The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 59, No. 1, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 2, 1971 Page: 2 of 14
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the rice thresher
editorial
Davidson: token integration won't
satisfy Rice's need to progress
Rice University an American institution dedicated
to the advancement of liberal and technical learning and
the progress of mankind in the in letters, science, and art.
Founded and endowed ad majorem dei gloriam by Wil-
liam Marsh Rice in freedom for research; to sober fear-
less pursuit of truth, beauty, dighteousness, and to all
High Emprise dedicated.
These are the words that appear on the genuine
sheepskin that all students at Rice one day hope to attain.
With a a few major exceptions, this has pretty much
been the aura and spirit of the Rice community.
It is time to re-evaluate the meaning- of those words
and to consider the direction that the Rice education
takes its graduates. Are the philosophies and environ-
ment of sixty or even ten years ago relevant to the needs
<>f today. The answer is "not completely." Universities,
and Rice is no exception, have long mass produced en-
gineers, scientists, businessmen, and academicians.
It is now time for the University community as a
whole to begin to start developing individuals, to begin
to look at the inner aspects of life.
Major change at Rice University would appear to
be as painful as losing a long cherished friend, and often
those who have tried to effect that change have become
very discouraged and many times have just quit. This
is not to say that it does not happen. We have seen the
curriculum change radically, the evolving of the colleges,
and the growth of the influence of the non-Board of
1 rustees section of the community.
Hut the change at Rice has very seldom been
original. For a University with "sober fearless pursuit"
we have been all to willing to follow the lead of other
universities around the country. I have not seen a major
decision made at Rice that had not been already utilized
at some other major school. Now this is safe policy, but
it does not have the makings of a great university. Are
we to be contented with always being number two (or
twenty or two hundred) ? Must we always look to other
schools for our curriculum changes or our living plans or
our athletic emphasis, ad nauseum? We need to formu-
late our plans with the needs of Rice in mind, and not be
afraid to show originallity. With the quality of faculty,
students, and administration we have, there is little
excuse for such. This is not to say we should be afraid
to'adopt as our own the innovative ideas of others, but
that we should not rely on the experience of other educa-
tional institutions as our guiding light.
We need to take this initiative, or we will stay on
tin' brink of greatness for the next sixty years.
While the purpose of the University is the "advance-
ment of liberal and technical learning," it is now time to
begin to come to grips with the advancement of the in-
dividual. We need to begin to help all members of the
community understand themselves—and others—in the
context of both their own spheres and in the circles of
society. Rice needs the means whereby members of the
community can release their personal frustration and ten-
sions, without detriment to their personal well-being.
This is no easy or flippant task. There is no one
method and little past experience. It calls for all the in-
novative forces within the community. To fail to respond
to this problem is to continue to foster high dropout and
suicide rates, and to have Rice become even more de-
personalizing.
—mauldin
.H ^
thresher
DeBOW FREED
Editor
DAVID KLEIN
Business Manager
•John Mauldin
Andy Hurley
Marty Helasco
■ Ian Robertson
Associate Editor
Managing Editor
Sports Editor
Circulation
Steve Jackson ...
(iary Rachlin
Susan Bielstein
... Calendar Editor
Sports Editor
Fine Arts Editor
To the editor:
At a time when racial deseg-
regation is increasing rapidly
in southern public schools, Rice
seems to be going resolutely in
the opposite direction. Accord-
ing to preliminai-y figures in
the admissions office, the num-
ber of blacks in the freshman
class has dropped from 25 last
year to about 18 this fall. (This
excludes about ten "Spanish
surname" students each year.)
Apparently, five of this year's
J8 or so blacks are athetes.
Why the decrease ?
Are black students with Rice
potential fewer than before?
Certainly not 25% fewer. Are
black students this year less
inclined to attend predominant-
ly white colleges? This too is
doubtful. The trend has recent-
ly been quite the opposite: far
more blacks (and a far higher
proportion) are attending
"white" universities now than
ten years ago.
A more likely answer is that
Rice itself is to blame. Let me
suggest some reasons:
:i) The Rice faculty and ad-
ministration have to date made
little effort to recruit black ad-
ministrators and faculty. Six
years after the school was leg-
ally desegregated, not a single
faculty member or administra-
tor is black or Mexican-Ameri-
Black students I have dis-
cussed the matter with at Rice
and on other campuses stress
the importance of this fact. One
of the greatest needs students
have — whether black, brown,
or white — is occasional friend-
ly, personal contact with.adults
within the university setting.
Given the barriers to communi-
cation between racial groups
these days, an all-white faculty
and administration drastically
limits the amount of adult-stu-
dent contact available to min-
orities. Leading universities
have recognized this long ago,
and have taken action to remedy
the situation.
2) Rice is not giving enough
attention to the recruitment of
racial minorities, black or
brown. True, a Minority Re-
cruitment Committee has exist-
ed for several years. Its chair-
man, Alan Grob, has commend-
ably given much of his own
time and resources to its pur-
poses, as have other members.
But for various reasons it is
relatively ineffective. It has an
annual budget of only $1,000.
This enables a few faculty
members to miake a few trips
through Texas and Louisiana,
and to contact, briefly and su-
perficially, a few black and
Mexican - American students
with Rice potential.
This budget does not enable
students — preferably minority
and white ones together — to
accompany us, and to make far
more meaningful and successful
contacts.
Anyone who has not recruited
minority students in southern
schools cannot realize how dif-
ficult it is to contact promising
students and convince them
that they not only can afford
to come here, but that they will
be welcome.
Many guidance counsellors
steer racial minorities away
from Rice, preferring to "push"
their own hand-picked white
students. Some principals even
discourage recruiters from com-
ing to their school. Too many
blacks and Mexican-Americans
who have academic qualifica-
tions to come to Rice are ex-
tremely poor, and simply can-
not be convinced in a few min-
utes by a complete stranger, a
white professor, that their fi-
nancial situation will permit
them to attend Rice. Students,
I think, would be more credi-
ble in some cases — especially
if Rice could offer more fi-
nancial aid to minorities than
it now does.
.'■)) The pitiful ratio of min-
ority students at Rice is itself
a reason why recruitment is
difficult. Blacks prefer to at-
tend a school where there are
a number of other blacks to
socialize with. There is of
course some significant and
positive interracial contact at
Rice, and I take this to be a
good sign. There have been
some strong interracial friend-
ships develop here recently, and
one can hope they will continue
to increase.
Nonetheless, blacks and
Mexican-Americans desire am-
ple contact with their own ra-
cial groups — as do whites —•
and potential Rice minority stu-
dents will think long and hard
abo„ujt coming to a university
where minority students num-
ber- less than 80 (48 blacks and
25 "Spanish surname" last year)
in an undergraduate student
body of almost 2100.
To make matters worse,
Rice's recruitment brochure,
printed several years ago when
erewcuts were still in style, de-
picts not a single black face in
any of its photographs.
Surely one does not need to
make an extended case today
for the urgency of enabling in-
creasing numbers of students
from racial and economic min-
orities to attend good universi-
ties. Such a policy has a double
payoflf. It benefits the minori-
ties themselves; and it gives the
ordinary white middle-class stu-
dents a badly needed education
in multiracial living. The ques-
tion at this point is not why,
but how.
I would like to suggest the
following:
0 That a budget be allo-
cated to the Minority Recruit-
ment Committee which will
enable Rice students as well as
faculty to become involved in
recruiting endeavors.
0 That adequate financial
aid be guaranteed to any po-
tential Rice student who is a
member of a minority group.
0 That students, faculty,
and administration put their
minds to work and come up
with an effective plan for de-
segregating the faculty and ad-
ministration. I understand four
positions for admissions coun-
sellors are now open in the ad-
missions office. This constitutes
a good opportunity to begin
staffing the administration with
minority-group members. But
more generally, I would like to
see a meeting held under the
auspices of an official univer-
sity body — such as the facul-
ty council or the student assem-
bly or both — to discus.- tin-
problem.
0 That our recruitment
brochure give special attention
to the role minorities are be-
ginning to play at Rice. Indeed,
it might be worthwhile to pre-
pare a special brochure for
minority applicants, which dis-
cusses frankly and thoroughly
the advantages and disadvan-
tages of a Rice education from
the viewpoint of the minority
student.
If these measures are taken,
I think it is likely that the min-
ority proportion at Rice will
rise significantly. For I am
firmly convinced that there are
plenty of black and brown stu-
dents who could take advantage
of a Rice education at the pres-
ent time. All they need is our
encouragement.
Sincerely, «
Chandler Davidson,
Assistant Professor
of Sociology
Robert Shaw opens President's Lecture Series
Stuff: I'elrr Jordan, Helty Hurst, Robert Furse, Charles Pan. Neil Isbin,
Sl;in Itrown. Charles Maynard, Cash Tilton. Brian Huchanan, David Real, Morty
Rich. Kelly Hill. H. Dvid Dnglo, Mike Ross, Anne Dingus, Emily DeWitt, Anne
Wholleban, Murvin Auzenne.
The Rice Thresher, official student newspaper at Rice University, is published
weekly on Thursday except during holidays and examination periods by students
of Rice University, Houston, Texas 77001. Phone 528-4141. Ext. 231, 645. The
opinions expressed in this paper are those of its writers and editors and are not
necessarily those of Rice University, its admnistrators or offcials.
The Thresher s a member of the United Student Press Assication and
subscribes to College Press Service.
Robert Shaw, founder of the
world renowned chorale group
which bears his name and,
since I960, conductor of the At-
lanta Symphony Orchestra, will
inaugurate the 1971-72 Fresr-""*
dent's Lecture Series at 3 pm,
Wednesday, Sept. 8, in Ham-
man Hall.
His topic will be "The Con-
servative Arts." The lecture is
open to the public without
charge.
Shaw is 55 and a native of
Red Bluff, Calif. He was grad-
uated from Pomona College in
California in 1938 and, for the
ensiling seven years, was di-
rector of the Fred Waring Glee
Clubs. He founded the Robert
Shaw Chorale in the mid-40s
and has taken the group on an-
nual tours of the United States
since 1948.
The chorale made its first
foreign tour in 195G when it
appeared in the principal cities
of Europe and the Middle East.
Since then it has visted the
USSR and South America. It
has made numerous recordings
for RCA.
Shaw began his career as an
orchestral director as guest con-
ductor of the CBS Symphony
and subsequently made guest
appearances as conductor of the
ABC, the NBC, the New York
City, the Boston Symphony, the
National and the Chicago Sym-
phony Orchestras. „
He was director of choral
music jointly for the Berkshire
Music Center and for the Juil-
liard School of Music from 194(i
to 1949. Before joining the At-
lanta Symphony in 1966, he was
for 11 years associate conductor
of the Cleveland Symphony, un-
der the late Dr. George Szell.
A former Guggenheim Fel-
low, Shaw holds numei-ous hon-
orary doctorates from universi-
ties across the nation, not only
in music, but in fine arts and
in humane letters.
Among his other honors, he
was recipient in 1943 of the Na-
tional Association of American
Composers and Conductors
award to the outstanding Amer-
ican-born conductor.
the rice thresher, September 2. 1971—page 2
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Freed, DeBow. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 59, No. 1, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 2, 1971, newspaper, September 2, 1971; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245108/m1/2/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.