University of Virginia Library

Student Council

The only established organ
which could have organized counter-protest,
the University Student
Council, was controlled by SDS
members and has always been a
meaningless body to most undergraduates.
If SDS was to face any
significant student reaction, it was
going to be an undergraduate reaction.

In truth, the undergraduates did
react. Lacking the highly structured
discipline SDS maintained,
hundreds of them met in the old
gym early in the crisis. Only the
persuasion of College Dean Coleman
prevented them from taking
aggressive action against the protesters.

Considering the possible violence
which might have resulted
from more active counter-protesting,
it was probably wise for the
administration to silence its strongest
potential supporters. Lacking
these voices, it had to face the
protesters and faculty alone and
without organized support. It is
possible that a more talented administration
may have resolved the
dispute. But even more capable
men would have faced an almost
hopeless situation, and Columbia's
President is not reputed to be
eminently capable.

It would be unfair to say that
Grayson Kirk has been a bad
president. His term of office has
certainly not been malevolent in
nature, and, as I mentioned, the
atmosphere of academic freedom
and inquiry has been maintained.
Kirk also inherited a host of major
problems, some of which required
a genius to solve. However,
he has never been an extraordinarily
good president either. During
my stay at Columbia, he was best
known among the undergraduates
for his love of taking African
safaris. The most relevant condemnation
of his office has been
its lack of responsiveness and communication
with the rest of the
University. This is not totally
Kirk's fault. Many decisions are
made by the Trustees, and their
availability has been non-existent.

Vice-President David B. Truman,
whose resignation the protesters
also called for once police
were called in to disperse them,
is not deserving of the same appraisal
as his superior. Truman
was Dean of the College during
my years at Columbia, and it is
hard to believe that he was unresponsive,
isolated, or bureaucrat-
tic. Instead, the students constantly
saw him at campus social functions,
meetings, and could interview
him at any time in an official
capacity. He is one of the
most eminent government scholars
in America, and many faculty
members and alumni were pleased
by his promotion from College
Dean to Vice-President. The recent
incident has not changed my
opinion of him.