w ~ ~ ~ Nw - o I Chaos* From page 1 Though certainly the rallying cause of the '60s and '70s activists, the war was only part of a sweeping effort by young people to break free from the fet- ters of conventional society, to challenge the norms with which they had been raised: Students wanted power, the power to think and make decisions for themselves; and they wanted a voice in running their colleges, a hold on the administrative reins college officials so jealously guarded. The fervor with which students pur- sued these goals was unprecedented. Community residents feared the "dangerous" student activists who took over buildings and stormed through classrooms demanding that professors allow them to speak. Parents were stunned when the clean-cut children they sent to the University of Michigan clad in kilt skir- ts or button-down collars returned home with straggly locks and bare feet to oppose parental authority and reject the white countertops and modern con- veniences that symbolized life at home. Still others read newspaper accounts of "lawless demonstrators" whose defiance of the law was a "malignant disease" threatening to undermine society. The University regents realized that in such an environment, with pressure from students, parents, and com- munity, the traditional leadership style of outgoing President Harlan Hatcher was anachronistic. The hard-line ap- proach to student activists had back- fired and led to bloodshed at other universities, and such confrontations more often than not fueled the students' anger and provoked further disruption. As chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison since 1964, the 50- year-old Fleming had earned a reputation as a wizard at dealing with student protesters. And when Fleming accepted the regents offer to become president of the University on March 28, 1967, he had to summon all his skill to the task., Fleming worked under pressure that would have led most people to pull out their hair in frustration. But today at 67 he is calm and good-humored, seemingly unscathed by the radical '60s and '70s. Standing just over six feet tall, his bright blue eyes contrast sharply with his silvery-white hair which is combed off his forehead, slightly longer than the crew cut he maintained during the early part of his presidency.r He speaks precisely, vividly recollec- ting the years of his administrative tenure-from 1967 until current Univer- sity President Harold Shapiro assumed the title in 1979. Fleming remembers better than most the high level of emotion running through the protests of this period as students questioned not only the University and U.S. involvement in Vietnam, but American culture in general, its social mores and rules. "There were a combination of factors working together to keep things in a state of ferment all the time," he says. "In many ways it was an exciting period because every hour on the hour something different was going on. And if one could contain it within reasonable limits, it may be argued that it was a good educational experience for people in the sense that they saw a lot of dif- ferent models for life and they saw how a democracy acts in a period when people are upset about things." Fleming had to contend with all the inflamed factions at one of the nation's most radically activist universities, and even his critics concede that he succeeded in keeping the University together during that time. Coupled with a liberal city gover- nment led by Mayor Robert Harris and police chief William Krasny, Fleming allowed students considerable freedom to protest without interference. Fleming would let students have their say and somehow the tension would dissipate, the anger would fizzle at least for the moment. Although -emotions usually picked up the next day or even a few hours later, the University avoided the heavy physical damage, injuries, and arrests that scarred many schools under similar circumstances. "My objective was always one of trying to preserve the freedom of the University to have all kinds of people /I campus, and after a long struggle, in- cluding a takeover of the LSA Building, students won approval to open a student-run bookstore. Later, students earned positions on search committees for deans and spots on other panels which decide Univer- sity policies. 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'My objective was always one of trying to preserve the freedom of the University to have all kinds of people discussing all kinds of things and still not ear the place to pieces.' --Robert Fleming, former University president Cecile Licad Rackham Auditorium Saturday, January 14, 8:30 p.m. discussing all kinds of things and still not tear the place to pieces," he says. "To a certain extent whether you can do this is pure luck." But meeting student confrontations also required strategy and skillful public relations. Perhaps the most famous example of Fleming's adroit at balancing students' rights and con- taining violence came at a protest in Madison of a Dow Chemical Company recruiter. Fleming personally posted $2,000 in bail for eleven students who were arrested at the protest. Fleming says he made that move and weathered considerable heat from the public not so much to save the students from the arm of the law but to prevent them from becoming martyrs among radical leaders-a situation which could have escalated violence. At a rally later the same night, Fleming used the incident to his advan- tage. "I figured it would be tough for (the protesters) to work up a tirade against the university if I, as the sym- bol of the university, had just bailed them out." Conservatives promptly assailed him as being "a little whacky" and liberals hailed him as "a white knight." But Fleming always insulated himself from personal attacks or adulation. "I never worried if I was a 'bad guy' or a 'good guy' because I knew that would change very rapidly depending on the issue," he says. The most significant outcome of the incident was that Fleming maintianed control without provoking further protest. "The whole evening just fiz- zled from the standpoint of radicalizing the campus," he said. In case after case Fleming repeated the success of the Madison incident. The result was a minimum of violence in Ann Arbor. This distinguished the University from other activist institutions where student demonstrators often found themselves under the billy clubs of local police. The high tolerance for controversy also allowed for important changes most students today take for granted. Until the late 1960s the University operated under the doctrine of "in loco parentis" or "in place of parents." This assumed that the University took the place of students' parents while students were at school. Women were shackled to a 10 p.m. curfew and many social activities fell under University supervision. "In loco parentis" was abolished, students were allowed to drive cars on several times to protect that right for students, he consistently assailed and punished violent demonstrations. "If police have to be used because there is no alternative, then you will do that," he says. "You can't be in- timidated into not doing it by conduct which is simply intolerable. "I always believed that you had to establish your credibility in dealing with (students)-that you musn't threaten them and then not do it because if you didn't nobody would ever believe again that you would." Such tactics, the result of Fleming's background as a labor-arbitration at- torney, successfully dissipated tension, but his methods also drew sharp criticism from students who said he was too concerned with mediation and resolving conflict rather than working toward any specific policy. "He did an effective job from the University's point of view by bringing the school through that period very well," says Martin Hirschman, Daily editor-in-chief in 1970-71. But for students trying to make progress on particular issues smoothing and mediating were seen as bureaucratic roadblocks, said Hirschman, now an at- torney, in Dearborn. For example, Fleming opposed graduate student teaching assistants' at tempts to unionize in 1973. It was only after several trips to court, pickets, and a ruling by the Michigan Employment Relations Commission that they won and formed the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO). "He was pretty good at not adding fuel to the fire," said Vicki Sork, who worked on the GEO executive commit- tee in the early 1970s. "But whenever he talked he didn't really say anything. He bored everyone to death, and everything fizzled. "That's the way he handled everything. Let it dissipate and if it could be dissipated quickly he would do it," said Sork, now a biology professor at the University of Missouri in St. Louis. "He made clear decisions behind the scenes. You definitely knew he wasn't on your side. His goal was to keep the campus quiet." Keeping a lid on campus violence,. however, is an ,accomplishment that' can't be downplayed. When univer- sities across the nation were routinely calling in police to carry off students who were setting fires, throwing rocks at police or flinging Molotov cocktails into buildings, the relatively low level of violence at the University was almost astonishing. For example, the By Anne Valdespino FOR THE FIRST time in 10 years the Leventritt Foundation bestowed their coveted Gold Medal on an extraordinary young pianist, Cecile Licad, whose artistic presence will grace the stage of Rackham Auditorium this weekend. As a recipient of the 1981 Leventritt prize, Licad joins the ranks of musical luminaries Van Cliburn, Itzhak Perlman, Kyung Wha Chung and Pin- chas Zuckerman. The competition brought her inter- national acclaim and skyrocketed her career which, in 1979, had already begun when she made her professional debut with the Boston Symphony Or- chestra at the invitation of Seiji Ozawa. Since then her itinerary has included appearances with major U.S. or- chestras such as Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic and many others. European tours have taken her to Lon- don, Geneva, Vienna, Madrid, and Budapest and her Far East engagements feature concerts in Hong Kong, Osaka and Tokyo. A native of the Philipines, Licad's country has provided constant support throughout her career. In 1971 she won the Manila Symphony Young Artist's competition. Today she remains both a Piano Scholar of the Philippines and a Scholar of the Philippine Music Promotion Foundation. Although her schedule is hectic, Licad maintains close ties with her homeland by retur- ning every summer to give a series of public concerts. Another important part of Licad's career has been renowned pianist Rudolf Serkin. Their student/teacher relationship began at the Curtis In- stitute and continued at the Guilford In- stitute in Vermont. In December, 1981, Licad helped honor her teacher by par- ticipating in a special concert televised by NBC that celebrated Serkin's accep- tance of a prestigious Kennedy Center Award. In Saturday evening's recital Licad will perform some of the 19th century piano literature which has won her high praise from discriminating critics. Her program will include Beethoven's Sonata in D major 10 -3 and Schumann's Carnaval Opus 9. Also featured will be four selections by Frederic Chopin: two popular scherzos, B minor and D Major, a Nocturne in F Major. Ovus 15 - 1, and Cicile Licad: Piano virtuoso honored by Leventi the dramatic Ballade in G minor. Ann Arbor may look forward to hearing Licad at her finest. Chopin requires two musical v she posse grace and Strummin man Dave Van Ronk The Ark Friday, January 13,J 8 p.m. By Joseph Kraus S THERE such a thing as a musician's musician? A man who has given far more to his field than he has been given public recognition for? A man who has spent his life learning and expanding the art? A man who has in- spired and taught others? Sure there is. Some of these men have familiar sounding names even when most people don't seem to know anything they've ever accomplished. Muddy Waters- is that kind of name and so is Robert Johnson, and so, while we're on the sub- ject, is Dave Van Ronk. Dave Van Ronk has been a folk musician all his life. He has seen quite a bit of this country and he has chronicled quite a bit of it. As a man he has led the kind of life that makes good stuff for a novel and as a singer he has influenced two generation of American musicians. As a young man Van Ronk served in the merchant marines. When he tired of life at sea he went to New Orleans where he met and learned from such great blues musicians as Furry Lewis, Blind Boy Fuller, Blind Lemon Jeffer- son and Leadbelly. At the same time, being constantly exposed to the great variety of music that the city had to of- fer, he began experimenting with ragtime piano and the possibilities it of- fered for the guitar. When his wandering took him to Greenwich Village in the late 50's, he was well received and began to earn in- creasing respect. With the early 60's came the folk revival, and Van Ronk was at its forefront. One of the first artists to earn a major recording contract for folk music was Bob Dylan, who recorded Van Ronk's arrangement of "House of the Risin' Sun" on his first album. Dylan is quoted in the liner notes as saying, "I'd always known 'Risin' Sun' but never really knew I knew it until I heard Dave sing it." (Rock fans take note: this was still three years before the Animals sang it.) Although Van Ronk never acheived the commercial success of some of the other folk singers, he continued to per- form and at the same time influence his contemporaries. Another musician that Van Ronk greatly influenced is Tom Paxton. Pax- ton says on the liner notes of his album Ramblin' Boy, "Van Ronk really tur- ned me on to field recordings, the real sources, and it's there you've got to go if you want to learn it right." Twenty years later, Van Ronk is still travelling the country as a wandering balladeer. He's outlasted many of the people for whom he was an inspiration, but his--music is still vital and enter- taining. His performances are a mix- ture of classic folk and blues numbers mixed in with contemporary comic songs. Van Ronk is sure to perform his classic arrangement of "Cocaine," described as, " . . . an underground classic with the earmarks of immor- tality." Pop music fans should be familiar with the song from Jackson Browne's recording of it on his Running on Empty album. Van Ronk is appearing this Friday at the Ark. Admission is $6, and doors open at 7: p.m. With al experienc the show i Fleming: Not afraid to speak out Van Ronk: Ramblin' into the Ark 10 Weekend/January 13, 1984 1. ,- .