The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 56, No. 27, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 10, 1969 Page: 1 of 8
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Overnight presidential reversal
Freeman denied admission after committee gives its okay
« V A DAT V\T VWVnDTrT . i .1 ... w *
By KAROLYN KENDRICK
The Faculty Committee on
Examinations and Standing
voted Tuesday night 6-0, with
two abstensions, to readmit
Charlie Freeman in the fall. Dr.
Frank Vandiver, acting Rice
president, overturned the com-
mittee's decision yesterday.
Vandiver gave two reasons for
his veto of Freeman's admission
—Freeman's bad academic rec-
ord, and the political activism
which Vandiver claims led to
Freeman's expulsion for dis-
ciplinary reasons from TSU in
1967. Freeman, however, said
that the disciplinary expulsion
was overturned in the courts
and that other reasons given
for the expulsion are still pend-
ing in court.
No precedent
Because of the criminal in-
dictments against him, arising
out of the 1967 TSU incident,
Charlie cannot be admitted to
any state university.
Earlier, in a memo to Dean
of Undergraduate Affairs M.
V. McEnany, Vandiver said that
lie had reviewed the case and
did not feel the committee's de-
cision justified.
McEnany, chairman of the
Committee on Examinations and
Standing, said that he did not
recall a precedent for such an
abrupt reversal of the commit-
tee's decision. He said, however,
that some decisions in the past
had been "debated" by the ad-
ministration and committee.
McEnany said that there was
no question of the technical
legality of the veto, since any
action of a faculty committee
is subject to the approval of
the president, who acts on the
delegated authority of the
Board of Trustees.
Freeman said that he had
contacted his attorney, who felt
that there was a great possibil-
ity that Freeman's civil rights
had been violated. He recom-
mended consideration by faculty
and students of a petition re-
questing those black students
admitted for next fall to re-
consider their decisions to at-
tend Rice.
Third acceptance
The decision Tuesday was
Vandiver gives basis for decision;
cites Freeman's record, expulsion
By TERRY O'ROURKE
"For academic reasons alone,
I overturned the faculty com-
mittee's recommendation to re-
admit Charlie Freeman," Dr.
Frank Vandiver, acting presi-
dent of Rice, told the Thresher
in a telephone interview last
night. .. •
Vandiver is in Columbus, Mis-
sissippi, where he is to give an
address at Mississippi State
College for Women.
Vandiver's action was com-
municated in a memorandum
yesterday to Dean of Under-
graduate Affairs M. V. McEn-
any, chairman of the Commit-
tee on Examinations and Stand-
ing. It followed a committee
vote Tuesday to readmit Free-
man.
"There were two reasons for
this decision," Vandiver said.
"First was his (Freeman's) dis-
mal academic record^ and sec-
ond was his expulsion for dis-
ciplinary reasons from TSU."
'Every right'
"The faculty committee had
every right to make the recom-
mendation that they did," he
added. "But as acting president
I just don't think he should be
readmitted."
Vandiver said Freeman could
be readmitted later "if he were
to show some academic im-
provement. He simply has to
show that he can pass some
courses at another university.
"If they (TSU) would lift
the disciplinary ban, and he
could pass some college level
work elsewhere, then we could
reconsider him," Vandiver went
on to say.
"Rice has to maintain the
highest academic standards. If
!>•
we surrender that, then we're
through," he explained.
'Worse than suspension'
"On his record is an expulsion
from another university—for
disciplinary reasons," Vandiver
noted. "This is worse than a
suspension, and I don't think
that it can be overlooked."
Asked if he thought his ac-
tion would affect the recruiting
efforts of the Committee on
Minority Admissions, Vandiver
replied, "I hope not. We intend
to pursue that as actively -as
possible."
He said that no member of
the Board of Trustees had in-
fluenced his action. "I simply
informed them of my decision
afterwards," he asserted.
He added that he did not in-
tend to issue a formal state-
ment on the Freeman case.
Vandiver said he plans to re-
turn to Rice Friday.
The deadline for filing pe-
titions for Chairman of the
Inter-College Court is Wed-
nesday, April 16. Petitions
should be turned in to any
member of the SA election
committee (Bob Parks, Bak-
er ; Andrea Primdahl, Brown;
Rick Lowerre, Hanszen; Jane
Hamblen, Jones; Frank Bre-
voort, Lovett; Jim Caldwell,
Wiess; Dan King, Will Rice)
or to Bennett Falk.
The election for this office
will be Monday, April 21.
The election for Thresher
Editor, Campanile Business
Manager, and Honor Council
representatives will be next
Monday, April 14.
1
Players present Dylan Thomas' last
play 'Under Milk Wood' April 17-19
Tickets will go on sale next
Monday for The Rice Players'
-production of Dylan Thomas'
"Under Milk Wood." Neil
Havens is directing the reading,
which will be presented* Apfil
17 through 19 at 8 pm in Ham-
man Hall.
In "Under Milk Wood," which
Thomas completed just before
his death in 1953, he gave the
fullest expression to his sense of
the magnificent flavor and var-
iety of life. A moving and
hilarious account of a spring
day in a small Welsh coast
town, the play begins with
dreams and ghosts before dawn,
moves through the brilliant,
noisy day of the ^townspeople,
and closes as the "rain of dusk
brings on the bawdy jnight."
•a
The Players' box office in the
RMC will be open from 10 am
to 4 pm beginning Monday,
April 14. Tickets are $1.50 for
adults and $'1 for students.
the committee's third accept-
ance of Freeman's petition to
re-enter Rice. Their previous
decisions had been returned to
the committee.
The Academic Regulations,
contained in a digest of policies
and regulations concerning un-
dergraduate life compiled by
the Undergraduate Affairs
Committee, give the customary
procedure in a readmissions
case. They state, "Academic
suspension is normally for one
year, unless a different period
of suspension is set by the Com-
mittee on Examinations and
Standing."
Committee meeting-
Dr. Frank Fisher, who in the
past has been one of Freeman's
staunchest advocates on the Ex
& S committee, called Vandiv-
er's stated reasons for vetoing
the decision "deplorable." He
said that the committee, which
is meeting today to prepare a
collective statement, would re-
quest an immediate audience
with Vandiver upon his return,
to discuss the situation.
Dr. Fisher added, "A situa-
tion of this nature puts the
University in as great a dif-
ficulty as the former selection
Dr. Alan Chapman, vice-
president for administration,
will present the administra-
tion's view of the Charlie
Freeman admissions case to-
night at a student - faculty
dialogue concerning yester-
day's developments.
Freeman will be present to
answer questions. Dr. Donald
Huddle, a member of the
Committee on Examinations
and Standing which voted
Tuesday to readmit Freeman,
of a president. It represents a
total lack of responsibility and
delegation of authority and
places the entire University in
jeopardy with regard to stand-
ing committees and department
chairmen."
Dr. Heinz Puppe, another
(See STUDENTS on page 7)
and other faculty members,
including Dr. Alan Grob, will
also speak.
The meeting will be at 7
pm in the Brown Commons.
The executive committee of
the Student Senate has called
an open student-faculty dis-
cussion of the matter for 3
pm Friday in the Physics
Amphitheater "in view of Dr.
Vandiver's reversal of the
decision ... to readmit Char-
lie Freeman to Rice."
m
ta.A
—Richard Sawyer
the rice thresher
vol. 56, no. 27
Final address
rice university houston, texas
thurs., april 10, 1969
Skaaren warns of 'deterioration'
By LAURA KAPLAN
Former SA President Warren
Skaaren and the Senate faculty
advisfir, Dr. Douglas Milburn, ■>,
passed the reins of student pow-
er to their newly chosen count-
erparts for^ 1969-1970, Lee
Horstman and Dr. Paul E. Pfeif-
fer, at a joint meeting of the
old and new Senates Tuesday
night.
Skaaren commented on the
apparent maturation of the
1968-1969 Senate, compared
with activities of previous Sen-
ates as reported by past SA
Presidents. He said he felt that
student government as an agent
to produce "things", and make
"things" run smoothly, had died.
Students are now more con-
cerned with and motivated by
ideas.
He cited the five-day period
following the Masterson presi-
dential appointment in February
as an example of how closely
students and faculty could be
united into ^action by. an idea,
their concept of the University.
Skaaren emphasized that this
creation of a student-faculty co-
alition was perhaps the most ■
important occurrence of the
year. ^ L
Potentiar threatened
He noted, however, that this
newly aroused potential may be
threatened by lack of time, and
by the nature of the Houston
coiffmunity.
The immediate academic con-
cerns of papers, finals and con-
current faculty responsibilities
are leading, he warned, to a
"subtle deterioration".
A second difficulty is the na-
ture of the old Houston com-
munity, characterized by the
Board of Trustees and alumni.
During the February crisis, Rice
found itself as a definite four-
part structure, including stu-
dents, faculty, the Board, and
alumni. Skaaren charged the
seniors with the responsibility
to uphold the ideas the school
has taught them to appreciate.
"Thirdly, there is the obvious
lack of effective communication
with the Board of Trustees.
Skaaren commented that despite
his continuing dialogue with
members of the Board through-
out the year, starting with the
selection of the student advisory
committee during the presiden-
tial search last fall, the gap has
not- greatly decreased.
' He suggested that Horstman
become an ex officio member of
the Board.
Milburn said he regarded his
sponsorship of the Senate as an
"intense learning process," be-
cause any professor who steps
outside the classroom and works
with students encounters an en-
forced continuation of this ex-
perience.
Mentality retreat
<T
He added that through his ef-
forts he had developed a new
(See HORSTMAN tin page 3)
Evaluation committee will circulate
questionnaires on student opinions
Dr. L. E. Davis, professor of
Electrical Engineering, an-
nounced yesterday that the
Committee on Undergraduate
Evaluation plans to distribute
to all undergraduates, a ques-
tionnaire aimed at soliciting
opinions concerning the under-
graduate experience.
The objective of the question-
naire, which will be distributed
"within the next few days" ac-
cording to Davis, is to provide
a sound basis for later discus-
, i
sion of curricular reforms.
The questions will probe stu-
dent backgrounds, reasons for
coming to Rice, important coun-
seling ^influences, and curricu-
lum flexibility. CUE plans to
publish preliminary results be-
fore the end of the academic
year, though a detailed analysis
will take somewhat longer.
ft
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Bahler, Dennis. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 56, No. 27, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 10, 1969, newspaper, April 10, 1969; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245056/m1/1/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.