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Page 4
THE SPELMAN SPOTLIGHT
May 15, 1963
Today's Colleges Face
Vital Outside Pressures
C. Vann Woodard in “The
Unreported Crisis on the South
ern Colleges” for Harpers’ Oct.
1962 reports on the assaults
on academic freedom and points
out where resistance can best
work the pressures from without
that act upon any college, especi
ally state colleges. Unless admini
stration students, faculty, and the
public work together to improve
and strengthen their stand against
outside pressure groups, their
state colleges and universities will
become wiping posts for all.
Academic freedom has been
abused in the following ways:
through faculty dismissals with
out cause, hearings or pay due,
and by student reprisals - being
put on probation, expelled, los
ing scholarships, and being denied
offices.
Some of the pressure groups
that work on state schools are:
state legislatures, board of edu
cation members, investigating
committees, Ku Klux Klan, John
Birch Societies, White Citizens
Councils, state laws, other poli
tical, social, and civic groups.
In spite of a decline in out
right Violence, academic freedom
is still taking a beating in the
lower South from Texas to Flor
ida. Faculty dismissals and ha-
rassmenfs have been increasing,
and reprisals against students
have reached a new peak. Out
standing cases against academic
freedom and tenure in the files of
the American Association of
University Professors increased
from 37 in April 1961 to 55 a
year later. Twenty-three of the
cases and a majority of the in
stitutions were in the South.
The University of Florida sub
mitted to an outrageous inquisit
ion three years ago. It was con
ducted by a committee of the
state legislature, headed by a
gubernatorial candidate which
held hearings for seven months
on or near the campus. With the
aid of lawyers, police, detectives,
and paid informers, the com
mittee dragged in hundreds of
witnesses, mainly students, to
testify against professors. Dis
closures of political heresies were
disappointing, but sexual deviat
ions supplied headlines.
Negro students suffer much
more in their fight for civil
rights. When thirty-five Alabama
State College students sat in,
Governor Patterson threatened to
expel them. Due to this one thou
sand students demonstrated on
'the Capitol steps. Thirty-four
students and faculty members
were arrested at a protest meet
ing near the campus and police
threatened to close the college.
Governor Patterson requested the
State Board of Eduation to have
nine students expelled, twenty
placed on probation, and to start
(investigations. He further de
manded that the president “purge
the college of disloyal faculty
members”. If he couldn’t then
someone else would.
Professor Lawrene D. Reddik,
chairman of the history depart
ment for five years, was the only
faculty member fired because
governor denounced him on tele
vision as “a Communist sympathi
zer and a racial agitator” and de
manded that he be dismissed
“before sundown”. Again on
television, Patterson had Tren-
holm, the president, promise to
keep “a close watch” on students,
to retain only such members of
the faculty as maintained “pro
per conduct” and to “enforce
more strictly” the admission re
quirements.
The next fall Trenholm per
sonally interviewed all appli
cants. He required all students
to sign an “oath of honor” pled
ging “gentlemanly” and “lady
like” conduct. The president ad
mitted numerous candidates, in
cluding the president of the stu
dent body, only on probation.
Enrollment fell off sharply,
vacancies in the faculty remained
unfilled and the Southern Asso
ciation of Colleges, which car
ried Alabama State in its proba
tionary list of accredited insti
tutions, dropped it.
In spite of Trenholm’s com
pliant policy, Patterson removed
him from office and placed him
“on leave.”
In the meantime Tennessee,
Georgia, and Louisiana followed
yUabama’s example. In April,
1960, the Tennessee State Com
missioners of Education instruct
ed all state colleges to “dismiss
promptly any student. . .arrested
and convicted on charges invol
ving personal misconduct”.
Colleges need help. Two signi
ficant federal court decisions in
cases arising from Alabama and
Tennessee furnished help of one
kind. Both decisions struck at
state use of academic discipline
and dismissal to curb student
protest and demonstrations. Fur
ther assistance may come from
the courts, but college faculties
still rely mainly on their own
defense organization, the AAUP.
It has earned respect by its
methods and results, and within
its limits it is effective. But the
AAUP cannot take the initiative
against politicians and pressure
groups who are causing the
trouble. An aroused public opin
ion informed by exposure of out
rages and abuses should count
lin the long run.
One encourageing thing about
the recent crisis is the spirit that
many embattled collegians, stu
dents as well as faculty, have
shown in defending their walls
from the assaults of the mob
and the reprisals of its flatterers
in high office. It is true that the
South is losing professors and
(Cont’d. on Page 6)
Glee Club Members in Rochester, New York
Glee Club Treks
Through States
Of course it is impossible for
me to tell of all the wonderful
experiences had by the Spelman
College Glee Club members on
the recent tour, because there
were 38 different sets of ex
periences. However, I will relate
to you a few of my own.
Our first stop was at Winston-
Salem,, North Carolina, where
we were all excited and filled
with energy. Electa Twyman, my
road buddy for the past four
years, Edwina Palmer, Carolyn
Wright and I stayed at the home
of Mr. and Mrs. Unthank, pa
rents of Spelmanite, Bronwen Un
thank. The hospitality shown to
us in the Unthank home was
a perfect example of the kind
ness shown to us throughout the
tour in various homes. After the
concert, Mrs. Unthank was hos
tess of a delightful party in
honor of the Glee Club members.
The long ride to Rochester,
N.Y. was one I will long remem
ber. You see, I along with three
other unfortunate sisters, spent
the night on the very back seat
in the bus. We were relieved the
next morning, however, by our
thoughthful members. We finally
arrived in Rochester, and here
I had the great fortune of staying
at the home of the Smiths, parents
of Glee Club member, Arlita
Smith. If you can imagine six
Spelman women in one house, you
have some idea of the pains Mrs.
Smith underwent. She was won
derful, We must have eaten a
normal week’s supply of groceries
in two days. Let’s see. There
were Arlita, Wendolyn, Electa,
Sylvia, Edwiina and I. Fun, fun.
1 guess everyone dreams of
seeing the Falls once in his
life. No? Well, I did, and so did
lots of Glee Clubbers. The sight
was a breathtakingly beautiful
one; nature in her glory.
The Links presented us in
Niagara Falls and rolled out the
red carpet. Meals will especially
be remembered by all Glee Club
bers. We gave a very nice con
cert there, as was the case in
all stops ( and I say this in all
modesty). We traveling Spelman-
ites were treated by a reunion
with Pat Washington, who flew
up from Elmira, N. Y. where
she is on exchange.
On the way to Detroit we
stopped for lunch in Canada,
which was quite a treat. By the
way, I must mention our exper
ience at Customs. We all filed
off the bus and marched in the
office to verify the fact that we
were born in the United States.
Well, we had a little trouble
with Carolyn Wright, that is
until she explained it was Den
mark, South Carolina.
We had great fun with our
bus driver, Mr. Harrison, who
really helped make the trip plea
sant. Later on in the tour we
surprised him with a carton of
Camels.
In Detroit we were happy
to see Rev. John Burt again. He
is a Morehouse Man who really
knows how to treat Spelman
women. The warm welcome
given us in Detroit will long be
remembered, particularly the re
ception after the concert at the
Kappa House.
After a short, but very nice
visit to Pontiac, where we gave
a concert, we departed for Chi
cago. At this point I was the
recipient of a few kidding re
marks because of personal in
terests in the city, but I took it
in great spirits. I must say,
however, that I wasn’t the only
Glee Club member that regretted
leaving Chicago, where we saw a
lot of Spelmanites including Faye
Dean Serves As Living Example
That Girls Challenge, Respect, Love
“I have always demanded the
best of girls. I preferred the
possible mistake of expecting too
much of them, to the demeaning
error of expecting too little.”
Those are the words of Edith
Langdale Stallings, a “believing”
woman, who will terminate 15
years as Dean of Women at the
University of Georgia this sum
mer. She will close the door
carefully, leaving, as is her prin
ciple, “everything neat, orderly
and pleasant.”
“ I have always told students
they must use tact and kindness
when they end a relationship,
so they may look back on it
without flinching at their act
ions,” she said.
Dean Stallings, a vigorous 60,
decided to retire when she real
ized she had been drawing on
her resources a long time with
out quite replenishing her spirit
ual stock.
Crises are the order of the
day in the office of the dean
of women of any large univer
sity. “Like a doctor, I have
learned to hear my phone ring
at night, and to spring from a
deep sleep to answer it,” she
said. “When I have done that,
I fall asleep again immediately.
I do, that is, if the problem has
been solved. If lit has not, it
troubles me, even in my dreams.”
The coeds’ dean is known as
a strict disciplinarian, lifting
standards to which, as George
Washington said, “the wise and
honest may always repair.” She
is not ingenuous about the uni
versal effectiveness of the
school’s rules. “I know they are
broken every day of the year,”
she admits. “But every girl who
breaks them knows she should
not. Those around her know it.
She does not dare to be brazen
in her behavior. Keeping the
rules is far better than if we
had no standards at all.”
Among other things, Dean
Stallings has steadfastly held that
shorts are not acceptable in
classrooms, an attitude which has
won her constant criticism by
the Red and Black, the campus
newspaper. At the announce
ment of her retirement, the
newspaper maintained its dis
agreement with her policy, but
saluted the equanimity and good
temper with which she had re
ceived their dissent.
Powell and Rose Lily Howard, ex
changes at Northwestern.
We had three whole days in
St. Louis, and from the second
we saw that barbecue and home
made ice cream and Mrs. Grace
Taylor’s home, we know that this
was it! Mrs. Taylor’s carefully
planned activities set the stage
for everyone to enjoy herself im
mensely.
Louisville, Kentucky, the last
place on tour was by no means
the least. Just before our concert
there, we presented Dr. Grace
(Cont’d. on Page 10)
In 15 years, Dean Stallings has
never expelled a girl. She has
suspended many, and in every
case, the suspension has seemed
to awaken them. Most of those
suspended were later readmitted
to school, and of those, only, one
girl was even suspended the
second time.
Dean Stallings does not think
of girls of today as less moral
than their mothers, or than her
own generation. On the contrary,
she believes young men and wo
men have a natural virtue and
self respect, and she admires
their candor. She says early mar
riages are one proof of their
standards.
“Society today throws girls and
boys together into steady dating
patterns very early. Marriage
seems to many decent young
couples the only answer to the
demands of their urgent appe
tites,” she said.
As a matter of fact, Dean Stal
lings has had a few disillusion
ing Insights into parental pres
sures upon their daughters to be
popular with an avowed end of
finding a mate at the earliest
possible moment.
Dean Stallings has now taken
nine groups on tour, including
one assemblage around the world.
She prefers mixed ages, feeling
that each age supports, protects
and learns from the other. As
tour director, Dean Stallings
makes it a point to learn the
particular interest of each travel
er and makes every effort to
fulfill it.
Girl students at Georgia, even
those who have felt the sting
of Mrs. Stallings’ firm authority,
have long conceded that she is
indeed an admirable woman, one
whom they would most like to
emulate as time goes on. “I
wanted to be afraid of her. But
I ended up loving her,” was the
way one reluctant young friend
expressed her progression of
emotions.
No pedant herself, her aca
demic turn overshadowed by a
practical flair for human com
munication, Dean Stallings has a
deep c onviction that women
must be educated to complement
the males of the species, not
compete with them.
“Women focus on small things,
on details, better than men,” she
pointed out. “Men look outward,
women inward. Girls must be
educated in the fine arts and
humanities. They must know
philosophy, literature, poetry,
music, history, psychology. They
need to balance man’s preoccu
pation with vocational and tech
nological subjects. As wives and
mothers they must provide the
liberalizing, cultural refinement
while their men expand human
horizons in another way.”
Adapted from
“Atlanta Constitution”
Dr. James and Glee Club Members