THURSDAY, JANUARY 6, 1986
TILE MICHIGAN DAILY
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THURSDAY, JANUARY 6,1966 TUE MIChIGAN DAILY
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FIRST OF A KIND:
Teachers Strike Rages at St. John S Grant For
ns Base
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By CLARENCE FANTO
More than 200 faculty members
of St. John's University in New
York City, the nation's largest
Catholic university, are on strike
in the first teachers' walkout ever
faced by an American college or
university.
The strike was called by. the
United Federation of College
Teachers to protest the dismissal
of 31 faculty members by the St.
John's administration. The union,
supported by the American As-
sociation of University Professors,
is also protesting "refusal of the.
university administration to give
teachers an adequate role in the
formulation of academio and ad-
ministrative policies."
The faculty members, including
three priests, were dismissed for
what the administration termed
"inappropriate conduct." The
teachers were disenchanted with
what they called an abridgment
of academic freedom at the school,
which has more than 13,000 stu-
dents. Most of the dismissed fac-:
ulty members were active in ef-
forts to modernize St. John's and
revitalize free inquiry and an in-
tellectual "spirit."
Series of Issues
The strike is surrounded by a
complex of issues with trade un-
ion, educational and religious
overtones. The striking teachers,
representing about one third of
the total St. John's faculty, claim
to be advocating an ecumenical
spirit and an improvement of
academic quality in Catholic high-
er education.
The present crisis had its be-
ginnings last March when 200
teachers angrily stalked out of a
faculty meeting in protest against
low salaries and absence of aca-
demic freedom. Personalities
deemed too "controversial" by the
administration to speak at the
university included the three can-
didates in New York's mayoral
race, Sen. Robert Kennedy (D-
NY) and Bishop Fulton J. Sheen.
A student demonstration fol-
lowed the faculty walkout. 'The
students complained of censor-
ship of school publications and
the absence of political clubs on
campus. There were some efforts
undertaken to achieve internal
reform. Political clubs are now
permitted and liberalized tenure
rules have been announced. The
administration has also promised
to create a faculty senate.
No Reasons
But, several weeks ago, dismissal
notices went out to 31 faculty
members. Their contracts were
not to be renewed, the notices
stated. No explicit reason was
given to the teachers for their
dismissal.
The faculty rebellion which led
to the ouster of the teachers is,
in a sense, an outgrowth of the
Ecumenical Council sessions in
the Vatican, at which greater par-
ticipation by laymen in the af-
fairs of the church was encour-
aged.
The strike brings to a head
issues affecting the future course
of Catholic higher education and
which also touch on problems at
many public universities-academ-
ic tenure, political freedom,
authoritarianism at the upper ad-
ministrative levels of the modern
university, and the rights of fac-
ulty and students.
According to the dismissed
teachers, there were other con-
ditions at the school which "killed
initiative and creativity, thwarted
freedom of legitimate inquiry and
created a 'garrison state'."
* No handbills may be dis-
tributed without specific permis-
sion, and then only at certain
locations after the contents are
approved by the administration.
In practice, all political activity at
the school has been thwarted by
the administration's refusal to
authorize handbills or activities
on any controversial issue, which,
as defined by the Vincentian
priests who run the university,
apparently includes all current
issues in the forefront of public
consciousness.
" The library, according to
teachers, is lacking even basic
references. The university has di-
verted funds for the library sys-
tem to construction of a new
athletic building.
0 Rigid dress regulations re-
quire students to be attired in
jacket and tie in all university
buildings, at all times.
* A regulation states that men
and women must not be together
in parked cars in the campus
area. This rule was duly enforced
in a recent incident which sheds
light on the overall atmosphere at
the school. A professor was wait-
ing with his wife in a car for an
acquaintance to come out of a
meeting. When a security guard
ordered him out of the car, the
professor explained that he was
a faculty member and that the
woman sitting next to him was
his wife. It made no difference,
said the security guard. The pro-
fessor was forced to leave his car.
Faculty Leader
The leader of the faculty rebel-
lion is Rev. Peter O'Reilly, an
acknowledged expert on medieval
philosophy. He and his colleagues
are opposed by the university
president, the Very Rev. Joseph
Cahill.
O'Reilly claims that St. John's
is a "dictatorial, authoritarian
autocracy.
"All we want is the kind of
freedom in practice at other uni-
versities," he says. "But the ad-
ministration sees the union as a
threat to its own absolute control.
"There is a need in Catholic
schools, especially in this institu-
tion, for the faculty to assume its
proper and rightful role, to have
a greater voice in determining
academic policy and administra-
tive decisions," O'Reilly contends.
The student council at St.
John's has gone on the record
supporting the faculty members
against the administration. Some
students have picketed against the
administration.
But a campus leader, Tom Riley,
who heads Students United for
Academic Freedom, complains of
widespread apathy.
"The students have been taught
that the most important thing is
to practice the externals of their
faith," he says. "Many of them
are the first of their generation
to go to college and they're afraid
of doing anything which might
hurt their status."
Catholic educators across the
nation, while reluctant to publicly
criticize another institution, have
nevertheless made clear their pri-
vate feeling that St. John's is
archaic and even foolish in its
stand.
A spokesman at Fordham Uni-
versity claims that, apart from
the rapid expansion since World
War II which has created prob-
lems at St. John's and other
Catholic universities, these schools
have another problem-the change
from' operations dominated by the
clergy to more modern institu-
tions in which laymen constituted'
the majority of the faculty.
"In such situations, the intro-
duction of democratic procedures
into academic decision making
has frequently lagged far behind
the pace in secular institutions,
and in some cases, particularly at
St. John's, the administration has
been slow to adapt to the new
situation."
Some Catholic educators feel
the long-range effects of the
crisis at St. John's may be more
beneficial than embarrassing for
other Catholic institutions since
it would serve to point out ad-
vances toward academic freedom
made by other Catholic schools
recently. At Duquesne University
in Pittsburgh, a group of faculty
members recently issued a state-
ment pointing out that Duquesne
NEW YORK (IP)-St. John's
University lasthnight warned
25 instructors who missed class-
es they will be dealt with
"promptly and appropriately"
if such actions continue.
The strike was apparently
in the process of collapsing as
the number of faculty members
staying away from classes rap-
idly dwindled.
However ,the administration
and a spokesman for the AFL-
CIO Federation of College
Teachers differed on the ef-
fectiveness of the strike. A uni-
versity spokesman said that 90
per cent of the university's stu-
dents showed up for class and
that only 43 of the school's 651
teachers stayed out. A union
spokesman said about 200
teachers were absent and that
.the strike was a "complete suc-
cess."
"not only permits but encourages
the discussion of those principles
for which the faculty at St. John's
is struggling."
A chief administrative spokes-
man, Rev. Joseph Tinnelly, rejects
O'Reilly's contentions.
"Father O'Reilly takes the posi-
tion that he, as a priest, should
be able to go into a Catholic uni-
versity classroom and say he did
not believe in a fundamental
teaching of the Church.
"We part company there, be-
cause this may be all right in a
school of theology so that stu-
dents can sharpen their language,
but when a Catholic priest could
just out of high school and ex-
go to a freshman class with kids
press such views, it's a completely
different matter. We feel that
this exceeds any academic free-
dom consonant with the univer-
sity's aims," Tinnelly says.
Although some students have
expressed their support for the
dismissed students, most of them
have remained unconcerned, thus
underscoring the effectiveness of
the paternalism which affects the
university from its top adminis-
trators to most of the student
body.
A former St. John's student,
now studying at New York Uni-
versity, explains:
"The teachers were very good,
but their work was hindered be-
cause they were always bogged
down in battles with the admin-
istration for what they considered
their rights. I had no personal
complaints, but some of my
friends who are there now com-
plain of a repressive atmosphere.
Guards are often known to push
students around for no good rea-
son."
Another student, now enrolled
as a senior in St. John's, says: "I
just don't see what the university
has against the dismissed teachers.
This sort of thing disregards the
students' best interests."
For New Institute
(Continued from Page 1)
other research centers.
The institute will also support
both an instructional program and
a student training program.
Advisory Group
Norman said the institute will
operate under the general super-
vision of an advisory group com-
posed of its staff, private indus-
try representatives and the gov-
ernment. The arrangement is sim-
ilar to that used to guide the
Phoenix reactor project.
Norman stressed that this ar-
rangement would ensure both the
institute's relevance to current
problems and its independence
from any one group's interests.
"When established," he said, 'this
institute will be no different in
attitude than other large research
projects on our campus."
Sources report no plans to de-
cide on a director for the institute
in the near future. Norman felt
that men capable of handling the
position would not be difficult to
find, though he admitted there are
not many available because of the
complexities of managing a sys-
tems-oriented institute.
No administrators were willing
to speculate on when plans for the
building or its location would be
more definite. "We don't even have
any architect's sketches," one said,
"but on the other hand, a fully-
financed $4-million building won't
be hard to get moving."
-,II
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-The Men of Delta Chi
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