Newspaper Page Text
The Mercer Cluster
"Part Of The News That's Fit To Print"
Volume LV Mercer University. Mecon Georgia November 28. 1173 No. 8
Former Georgia Congressman Carl Vinson wave a to his friends 11/18 as Ga.
Gov. Jimmy Carter (C) and Ga. Senator Herman T aim edge applaud Vinson,
who is celebrating his 80th birthday. A double ceremony attended by President
Nixon honored Vinson and Mercer Law School's 100th anniversary.
uei photo
Faculty Members Protest
‘Celebration" Held In Response
To Nixon Mercer Campus Visit
By Joe Davis
Immediately following President
Nixon's speech at the celebration hon
oring Carl Vinson and the Walter F.
George School of Law, four Mercer
University professors distributed to
the assembled press corp a statement
opposing Nixon's appearance on the
campus. Among those receiving copies
of the statement were representatives
of Ths New York Times. The Washing
ton Post, The Baltimore Sun. Time.
Newsweek. The New Republic. The SL
Louis Dispatch and the CBS television
network. Dan Rather of CBS coordi
nated an interview with the four pro
fessors during which a portion of the
statement was read. As this goes to
press, we are unsure as to whether or
not any or all of the taped statement
was broadcast.
The. four faculty members, all of
whom are tenured, are: Dr. A1 Bond,
Chairman of the Department of Socio
logy. Dr. Marvin Dawson, Callaway
professor and Chairman of the Educa
tion Department; Dr. Steve Gallegos,
Chairman of the Psychology Depart
ment and Dr. Terry Todd, Professor of
Education. The complete text of their
statement follows:
Last month, a speaker on the Mercer
University campus referred *to Presi
dent Nixon as a "Dying rattlesnake,”
who was still able, in his desperate
last thrashings, ‘‘to kill you.” At that
time, no one at Mercer could have pre
dicted how truly prophetic this state
ment would become. No one could
have predicted that the President would
come to Macon, Georgia, and inject his
venom into the bloodstream of our uni
versity. No one could have predicted
that we would be so cruelly used.
Those of us who have joined in this
peaceful protest of President Nixon's
appearance. on our campus want to
make several things clear at the out
set, perfectly clear—
Number one—By our statement we
mean no disrespect to Carl Vinson as
he celebrates his 90th birthday.
Number; two—By our statement we
mean no disrespect to the Mercer Uni
versity School of Law as they cele
brate the 100th anniversary of their
founding.
Number three—By our statement we
mean simply to make known as wide
ly as possible the fact that many, many
people on the Mercer campus — stu
dents, faculty, and administration—are
heartsick and outraged at being the
victims of this textbook example of
political opportunism.
Mister Nixon wishes to appear to
the nublic as a President who can
speak with impunity on a college cam
pus, and so he seized the chance to
came to Mercer, because he know that
no one would be allowed to enter our
small auditorium without an invita
tion. He knew that the audience would
be composed of Law School alumni,
friends of Mr. Vinson, politicians, gov-
A Celebration in Human Communi
ty Was it an affirmation of humanity
or just something to do? Was it an
honest time for celebration and shar
ing of our community’s progress and
problems? Or was it just another form
of entertainment?
Friday afternoon a group of stu
dents and faculty met to discuss their
response to President Nixon's visit to
Mercer University on Sunday Novem
ber 18. The group of approximately
15 decided to approach the President’s
visit to Macon on the basis of its ef
fect on the Mercer community. The
group chose to attempt to direct the
outrage, embarrassment, pessimism,
Nixon Visit
eminent officials, high level military
personnel, and a sprinkling of Univer
sity faculty. He knew because of the
size of our auditorium, no students
would be present. And he knew that
the audience would be courteous to
him, because they would not wish to
be dis*espectful to either Mr. Vinson or
the Law School. In short, he knew
that because of the nature of the oc
casion, he would be able to create the
impression throughout the United
States that his popularity is such that
he is able to come to our university
and be given a cordial. Southern re
ception.
Continued on page 8
activism, and other emotional reac
tions into a positive response to the
community at Mercer University. The
name ‘’Celebration in Human Com
munity” was selected and Dr. Ted
Nordenhaug, Tracy Highsmith, and
Joe Davis were chosen spokesmen for
the organization. Ed Bacon, Dr. Lou
Becker and Chris Edwards were add
ed to the three spokesmen to form the
coordinating committee.
At 2:30 p.m. that same day over
100 people gathered in the Trustees
Dining Room to hear the proposed
course of action. After a brief discus
sion it was agreed to carry out “A
Celebration in Human Community”.
Two statements of purpose were read
and discussed by the gathering. Both
statements were adopted. (They ap
pear elsewhere in this issue of the ~
Cluster.)
A vigil began at sunrise Saturday
and continued until Sunday afternoon. ^
After a day of meditating, sharing
and entertainment over 30 people
spent Saturday night under the stars
in front of Robert’s Hall.
The next morning the Celebration
began with the erection of a huge ban
ner reading “Celebration in Human
Community” followed by a Friends
(Quaker) Meeting at 9 a.m. Dee
Blacluhear and Henry Hibbert played
their guitars and sang as a crowd
gathered. The platform, was opened to
anyone who agreed to abide by the
rules. The rules asked that everyone
respect the opinion to differ of each
speaker. In return each speaker was
to be courteous to the audience.
Throughout the day several organiza
tions and individuals voiced their re
sponses to the Celebration in Human
Community.
A contingency from the Black stu
dents at Mercer University voiced
their grievances concerning Mercer,
Macon and the nation. Leon Larke,
President of the Black Students Alli
ance, urged the Black and White
members of Mercer’s community to
respond to the Walter F. George
School of Law’s racist policy concern
ing admission of Black students.
Dr Ted Nordenhaug. Ed Bacon. Dr.
Tom Glennon, Dr. Lou Becker. Joe
Davis, Kenneth Br>ant, Gary John
son, Nathaniel Head. Dr. Mary Wild- *
er, Tracy Highsmith, Dean Tom Trim
ble. Dr Jean Hendricks. Dr. Robert
Otto, Dr. Jack Sheppard, and others
came forth to express their views.
They expressed the desire for the
Celebration to be a positive alterna
tive to the President’s visit. They
turned their concerns inward to the
Mercer community.
Among out-of-town speakers was
Steve Letsch, Treasurer of the Stu
dent Government Association at the
University of Georgia. Letsch spoke
of his school’s action to encourage the
House of Representatives to impeach
the President. He stated that he would
be in Tatnall Square Park picketing
the President. Letsch encouraged the
audience to join him. Letsch was later
Continued on page 5
Photo by A»h Williams
Lines such as this formed during the early morning hours for the 120 seals
which had not been filled by VIP’s. Although hundred* more had invitations,
including all Mercer faculty members, they were not granted admittance to the
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