University of Virginia Library

Visiting Michigan President Lectures
On University Voice In Controversy

By Stefan Lopatkiewicz
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

A university president should
speak out on current issues
when he likes, but he runs the
risk of being identified as an administration
spokesman when he
does so, University President
Edgar F. Shannon was advised
on Tuesday night.

In this first of this year's three
Page-Barbour Lectures, Robben
W. Fleming, President of the
University of Michigan at Ann
Arbor, described in Newcomb
Hall's South Meeting Room what
he considered the criteria under
which a university's administration
should speak out on controversial
issues.

His speech, which concerned
the role of the university in the
"larger society," was the first
third of his series of discussions
on "The University Now: Reflections
of a President."

President Shannon introduced
the guest speaker to the audience,
composed largely of administration
and faculty members,
and then listened to what
the visiting president had to say.

Mr. Fleming stated that he
did not feel he gave up the right
to speak as a private citizen
when he assumed the presidency
of Michigan University, yet when
he does speak on issues of the
day, the news media often fail
to distinguish his opinions from
that of the "university's position."

He described two tests by
which he determines when the
university administration should
declare a stand on an issue.
First, "does the governing board
or president have competence in
the area they are being questioned?"
Furthermore, "is it essential
to the larger community
that the university speak on the
issue?"

Mr. Fleming exemplified his
criteria by declaring that the university
should not speak on a
global issue like the Vietnam
War, in which it has no special
competence. On the other hand,
he asserted university administrations
should comment on the
racial issue of today. "It's around
us, we see it, we hear it, we
live it," and added, "I argue,
furthermore, that it is essential
we do speak out. Our prospect
is only for further violence unless
we can resolve this terrible
problem tearing us apart."

Photo by Tom Dunn

Robben W. Fleming

President Of The University Of Michigan At Ann Arbor