University of Virginia Library

Guest Speakers Honor Sesquicentennial Convocation

By Debra Kroner
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

Raymond Aron

Daniel Boorstin

Kenneth Clark

Peter Gay

Philip Hauser

Athelstan Spilhaus

Unlike the 1921 Centennial celebration at the
University, this year's Sesquicentennial will not
boast maidens from Athens performing classical
dances on the Lawn. Instead, a key part of the
three-day Convocation will be symposium Monday
focusing on modern man, his intellectual and
physical environment.

The main speakers at the panel discussions
include six eminent scholars from the United
States and France, Morning symposium will examine
"Modern Man and the Enlightenment" while afternoon
meetings will shift the focus to "Modern Man and the
Finite World."

"Mass Society and the Values of the Enlightenment"
will be the topic of the first panel in room 402, Wilson
Hall. The main speaker will be Raymond Aron, director
of the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes in Paris, an
internationally known author, journalist and social
historian. Mr. Aron's works include "Opium of the
Intellectuals," "Peace and War, a Theory of International
Relations," and "Marxism and the Existentialists."

Boorstin To Speak

The second morning panel will feature Daniel
Boorstin, director of the Smithsonian Institution's
National Museum of History and Technology. He will
speak on "The Enlightenment and the Perils of
Prophecy" in room 301, Wilson Hall.

Included among the credits of Mr. Boorstin are
numerous books on American history, social criticism,
and political theory. Editor of the "Chicago History of
American Civilization" series, he has published two
volumes of a three-volume history of "The Americans."

Yale Scholar Scheduled

Peter Gay, professor of comparative European
intellectual history at Yale University, will deliver the
main address at the third morning panel, "The
Enlightenment: Fossil or Force?" Recipient of the 1967
National Book Award, Mr. Gay has written several books
including "The Enlightenment: an Interpretation, Vol. 1,
The Rise of Modern Paganism" and "Weimar Culture: The
Outsider as Insider."

"Human Resources and the Future" will be the topic
of the first afternoon panel, to be held in room 308. The
main speaker will be Kenneth Clark, professor of
psychology at City College of the City University of New
York and president-elect of the American Psychological
Association. Mr. Clark, who has studied the effect of
segregation on children, has written extensively on the
American Negro.

Genetics Speech

Philip M. Hauser, professor of sociology and director
of the University of Chicago's Population Research and
Training Center, will examine "The Genetic Future of
Man" in room 402. He is an expert on the problems of
population and urbanization and is a consultant to the
President's Commission on Population.

The third afternoon panel, "The Future of the City,"
to be held in room 301, will feature Athelstan Spilhaus.
Mr. Spilhaus is the president-elect of the American
Association for the Advancement of Science as well as an
internationally known meteorologist and oceanographer.

University faculty members will moderate the panels.
Visitors on the panels will include Walter Muir Whitehead,
director and librarian, Boston Athenaeum; Stephen G.
Kurtz, director, Institute of Early American History and
Culture in Williamsburg; Quincey Wright, American
Academy of Arts and Sciences; Bernard V. McCusty,
director, Region III, Department of Health, Education
and Welfare; and R.D. Hotchkiss, professor at Rockefeller
University.

Bud Ogle, in an October 15 letter to President
Shannon, requested more student representation in the
Sesquicentennial activities. "The specific suggestion I
agreed to forward to you is that representatives from the
student body, faculty, employees, and the Charlottesville
community give very brief remarks about our present and
future course," said Mr. Ogle.

Suggestion Too Late

According to Mr. Shannon's reply, Mr. Ogle's
suggestion came too late. Therefore, the inclusion of
members of the student body in the activities would be
logistically impossible, Mr. Shannon indicated.

Mr. Ogle feels that this absence of student
representatives is unfortunate. He also believes that "the
University's Sesquicentennial year is a most opportune
time to look to our own future as well as our past and the
future in general. Because the Convocation on October 21
highlights the entire year it seems the natural point to
focus the University's concern as well as its pride and
confidence."

Weekend Activities

Prior to Monday's symposium, there will be weekend
activities. On October 17, there will be a dinner in
Memorial Gymnasium by invitation only honoring
Governor Mills E. Godwin, Jr. and other representatives
of the Commonwealth.

At Saturday's football game, the officials will group
together in a special cheering section in Scott Stadium.
Also during the day, the officials will view exhibits in the
new School of Architecture and in Alderman Library.

On Sunday, October 20, the delegates will converge
upon Monticello. There they will attend a reception, thus
opening the three-day Sesquicentennial convocation.