan, at the University of Warsaw, Poland, at the Experi
mental College of the Virgin Islands, at Kwukoni College at Dar es Salaam, Tanganyika, and at the University
of Cracow, Poland.
He is founder, former president, and life member of the College Language Association, which granted him
its Distinguished Achievement Award in 1958, and also as Advisory Editor of "The College Language Associa
tion Journal." In addition, he is a member of the American Association of Higher Education, the Board of
Directors of the Southern Fellowship Fund, and a trustee of Atlanta University, Morehouse College, and the
United Negro College Fund.
Listed in Who's Who i_n America. Who Knows . . . and What. Who's Who in American Education. Who's
Who in the South and Southwest, and the Directory of American Scholars. Dr. Gloster is marriedto the form
er Beulah Harold of Portsmouth, Virginia. He is the father of two married daughters and a four—year—old
son, Hugh, Jr.
FOUR NEGRO EDUCATORS ANSWER
JENCKS AND RIESMAN IN HARVARD
EDUCATIONAL REVIEW
Hugh Morris Gloster
Four distinguished Negro educators responded to the highly controversial Jencks—Riesman article on
"The American Negro College" in the recent summer issue of the Harvard Educational Review.
In their responses Dr. Hugh M. Gloster, president of Morehouse College, Dr. Benjamin E. Mays, president
emeritus of Morehouse, Dr. Albert W. Dent, president of Dillard University, and Dr. Stephen J. Wright,
president of the United Negro College Fund, refuted the charge of Harvard sociologists Christopher Jencks
and David Riesman (Harvard Educational Review, Winter, 1967) that Negro colleges are "academic disaster
areas" and have no future of significance.
Describing the Jencks—Riesman article as "irresponsible scholarship," unscholarly," unscientific," and
downright dishonest, the four educators attacked its manner and its matter.
Dr. Gloster asked where Jencks and Riesman obtained the information that Meharry and Howard "rank
among the worst (medical schools) in the nation." The Morehouse president also corrected the Jencks—
Riesman inference that Tuskegee aspires to do no more "than just serve poor local boys" by indicating that
the overwhelming majority of Tuskegee students come from other communities in the United States and
abroad.
(3) A long, tedious and tiring ritual which takes
place at Morehouse College twice in nine months is
a cold sweat. Yes, this is one man's description of
REGISTRATION. We need to get out of this rut
and use our heads. It is truly amazing that with all
these brains at a Phi Beta Kappa college there is no
improvement in registration. Is it laziness or sense
less worship of tradition? Better and more efficient
registration has greater appeal for students than a
dry bank. "This is the way we've always done it."
We know that. We also know that it is inapprop-
iateand too, too long. Enough said. This unfinished
business is still pending.
"In this article,” declared Dr. Gloster, "we have an axample of a study classified as research but prepared
like a debater's argument and filled with racial assumptions, unsupported allegations and sweeping generaliza
tions."
In short, observed Dr. Gloster, if the Jencks—Riesman article itself "is an example of meritorious work in
this field, American sociological scholarship is likewise an 'academic disaster area.'
In commenting on the seeming satisfaction of Jencks and Riesman with predominantly white universities.
Dr. Gloster added: "It might interest Jencks and Riesman to know that some Negro students-after observing
nonteaching professors, diverted graduate students, and stimulant=obsessed undergraduate students-feel that
the large universities are also 'academic disaster areas.'"
According to Dr. Wright, "the article ... is replete with judgments, speculations, impressions, a good
many errors, and loaded words and phrases which are not adequately defined." continued on page 9