University of Virginia Library

College Presidents, Faculty
Cause Of Student Unrest

That the re "campus troublemakers"
in campus unrest
are the university presidents and
faculty is the conclusion of a new
study recently published by Random
House. Laurence Kirshbaum
and Roger Rapoport, the authors of
the study, further concluded that
the university administrators form
the basis of a rigid bureaucracy
which completely disregards the
student's constitutional rights.

The study, entitled "Is The
Library Burning," was sponsored
by the Carnegie Commission on the
Future of Higher Education, and
was published in both hardcover
and Vintage editions on November
11.

The two authors, who visited
over thirty-five of the nations most
turbulent college and high-school
campuses, were able to gain insights
into the positions of the main foes
of student power not shown in
their formal declarations to the
national media. Nathan Pusey,
President of Harvard, is quoted as
saying "I don't have time for
radical students. I'm too busy
working on faculty appointments."

A news release from Random
House says "San Francisco State
President S.I. Hayakawa is heard
talking about his battle rations: 'I
enjoyed myself immensely during
all the rioting. Whenever there was
any trouble I stocked up for lunch
in the office. From then on the
biggest problem was whether to
have sardines or pate de fois gras.' "

The two authors examined administrative
resistance to student
proposals for change, finding the
university president in a situation
where he needs a scapegoat. But his
options are limited; the faculty can
not be blamed for the unrest since
he serves at their pleasure; the
legislators are above reproach since
they control the source of funds;
and of course he will not blame
himself. ". . . That leaves only one
scapegoat - the students. And
whether the students are right or
wrong on any given issue is
irrelevant. They must lose simply
because they are students."

The authors also blame the
faculty, saying "The modern American
professor has become an
admirer of students more in the
abstract than in the flesh . . . The
modern professor spends as little
time as possible with undergraduates
. . . He's a mobile father, who,
while achieving fame and fortune
downtown, bristles at the suggestion
that he should be responsible
for the kids at home."

As a result of this position, the
authors describe an "ugly self perpetuating
cycle" of student
revolt, as faculty members, once
sympathetic to student off-campus
causes, become increasingly hostile
as the demands move into the
classroom.