TUESDAY, AUGUST 24, 1965 THE MICHIGAN DAILY PAGE THREE President unctions as By MICHAEL BADAMO TUESAY, UGUT.24w196.TH MICHIG AN DAILYi\/ Plii THREE 0 Leader, Teacher, Emissary The position of University Presi- dent is both time-consuming and complex at a place as large and diversified as the University. The office of President was created in 1850 when the Regents, gave in to the demands of the faculty and created a special post to handle the ',myriad of jobs which until that time the faculty had been forced to assume in ad- dition to teaching. The first University President was Henry Philip Tappan, who held his position from 1850 to 1863. Church-Oriented In the days when President Tappan first came to Ann Arbor, the University was a church- oriented school deeply concerned with providing its students with the best classical education pos- sible., president Tappan kept the Uni- versity's affairs well ordered but his strength lay in his ability to disrupt the calmness of the Uni- versity community and introduce vigorous and thoughtful discussion of the goals the University should be seeking. He pushed his school out into the fields of the sciences from its purely liberal arts orientation and sought to increase the number of professors, buildings and courses. In 1850 the post of president called for leadership and innova- tion. The situation is the same today. Big Problems Today, University President Harlan Hatcher is faced with problems President Tappan would ... ..... The President Dedicates a New 'U' Research Center have been unable to visualize. The world of automation and mass production cannot help but have an influence on all aspects of modern life. One of the chief jobs of the president is to keep the University from feeling too keenly the sharp edge of deper- sonalized education. The role of University President is a double one. There are specific duties which the office entails and there are many more tasks which can be learned only through a knowledge and interpretation of the office's scope. The specific duties may in some cases rank second to the ultimate effect of informal action taken by the chief executive. The President is authorized by the Regents to exercise "such general powers as are inherent in the chief executive for the protection of the interests and the wise government of the Uni- versity, the improvements of its standards and functions." Regents Bylaw 2.01 states that he "shall cooperate with the Board by con- sulting it in advance, except upon emergency and in making tem- porary appointments, when he shall exercise his sound discretion, subject to confirmation of his acts by the Board." Frie alumni support of the University. Hill Auditorium stands today, a gift to the University in the will of Arthur Hill, as one result of Hutchins' efforts. Yost Field House Hutchins saw Yost Field House built in 1912 and 1,000 students leave the University to enlist in World War I in 1917. At the age of 73, Henry Burns Hutchins, who had ascended to the presidency with only a bache- lor's degree, stepped down with four doctorates of law from the University of Wisconsin, the Uni- versity of California, Wesleyan University and Notre Dame Uni- versity. Somewhat belatedly due to World War I the University added its own doctorate to his list of honors. Martin LeRoy Burton took office as president in 1920 after serving as president of the University of Minnesota. Burton was regarded as a specialist in expansion which became his task at the University. Construction He presented a program of con- struction that included additions to Waterman Gym, and the con- struction of Randall Laboratory, East Medical and East Engineer- ing buildings. University - Hospital was only partially finished with $2.9 million still needed to complete the build- ing. Therefore, Burton traveled to Lansing to ask the Legislature for $19 million for a long range den, Valuable program and $5 million imme- diately. The Legislature voted President Burton the money. With it, he built Randall Laboratory, new steam tunnels, completed the hos- pital and constructed University High School. Angell Hall Finally in 1924, he wrested an appropriation from the Legislature for his prudent accomplishment, and set about the construction of Angell Hall, the beautiful memor- ial to President Angell. As Burton became more of an invalid, his good friend, Regent William L. Clements, negotiated with several fraternities and ob- tained a plot across the street from the president's house on which to build the Cook Law Quadrangle and Hutchins Hall, as a memorial to the last president. Burton Towers Burton's efforts on behalf of the University are symbolized by the carillon in the tower dedicated to his memory. Clarence Cook Little, president of the University of Maine and researcher in cancer cures, ac- cepted the leadership of the Uni- versity as an opportunity to test his theories of education. The New Englander planned to ihstitute a free-lance period dur- ing the first two years of under- graduate work, during which the student could sample various courses of learning. He felt that the students' path to graduation looked too much like 'Henry Ford's assembly line-it didn't adapt it- self to the individual needs of each student. One day a reporter asked Presi- dent Little how he thought the modern generation could best be "whipped into line." Birth Control "I don't know," he retorted. "Birth control, I guess." Unfortunately, President Little's hasty comment had rather disa- trous results. In their inimicable fashion, the newspapers got the statement, twisted and distorted it, present- ing President Little as an ad- vocate of birth control. The public was up in arms. The incident was apparently "the straw which broke the camel's back," for later that year, in 1929, President Little re- signed. On October 4, 1929, the Regents unanimously selected Alexander Grant Ruthven, a man who was to serve as the University Presi- dent for 22 years. Looking Back Looking back over the "univer- sity versus college controversy," Piesident Ruthven, now 81 and living on his farm just outside Ann Arbor, notes that President Little's proposal is "largely what we have today," minus the stiff exams proposed for the transition between sophomore and junior years. A new dimension was added to the Presidents duties and respon- sibilities when President Hatcher broke previous tradition and held two student convocations in the past year. Both provided a chance for students to hear President Hatcher's own views on a number of subjects and to question him about issues considered vital to the University community. The first convocation concerned the role of the undergraduate stu- dent in the University, which many claim places too much em- phasis on graduate training and research. President Hatcher re- assured undergraduates that they Legacy World War II brought another change to the University-military training programs were established to aid the war effort. After the war enrollment boomed, increas- ing to 22,000, as returning service- men took advantage of the G.I. Bill. As the century passed the half way mark, President Ruthven an- nounced his plans for retirement. The Regents found his replace- ment in vice-president of Ohio State University, novelist and pro- fessor of English, Harlan Hen- thorne Hatcher. Today the buildings, from the majestic Angell Hall to the old Tappan Hall, mark the face of the changing University. They are re- minders of the past presidents who have worked to make the Univer- sity what it is in 1965. remain the core of an institution seeking to stimulate them through its diversity, not frustrate them with its impersonality. Second Convocation The second convocation center- ed on the series of student pro-I tests last year at Berkeley and elsewhere, and also dealt with a1 one day teaching moratorium7 planned by a large segment of the1 faculty to protest U.S. Vietnameses policies. President Hatcher asserted that the faculty should concern itself more with practical consequences ' when planning "an expression of outraged conscience" such as a moratorium. Eventually the fac- ulty protestors changed their plan and, instead of staging a "teach- in" during the day and calling off classes as previously planned, held the "teach-in" at night and continue regularly scheduled classes. The President and the Regents work closely together. The Presi- dent chairs the monthly Regents meetings, where he reports on the state of the University and leads discussion on policy-making decisions. Senate Chairman He is an ex-officio chairman of the University Senate and a mem- ber of each of the governing fac- ulties of the University. He also testifies before the Leg- islature in support of the Univer- sity's annual budget request. An understanding relationship be- tween the President and the Legis- lature can do a great deal to smooth the University's way at appropriations time. President Hatcher has consis- tently worked towards plans for putting the University in opera- tion on a year-round basis. Trimester It was only last year that the University began operating on the trimester system. The system functions-.on a year round basis with fall and winter terms of 15 weeks each and a spring-summer term of 15 weeks divided into two equal segments. The Regents also specify that the President must deliver an annual state of the University address, detailing the progress the University has made in all areas of its concern during the previous year. Although not outlined officially anywhere, an important part of the job of governing an educa- tional institution of the Univer- sity's size is to be aware of trends in other parts of the country as well as other parts of the world. Traveller President Hatcher has traveled constantly during his tenure in office. He has renewed acquaint- treatment at Kye r's. are washed in nylon nets . ironed carefully on the lat- est equipment...packaged in plio-film for protection ances with past University gradu- research demands were among the ates in all corners of the world problems discussed. and he has brought friendship The delegates then visited West and warmth back to Ann Arbor Berlin and Munich as well as the from many lands. campuses of various other West In the summer of 1964, Presi- German universities. dent Hatcher visited West Ger- Besides his regularly scheduled many to attend a series of con- duties, conferences and meetings ferences on higher education prob- pop up suddenly anywhere from lems of that country. Along with San Francisco to Chicago. All of 11 other delegates of the American these must be attended. Association of Universities, he met Cooperation with educators representing the One of the more interesting AAU's German counterpart at Bad extra-curricular activities Presi- Godesberg. Problems of expanding dent Hatcher takes part in is the graduate schools and increased Council for Institutional Coopera- Your shirts really get gentle tion which includes the 13ig Ten universities and the Univ ersity of Chicago. The CIC is working on a plan to pool each of the member university faculties and create a "common vehicle" of . available programs and faculty members. President Hatcher is due to re- tire in 1967. His successor's name is yet to be announced but debate is already active on campus. The major questions seems to be whether the Regents will choose a man already in the University's hierarchy, or will they choose someone from another school. SHIRTS ... handled with Loving, Care. . they're done at KYER'S0I They ,r' ' 14 f -~ ' :+w~rb& until ready to wea r. Call NO 3-4185 Today ! '' . 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