Friday, April 29. ms

The Liberal Liberal Arts College and Its Students: Part II

SCARLET AND BLACK

Carleton} 'liberalism' limited to Acudemi 5

ED. NOTE: In this second in a series
on the “Liberal Liberal Arts College
and Its Students," Burdette (Bird)
Loomis, at Carleton junior government
major, expounds on two factors which
he thinks inhibit Carleton‘s progress
as a “liberal" college — the nll-lrnpor.
taut gradepolnt and the “disturbingly
Midwestern morals."

The statement of aims in the 1966
Carleton College Catalog concludes:

Through emphasis on moral sensi-
tivity, intellectual excellence, and
commitment to goals which extend
beyond the sell, the College wants to
help its students develop their abil<
ity to make critical and independent
judgments and to act responsi-
bly within any society. It hopes that
they will enhance their clVllizauon
with the works of their reason and
imagination and that they will chal-
lenge any threat to the freedom and
dignity of man.
it is signiﬁcant to today’s Carleton

that “moral sensitivity” precedes “intel-
lectual excellence” in the above par

graph. Every student knows that Carle-
ton emphasizes intellectual excellence; if
they don’t know upon arrival, the work
load soon leaves them with no doubt
as to the truth of this proposition, But

Viet Nam-and many students react
instinctively by burying themselves in
their work.

A considerable amount of studying at
Carleton thus seems to be motivated by
fear—fear oi the capabilities of 1300
other bright people, fear of not getting
into the (or any) grad school. and per-
haps a tear of experience, substituting
in its place the safety of learning from
books But every college has its 3C3-
demic pressures, and although Carlee
ton’s high standards produce a lot of
anxieties, 75 per cent of all entering Carla
graduate, so the pressure is hardly un-
bearable.

While Carieton's academic position is
generally well-deﬁned, its social posture
is ill a state of serious flux. Carleton,
like its students. is going through an
"identity Crisis." Carleton has looked tor
ltselt during most of the past decade,
is still searching, and may or may not
find itself in the next few years. The
social situation at Carleton today is one
of compromise. There are a limited
number of open houses each week, wo-
men’s hours have been somewhat libel“
aiized, and while talk about sex is en-
couraged, the college has tound it neces-
sal‘y to take a position in opposllion to
premarital intercourse.

A rather lopsided balance of feeling
exists in that the students and a large

AN ART WORKSHOP is part at Carleton'r "well-defined" academic posi-
tion. It is the "social posture" that "is in a state of rerisos flux." accord-

to writer Loomir.

wen to a greater extent each student can

.feel, if he allows himself, that Carleton
wants to imbue everyone with that kind
of “moral sensitivity" which the college
thinks is the best, Unfortunately the
morals turn out to be disturbingly Mid-
western.

First, in regard to “intellectual ex-
cellence," Carleton is generally rec-
ognized as a “good, small liberal arts
college" (whatever that means); the at:-
ldemlc program is properly heavy for
such an institution, and the faculty is
generally excellent. Everyone feels an
amound of pressure. produced mainly by
the looming: of graduate school .an/or

segment of the faculty are for more lib~
eral than the administration. One major
reason for this is that while the Carle-
ton student body is natinnal in composi-
tion, the money to run the college comes
from an older and more conservative
Carleton generation, which lives and al-
ways has lived in the Midwest.

The attitudes of the Midwest also play
a large role in the social realm of
Carleton lite. Northﬁeld (until two years
ago known as the town of “cows, col-
leges, and contentment") is the usual
bastion of conservatism. and, by God,
the college can’t allow its students to
offend» the townies. The atmosphere of

Northfield and the whole Midwest is tak-
en too seriously by the college; with
dynamic leadership Carleton could suc-
cessfully set itself apart from the re-
straints superﬁcially imposed by geog-
raphy.

But time after time students hear the
same administration objection — don’t
otiend those who support the college.
Don’t oiiend, don't risk, do disagree if
you want. but not too loudly. This is all
great encouragement to that individual
who is supposedly learning how to make
“critical and independent judgments"

What about these ”Critical and inde-
pendent judgments” that the college de-
sires the student to make? 0K, great.

losers on the Carleton scene are the
people who are concerned about the col-
lege and its tuture. This segment untor~
tunately seems to be dwindling as ad-
missions poiicies and disillusionment thin
the rank of dissenters.

Action Party, a. formerly successful
political organization of the Leif, did a
quiet death earlier this year, and al-
though an SDS chapter has spmng up
for Action members, the locus of their
thinking is almost entirely toward off-
campus issues. The college newspaper
is filled with the usual accepted (and
too-often hackneyed) liberal thought, and
there is a definite need tor a sharp,
satirical publication which might stir

"COWS. COLLEGES, AND CONTENTMENT" were Norihtield's attrac-
tions. This and Midwestern Conservatism are telren too seriously by Carla-

ton says Loomis.

Noble aims and all that. But when stu—
dents propose a community government
\vlll the college listen? Will the admis-
sions office take a chance on that bright
boy who might become an activist: Or
will it settle on that nice, alkaround boy
who probably won't cause any trouble?
Whenever a problem comes up at Carle-
ton that appears to call tor a decision,
it is immediately referred to a com<
mittee, and it necessary, a new com-

mittee is formed to study the problem"

There is a committee for everything——
a Student Long Range Planning Com-
mittee, a Faculty Long Range Planning
Committee, a StudentvFaculty . Admin-
istration Council, a Faculty-Administra-
tloanruslee Council (aptly abbreviated
FAT), and dozens more.

The four committees above have all
evolved in the past few years because
no one seems to want to make a deci-
sion. The present president has tried to
be a democrat in the totalitarian frame-
work of administration set up by his
predecessor. Thus, more committees
are created every week in response to
the need tor a place tor each new idea
to be reterred and (in all probability)
shelved.

Lost in this endless proliferation of
of committees, compromise, and inde-
cision is that individual who is paying
$2600 a year to attend Carleton. Why
is the student content to apathetically
live with this all too real muddle?

First, there is the demanding academ-
lc program. For many people the grade
point is the be—all and endrall of col-
lege liter Carleton has more than its
share of these people (commonly labeled
“superbookers"), but this group would
not be active on any campus. Themed]

up some tresh ideas. Memories ot harsh
administration action toward a previous
publication and a lack in creative talent
have combined to effectively silence this
possible outlet of criticism and vitality.

AS there are neither fraternities nor
cars at Carleton, students must lute-
grate themselves into the lite ot the
college to a considerable extent. How-
ever, atter seeing the same issues hag-
gled over for years on end (i,e., open
houses, women’s hours, in loco parentis)
most Carls tend to ignOle the identifi-
cation problems or the college and con-
centrate inwardly toward their books
and social life or toward the Outside
world. Thus the administration is tree to
wander toward whatever policy it ieeis
that the students will accept. This is
why the Carleton identification problem
may not be solved tor a long time. Only
a small part of the student body is
willing to try to argue and moan in
order to make the administration talk
about what should have been carved
years ago.

So—tor a college with an excellent lib-
eral tradition in academics, Carleton is
not working nearly hard enough to cre-
ate an equally liberal climate tor social
thought. The “moral sensitivity” of the
college and the inditrerence of most of
the students toward changing the col-
lege social situation leave the fate of
Carleton’s identity Still to be decided.

Perhaps it will take a new president.
perhaps a new climate of opinion among
students, but what is a certainty is that
Carleton needs a sense of direction in
the social sphere Similar to the sense
of purpose its academics have long pos—
sessed.

 

