Thursday, June 14, 1973
'Dropout
college'
By NORMAN D. SANDLER
FAIRFIELD, Iowa (UJPI) -
The campus of Parsons College
is so empty place now, with only
a skeleton staff remaining to
finish off the details before the
98-'ear-old school can officially
close its doors.
Six years ago, this was "Drop-
out U," perhaps the best known
diploma mill in the country.
A WHEELING, dealing presi-
dent, Millard G. Roberts, filled
the old denominational campus
with new buildings, paid out the
third highest faculty salaries in
the nation, and- invited anyone
who couldn't get into other col-
leges - but could pay the stiff
price at Parsons - to come to
Fairfield.
In the 1960s, Parsons became
a favorite refuge for those who
couldn't make it in the East's
Ivy League. Its football team got
to be so good other schools in its
old league wouldn't play it any
more.
Then, in 1967, Parsons lost its
academic accreditation. T h a t
token of academic respectabili-
ty was regained four years lat-
er. By that time, Roberts was
long gone, upon request. The stu-
dents stopped coming. The bills
piled op.
LAST WEEK, Parsons announ-
ced it couldn't make it any more.
The college, which owes $16 mil-
lion, officially and voluntarily fil-
ed for bankruptcy in federal
court in Des Moines, Ia., Monday.
Fairfield, a college town longer
than anyone can remember, is
one no longer.
Now, water, gas, electricity
and telephone lines have been
disconnected for all but three of
the college's nearly SO build-
ings, many of which have stood
THE SUMMER DAILY
Page Five
Atlantic braved in raft
LAS PALMAS, Canary Islands (UP) - The Acali, a raft with a
crew of six women and five men, has sailed 1,043 miles on its
trip to Mexico, an amateur radio operator reported yesterday.
The 50-ton raft left Las Palnas on May 12 for the Yucatan coast
of Mexico. The purpose of the trip, financed with $160,000 from a
Mexican government television station, is to record human behavior
under stress.
The Mexican anthropologist in charge of the expedition, Santiago
Genoves, told the amateur radio operator the raft had covered
212 miles in the past week.
Glass, Ceramics, Photography
at the
UNION GALLERY
ist Floor, Michigan Union
Work done by:
Poultry Glass Studio, Detroit
Noell S. Lemmen, Lansing
David Mueller, Ann Arbor
Opening Reception
Friday Evening,
June 15
7-10 P.M.
New Gallery Hours:
Tues.-Sat. 10-5; closed Sun. & Mon.
Whose gate?
Rev. C. Markley cashes in on President Nixon's misfortunes
in an attempt to whip up enthusiasm for his Sunday sermons at
the Salem Evangelical Congregational Church in Mahoney City,
Pennsylvania.
empty since 1967.
The impact of7Parsons' closing
on Fairfield has been a major
concern of college officials, com-
munity leaders, and even Federal
Bankruptcy Judge Richard
Stageman. At the time the col-
lege closed two weeks ago, it em-
ployed 175 Fairfield area resi-
dents and had a total monthly
payroll of $150,100.
"IT'S SOMETHING we'll get
used to," one Fairfield retailer,
said.
"I think that everyone had an
idea that this might happen, and
weeve been preparing for it for
the past five years. I think it's a
terrible thing for the people at
the college and for Fairfield,
but we survived through the
drops in enrollment and the loss
of accreditation six years ago, so
I think the town will be able to
weather this problem, too."
Gordon Aistrope, president of
the Chamber of Commerce, said
the cultural aspect of the folding
of Parsons is the hardest of all
to accept. "This will definitely
be a great hurt to the people of
the community," he said.
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