ustxtxb_obs_1969_05_23_50_00005-00000_000.pdf

4., .411-4.0,41, wife has engaged in any illegal activity as has been hinted at. I see this as an attempt at character assassination both of myself and of the university.” He added that in the past 18 months he and his family have been the subject of “a scurrilous, false, and nasty KKK letter circulated throughout the country; a cross burning in our front yard the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, 1968; nasty and threatening telephone calls; attempts to implicate us in narcotics deals; and approaches by persons designed to get information about our personal lives that the public might consider ‘immoral.’ ” Bennett, aged 47, has been director of religious activities and student leadership development at UH since 1963, when the school became part of the state system. An Episcopal minister, he was rector of St. Peter’s Church in Pasadena before joining the UH staff. He was educated at Princeton, the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, Mass., and the Harvard Divinity School. IN AN OBSERVER interview, Bennett attempted to explain why he has come under attack by some elements of the Houston community. A vigorous, outgoing sort, he propped his feet on a coffee table in his large, modern office and said, “I have been accused of being too permissive, of not having any values. Actually, I’m more concerned with people being whole rather than good. No, no,” he told the interviewer, “don’t put that down. It’ll blow their minds.” Reminded that he was talking to the Observer audience, he said, “Okay then, but underline whole and put good in quotes.” Bennett said he has always tried to get “students involved in a university life that is more than fun and games.” He helped establish a student court and a student life council and fought against the administrative concept of in loco parentis. He said he has been active in encouraging integration. “I have been a friend of draft counselors and a friend of black militants,” he said. “I’ve always been involved with frontier questions,” Bennett explained. “I’ve done a hell of a lot of work on the drug problem. I’m on a university committee to design a permanent committee to deal with the question. I’ve been involved a great deal with sensitivity training.” He explained that the sensitivity sessions are concerned with “helping people become aware of themselves in relation to other people so that they can become better human beings.” \(The reverend handed the reporter two brochures on SIPOD, the Southwest Institute for Personal and . Organizational Development. 2Sensitivity sessions are endorsed by many psychologists as a legitimate means of breaking down the barriers between people. Although Bennett did not say so, participants in some sessions, or T-groups as they also are called, will disrobe, sit around in a circle and talk about how it feels to sit in a circle with one’s clothes off. \(The Tribune described such a scene at the involve non-verbal \(i.e. tion, although not, as far as this writer knows, sexual intercourse such as the Tribune alleged. Bennett, speaking two days before he was relieved of his job at UH, said he was encouraged by the support he has received from students and faculty members. “I’ve found so much support I don’t know how to handle it,” he said. He declined to discuss the allegations made against him in the Tribune. He said he has retained two lawyers, Richard Haynes of Houston, and William Kunstler of New York, one of, if not the most eminent civil liberties lawyer in the United States. \(Kunstler is probably Bennett said he doubted that the university would be able to get rid of him without a fight. THE OBSERVER LEARNED that the information that appeared in the Trib 2. One of the SIPOD brochures described the goals of one of its programs as “increased self awareness of feelings, values, ideas, and behavior; increased trust and authenticity in interpersonal relationships; increased sensitivity to others and to group processes; increased ability to experiment with one’s role, in the world; improved leadership, communication, and decision making abilities.’ une also was offered to the Houston dailies, the three television stations, and some other publications. All but the Tribune shunned the offers. Jack Gurwell, publisher of The Bellaire Texan, a suburban newspaper, said he was contacted by a grand juror before the story ever broke in the daily papers and was urged by the juror to publicize the investigation. He quoted the juror, whom he would not name, as saying, “We’re going to blow the lid off this thing.” Gurwell told the Observer he believes the grand jury mainly is interested in getting Bennett fired, rather than in getting him charged with any crime, or in pursuing broader aims through publicity detrimental to the University of Houston. Gurwell is not the only person who believes that the secrecy requirement of grand juries has been violated. Dr. Clark Read, president of the Houston chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, has requested that a new grand jury recently impaneled by Dist. Judge Myron Love investigate the statements of Foreman Chandler and the alleged leaking of information to the news media by a private investigator. “What we are concerned about is getting the grand jury system to operate as it is supposed to, with its proceedings kept secret,” Read, a professor of biology at Rice, said. James J. Hippard, a UH assistant professor of law and a director of the Houston ACLU, also has been outspoken in criticizing the grand jury’s actions. “The busybody-snooper complex involved in .this investigation is a disgrace. The grand jury has no business poking into aspects of private lives that don’t involve felonious conduct,” Hippard said. “These grand jurors are not the self-appointed guardians of the morals or the politics of the citizenry.” Texas law requires that grand jurors, bailiffs, and witnesses deliberate in secret and that they not divulge what they learn or reveal in the course of their official May 23, 1969 Way To Bomb North Korea S Page 4 VOL V, NO. 31 HOUSTON TRIBUNE That Duval County Court See Page 4 TWENTY CENTS’ ‘ HOUSTON, TENAS, THURSDAY, NLAY 1, 1969 Two UH Profs Implicated In Sex Acts With Students Boy, 16, l ieeks *Guns **for *Revolt ral io Rne -aa i i ct