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September 09, 1971 - Image 26

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Michigan Daily, 1971-09-9

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

Page Two

THE MICHIGAN DAILY

Thursday, September 911971

Page Two THE MICHIGAN DAILY Thursday, September 9, 1971

Black
By MARK DILLEN tion Mo
For 13 days last year, t h e ahite s
University was challenged as minorit
it had never been before. On ged dow
those days. many if not most ministra
students shunned their sched- Thisl
uled classes to march instead a steppe
in often freezing weather, de- for mino
manding that the University portives
make a commitment for in- justmen
creased enrollment of black and sure a1
minority students. minority
Now, some 18 months a f t e r 1973-74.
the University bowed to this de- little o
mand, the fervor among those some 3
who comprised the Black Ac- enrolled

adrnissions:

One

year

after

the

strike

vement (BAM) and its
upporters has receded,
logistics of planning
y admissions have bog-
wn in a morass of ad-
ative details.
process - establishing
d-up recruiting program
ority students and "sup-
services" to aid their ad-
t - is supposed to in-
10 per cent black a n d
y enrollment here by
The current level is a
ver five per cent. Of
4,000 students currently
this fall, about 2,500

are expected to be from racial
minority groups.
Thus, the University h a s
gone about half way toward
achieving the only demand for
which the striking students
gained acceptance - a goal the
University has called at var-
ious times its "highest prior-
ity" or one of its "top priori-
ties."
While some have cast doubt
on the University's actual de-
sire to fulfill . their commit-
ment promptly, the essentials of
the plan to achieve 10 per cent
minority admissions have re-

mained the same: About 900 ad-
ditional minority group stu-
dents will be admitted to the
University each succeeding year
until 1973-74, when the g o a 1
will have been met.
The road to the University's
commitment to the 10 per cent
goal has been a long one. Tradi-
tionally it had been recognized
that the University had b e e n ,
in the words of mid-sixties fed-
eral report on higher educa-
tions, a school for "white, mid-
dle-class" students.
No one seemed to think there
was anything seriously the mat-
I Arbor

A spcial Welcome to Ant

ter with this, or if they did,
they thought it a problem too
complex for the University to
attempt to remedy.
The first step came in 1962,
when an Opportunity Awards
Progran was established which
became largely a vehicle for
helping black applicants into
the University, since they were
generally poorer than their
white counterparts.
Not much else was tried un-
til the late sixties, when black
students and faculty became
interested in the possibilities for
programs at the University
which would not only serve to
assist blacks financially, but
would provide an impetus for
expanding educational programs
directed towards black students.
The Afro-American Studies
program joined its counter-
parts at most of the nation's
other major schools and a Coal-
ition in the Use of Learning
Skills (CULS) experimented
with ideas for helping disad-
vantaged students whose edu-
cational background hadn't pre-
pared them for the University's
system of education.
Then, in January, 1970, cam-
pus leaders began meeting in
earnest to decide what action
they would ask of the Univer-
sity administration.
A list of ten demands w a s
formulated, asking for the com-
mitment to the 10 per cent
m i n o r i t y enrollment figure,
various supportive services and
financial aids, and a community
center for blacks.
President Robben Fleming,
other administrators, and t h e
Regents refused to accept the
demands and cited budgetary
problems as an obstacle tow-
ards guaranteeing that any of
the requests could be met.
"The best they could do,"
said Fleming, was promise a $2
million increase in Opportunities
Awards Program (then worth
$1 million) - a program as-
sisted by both federal and state
funds.
Basically, it meant that while
BAM's ten per cent enrollment
demand could be a "goal" for
the University. it would n o t
constitute a "commitment" to
which the Regents could be

March 1970: Students strike for increased black enrollment

held. Specific demands for mi-
nority recruiters could be
"worked out," the administra-
tion said, but the Regents said
no commitment on the recruiter
issue could be given either.
After weeks of negotiation,
the black leaders called a gen-
eral classroom strike. The strike
caused class attendance to drop
over 50 per cent at its high point
(85 per cent in the literary
college) and brought with it
class disruptions by demonstra-
tors and a violent confrontation
with police which led to several
arrests.
But most of all, the strike
gained the commitment the Re-
gents had said was not fiscally
possible. Administrators hurried
to publicize what would be their
oft-stated view that academic
standards would not be lowered
as the result of the program -
a move calculated to offset crit-
icism of wealthy alumni and
public figures.
Much of the administrative
problems that have haunted the
issue since then deal with this

type of fear. Although admin-
istrators constantly assert that
admissions standards will not be
lowered, and that academic
quality will not suffer, it has
been obvious that students en-
listed under the plan will need
extra help to adjust academ-
ically and socially to their new
environment.
T h e expanded Opportunity
Awards Program has provided
money for tutoring, counseling
and CULS help, but the program
is still experimental and no one
can yet tell whether the long
range services provided will be
sufficient, or even properly di-
rected.
Another major cause for con-
cern is money. The University
has always seen the commit-
ment as a fiscal matter, and the
actual ten per cent guarantee
was made, not by administrators,
but by schools and colleges di-
rected by the administration to
make the promise.
Coordinators of the program
fear that the allotted frnds will

be withheld because of the Uni-
versity's present financial crisis.
Federal and state aid is decreas-
ing, and with tuition rising, fin-
ancial aid to minorities will have
to rise accordingly.
It is this fiscal complaint that
seems the largest concern of
those involved in the minority
admissions question. The same
mistrust that prevented agree-
ment between BAM and the Re-
gents originally and that caused
a strike is fuel for similar mis-
trust of the Regents' intent to
fully fund the guaranteed pro-
gram.
In addition, black organizers
have continued pressing for'. a
black community center, and
seem to feel that if not properly
funded, the program might also
be jeopardized because of lack
of black input.
Meanwhile, the wait-and-see
attitude on the part of most sup-
porters of the BAM strike will
contihue as will the uncertainty
about the ultimate success of the
program.

4

MILITARY ON CAMPUS
The troubled existence at ROTC

By ALAN LENHOFF
While Army recruiting post-
ers promise a life of travel, ad-
venture, and fun, members of
the University's Reserve Offi-
cers Training Corps (ROTC)
have been subject to more abuse
in recent years than perhaps
any other group on campus.
Whether holding drills in
Waterman Gym or marching
down a street in full military
dress, ROTC cadets nearly al-

ways attract strange looks and
catcalls.
For a time when anti-war
sentiment has never been more
widespread, more and m o r e
students and faculty members
find the existence of a military
"training camp" on campus in-
creasingly distasteful.
Yet ROTC supporters say that
placing military training on
a campus tends to be a "lib-
eralizing" influence on the mili-

100 P\MAYNARD
ANN ARBOR
MKNIGAN
?69851 !

tary, and also allows the aca-
demic community to keep a
closer watch on the military.
Others argue that as long as
ROTC is not a mandatory pro-
gram, (as it once was) s t u -
dents should be free to elect
it if they so choose.
But spearheaded by the de-
mand that ROTC headquarters
be removed from campus, Uni-
versity students staged numer-
ous protests at North Hall in
*recent years.
In June 1969, a bomb rocked
the building, setting fire to
the structure and breaking doz-
ens of windows. In addition, the
ROTC building has been the
scene of many acts of vandal-
ism, theft, bomb threats, sit-
ins and disruptions.
The University administra-
tion has remained relatively re-
mote from the ROTC dispute
and has declined on a number
of occasions to bow to rising
sentiment and moral arguments
that claimed ROTC has no place
on a University campus.
Subsequently, the cries to
"end ROTC" have been muffled
over the past year. as the pro-
gram's opponents directed their
efforts towawrds ending t h e
war and ending military and
classified research on campus.
The University has also, since
the first ROTC disruptions,
made some changes in the pro-
gram.
On December 1969, after
jwidespread opposition to t h e
ROTC program was indicated
by students and faculty mem-
bers, the Regents directed De-

4

f

ROTC men confer

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KNIT

Shirts, tops, pants, & suits

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Party and Candle Shop
Season Cards for all occasions Gift
! BARTON AND RUSSELL STOVER CANDY
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AL SERVICES
Wrapping Service
ing Service anywhere in U.S.A.
ogramming of stationery, napkins, matches,
etc. One day service
ivery Service

I -
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19

/,~

WHY YOU CAN'T BUY
ORANGE JULIUS
In Bottles or Cans!
The secret of an Orange Julius is its
FRESHNESS! Preservatives are never added.
They tend to alter true flavors.
We blend just - squeezed orange juice
with our own exclusive ingredients and serve
you a deliciously refreshing, tangy, cool,

0
lab

U

fense Department on four pro-
posed changes in the existing
Army. Navy, and Air Force
ROTC contracts.
ROTC instructors were, at
that tin stripped of their aca-
demic titles and becom~ recog-
nized by their milita~y rank
only, unless they held academic
appointments.
A University committee which
previously ruled on only ap-
pointments of military depart-
ment chairmen was reconstitu-
ted to supervise the e n t i r e
ROTC curriculum and to med-
iate disputes between students
and ROTC.
The ROTC units also had
their departmental status re-
moved. and currently a r e
called "programs".
But the most important
change called for by the Re-
gents has not yet been enact-
ed - that the Defense Depart-
ment be asked to pay the full
cost of the ROTC program on
campus.
Currently. the University ap-
propriates about $70,000 a year
to the program for secretarial
and maintenance services and
provides North Hall to ROTC
rent-free - which has been es-
timated amounts to $100,000-
$200,000 a year.
Negotiations are continuing
between the University and the
Defense Department, but no
immediate solution seems like-
ly as the Defense Department
has threatened to close down
ROTC units across the country
at universities where funds are
withdrawn.

1

W e Also Have Devilish Good Food
" Julius Burger
" Cheeseburger
" Chili Burger
(chili, cheese, onions)
* Chicago Dog
(mustard, relish, onions)
0 Cnlifnrin Dn

.r"r _

r. I ,, I ta

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I

U

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