1.
Chalmers reflects on KU's problems, progress
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"But, by by racist, he meant there are those in the University community who practice prejudice, this cannot be denied. In a community of 20,000, this is hard to avoid," he said.
Chalmers added that the BSU has a proper place on the KU campus as does any fraternity, sorority or similar organization which provides "interaction between human beings."
"We will be willing to go more than half-way to meet the requests of the BSU and black students if these requests are legitimate. By legitimate I mean those requests which are based on more than emotion, will not polarize the community and which are within our power to meet," he said.
Frizzell, or December 18, criticized college administrators for their attitudes about militants, student protestors and anti-war demonstrators.
Chalmers said despite the actions and statements of Reynolds Shultz and Attorney General Kent Frizzell he felt his relationship with Kansas politicians was good.
Before a meeting of 60 Republican women, Frizzell said, "I am sick and tired of the liberal philosophy being sprouted by our students and some of our college administrators. When anti-war protesters gathered on the steps of the capitol, I had my K.B.I. agents take pictures of all protesters. These pictures will be preserved and they will not be destroyed."
"I am frankly puzzled by Frizzell's speech because in another part of it he said that KU is in better shape than most Kansas campuses in this respect. And, of course, my support of the moratorium is widely known," Chalmers said.
The Chancellor said he never doubted the sincerity of Reynolds Shultz when he subpoenaed the names of 21 KU students, "I think he felt he was doing the right thing," he added.
Chalmers chuckled when reminded of Shultz's statement that "Larry and I get along well. I called him shortly before subpoena action and explained to him what I was going to do. I shouldn't say he tried to dissuade me he did. But, I think he may think I'm right."
"I never doubted he said that; it sounded like him," Chalmers said. "That statement amused me when I first read it and it still does." Chalmers elaborated
Jan. 8
1970 KANSAN 11
saying the basic sincerity of people such as Shultz on one side and the sincerity and goodness of those on the other side brought out one of the key functions of a university chancellor or president.
"I think an educator must, without being two-faced or hypocritical, prevent polarization. In my relations with legislators I must represent the views and the legitimate needs of the students and faculty. Sure, I could phrase these in such a way that they would become non-negotiable demands but that is not going to accomplish anything for the University. I must translate these needs into meaningful terms the citizens and legislature of the state can understand," he said.
Chalmers said with the emotion stripped away it was easy to be understood and accepted. He added that unless a "ruinous" situation does occur on campus, it is his opinion Kansans will continue to support KU and other state institutions whole-heartedly.
The Chancellor partially credits the continued support of KU to its alumni. "Many of the alumni influence their friends and legislators through personal contacts and letters. They tell them they've been back to the campus and, contrary to popular notion, it is not swarming with communists. They also tell them that though the kids may look different with their long hair, their hearts and minds are still in the right place," he said.
"The taxpayer's revolt is another "blanket" term. When I was in Florida, the citizens supported school bond issues until those issues were tied-in with highway bonds. The combined issues were continually voted down. So the two were separated and once more the taxpayers voted for the school improvements," Chalmers said.
Chalmers said there.was no indication that support from alumni or Kansans in the form of private donations was declining. He did not feel the turmoil had any effect and he discounted the so-called "taxpayer's revolt."
"We have an example of that in Wyandotte and Johnson Counties in Kansas City where the taxpayers are both revolting yet voting for the establishment of junior colleges. There must be a careful delineation when speaking about a taxpayer revolt. From everything I see the revolt is not affecting the country's schools," Chalmers said.
Within the next year, Governor Robert Docking will name three regents to the Board of Regents. Chalmers said the regents should be devoted to developing the finest higher education system possible and, as the Chancellor, should effectively represent the needs of the schools to the legislature and the people of Kansas. They must act as a "lay" board, he said.
"I haven't been in Kansas long enough to have any personal preferences for the positions. However, I understand that at one time there was a woman on the board and it is my belief the board should be broadly representative. I would hope the governor would select a woman or, more especially, a black to give the board such a make-up," the Chancellor said.
Turning to recent remarks of Vice-President Spiro Agnew, Chalmers said, "The Vice-President's remarks were a mixed bag, to say the least. I do agree with some of the things he said about the media but I don't agree with his implied threat of censorship which, of course, was the reason for the speech."
"But part of the reason administrators are in trouble with the public is because the positive deeds of so many on campus are ignored by the media. The view of the campus the public receives is that of men biting dogs and not dogs biting men as it really is," Chalmers said.
However, the Chancellor disagreed completely with Agnew's Dec. 10 statement that "By emphasizing higher education as a prerequisite to participation in American society, we have stretched postadolescent dependency a full 10 years."
"The University plunges youngsters into adulthood. They can express realistic and deep concern for the world in which they live." Chalmers said.
"I don't think Agnew read the statistics on the present rate of mental and physical maturation of today's student. They mature much earlier, yet they are denied the right to vote and make decisions that effect their lives," the Chancellor said.
Chalmer's dismissed the contention that today's youth is more self-centered saying, 'Students are not more self-centered Lord, no. They are involved not only in the moratorium but in the pollution teach-in, the legal aid programs such as the one sponsored by the law school and the inner city projects such as those undertaken by our sociology students and medical students in Kansas City.
"Students today have gotten closer to the ideals of Judeo-Christianity and democracy than their elders ever did," Chalmers added.
belief that ROTC should be allowed on campus. Earlier this year he stated, "The principle role of the University is to educate students. As long as there are several hundred or several thousand students who want to include ROTC in their studies, they should have that opportunity."
The Chancellor reiterated his
Chalmers said it was the right of the faculty to vote on the credit which should be extended to ROTC. He said, however, that recommendations on lines similar to those wanted by the majority of the faculty had already been submitted by a national committee to Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird who had approved them.
Chalmers said he was extremely pleased with the students and faculty at KU. Noting that alumni support ranked seventh in the nation, he also observed that KU students ranked eighth in academic ability and sixteen of KU's departments ranked nationally in the Carter Report.
"As far as the student rating, the first seven schools have selective admissions—which we don't. That makes us number one as far as I'm concerned," the Chancellor said.
"The deep involvement of the students, which I noted earlier, plus their academic ability creates a euphoria which is hard to deduce. This kind of dual involvement is not found on many other campuses and leads me to my optimism about KU despite the fact that state support is minimal."Chalmers said.
Chalmer's optimism is guarded, however, because of the lack of legislative action. He points out that only in Ohio is the school financial picture worse than in Kansas.
Comparatively, the University formerly offered salaries which were not far behind those offered by other schools, but these have been slipping. The result, to a small degree, has been the loss in the quality of professors who can be attracted to KU. Others have been leaving for better paying jobs elsewhere.
"The offers to leave have far outweighed those professors who have actually left and I think this is a good barometer of the morale among the faculty.
"We are also fortunate that the associate professor salaries are on a par with other schools. This enables us to attract good men to those positions. But I'm afraid this can't continue. We must take a bond proposal to the people of the state immediately.
Chalmers also said that he favored merit salaries based on a citation index rather than a publication index.
The trouble with KU is that there is "too much merit but too little salary," he said. Earlier in the year, the Chancellor stated he was in favor of faculty evaluation and he admitted in the interview that certain departments at KU were weaker than other departments.
Chalmers said that if enrollment had to be limited, and he hoped it wouldn't after placing responsibility on the regents and legislators, it could be done in one or two ways.
First, admission could be based on talent or, a selective process. Secondly, it could be done in a lottery such as the one which will be instituted at the University of Illinois in 1971.
"I prefer the lottery method because it would preserve the public aspect of KU. We could still call ourselves a public institution and serve a broad spectrum of persons including the disadvantaged," he said.
In summary, the Chancellor said that he and his wife had been happy with their transition from Tallahassee, Fla., to Lawrence. No where had he seen a college community so well integrated into the city in which it was located.
He concluded, "We have found that at KU the quality of people varies inversely with the climate and if this says something bad about the climate (it was 12 degrees at the time of the interview), so be it."
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