7.

PROMOTING CULTURE

7 January 1970 The URSINUS CENTENNIAL YEAR program continued with a speech by ABRAM L. SACHAR, chancellor of Brandeis University. The founding president of Brandeis in 1948, Sachar enjoyed international regard as an educator, a fitting voice on the college’s hundredth birthday.

President Helfferich had empowered a centennial planning committee to celebrate the intellectual and cultural vitality of the college by enriching the usual forum program. It assembled an unprecedented list of events at considerable expense.

Sachar was preceded in the fall semester by the following: SCOTT CARPENTER (8 October), a pioneer astronaut who orbited the earth on 24 May 1962; the AFRO-AMERICAN DANCE ENSEMBLE (21 October); FRANKLIN MORRIS, ‘41, (14 November) of the Syracuse University School of Music, who did an avant-garde electronic show with erotic content that embarrassed some in the audience and delighted most students; BORIS GOLDOVSKY (19 November), Russian-born pianist and opera conductor; ANNE SEXTON (10 December), poet, who appeared with HER KIND, a five-man combo playing drums, flute, guitar, clarinet and bass, and who showed her mettle on stage after fortifying herself behind the scenes with the help of Jack Daniels.

In the spring 1970 semester Sachar was followed by the following: MICHAEL KORN (11 February), organ recitalist, soon to start the Philadelphia Singers chorale; JAMES MICHENER (17 February), novelist, then living in nearby Pipersville, PA; JOSEPH MAYES (13 March), classical guitarist; JEAN SHEPHERD (15 April), radio performer and writer.

29 October 1970 The FORUM presented the Joan Kerr Dance Company from the Settlement Music School. Their contemporary dance numbers included "Scarlatti Dances," "Sol," and "Childermas." This was the second event in the semester-long schedule set up by dean of women RUTH R. HARRIS, ‘36, who doubled as director of student activities.

The administration and faculty looked on the scheduling of speakers and performing artists as an important adjunct to the curriculum. They required students to attend at least two forums each semester for their first six semesters. Although students chafed under the requirement, and some faculty thought it was a poor way to motivate students to attend, it achieved the purpose of exposing many of them to a variety of speakers and artists representative of the times. Following the Joan Kerr Dance Company appearance, for example, the following forum guests appeared through that fall semester:

4 November 1970: Daniel A. Chapman Nyaho, ambassador from the new African state of Ghana to the US and its permanent representative to the UN. He spoke on "the American image in Africa." He said that Africans amalgamated their opinions to form a composite image of America: "a rich, generous country of opportunities, and wielding tremendous power, yet besieged by...racial discrimination."

2 December 1970: Yass Hakoshima, Japanese mime. His program included mimes of Fisherman, Geisha, Hara-kiri, Dictator, Puppet, Illusion, Dream, Forest, Labyrinth, Eagle, Ecdysis (molting). The Weekly critic said Hakoshima "encourages an almost imperceptible energy to burgeon and gain momentum until he seems to throb with life-action."

12 January 1971: Harry G. Fox, chief inspector of the Philadelphia Police Department. Fox created and organized the gang control unit, the human relations unit, and the community relations bureau. He brought a fresh insight into the changing nature of the neighborhoods and streets of Philadelphia.

In the spring 1971 semester, the following forums took place:

9 February 1971: Froelich Rainey, director of the University Museum at the University of Pennsylvania. Rainey gave a report on the uses of the new carbon-14 dating method and on other aids to archaeology. On anthropology, he disparaged the destructive effect of western initiatives on cultures: "It is not our business to change the cultures we observe....Last century it was the missionaries, this century it is the Peace Corps, [but] hardly any culture today hasn’t been messed up by somebody."

23 February 1971: Kirk Kickingbird, a Kiowa Indian, of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Kickingbird spoke on tribal legal systems and other aspects of law surrounding native Americans’ lives.

23 March 1971: Joseph Malone, of the University of Louisville (KY). Malone spoke on "the generation gap" at the conclusion of a joint institute between Lincoln University and Ursinus.

1 April 1971: David Amram, jazz composer and musician.

14 April 1971: Hermann F. Eilts, ‘43, then US ambassador to Saudi-Arabia. He spoke on "stability in the Persian Gulf region." This was one of numerous talks that Eilts gave on campus during his distinguished diplomatic career. He moved to the ambassadorship to Egypt after Saudi-Arabia. He was a major player in the Camp David accords orchestrated by President Carter.

Similar batteries of guests appeared each semester throughout the 1970-1976 period. Some names were better known than others, but almost without exception, visiting speakers (sometimes from major university departments) and performing artists offered something to enrich the fare that students received in their regular classes. Attendance was rarely overflowing and sometimes embarrassingly thin; but the attendance requirement assured the viability of the programs. Like other well-established parts of the educational program, the requirement came under increasing criticism from students. However, the record shows little complaint about the content of the forums as such. Student reviewers usually gave favorable reports.

19 November 1971 Ballad singer RONNIE HOLLYMAN performed in Wismer Hall as a special guest of President and Mrs. Pettit. The Pettits became acquainted with Hollyman during their vacations, either in Nantucket or in Naples, Florida. Born in Britain, he did his solo act in clubs where the stylish gathered to play. The Pettits made special arrangements in the main dining hall of Wismer. They simulated the casual air of a nightclub. Pettit introduced Hollyman with a debonair ease and charm. By offering Hollyman’s worldly and sophisticated style as a personal gift to the campus community, Pettit seemed to be offering a worldly and sophisticated side of himself. Bringing Hollyman to campus was perhaps a way for Pettit to establish a tone in the minds of faculty and staff that would distinguish him from that of his predecessor, who was still very much on the scene as chancellor. Whatever the purpose, the evening’s lightsome air contrasted sharply with the edginess and conflict that surrounded the daily work of the administration. As time went on, the Hollyman evening stood in memories as a light foil to the heavy role that Pettit was compelled to play.

12 January 1972 The FORUM PROGRAM for the first semester concluded with two short operas in concert. The Demitasse Opera Company presented Menotti’s The Telephone and Mozart’s The Impresario. Administered by dean of women RUTH ROTHENBERGER HARRIS, ‘36, the forum program brought slivers of cultural light to campus throughout a period of limited finances and mixed student interests and expectations. Required attendance at forums assured that the cultural fare would have a chance of broadening students’ acquaintance with ideas and art from the larger world. The rise of rock music and pop culture in the late 1960s made such presentations as that of the Demitasse Opera Company a kind of skirmish in an ongoing culture war over the sensibilities of students.

9 February 1972 MAYA ANGELOU, author of the 1970 best seller, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, spoke in the college FORUM PROGRAM. It was the first forum of the spring semester. Angelou was billed as a singer, actress, journalist, and former coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Also on the spring semester forum program were a former prisoner at the nearby Graterford prison, a panel of faculty members from the US Army War College in Carlisle (where professors EUGENE AND JESSE MILLER taught), naturalist Roger Caras, the University of Amsterdam choir, and Robert M. Veatch, expert on medical ethics. (Weekly, 17 Feb 1972, 27 Apr 1972)

4 March 1972 The INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS CLUB held a model United Nations conference for about 175 high school students from fourteen schools in the area. WILLIAM HAFER, ‘74, led the Ursinus students who organized the conference and acted as "secretary general." (Weekly, 24 Feb 1972)

17 October 1973 LORD CARADON, British diplomat, spoke on new initiatives in international affairs in the forum. He discussed the need for new ideas to deal with the dangerous problems in the Middle East and elsewhere. Caradon was realistic about the limited ability of the United Nations to have a positive effect on international relations. However, he commended its ability to bring voices in a conflict to the table in short order. He was a visitor from the former British Empire, speaking wisely if a little wearily as a new world arrangement came into being.

25 October 1973 The SHAW-BERNARD COLLECTION reopened after a decade of being in storage. The collection consisted of objects of art and craft bought by a pair of world travelers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Mary B. and Hannah C. Shaw. It ranged from common tourist objects to rather interesting and sometimes valuable curiosities, such as a painting on a cobweb. A family member, J. Maxwell Bernard, gave the collection to the college in 1923. The college agreed to display it in a dedicated room of the then-new Alumni Memorial Library. When space for books ran out in the 1960s, the collection went into storage.

J. TIMOTHY CLEMENS, ‘75, undertook a student project to study and recatalog the material. Clemens persuaded the newly opened College Union to display some of the artifacts in the foyer of the old library building. A decade or so later, the college made a legal determination that the collection could be disposed of and it went to auction. Funds raised benefited the library.

14 November 1973 THATCHER LONGSTRETH, president of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and recent mayoral candidate, spoke on megalopolis 1984 in the forum. Longstreth described the aging problems of eastern cities as they began to blend into a Maine-to-Florida strip of urban America. He thought optimistically that megalopolitan cooperation would solve the problems, with an important role for rail transportation. Longstreth severely criticized the outgoing mayor of Philadelphia, James Tate. His victorious opponent, Frank Rizzo, he rated as good for business and the white majority; but he saw Rizzo doing nothing with "the black situation."

25 April 1974 The CHOIR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PARAIBA OF JOAS PESSOS of Brazil appeared in the forum. It was in the US with the fourth Lincoln Center International Choral Festival for university choruses. (The Weekly article about the forthcoming performance reminded students of the requirement to attend two forums each semester.)

29 April 1974 CYRUS H. GORDON of Brandeis University spoke in the forum on the ancient Viking visit to Vineland in North America. Gordon explained the failed attempt to authenticate an alleged early Vineland map.

30 October 1974 Flutist JANET KETCHUM and classical guitarist PETER SEGAL performed at the morning forum. She performed and recorded with the Philadelphia Orchestra. He won second prize in the International Competition for Guitarists in 1971. On 5 November 1974, JOSEPH D. HARBAUGH, an experienced public defender, spoke on criminal law. On 12 November 1974, ROSAMOND BERNIER spoke on her first-hand acquaintance with great living artists. On 9 January 1975, the Rittenhouse Brass Quintet performed Renaissance and contemporary works.

18 February 1975 JESSICA SAVITCH, woman television anchor, spoke in the forum on her pioneering role in the emergence of professional women. Savitch was co-anchor of the KYW evening news, a rare role for a woman at the time. She predicted that women entering previously all-male professional positions would increase. She spoke of the heavy burden on pioneers such as herself. According to the Weekly report, she said that "these women must be able to prevent the ‘every woman’ theory from being postulated." According to this theory, if a pioneering woman failed, there was a danger that her failure would be a failure for every woman--that no woman could do the job. Savitch had stormed the newsroom and won a role, but she had her eye on the executive suite. The Weekly reported, "Men are still on top in the executive positions in television and Jessica Savitch feels this bastion can be blown open by women." (27 Feb 1975)

Savitch died prematurely in an accidental drowning in her automobile in Bucks County some years later. She became something of a female icon in the history of the media.

13 September 1975 Ursinus was designated a NATIONAL BICENTENNIAL COLLEGE by the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration. The nation was preparing for its 200th birthday celebration in 1976. To gain bicentennial status, Ursinus in its application laid out extensive plans for commemorative activities. Much of the activity dealt with the college's Pennsylvania Dutch heritage. Professor William T. Parsons, '47, led the planning. A symposium on women in early American history, an international food festival, and a special performance of Handel's Messiah--these and other activities rounded out the bicentennial agenda.

24 September 1975 (approximate) NINA DEUTSCH, pianist and lecturer, played to acclaim and spoke to the disappointment of the campus audience. Deutsch displayed her virtuosity in a performance of variations on America by Charles Ives, plus pieces from Beethoven, Cole Porter, and Chopin. She gave a talk on each piece she played. A student critic suggested that she return to campus to play but to leave her lecture notes at home. In an interview, Deutsch dealt negatively with the popular rock music of the day. She found it "simple and without subtlety." (Weekly, 2 Oct 1975)

14 October 1975 LISA A. RICHETTE, Judge of Common Pleas in Philadelphia, spoke at the forum. Her book on child abuse, The Throwaway Children, gave her a national reputation. Women students saw a model in her professional career. "With women like Lisa Richette on the bench, the Women’s Cause will be furthered," wrote a student attending her lecture.

4 November 1975 AMBASSADOR CHARLES W. YOST spoke in the forum on the role of the US in the United Nations. Yost had been representative to the UN until 1971. He likened the UN to a hearing aid. It amplified the world’s problems and allowed the US and others to hear them.

11 November 1975 Physicist ROBERT BRUCE LINDSAY gave a forum talk on energy and the attractiveness of careers in science. Lindsay touched on the current energy crisis caused by the disruption of the international delivery of oil. However, he mainly talked about the theories of physics surrounding energy. He slanted his definition of civilization toward a scientist’s way of thinking: "Civilization is the attempt to reverse entropy and to turn disorder into order. This is the fight we must fight and always fail, but keep fighting." His thought may have seemed relevant to some in the audience as they contemplated the combative mood of the campus that fall.

5 April 1976 ISRAEL’S CONSUL GENERAL in Philadelphia spoke on his country’s conflicts with its neighbors. EMMANUEL SHIMONI asserted the right of Israel to exist as a nation state. He criticized the United Nations for giving Palestinians a role. He also expressed anxiety over a US offer of airplanes to Egypt.

14 April 1976 Egypt’s AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED STATES spoke to the forum on war and peace in the Middle East. DR. ASHRAF GHORBAL gave an Egyptian perspective on the Yom Kippur War of 1973 (it was not intended to menace Israel proper, he said) and condemned the Israeli hard line against Palestinians. Ghorbal’s wit and humor won the sympathy of some students in attendance. The college balanced Ghorbal’s scheduled talk with the specially arranged appearance of the Israeli consul general the week before.

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