ustxtxb_obs_1970_08_21_50_00015-00000_000.pdf

Page 14

by

ILES 4,0\(4ekdk. arie Ai Am& roateiteateit&eagadt iii, atc’ae, peaeletd 24e4 Sag Idiateutio, Ideated lade to ae leitt as t ie 7ezie 06deutelt fiteute 472-2746 faculty have in recent years come to a conscious awareness of their distinction, an awareness that this is no longer a provincial university but a great university in one of the provinces. In the awareness of this emerging distinction, the faculty stands on the verge of what could be its Elizabethan moment a moment of dramatic self-realization, an awareness of quality and purpose and the will to fulfill that purpose. It will be nothing short of tragic if this faculty is bypassed or if ‘its views are disregarded on a question that is so clearly and specifically within the range of their particular expertise and concern. In summary, I most strongly urge you, as individual regents, to delay this proposal for the organization of the College of Arts and Sciences until it has been brought before Arts and Sciences for its examination, evaluation, and recommendation. Such consultation with that faculty can be completed in September or October. The plan recommended by that faculty could quite easily be implemented by next February 1st. I fail to see that any substantial delay in the reorganization of Arts and Sciences would be caused by referral of this, issue to the faculty of Arts and Sciences. If you as individual members of the Board of Regents do not find my analysis of the basic educational issues persuasive, I hope you will at least attend these procedural points. It is important to show regard for the distinguished faculty that now comprises the College of Arts and Sciences. It will not be consistent with the best interests of the university to insult that faculty whether by a procedural bypass or by an open invitation that any members of that faculty who are dissatisfied resign. It is of critical importance that the Board of Regents recognize that the quality and achievement of the university depends in largest part on the quality and distinction of its professors and students. In consequence of this recognition, it is imperative that the Board of Regents show their appreciation of their outstanding faculty by observing the principle of prior faculty consultation concerning any specific plan that is to be considered for adoption. THIS FALL WE open our doors to a generation of college students deeply troubled. They, like us, live in a time of unprecedented complexity and confusion. They, like us, are the inheritors of an instant culture in which older, more traditional patterns of meaning have lost both substance and viability. It is a time of doubt, confusion, dissension, and conflict. It is a time in which, imbued by the spirit of an instant culture, we are prone to find instant solutions to problems that defy such solutions. Accustomed to instant communication, we travel at more than twice the speed of sound to instant coffee, instant cures, instant ecstasy, and the possibility of instant annihilation. It is not surprising that a few of our citizens have also participated in instant politics politics of revolution and assassination. In this context, it is of particular importance that educational institutions and the governing boards of those institutions show their deepest concern and respect for rational procedures of thought, discussion, and decision. Only in an atmosphere dominated by rational discussion and respect for orderly procedures can we hope to avoid confrontation and conflict on our campus that will ruin our university. I claim no monopoly on love for this university; neither do I take second place to any other man in my devotion to its welfare. I will lend whatever influence I have to the furtherance of peace on our campus and the preservation of a wholesome working relation between our faculty, students, and administrators. Gentlemen, I have deliberately avoided the subjects that are in the headlines that are assailing this meeting today. I do not come here to defend myself, to make the case for or against anyone personally, to play to the press, to give song to my dreams or lament the loss of work and time. I come here to tell you what I believe we all should band together now to preserve and protect. All our labors and meetings, conflicts and personal bruises, are as nothing compared to what we are charged to cherish and advance and what each of us in his deepest self knows is our duty as educators. Do not destroy, in a trice, in the judgment-distorting vice of dramatic, but merely personal events, do not destroy the College of Arts and Sciences. Do not embitter our best men and women on the faculty. Do not so grossly change’ our university in the summertime absence of the faculty. Let us proceed like the rational men we are to the orderly settlement of this subject after its due deliberation by the men and women of the faculty whose rights, work, and dignity are its substance. August 2 81, 1970 15 Personal Service Quality Insurance ALICE ANDERSON AGENCY INSURANCE & REAL ESTATE 808A E. 46th, Austin, Texas 465.6577 CHICANO AUTHORS We wish to purchase short stories, poems, articles, biographies & plays in English BY CHICANO AUTHORS. All themes: joy, family, love, prejudice, protest, rage, achievement, etc. To be included in anthologies. Either unpublished works or reprints. Book-length manuscripts also wanted. PENDULUM PRESS SOUTHWEST 1186 East Menlo Drive Altadena, Calif. 91001