adult community is a necessity-
The times they are a'changin'
IT IS UNFAIR, of course, for me to paint a verbal picture of a KU Behind the Times. Other schools, midwestern or church-related, pursue similarly outmoded policies in loco parentis.
THE UNIVERSITY of Oklahoma's in loco parentis position—and the position of many other universities—probably is best summarized in the section of their handbook entitled, "What Do Your Parents Say?": "Your parents may grant you 'general permission' (on a card sent them) which means that you can use your good judgment as to where you go—within university policies, of course."
EASTERN AND West Coast schools are, of course, more liberal. Private Eastern colleges, like Radcliffe, often have no closing hours, but the girls must call in
second in a series
THE LIBERALITY of rules, or the fact that they encourage hypocrisy, is not really the question. Closing hours at KU are fairly generous. The point is that they are imposed, just as these other somewhat ridiculous, certainly presumptuous, and possibly unconstitutional regulations are imposed.
THE UNIVERSITY system argues that it must uphold the laws of the state of Kansas, that it must set standards that reflect the mores of the people of the state, and that it has a responsibility to define a certain expected behavior that students can use as a guideline for determining what is morally acceptable.
by 7 a.m. because of mugging dangers. There are signs that even Midwest schools are following this type of trend. At Indiana University this year, closing hours for senior women are 6:45 a.m.
THE RESPONSIBILITIES and influences upon a
It's "Willy's" birthday
Editor's Note: Each Feb. 10 the William Allen White School of Journalism and Public Information honors its namesake on his birthday. Although "Willy" White has been dead 'nigh onto 20 years, the words of this smalltown Kansas editor are still worth their weight in printer's ink. "What's the matter with Kansas," "To an Anxious Friend" and "Mary White" are familiar. But we think it's hard to beat this one—published in the Emporia Gazette in 1932—for contemporary relevance:
In several educational institutions during the last few years manifestation of student activity in riots has been exciting the country. To the conservative mind, these riots bode no good. As a matter of fact student riots of one sort or another, protests against the order that is, kicks against college and university management indicate a healthy growth and a normal functioning of the academic mind.
Youth should be radical. Youth should demand change in the world. Youth should not accept the old order if the world is to move on. But the old orders should not be moved easily—certainly not at the mere whim or behest of youth. There must be clash and if youth hasn't enough force or fervor to produce the clash, the world grows stale and stagnant and sour in decay.
If our colleges and universities do not breed men who riot, who rebel, who attack life with all the youthful vim and vigor, then there is something wrong with our colleges. The more riots that come on college campuses, the better world for tomorrow.
university are tremendous, and we don't pretend there are any simple answers to this complex problem. But certainly "the times they are a'changin'," and the university community—above all—must be responsive to change.
A RE-EXAMINATION is needed, and much of the responsibility for a such an examination rests on the individual student. He must think and then act. He can act through his living group, residence councils and other organizations.
WOMEN STUDENTS have a truly golden opportunity for intelligent reform as the AWS rules convention approaches in March—despite the inequities in choosing representatives for the conclave. Make your voice heard to representatives, sign petitions, attend the convention sessions.
NEITHER THE university nor society as a whole has a right to deny a student his basic human and constitutional rights—including a right to privacy, and the right to determine the extent of one's personal relationships. If nowhere else, this right is certainly encompassed in freedom of religion.
THE UNIVERSITY should be a community of adults, not an inexpensive baby-sitting service specializing in the propagation of middle-class Western morality. If the university student cannot learn to cope with the responsibilities of adulthood in the academic community, then his educational experience has been wasted.
THE UNIVERSITY has a responsibility to allow the student/scholar to mature and develop as an adult in a less-cloistered atmosphere. And the student has an obligation to accept that responsibility—yea, verily to take that responsibility—within his university community.
—Jacke Thayer
university forum
University has social responsibility, too
MUCH HAS BEEN said in the last few months about the university functioning "in loco parentis," and much criticism has been made of any organ of the university which, by its nature, exerts some control over the students.
It is strange that two distinct groups of people seem to favor abolishing these functions of the university which they say it possesses extra-legally. On the one hand are the students who looked forward to college as the long-awaited freedom from mama.
"It DOESN'T matter what I
do while I'm at the university." they seem to rationalize. "I'm merely identified as another of those terrible college kids, not as Joe Jones. So what difference does it make? Nobody who matters will ever know."
Well, somebody who matters does know. He might be a resident of Lawrence, or a fellow student, or an instructor, or a fraternity brother. But he matters, because the actions of every member of the community reflect on the attitudes of every other member.
FOR INSTANCE, the university is known and evaluated by the actions and achievements of the students who attend it. So why shouldn't it be concerned about the actions of every student? Besides, as cold and IBM-cardish as the university may seem, it does try to take some kind of personal interest in the student. If a student's actions are socially unacceptable, they may have effects more far-reaching than the individual student ever considered when acting on the spur of the moment. Doesn't the university have a responsibility to be concerned about educating its students in socially acceptable behavior as well as scholastic behavior?
"----YES, ED. I WISH I HAD BEEN ABLE TO GET A COLLEGE EDUCATION. IT GIVES. A MAN THAT CERTAIN SOMETHING THAT SETS HIM ABOVE AND APART FROM THE AVERAGE---"
THIS WOULD seem a strange thing to say about an institution whose purpose is to stimulate the intelligence of its students and teach them to think for themselves.
It has been said that the university is merely a manufacturing concern, turning out respectable, middle class Americans with the traditional middle class attitudes, ideals, and morals.
The other dissenters in this debate of "in loco parentis" are the extra-intelligent upperclassmen, who feel from their own experience that they are mature enough to accept complete responsibility for themselves, and therefore grow impatient with the university because it won't let them do so.
"WHY IS IT that the most intelligent of today's young people are kept in emotional bondage
2 Daily Kansan editorial page Thursday, February 10, 1966
while they are enrolled in the university?" they ask. "Why can't they be left alone to develop their own life? What difference is four years going to have on the ability of a girl to decide whether or not to spend the night with her boy friend, or on the ability of a boy to decide whether or not he wants to invite his girl friend to do so?"
This last statement reflects one of the most prevalent reasons given by people in defense of closing hours: the protection of the women from the men. Most people, however, do not stop to consider how shallow an explanation this really is. As one girl once said, "Anything which can be done after closing, can be done before closing."
TO THIS ARGUMENT I would reply that the university is an extraordinary community where barriers are very easily let down and left there. There is much less control over the individual through the opinions of the other members of the community than there was in the student's home town or than there will be in the city where he chooses to work or live. The attitudes of the "peer group" are important to any person, whether he realizes it or not. At the University, the problem is that everybody is just as unsure about his ideals and role as everybody else is. Thus, instead of giving each other a feeling of strength and confidence, they give each another a feeling of insecurity and inexperience.
Not everybody is as able to cope with these influences as are the extra-intelligent upperclassmen who have worked out their identity and are ready to start assuming it.
TAKING A REASONABLE view of the situation, then, it must be admitted that, for the benefit of the majority, the university must regulate the students' activity to some extent. Call it "in loco parentis" or call it what you will, the university is forced by society to accept overall responsibility for its students.
To those students who feel they cannot live under this system, I would suggest that they are free to go somewhere else, or better, that they use their intelligence to work out their own solution to the problem and then present it to the university.
THERE ARE CHANNELS for modification and change, but they are only as effective as the students who take advantage of them.
Susan Hartley AWS Senate member
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
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