Brown University - Liber Brunensis Yearbook (Providence, RI)

Page 30 text:

With spring came turbulence at Brown. Instead of frat ruckus, the seasonal warmth now brought cam- pus unrest. A struggle for power, a struggle for reason. A fight for tomorrow by severing the umbilical cord of yesterday. Yet it was peaceful - quiet as the Green grew beautiful under the rapidly blossoming elms. Much of the campus really couldnt give a damn about all the squabbling anyway. Spring always seems the same on College Hill. Spring infused hope. Enthusiasm for a new educa- tional system, the cry for a coed experience, anticipa- tion of winning teams, a belief in transforming Brown.

Page 32 text:

30 A semester of rallies and committees; a semester of impatience that had to be channelled in studied, careful ways; a semester of frustration with a faculty al- ways too busy until the last minute to listen to you; a semester of working for something we sometimes thought it useless even to hope for; a semester of a united student body, conscious of itself and deter- mined to act together. Continuing talks about the curriculum: at breakfast over the Newsletter, in the reading rooms at the Rock, with room- mates, with professors. Sure that we're doing a good thing, but some of us not too sure what it would result in: an easy way to get through Brown, an easier way to do what we've always been doing, a revolu- tionary approach to education. To those whose perspective was larger, it was an important step in initiating the cultural revolution of values Ira urged in his graduation speech. The Maeder Report in April and another burst of excitement. Cautious enthusiasm, a question about what it means to be first: did we have the courage to break from a system we knew was outmoded? More questions only students of future years could answer. Could we take the responsi- bility along with the freedom of the New Curriculum? Yes, we told ourselves, and Yes, we told the University. We told them by the work we had done for the curriculum. The Magaziner Report, and the endless talks and hours of thought behind what we did. We told them Yes by our perseverance.